Time for more tidbits.

Time for more tidbits.  Obama…the prince of darkness.   Nearly everything about this man is dark…shadowed…hidden.   Take any private citizen off the street and, within 48 hours, I could almost guarantee that everything in his background would be known.   The current occupant of the White House is the opposite of that…hardly anything is known because his past has been sealed up tighter than a size 40 waist in a pair of pants that are size 36.   There have been deaths, some under mysterious circumstances, during his time in the Oval Office.    Once out of the realm of plausibility, the idea of a military coup seems to be gathering strength, if my emails are to be believed.

Should the unthinkable occur, that is, to put many thousands of our troops back in Iraq, they will be facing their own equipment, left behind because it was too expensive to bring back to the United States.   In addition to equipment, there are uniforms, so I’m told, and we would have more “green on blue” murders.   Repeating an earlier warning, if you’re American, don’t turn your back on a so-called friendly.  The call has gone out that if large, symbolic, attacks are not possible then be a random, lone wolf, and kill whichever American you can, when, where, and how you do it.

Recently the Prime Minister of Israel spoke to a joint session of Congress.  Without revealing anything that might not already have been known, he made it clear that Israel and the United States are definitely in the crosshairs.   When, not if, Iran gets a nuclear weapon, coupled with an intercontinental missile, there will be few places on earth that will be safe.   It was apparent to me that Israel would go it alone, if they had to, in order to survive.   Reinforced, underground, nuclear plants would have to have a bunker-buster type of bomb, maybe even a small nuclear weapon, to shut them down.   It’s not too far-fetched to say that we might be in the early stages of World War 3 because the surrounding countries will want their own nuclear weapons and it will be an arms race like no other.

Speaking of arms…where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government has the right to ban any sort of firearms, or ammunition?   Anyone that has read the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, must come away thinking that these documents have been shunted aside in favor of a quasi-dictatorship, very close to what we fought the Revolutionary War against!   At what point in our history did We The People cede our freedoms to We The Government?   In the present administration there are too many wimps, go-alongs, and I-must-be-re-electeds for my tastes.  If we cannot adhere to the original thoughts of the Founding Fathers, then someone has to answer why not?

So much good was written into those three documents that it might be considered heresy to want to change anything in them…but there are things that should be changed, in my opinion.   Take the “anchor baby” dilemma as an example.   Foreigners come here, disguising the woman’s pregnancy, the baby is born here and is automatically a US citizen and then, after a certain period of time, the parents are automatically granted citizenship also.   That should be changed.   We need a processing center, ala Ellis Island, so that pregnancies, and other things, can be discovered, which would prevent that person from entering the United States.   Along those lines, we need a secure border.

Someone once said that a country without borders is not really a country, and it would appear that’s correct, even in modern times…perhaps even more so due to the fact that travelers, call them what you will, can bring in diseases.   Along with the very real possibility of diseases, there is the also-real possibility that terrorists are coming in, across the border, through our ports and airports, where security for incoming passengers is less than perfect.   Our oceans used to separate us from most of the dangers of the world but that’s gone out the window with flights arriving from overseas on a minute-by-minute basis around the country.   Border patrol, Immigration, Customs, are all understaffed and overworked and, I suspect, on purpose…but that’s another story.

Hey, members of Congress…do you hear this: put the country first, ahead of your party, ahead of your own ambitions.   If the country falls it really won’t matter which party you belonged to, it will only matter that you are American.   So, which kind of American are you…strong for the United States, or strong for your own petty needs?   In the eyes of our present enemies(some of which might have been friends), we are weak, not to be trusted and, possibly, an easy takeover.   Rise up, stick your head out the window and yell “I’m mad as hell and I won’t take it anymore”!

Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired     www.AirHumanityRadio

STUFF AND NONSENSE

 STUFF AND NONSENSE

            Years ago I worked as a short order cook in a diner.  The job didn't last long because the rule was that whatever you screwed up, you have to eat...and pay for.   Maybe it was for the best because in the less-than-a-month that I was on the job I think I gained about 15 pounds!   Perhaps it was the closeness, the atmosphere of the place, or the wonderful language of the diner...but that short attempt at being a cook has stayed with me, and it's a treasure.   This is from an article from the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and why this is in there I haven't a clue...but it's good.   The waitress at the counter sings out "Two chicks on a raft - wreck 'em, shingle with a shimmy and a shake in the alley, Zeppelins in a fog, city juice 86 the hail, drag one through Georgia and sweep the kitchen floor!"...and because you work in a diner, you know what that means.  The words are obviously English so it can't be a foreign language. Nor is it a couple of spies greeting each other with a pre-arranged code. It's an example of what you might have heard a waiter shouting to a cook in an American diner, luncheonette, or cafeteria before fast food restaurants changed the way that Americans eat out.   American diner slang could have been heard in any cheap eatery across the US at one time, but sadly is now a dying language thanks largely to the customer service standards of large restaurant corporations and their ubiquity in the business of eating out on the cheap. Oh, and the translation for the above is 'Scrambled eggs on toast, a side order of toast with butter and jam, sausages and mash, a glass of water with no ice, Coca-Cola with chocolate syrup, and an order of hash'.   A number of diner slang terms have already passed into everyday use, such as 'mayo' for mayonnaise, 'BLT' for a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, and both 'stack' and 'short stack' for an order of pancakes.   There are others, of course, but the regimentation of all things came to the food industry quite a while ago.

            Those of you of a certain age may remember when all cars had their shift lever on the floor, between the driver and the passenger.   This arrangement presented both opportunity and disaster.   Changing gears, using the clutch(remember that pedal on the left?) meant that it brought your hand into close proximity with your date's leg.   Ah, that was the opportunity...your hand might accidentally slip off the shifter and land on her leg, and you might get a shy smile...or you could get a slap in the face...you never knew which one, unless you had dated this girl before.   If you didn't get slapped, you headed for the nearest "lover's lane" where some serious smooching could take place.   As was the case with a lot of guys, me included, we tried to get to the lover's lane without having to spend money on ice cream sodas, or a movie, but that didn't always work.

            During World War Two it was the patriotic thing to do to donate anything that could be used for the war effort.   So, it wasn't unusual to see kids pulling wagons filled with all sorts of glass bottles, old tires, crushed pots and pans and even clothing.   We used to scour the neighborhoods looking for these things, hoping to be the first to find them and, if we didn't find them sometimes we just took them.   Back then it was a common thing to see a freshly-baked pie or cake cooling on the porch.   We'd snatch up the cake or pie, and after it was devoured, we'd take the pan to the recycle center...a good thing all the way around.   One kid showed up with a tire that he said he'd taken out of his father's garage...and we learned later that it was a brand-new tire, which were hard come by in those days, and he was saving it for when one of his tires went bald...and THAT would be the tire he'd donate to the cause.   Patriotism was alive and well back then and we were all infused with it.

            Schooling was quite different back then.   Oh sure, we learned the three "R's", and along with that we learned how to parse out a sentence(something I have had no use for over the years), we learned about the different countries that existed then, and how they lived, prospered, and sometimes disappeared after the war.

Handwriting was a learned skill that you had to have because nothing said "personal" like a hand-written letter or a card...typewriters were a luxury that only "big business" had.   Small businesses were important too, and in just about every neighborhood where I was brought up, you had your favorite candy store, Italian and/or Jewish restaurant and you went to your favorite barber and while you got your haircut you also got a news report on everything and anything.

            People were more polite then, I think.   Men tipped or removed their hats in the presence of a lady.   It was a time when most men wore hats, and maybe that's why I have a hat collection now.   Men wore suits just about everywhere and if you see an old newsreel, even at a baseball game, they are wearing suits and hats.   Something that has always puzzled me, though, were spats...whatever were they for?   My family went to the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY, in 1938 and it was a wonderful place, or so I'm told.   At 4 years old, the memories are of funny-shaped buildings(the trylon and perisphere) and machines that talked.   Oh, and I think there was food, too.   The United States was sitting on the edge of a conflagration but we didn't know, or care...I don't know which.   As the war progressed and we were drawn into it, my reading skills were blossoming and we kept a wall-map of Europe where I eagerly put pins to show the battles.   It was unthinkable that we could lose...we were America!

           

COUNTRY FIRST, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF CONGRESS

   COUNTRY FIRST, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF CONGRESS   I honestly believe that Nancy Pelosi is losing her mind, based on the things she says.  Recently on a TV show she said that Democrats were openly endorsing the mess that is Obamacare, and that the candidates that were not running with a positive angle on it were the exception.   She went on to say that Congress passed the bill and we are proud of what it is.   The truth of the matter is that not a single Republican voted for the healthcare bill, and it was rammed through in the middle of the night and, if memory serves, on the eve of a holiday!    Then there's this, following a recent labor report Pelosi was able to state, with a straight face, that all the jobs that Bush lost have been gained back!   Keep in mind that this is the same person that said the healthcare bill had to be passed so we could find out what's in it!   Where's the logic in that?   Would you buy auto insurance without knowing what it covered?  It's the same thing as far as I'm concerned.

            This might sound like a broken record(do you remember what they were?), but where are the Republican members of Congress that were elected to change the course of the ship of state?   Prior to the election they all talked the talk, but now when it comes to walking the walk they all seem to have broken legs!   That might be harsh, because there’s probably a small minority of them that ARE trying to get things back to normal, but the infighting is tearing them up.   Country first, ladies and gentlemen, then the party.   If it has to be done, then do it, and stop talking about it, sitting in committees, waiting for people to show up after they’ve been subpoenaed, and when they don’t show, they don’t even get a slap on the wrist.

            You might not have heard about the dust-up concerning “green tip” ammunition for the AR-15 rifle, but here’s the skinny on that.  There is no handgun, that I know of, that chambers that round, and that’s what the anti-gunners are up in arms about(and pardon the pun).   The hollow-point round of the .223 caliber will do just as much, if not more damage, but it’s a rifle bullet, not a handgun.   If anyone believes that the argument is about the ammunition, they’re dreaming.   This is first and foremost about getting guns out of the hands of private citizens, and the anti-gunners will do it in any way they can…and don’t even get me started on the private army that the current imposter-in-chief wants!

            Senator Menendez, a staunch Democrat, spoke out about something that was contrary to the talking points of the administration.   Guess what…he’s being investigated.   He may be just the last one in a long line of people that were being investigated, were killed in freak accidents, or just had “heart attacks.   Every president has had enemies, and I suspect that a few of them used dirty tricks on the people they didn’t like…the Clinton “body count” is legendary, but just like this current president, nothing can be proven.   Some folks tell me that I could disappear, have a car wreck, or a heart attack too, but I’m pretty far down the list, if I’m even ON the list.   When Limbaugh, Hannity, and other people of that caliber begin disappearing or having accidents, then I’ll worry.

            Speaking of the Clintons, what about the email scandal swirling about her head?   Computer experts that I talk to tell me that anything that is EVER put out in an email, or on one of the social networks…it’s out there forever!   If she is using a private email, and she has that same assistant that she had, the woman that is married to Anthony Weiner, there’s a good chance that those emails were looked at.  I’ve often wondered why a Muslim woman would want to remain married to a Jewish man, but the opportunities

might have been too much to ignore…but I could be wrong.   There is a similar relationship in the White House, with Valerie Jarrett being SO close to the man in the Oval Office.

            If you’re a believer in reincarnation that’s okay, but that’s not my thinking.  Here now is something that I used to hear from my Mother, and it’s stuck with me all my life.

“I expect to pass through this world but once.  Any good thing, therefore, that I can do of any kindness I can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now.   Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”---that’s by Stephen Grellet, a French-born Quaker minister.   Until they perfect time travel, that’s good advice.

            Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired        www.AirHumanityRadio.net

           

HERE WE GO AGAIN ...

  HERE WE GO AGAIN

...Mars is in the sights of our space program again.   NASA has said that it really plans to go to Mars and, if that wasn't enough, they plan to take people there.   The plan is considered, by many, to be a one-way or suicide mission, but ostensibly to begin the colonization of another planet.   An interesting concept because we humans have certainly screwed up the planet which we currently inhabit.   Isaac Asimov, Gene Roddenberry and Jules Verne would certainly be interested in these plans, since they all wrote of travel to other planets, and it makes one wonder which one was closest to what may be the truth?

            Are we in the early stages of a World War...again?   Given the spread of Islam, in varying forms, around the world, should they decide that the words in the Quran are more important than any other words, such as in the Bible, could they bring the world to the brink, and beyond, of a world war?   It seems plausible when you read or see what's going on now, by so-called radical Islamists.   World War One was started, so the story goes, by a single pistol shot that killed the Archduke Ferdinand.   World War Two was begun, according to what I've heard, when Hitler decided that it was right and proper to regain any and all German-speaking lands.  Looking back, the big wars started with relatively modest reasons, but isn't what's happening now, around the world, bigger than those two incidents?

            Shall we see the rise of some sort of plague again?   Superbugs, resistant to the best anti this-or-that drug, along with imported diseases that were once thought to be eliminated, have sprung up again.   World travelers, able to make it from one foreign land to another in a matter of hours, may be bringing bugs with them, and not be aware of it.   As it's been explained, some people are simply carriers, and they don't get the dangerous disease that they carry, but others do, and others may die from it.   That's no secret, and it's not a fairy tale, it's happening now, around the world.   Ebola, measles, the various influenza strains, not to mention crippling polio, may be just one airline traveler away from creating a plague that could decimate a population.

            "If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack", this by Winston Churchill.   A brilliant man, a visionary, possibly one of the most intelligent men ever to serve in government.   He believed, for example, in the mass bombing of Germany during World War Two, and we could use that sort of thinking today.  He ultimately convinced the Americans to follow the lead of the RAF, to bomb Germany in a manner that came to be called "carpet bombing".   The losses, to both the American 8th Air Force and the RAF, were staggering, but they persisted...and eventually the plan worked.   This brings to mind the manner in which the United States is conducting its war plan on ISIS.

            To many, in policy-making levels in our government, this is not a war on Islam, but against a radical, fundamental, barbaric, group, split off from the main body of Islam.   How is that thinking rational, when the enemy has made it absolutely clear that it is at war with “the west”, or what we call civilization?   To read the Quran in its original form, not the watered-down version that some Muslim groups present, is to discover that “peace” can only come to the world when Islam is the dominate, maybe the only, “religion” on earth.   When the west realizes that this cannot be allowed to happen, perhaps they will rise up and do what needs to be done…again.

            Do we need a Charles Martel again?   He halted the Islamic advance into Western Europe at the Battle of Tours in 732.   Now, when ISIS says it will get to the gates of Rome, which it failed to do way back when, it has modern equipment, computer-savvy people, and presents horrific videos as recruiting tools, it may be possible.   What would a General Patton do in a situation like this?   "In case of doubt attack" - "Know what you know and know what you don't know" which were just two of his quotes.  Patton was the ultimate soldier's general.  I suspect that he might have subscribed to General Curtis Lemay’s theory that “you bomb them back to the Stone Age”.  So, all in all, the world is in turmoil again.   We, as mankind, may be standing on the brink of extinction, by our own hand.   Again, the short-sightedness of various politicians around the world are considering their little wants and needs more important than the survival of people on earth.   One brilliant man, Albert Einstein said it best…”I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

            Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired     www.AirHumanityRadio.net

THE MAN IN THE MIRROR...AND IT'S NOT MICHAEL JACKSON

THE MAN IN THE MIRROR...AND IT'S NOT MICHAEL JACKSON.   If there's one thing that can be said about the current occupant of the Oval Office, it's that he loves himself like no one else.  Who else would allow pictures, like the ones that were splashed all over the "fair and balanced" network, to get out to the public?   We see a man, so in love with himself that he smiles and makes foolish faces, along with using a "selfie stick" to take pictures of himself.   Now I grant you that most of us, when we're alone in a bathroom, probably make a face or two, maybe while we're shaving or combing our hair...but nothing like this buffoon!   This man(and I use that word very loosely) is the epitome of a petulant 5 year-old child who, if he doesn't get his way, wants to go home and take his stuff with him.   Because he's never participated in anything in the way of The American Experience he falls back on the teachings of his mentors...a few people that were Communists, Socialists, anti-colonialists and, probably anti-Semites.   He sat in a church for 20 years, listening to a virulent preacher and then claimed he never heard any of that.   What crap!

            The man in the mirror, as the rest of us have experienced, can lie to everyone but himself.   When you are alone and you look in the mirror, you see someone that you, and you alone, know intimately...every thought you've ever thought, every action you've ever taken, it's all there and you see it.   You can regret, you can take pride, in what you've done or thought...but you cannot undo what's been done.  If money could solve the world's ills, and we've thrown billions upon billions at the problems, they would have been solved...but it doesn't.   Sometimes it just takes the careful planning and execution of that plan before money is thrown at the trouble, and that works...sometimes.  

            A good example of a plan that hasn't worked is the War On Poverty.   Brought to life by then-President Lyndon Johnson, billions have been poured into that program and, if money could cure it, it would be cured...but we still have poverty in this country and more people on the dole from the federal government.   There are people, like me, who believe that was the ultimate goal from the start...to make as many people dependent on the government as possible so they are controlled by the politicians they support.   Americans seem to have not just a short memory, but they are becoming increasingly dumb, by design...of course, that's just my opinion and I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

            You want another example of billions of dollars down the toilet?   The federal government has spent quite a few bucks in the War On Drugs, and where has that gotten them?   Marijuana, as an example, is against the law according to the feds…but you can buy, raise, and sell it in several states.  Where’s the logic in that?   Medical professionals, and that’s not all of them, say that pot is a gateway drug, leading to wanting to get a stronger high, and so the buyers look for something else, and that something else, more often than not, turns out to be cocaine.   Cocaine is a major source of revenue in several countries, and they consider the US a major market for it, and it’s very profitable, which is why they take such risks to bring it in.

            Uncle Sam cannot be the world’s policeman, like he used to be.   Cuts in defense spending have made the United States weak.   A two-ocean Navy is out of the question, as is a standing Army big enough and smart enough to repel any potential invaders…and there are some that are seriously considering just that plan.   Reports from “anonymous sources”, but high up in the Department of Defense say that many of the new recruits cannot read or write coherently, and must undergo remedial training if they are to be of any use in the field or aboard ship.   No matter in which direction you look, disaster is right around the corner for the United States, but then, I’m an alarmist and everybody knows that.

            So, to the silly man in the mirror, I pose this question: when are you going to resign and let someone who is (a) an American, (b) not a narcissist, and (c) has some common sense, take the helm of the ship of state, steer away from the rocks and shoals and out into open water?   We are desperately in need of a clear-thinking patriot who take America out of the depths of despair and bring her back to the top of the heap.   What say you, the silly man in the mirror?

    Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired.    www.AirHumanityRadio.net

HAS THE WORLD GONE COMPLETELY MAD?

HAS THE WORLD GONE COMPLETELY MAD?

           The dhimmi's(and you can look that up if you don't already know it) attitude about almost everything connected with Islam is that the barbarians represent a fanatical minority.  I hope you're sitting down because that, my friends, is a big fat lie...but as Joseph Goebbels once opined, if you tell a big lie often enough people will start to believe it.   So, when you hear a Muslim say that Islam is a religion of peace, just figure that they are practicing taqiyya and don't believe a word they say.   Islam says it is at war with the United States, but our dear leader in his I-live-in-my-own-little-world mentality will not accept that premise because he knows better.  There are, and have been signs along the road, that should have been noticed, but weren't.   You've probably read, or heard, Winston Churchill's estimation of what was then called Mohammedism, and it wasn't good, but it was accurate...and it was from 1895 I think.

           Our dear leader is delusional.  Period.   In addition to being incompetent, a liar, and a traitor, he really believes the BS that he spouts on a regular basis.   He has no head for governing but he's a great on-the-road campaigner.   He has no tact or finesse in dealing with foreign heads of state, but will bow down to those he believes to be his superiors.   How did a person like this get to be the leader of the free world, the most powerful man on earth?   The first election was, in my opinion, a social experiment, but there was no excuse for the second, unless you want to factor in mass voter fraud.   He will deal with Iran, secretly, and they are our sworn enemy, but he will show a hostility never before seen by an American government, to Israel, which used to be our staunchest ally.   He will send arms and money to a government in Egypt which was then headed by a key member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but will not name them as a terrorist organization...even though they have been called that by other Arab countries.

           There is a distinct difference between leading and leading-from-behind.   The former is exactly what it says and the latter is following.  Period.   His plan to fundamentally transform America was never questioned, and it really should have been because we HAVE been transformed, nearly completely, into a questionable first-rate power with a failing economy and a military that is stretched paper thin.   The imposter-in-chief is really nothing more than a community organizer who, by manipulation and deviousness, managed to glom onto the seat of power.   The power behind the throne, so to speak, has to be someone, or several someones, that have expressed a desire, a plan, a modus operandi, to bring down the United States because of some misguided thinking.

           Perhaps a word of caution here because it’s easy to become befuddled in one’s thinking.   As an example, two words: police state.   Given the recent spate of barbarous goings-on perpetrated by the so-called fanatic minority of “lone wolf” attacks both here and abroad, you would think that having armed police on every street would be a good thing, right?   On the other hand, given too much power, they could become something right out of the Gestapo handbook, and that would not be a good thing.  Now, let’s not say that our police forces are going in that direction, because I don’t think they are, or would.   True, there are, and have been, several instances where the Constitution and Bill Of Rights have been totally ignored, but in the main, we’re doing alright.

           Here’s two more words to consider: gun control.   Talk to any 2^nd Amendment proponent and they will tell you that guns, by themselves, do not kill, and they don’t.   It’s when someone picks up that gun with a thought in mind to kill or injure one or more people that guns become dangerous.   On the other side of the coin, anti-gunners will say that whole premise is hogwash and that only the police and the armed forces should have guns.  Me?  I’m a 2^nd Amendment guy and here’s why…when seconds count, the police are minutes(or more) away.   I carry a gun because a policeman is too heavy, and I carry because I’m too young to die and too old to take an ass-whupping.   Also, the anti-gunners strike me as not gun controllers, but total controllers…from womb to tomb.

           Our founding fathers, some of the most brilliant men of their, or any, time, had it right.   We don’t want a king, an emperor, a dictator or a caliph.   The president presides, the court interprets, and the congress makes the laws.   It might not be perfect, but it’s the next best thing to it and 40 miles ahead of whatever’s in 2^nd place.   So, when you listen to the TV news, or read your daily paper, you can ask yourself “has the world gone completely mad” and how do you fit into that daily, ever-changing puzzle?   My Dad told me over and over again, you have to stand for something or you will fall for anything…and he was right.   Stand up for America…because she has stood up for you.        

           Larry Usoff, US Navy Retired.   www.AirHumanityRadio.net

I SEEM TO RECALL THAT...

   I SEEM TO RECALL THAT...

           Many years ago, at the beginning of the Johnson administration in 1964, there was a book called "None Dare Call It Treason" by John A. Stormer and when I read it so long ago it seemed that he was a madman.  Of course, then I was a stalwart Democrat and any thought outside of the party line was not just foreign...it was heresy.   I think I should read it again, this time from the vantage point of history, and being a Republican, and a conservative.  You might question why both of those are included, and it's because being a Republican does not automatically make you a conservative any more than standing in a garage makes you a mechanic.  My political choices in the past several years have been conservative and most conservatives are Republicans...does that explain it?

           As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, New York, it wasn't apparent that my social status was any different from anyone else's in the neighborhood.  We all donated, we all worried, we all gave what we could, during the war.   When the war was over we all had a big block party and that's a memory I'll cherish to my dying day.   I seem to recall that, just in our building, which was a 4-story apartment building, we had displaced persons, or "DP's" from all over Europe.   There were Brits, Italians, Spaniards and yes, a couple of Germans who fled for the right reasons.   Their kids and I formed our little "gang" and hung out on the street corners...that is, until one or more of the mothers yelled out the window that it was getting dark and we had to come in...not just her kid, ALL of us.   My guess is that it isn't like that anymore, even in Brooklyn.

           Recollections of ten-cent movies, double-features at that, with the news, a cartoon and coming attractions, nickle candy bars and five cent bags of popcorn that you almost couldn't finish...but you did.   We learned all sorts of interesting things in school...how to write what they now call cursive but what we called handwriting.  Geography was a subject that encompassed many things, among them where the place was, what the major products were, and the population, both in numbers and style.   There were music appreciation classes and while I never actually liked them, it was an introduction to things that I would later come to know and like.   The boys had shop classes where we learned the basics of about half-a-dozen trades and tried not to lose any vital parts of our bodies.   The girls had home economics, which covered a multitude of things besides cooking.

           We had the radio and a wonderful device it was too.   You'd listen to your favorite show, and you knew the exact time and day that it came on.   A season was a year long only broken by the Christmas holidays and then it was back to the adventures...The Shadow, The Inner Sanctum, I Love A Mystery, and many, many more.   The comedians were funny and there was never a dirty word that you heard.   I recall that many people who persisted in radio went on to become big stars in the movies and on that new thing...television.   Technicolor movies were rare, mostly musicals, although now and then there'd be an adventure movie.   We had Saturday, blessed Saturday!   In the mornings it was cartoons and in the afternoons it was the serials at the movies.  Our heroes, and we had many, were always in a tight spot that we just KNEW they couldn't get out of...but they did.

           All in all, recollections are good...and memories tend to obliterate the bad things, which is a good thing.  Ah yes, I remember it well...like it was yesterday, but it was a long ago time and it will never be again.   I am SO glad that I lived in that time.