We can thank our legislatures for another trillion dollars going down the drain while we work to pay for it. The latest spending bill includes money to pay college tuition for Egyptians, clothes that help teens hide their gender and Ukraine’s war. Our politicians are so politically involved they’ve lost sight of the people they’re supposed to represent.
Now they can get back to work carving out little exemptions and exceptions for their friends and making sure big donors are taken care of. There’s no difference between either party in D.C. They put these bills out during an election year so they can get re-elected. Where else can you work at a job paying $175,000 a year and come out a multi-millionaire? One of these days the chickens are going to come home to roost.
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SpaceX launched their 19th mission. Owner Elon Musk said his first generation Starship will take passengers to the moon someday and a larger more advanced version will travel to other star systems.
I think it’s great what he’s doing. In the 1960’s we had President Kennedy providing visionary leadership and praising the achievements of space research. You’d be hard pressed to find a leader in politics or business today who understands the precariousness of human existence on this fragile world and the importance of looking beyond.
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My grandfather White went to William Jewell in the mid 1920’s and met my Grandmother there. He was a star basketball player and had a great coach named “Dad” Bowles. After Grandpa graduated, married and went back to Warsaw, he managed to give a number of local boys “An assist” in getting into Jewell. This was in the Depression but he found them jobs on campus and helped make introductions. He followed their progress on to graduation. In my Grandfather’s old files there is a list of instructions he wrote for his Jewell contingent.
Here it is:
“Dad Bowles is the best friend you’ve got. When any sort of difficulty arises, go see him. Don’t hesitate. He will always have a solution to your problems.
Don’t cut class, it’s a losing game.
Let your professors know you. They are not hard boiled if you treat them right and study.
Don’t be late to class. But it’s better to be late than to miss.
Go to Sunday School. It’s good for you and will give you contact with Liberty townspeople.
Don’t get blue because of a cash shortage. Hundreds of boys have gone through college on much less. Study. Make your grades and everything will be rosy.
Write home every day. Your parents are more lonesome than you think.
There are three groups of students. Ministerial, Dormitory and Fraternity. Be a friend with all. They can help and teach you the tricks of the college racket.
Speak to everyone.
Do your damndest. Warsaw is watching and more interested in your careers than you can possibly imagine. Some back home don’t think you can make it. Show ‘em!
If things go wrong, for any reason, call me on the phone and I will come up pronto. Don’t quit before you give me a chance to straighten things out.”
This group finished Jewell. Not long after Pearl Harbor happened and they themselves much farther from home than the distance from Benton County to Clay County. Over the years many of them stopped by the office in Clinton to visit him. What a gift he was able to give them. They learned, in turn, how to offer their own gifts to the world.
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I’ve rambled all over the keyboard today. Have a safe journey wherever this week takes you Old Buddy.
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Til Next Week:
J.M.W.
