WILL YOU HAVE REGRETS WHEN YOU GROW OLD?

 I recently saw an article asking the same question and I immediately said NO.  Of course I am already OLD, but people have ask me would I do anything different if I could go back in time or if I had any regrets about the decisions I made in the past and I always said NO.  I have had a blessed life and although I had many struggles in my life with the help of God I got through them and think the struggles made me a stronger person. 

After reading the article I realized I do have some doubts about some decisions I made, but I do not know if I could really classify them as regrets.  I recently was sent a small quote, “Sometimes you have to be hard.”  I found that difficult to do.  You see no one help me with one penny of my education, no one help me start a business, no one has ever been at my side, except God.  He was my shadow and the only one I could ever turn to.  My dad died when I was a teenager and from that time until I made it on my own it has been a struggle.  We went from the good life to poverty in a matter of months. 

I have always reached out to help others so they would not have to experience the things I went through and have been burned over and over again.  My best friend constantly ask me, “Father, why do you do it?”  I have helped various members of his family and he has always said, “Father, you are making a big mistake.  They will not appreciate the help and they will use you not the opportunity you gave them to get ahead.”  He was right every time.  The more you give the more they want.  You give them opportunities to get out of poverty and they are not willing to do what is necessary to accomplish the task.  They would prefer you just give them money every week.  Now if I have regrets this would be a significant one.  You can lead the horse to water, but you cannot make the horse drink.  I have a hard time putting that into practice.

I also came to realize how much I had worried about the welfare of others.  I felt an obligation to fix everything and try to make life better for others.  I was worrying about someone else problems and that is foolish.  I was trying to fix others life and neglecting my own.  Worry is never a solution to anything.  Most of the things we worry about will never happen in the first place.  Worry is a waste of time and only contributes to your stress.  

I was not one who was afraid to take risk.  Many Senior Citizens in the survey put that as the number two thing they regretted.  I always preferred taking a risk rather than later thinking ‘I should have’.  I have never been afraid to fail because I always knew I could try again.  I have never wondered if I would have done this what would life be like today.  My advice to young people is – TAKE THE CHANCE.  It is foolish to try and talk yourself out of trying new things. I am not speaking of drugs or alcohol or improper sex that can destroy you or others. If you want to go to Europe, do it! If you want to start a business, do it! But, always do your research before you do it.  Getting into your thirties with a long string of regrets will haunt you all your life. 

The survey found that 76% of Senior Citizens regretted not following their dream.  I do not have any ‘should of’ or ‘ought of’ in my past.  I knew I wanted to be a minister and an entrepreneur.  I was told a thousand times you have to choose one or the other.  I did not settle for one or the other - I had both.  God made it all possible.  My first business was presented to me and I saw it as a way of giving employment to unemployed people in my parish.  I took the risk and from that day until the day I retired I always owned a business and used it for the glory of God.   I feel I was all I should have been and have no regrets. 

Many baby boomers regretted they had not travel more when they were young.  They put it off until they were old and found then their health would not allow them to travel.  Young people, if you do not do it now, you will wish you had later.  One day you to will find your traveling days are over and you will regret it.  I have been to Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Laos, Malaysia, Europe, Mexico, all the Virgin Islands and all the USA states.  Some of these places I have made repeat visits.  Traveling is rewarding and if you have the opportunity to do it take it.  To me traveling is more important than a fancy car, branded clothes, remodeling the kitchen, expensive home or jewelry.  I admit I have always had a very nice home with very nice furniture and today I live in a modest townhouse with modest furniture and you know I was not happier in the expensive home with expensive furniture than I am where I live today.  Those expensive things are not really for you to enjoy they are you to show off.

The thing that was high on the list of Senior Citizens was not spending enough  time with loved ones.  Reluctantly I have to say I do have some thoughts about that.  Regrets no, but maybe ‘wish’ I had done better.  I took care of my mother the last 18 years she lived.  I tried to avoid the rest of my family because they only came around to get, not give.  I adopted my nephew and I do wish I would had not worked as many hours and spent more time with him as he was growing up.  I do feel I cheated him.  I was fortunate enough to be with both parents when they died.  The rift with my older sister that left us not speaking to one another for nearly 30 years does hurt.  The only constellation is I did try for about ten years to have a relationship with her.  She is now 90 and I am 80 and both confined to home because of health issues and will never be able to see one another again, thank God we resolved our issues through the mail. I would say to young people do whatever it takes to resolve problems with those you love.

Some Senior Citizens regret the bad habits they formed when they were young and have never been able to break them or broke them too late in life, the damage had already been done. I did not smoke, drink or use drugs because I witness how it destroyed my family members.  I do wish I would have paid more attention to my health when I was young and exercised more.  I ignored a lot of signs because I did not want to admit my heart was not as it should be and that I had been cursed with the family disease.  If you young people are doing drugs, drinking too much, ignoring your health know this you are not only hurting yourself you are hurting those that love you now and may love you in the future. 

Many Senior Citizens regret they did not take education seriously.  If that happens to be you it is never to late to get an education.  You may not be one for college, but there are many good technical fields you can go into if properly trained.  Education is one thing no one can take from you.  I do not recommend going in debt to go to school.  There are plenty of State funded programs you can now take advantage of.  I believe having the name Yale, Harvard or Purdue on your diploma will help very few people.

Thirty-eight percent of Senior Citizens said they regret working at a job all their adult life that they hated.  They were afraid to leave because where they were they were making good money.  It is not worth it.  The real reason they stayed was  they were are afraid to take a risk.  I would rather make less money and be happy than make lots of money and have regrets.  You young people had better stop and figure out how many hours you will spend at a place of employment during your lifetime before you sacrifice happiness for more money. 

The Number 2 thing on the list Senior Citizens regretted was the choice they made with their money.  They ran up debt, lived above their means, did not save enough and spent too much on their adult children trying to make their lives easier.  I started out my adult life thinking about the future.  I read in a church bulletin your money should be set aside each and every payday this way 10% for God, 10% for personal savings and you live on the rest and if anything is left at the end of the money it goes in personal savings.  I have practiced that all my life. The only thing I ever bought on credit was a house.  If I wanted something I figured up the cost and began putting that aside and when I could pay cash I got it.  You really enjoy it much more when you are not worried about how you are going to pay the interest and the principle. I had a friend that used a Sears Revolving Charge Card for yeas.  She never was late on a payment then she got cancer.  Sears eventually came to collect the merchandise.  She thought they were going to take back the last thing she had purchased and not paid off.  Sears took everything she had ever purchased on that card that they could find in her house.  She did not realize the old things were the collateral on the new things she purchased on the card.  I learned a good lesson that day.

Now the number one regret of Senior Citizens was worrying about what people would think.  I AM GUILTY! I did not stop worrying about what people would think  until I was 50 years old.  Today I do not care what other people think about me.  I care what God thinks about me.  I cannot please everyone and I no longer try to.  It is my life!  Young people should go after their own life and their own happiness regardless of what others think.  Be who you are and say what you feel.  Those that are hurt by the truth are not your friends anyway.  White Lies in order to get along with someone never works.  The truth eventually surface and always surfaces at the worse time.  Life is shorter than you think, everyone has flaws, everyone is focused on what is best for them rather than what is best for you.  Embrace uncertainty and do not be afraid to make mistakes.   

I spent my life trying to please everyone in my family and my parish.  I realized too late that it is pointless and impossible.  One Sunday I confronted a problem in my parish from the pulpit.  I announced from that Sunday on I will do what God is leading me to do and if you do not like it leave.  The door in this church works both ways and there are a lot of churches in this town for you to go to and ruin.  No one is going to tell me what to preach or not preach any longer, they are not going to tell what programs I should or should not start and they certainly are not going to tell me who they want or do not want in this church or the kind of people they want in OUR church.  This is not OUR church this is God’s church.  My problems stopped immediately. 

BE WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE. BE YOURSELF AND YOU WILL FIND HAPPINESS. BE YOURSELF AND YOU WILL HAVE NO REGRETS WHEN YOU GROW OLD.    

Politicians cannot be trusted before or after they are elected to office.

Edward Snowden proved Government’s (politicians) cannot be trusted – WAKE UP AND MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE !

What keeps a person passive and compliant is fear of repercussions, but once you let go of your attachment to things that do not ultimately matter – money, career, physical safety – you can overcome that fear. The Internet should allow people to experience freedom and explore fully what freedom in a democratic society is all about. Washington is not allowing that to be possible.

I do not want to live in a world where we have no privacy and no freedom, where “Big Brother” might be watching and listening to everything I say and do. I do not think Edward Snowden ever wanted to destroy the NSA, but he did want the people to know what was going on so that the people could decide if they were willing to give up their freedom of privacy.

After Snowden returned to the NSA he went to Japan until 2011. He then returned again to the Dell Corporation assigned to the CIA office in Maryland. If Edward Snowden was the loser, low tech computer operator as the Obama administration portrayed him to be why did NSA, Dell Corporation, CIA and others keep rehiring him over and over again?

In 2012 he was transferred by Dell from Maryland to Hawaii that is where he started downloading the documents he thought the world should see. He realized there was one set of documents that would only be available to him by having access to NSA files so he applied and got a position with Booz Allen Hamilton  which gave him that access. He took a large pay cut in order to secure the job.

In 2013 Edward Snowden requested a few weeks off to receive treatment for his epilepsy. He went to Hong Kong telling none of his family or his girlfriend because he did not want to get them involved in what he was about to do. 

Edward Snowden was staying at a Five Star Hotel, paying with his own personal credit card, using his legal name and was not in hiding as the media and government said. He did not choose Hong Kong so he would have ties with the Chinese mainland government. He chose Hong Kong because he knew it was part of Chinese territory and he believed American Agents would not be as free to operate against him for fear of China getting involved.  He never contacted the Chinese government. His ultimate plan was to seek refuge in Ecuador or Bolivia.

Hong Kong was also attractive to him because it had an elected Democratic government, and it was use to being at odds with a major power – China Mainland. It was also a place where dissenters formed big street protest against China. He felt the people in Hong Kong would be more sympathetic to his cause.

Obama had pledged to protect whistle blowers when he campaigned for President, but he did the opposite once he took office. Obama actually waged a war against whistle blowers. The Obama administration has prosecuted more government leakers under the Espionage Act of 1917 than ALL previous administration in the history of the U.S.A.  I think Snowden believed he had to leave the U.S.A. in order to accomplish what he wanted to do. The man did not and does not want to go to prison – who does?

Let us not forget what the Obama administration tried to do to James Rosen at Fox News. They would have done far more to Edward Snowden. He would have been arrested immediately without bail.  

It would be hard for anyone to deny that the New York Times is pro Obama, but they even came out and said, “The administration has now lost all credibility. President Obama’s ‘Dragnet’ proves he will use any power given him and most likely will abuse it.”  The New York Times back down somewhat after the story was released and said they were only talking about what Obama would do with this one issue. We know Obama has abused his power on MANY issues.

Whistle blowers have been abused and prosecuted under the Obama administration. Journalists have been threatened with jail by intimidation. Laws , ethics, morality nor the Constitution has stopped the Bush or Obama administration from violating U.S. citizens’ rights to privacy.

 How many times have we  read or heard the media say that Edward Snowden  “FLED TO CHINA”? Media was doing what Washington ask them to do even if it was a lie. They made it sound as if Snowden was a secret agent for China.  The governments goal was to turn the American people and the world against Edward Snowden.

Washington was involved in economic espionage and diplomatic spying while condemning China for doing the same thing.  Documents Edward Snowden released proved NSA was spying on Petrobras, the SWIFT banking system, the
Russian oil company Gazprom and the Russian airline Aeroflot strictly for economic reasons. The surveillance had nothing to do with terrorism or national security. How many times have you read about or heard Obama condemn China for economic surveillance? 

Prior to attending the Latin America, energy companies conferences in Mexico and Venezuela our Washington representatives made sure they had all the surveillance NSA had collected on Latin America energy companies which allowed Washington an advantage during the conferences. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden.

NSA employs about thirty thousand employees and that does not count the private contractors. It is estimated 70% of our national intelligence budget is spent on private contractors. In 2010 AT&T was paid to spy on Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Venezuela for the U.S.A.  It is a known fact, thanks to Edward Snowden, that the government , telecommunication companies and tech companies all work together to carry out surveillance. They cooperate with each other to rob us of our Fourth Amendment rights.

NSA does not only pay private contractors for surveillance they pay foreign governments as well. In 2012 they paid the governments of Canada, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand to carry out surveillance for them.  We know this thanks to Edward Snowden. How can we be assured the information these foreign governments give us is accurate. Is this how the “weapons of mass destruction” got started and was used to start a war?

In 2012 Microsoft was advertising they had the ability to guarantee privacy through their new Outlook program. They promised high levels of encryption to its customers. The government became worried and within a few months Microsoft devised methods so NSA could intercept and decrypt the data on Outlook. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden.

The government even has manufacturers to install malware in individual computers before they are sold to the public giving the government complete control of the computer. China does the same thing and the U.S. officials warned U.S. corporations and individuals not to buy computer equipment manufactured in China because they were installing malware at the factory, but we were doing the same thing.  If you bought Chinese products China could monitor you and the U.S. could not so they wanted you to buy U.S. products with U.S. malware installed in them. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden. At the time Edward Snowden released his documents at least 50,000 computers made in the U.S. had this malware installed in them. The New York Times has reported since more than 100,000 computers have this malware installed in them.

NSA has the ability to alter information in your computer even when the computer is not connected to the Internet. We know this thanks to Edward Snowden.

On June 18, 2013, Obama told Charlie Rose: “What I can say unequivocally is that if you are a U.S. person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls … by law and by rule unless they … go to a court and obtain a warrant and seek probable cause, the same way it has always been.” THIS WAS AN OUT AND OUT LIE.

The GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, around the same time told CNN that the NSA, “…is not listening to Americans phone calls. If it did it would be illegal and they would be breaking the law.” THIS WAS AN OUT AND OUT LIE and Edward Snowden proved it.

To be continued …

The government uses fear to make the citizens fall in line

Create fear in people of a common enemy and convince them you are the only source of protection from that enemy and you can gain ultimate control. That technique has been used by the military in basic training for decades. New recruits fear the Drill Instructors and the source of protection from them are your fellow recruits. I was the Barracks Chief at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. I was surprised that the Drill Instructors I knew in private were not the same men when in front of the recruits. They used fear to get the new recruits to depend on each other. Fear is a powerful thing and can be used for good and bad.

9/11 caused Americans to fear. Who could we turn to other than our elected officials for protection? We had no choice but believe the people running our government knew best and the politicians took full advantage of it. We unfortunately did not think for ourselves and began to rely on the government for all our security against terrorism.

My political party – Republican Party – was all for the Patriot Act. That same party espouses the virtues of our Founding Fathers, small government and individual freedoms. Our Founding Fathers would have never supported the Patriot Act, the Patriot Act increased the size of government and the Patriot Act took away some individual freedoms. The Patriot Act led to the NSA abuses which robbed us of some of our guaranteed freedoms.

President Bush shortly after 9/11 signed the Patriot Act. It was done in haste and could not have possibly been well thought out in such a short time. The Patriot Act allowed our government to legally intercept PRIVATE conversations and correspondence and even gave the government the right to enter our homes and businesses for what the Founding Father described as unreasonable search and seizure.  We were willing to accept this intrusion on our privacy for the politicians promise of security at home and abroad from terrorism. There is no such thing as a risk free society.

9/11 was a perfect opportunity for Bill Bratton to gain the fame he so desperately craved. Bill Bratton was a former Boston policeman who became second in command and then went on to become the head of the New York transit police system. Even as a military policeman in Vietnam he had already begun to seek fame.  His colleagues referred to him as an ‘attention seeker’.

If burglaries went up in a particular area he got warrants to bring in every one in the area that had ever been questioned or convicted of burglary. If car robberies went up he set up registrations check points in the area and stop every vehicle. If you did not have the registration papers in the vehicle you went to jail. Crime did decrease, but civil rights were violated. The homeless became a target. New York city citizens complaints against the police department jumped 50%.  The question we all have to ask our selves is what price are we willing to pay for a little more security. Are we willing to tolerate aggressive police tactics (Bill Bratton tactics) and loss of freedoms.

The officials of New York were at first impressed until the law suits were filed and settlements were having to be made out of court in order to reduce losses and two years later Bill Bratton was fired. Bill Bratton moved on to the notorious Los Angeles Police Department as Police Chief.

Following 9/11 people were willing to accept Bill Bratton’s crime-fighting techniques.  People were looking for a PROACTIVE F.B.I., private security force and police force. Most were willing to sacrifice their rights to privacy because of fear. Bill Bratton returned to fame and his police tactics went in to effect in the Federal Government.

I went to a Galveston Bookstore and ask for a book on terrorism and a few days later was visited by two government agents and ask why was I searching for the book. I simply wanted to know as much as I could about what I had to fear. I learned that curious people needed to fear their own government. I had been a supporter of the Patriot Act until then because like many Americans I said over and over if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to fear. Maybe I over reactive, but the visit by government agents instill some fear in me. It seems that since Galveston is a port town extra precautions were being taken in the area.

President Obama and President Bush defended the extensive secret collection of information as critical to fighting terrorist. I believe security had to be stepped up, but I question did they go too far. What I found interesting was Obama saying you can’t have 100% security and 100% freedom. I realized then for sure that just like guerrilla warfare in Vietnam our leaders did not understand terrorism at all. Any American who thinks they are 100% secure are foolish.

In a single vote in 2011 our members of Congress  wiped away what thousands of patriotic Americans died for -- our right to privacy and our freedom of speech. As events in Washington have proven, freedoms lost are hard to regain. The Patriot Act was based on ignorance and fear. We were told the Patriot Act did not curtail any of our rights. We have now found that was not true just as we have found so many things Washington politicians say are not true (Iran Deal). Ben Franklin agreed with the statement: "Those who give up their liberty for more security neither deserve liberty nor security." Politicians are often ill informed (weapons of mass destruction). Human history has proven there will never be an honest excuse for giving away our freedoms.

I will not vote for a politician that voted for the Patriot Act which took away Americans freedoms and then turns around and ask us to support ‘Open Borders’ or ‘Path to Citizenship’ or ‘Amnesty for Illegals’  or welcoming Syrian refugees into America.  This alone is enough for me to vote for Donald Trump.

What will history say about today's Christians?

There once were Christians that people may not have understood and did not follow, but they were interested in what these Christians had to say. They were inspired by these strange people called Christians. People would stop and listen to what they had to say instead of running away as they do today.

People were astonished at the courage of these early Christians. Just two months after Jesus’ crucifixion they were willing to preach the gospel to anyone that would listen knowing they could be executed for doing so.

Peter and John were arrested for spreading the words of Jesus. They were jailed and brought before the religious leaders. They stood strong and refused to back down. Fearing a riot the religious leaders let them go with a warning to stop speaking of Jesus. They refused to accept the religious leaders terms.

They leave and immediately meet with a group of followers of “The Way” Christians. The first prayer meeting ever recorded was held on that day. They prayed for God to give them the strength to continue to speak of Jesus with great boldness, fearlessness and confidence in spite of facing all kinds of percussion. They prayed big prayers unlike us that tend to pray small prayers.

Will history say we faced difficult times, but did not fear?  Will history say we remained confident, engaged, not divisive, not judgmental, loving and kind? Will history say the worse things got the better we got and the world was a better place because we were among them? 

Christians today need to remember we do not just go to church we are the church. We may be the only contact nonbelievers will ever have with Christ. We have to let them know we are Christians by the way we live our lives. Will history say people wanted to listen to us or that people wanted to avoid us because we were prejudice, judgmental, selfish, prideful and condemning.  Are we giving people a reason to want to be a Christian or not?  

You can and do face fear and faith at the same time

How many times has a brother or sister in Christ or a misguided preacher told you that if you are a Christian you cannot fear and have faith because they are total opposites? The problem with foolish statements like that is we are human and humans have emotion and fear is an emotion. You do not have to choose to live in fear that takes control of your life because you can trust God to be with you in all circumstances, but the emotions of fear, love, jealousy, greed are natural emotions which God allows into our lives.  

For practical purposes fear is the enemy of hope and IS the opposite of faith, but we have to deal with reality. There will be times in life when we will all side with one or the other fear/faith. Fear can be good. One of the first things I was told when arriving in Vietnam was fear those that claim they do not fear for they will get you killed. Faith can be misplaced at times for instance taking literally we can move mountains with our words of faith. If you have FAITH you do not need to live in fear that paralyzes you from moving forward or taking a chance you know you should take. The faith I want and I want you to have is the God-given strength to face down uncertainty and doubt and move forward down the path He is leading us.

Fear will keep you from living the life God created you for. It will keep you up at night with thoughts of facing the new day without the courage to change and fear will rob you of opportunities. We were not meant to live in fear, but fear can be so paralyzing it can be hard to imagine rising up from beneath it. We know as Christians we shouldn’t feel the way we do and can be determine to overcome it, only to find ourselves frozen over and over again in fear.

Faith is the answer for common fear. Faith is an action word, a verb. Faith is so much more than a simple belief. We read in James 2:20,” …faith without action is useless.” The more active our faith becomes the less confining our fear will be.  Little steps of faith each day snowball into a dynamic and rich faith that helps us face fear when it comes and it will come.  

Before you start lecturing Christians on fear and faith think about this. A Christian man was crucified by a jihadist group which took control of Yemen’s southerly province of Abyan. The man was crucified on an electric pylon. His bloated corpse showed that the body had been there for several days in the hot middle-eastern sun. A sign above his head stated that those ‘who wage war’ against Allah and the Prophet Mohammed ‘shall be killed or crucified.’ Are you as brave and faithful as you thought you were?

Faith says you may be able to kill me but God can give me eternal life. Faith says I may have to live alone, or walk alone, but I am not lonely because God is my security, God is my companion, and when I am alone, I can commune with God because He surrounds me. Faith says you can take the house, the car, and the job, but God provided them in the first place and, just as He provided them before, He can provide them again. Faith can win over fear, but you must remain focused on God at all times and I am not saying it will always be easy. God did not promise easy He only promise to be with us at all times.

I recently was reminded while dealing daily with health issues, 5 hour brown outs and 12 plus hours of no running water in Davao, Philippines that despite all the suffering that Paul endured, he understood that there was a bigger picture. Looking at that big picture and not focusing on our problems can allow us to feel peaceful even though the waves are crashing around us. What seem to be major daily problems to me did not seem to bother my Filipino neighbors. I discovered that I had begun to walk by sight and not by faith and was allowing the problems I saw rob me of God’s peace.  I was focusing on things (inconveniences) and not God.

It is easy to live in fear today with all the uncertainties we face – fear of economic collapses, fear of terrorist attack, fear of drive by shootings, fear of losing our jobs, fear of having costly medical bills, fear of running out of money before we die, etc. We have gotten so used to living with anxiety and fear that we sometimes forget that there is an answer.  I’ve discovered as my faith increases my fears and anxiety decreases. My faith increases when I focus on God!

I would like to throw in a little non-theological thought to cause us that were born and raised in First World Western Countries to possibly think about another cause of our fear. I have witness the differences first hand in the Third World Countries I have live in among the people. If Western people had something more to live for than materialism and entertainment then we could overcome the fear of hard economic times easier. But, for most Westerners, “building a life” means buying a home, building up a bank account and accumulating as big a pile of possessions as possible. When the good times are gone, very large percentages of Westerner totally lose it and think that life is not worth living anymore.

What about you? Are you going to give in to fear or are you going to have something to live for when and if that day arrives?

I can promise you every individual living today will have to decide how they will respond to the fears we face in our world today. I hope all Christians reading this will remember our Savior Jesus was not a coward he walked boldly into Jerusalem knowing He was about to be crucified. The strength of the Father gave Jesus His strength and He will give us our strength in difficult times. God did not promise us easy He only promised to be us in good and bad times.

I know it is easy to say do not fear and often hard to accomplish it, but faith can ease fear. If you can trust God in good times you can trust God in bad times. We will live in uncertainty in this world, but we do not have to live in constant fear. The degree of fear we have is a choice we make and depends on the amount of faith we have.

Is your Christianity worth you dying for – thousands are dying around the world for Christianity – for their faith. I would imagine the Christians in Kenya, Iraq and Syria are wondering what Christians in First World Countries really have to fear.  

Should we give up our culture/tradition to appease Muslims?

Some politically correct politicians in Italy made a decision to cover up nude statues from Roman antiquity during a visit by President Hassan Rouhani of Iran. Some of Italy’s political leaders were willing to ignore their national identity in order not to offend Rouhani, Iran and the Muslim world.  Many of the citizens of Italy are rightly upset. They also hid the wine! Once again a non-Islamic government gave in to Islam. This is not the first time Italy has done this. During an official Saudi Arabia visit to Italy they covered up all the nude modern art.

The statues, in a corridor leading to a grand hall in Rome’s renowned Capitoline Museums, were covered in tall white boxes ahead of a news conference that Mr. Rouhani held on Monday with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy. Rouhani and Renzi say they did not ask for it to be done. The director of the museum says Prime Minister Renzi did request they be covered so as not to offend Rouhani. Some media reports suggested the Iranian delegation had asked Italian officials to hide the statues to avoid Mr. Rouhani any potential embarrassment in Iran.  Maybe they should have held the news conference at McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken – no pork and no nude statues.

One Italian newspaper reported that in the grand hall at the Capitoline where the two leaders spoke, the lectern was moved to the side — not the front — of an equestrian statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius to avoid having images of the horse’s genitals appear in news photographs.

One of the statues was the “Capitoline Venus,” a Roman copy of a legendary fourth century B.C. work by Praxiteles; some of the other sculptures were of ancient Greek and Roman gods, dressed minimally, if at all. I understand an austere Islamic government that promotes chastity and piety was visiting a country with a largely secular culture that has a reputation for embracing life’s pleasures, but I believe St. Ambrose said in 387 A.D., “When in Rome do as the Romans do.”

On May 13, 2015 a group of Islamic youth bullied, threaten and insulted a Catholic group in Northern Italy. The young Muslim’s were immigrants, not citizens of Italy, and they certainly did not care if Catholics were offended when they interrupted a Catholic procession in honor of the Virgin Mary. No charges were ever filed against the young men. It seems Obama and Prime Minister Renzi is more concerned about not offending Muslims than they are the citizens of their own countries.

Mr. Rouhani, 67, comes from a religious family, but he has a Ph.D. in law from Glasgow Caledonian University, in Scotland, and is not known as a religious hard-liner. Iran’s politics are extremely complex and religious matters are carefully policed by the theocratic regime that exercises ultimate power in Tehran. The supreme leader is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Public depictions of nudity are forbidden in Iran, but Mr. Rouhani was not in Iran he was in Rome, Italy. I do not know about you, but it frightens me that some world leaders expect their citizens to adopt Islamic customs, traditions and beliefs while ignoring our own in order not to upset Muslims.

It seems obvious to me some Italian political leaders put economic interests (18 billion dollars in new contracts) ahead of cultural legacy, just as Obama put his presidential legacy ahead of the safety of the American people when he negotiated his secret deal with Iran.

The covered statues were icons of classicism and models of humanism and are the foundation of European and Mediterranean culture and civilization. To cover them in order to satisfy Iran and not offend the Iranian citizens they offended their own Italian citizens. I think they offended most of the world tourist that went to Rome to see the statues and just happen to have made the mistake of traveling to Rome when Mr. Rouhani was there.  

Thank God Pope Francis did not cover the crucifixes when he greeted Rouhani at the Vatican.  I am not ashamed of Western culture. I do not want to bow to Iran’s demand or any other countries demands. If I went to Iran I would follow theirs laws, culture and traditions as long as I did not have to deny my Christian faith. I expect the Iranians not to demand or request I ignore the laws, culture and traditions of my own country when they are guest in my country. Respect for others cultures should not mean denying our own.

The French experienced some awkwardness in hosting Mr. Rouhani. In November, during a visit by the Iranian president and Iranian government officials when they refused to attend an official luncheon at the Élysée Palace, reportedly after the Iranians learned wine was to be served to the guest that requested it. Wine with meals is expected in France. The French officials refused to give in to Iran’s demand and served wine.

Italy’s Prime Ministers accommodation to the Iranians should be as embarrassing to the Italians as it was to Americans when Obama bowed to the Saudi King when he first took office. It seems Obama and other world leaders are more concerned over offending Muslims than they are in protecting their own citizens from a repeat of 9/11 or any other attack that these murderous thugs are planning. And yes they are still planning attacks against our country and other countries.

I do not believe what the Prime Minister of Italy did was for accommodation purposes I believe it was an act of submission! It makes no difference if you face reality and utter the politically incorrect words “radical Islamic Muslims” or not the fact is on 9/11 those who killed and destroyed were Muslims and killed in the name of Islam. Yet, the fact that the killers were Muslim and killed in the name of Islam is not only at the center of why we were attacked, but it is the ONLY explanation for the reason we were attacked.

It has become so ingrained in world leaders psyche to not offend Muslims that we cannot mention anything bad about radical Islamic Muslims even if it is true. They are now using it as a weapon against us so called infidels. The fear of offending radical Islamic Muslims has given the terrorists who killed so many in terrorist attacks a victory over our people, our country and the non-Islamic nations of the world. The fear of offending Muslims has in some respects almost crippled our country and as a result has given terrorism a victory over us and our nation.

I will never condone the burning of the Koran, damaging mosque, discriminating against all Muslims or denying them their Constitutional rights.  But, I do not believe our Founders ever intended for the Constitution to be used as a weapon of the politically correct. Those Constitutional rights were never intended to be used as a weapon to condone wrong.

We are so concerned about offending Muslims that we will not call the Islamic radicals who killed on 9/11 “radical Islamic Muslims”, we will cover valuable and beautiful art work that is nude or partially nude, we will not serve wine at meals and we will forgo our own culture and traditions all for the sake of not offending Muslims, but they do not care how much they offend Christianity, Judaism or other religions.  We will either defend our people and our nation against radical Islamic terrorist or we will bend over and let them do whatever they want to us and one day we will live in constant FEAR!  We cannot allow fear of being attack to allow wrong to take over the world.

Fear and intimidation is the tool of terrorism and whether it is done with planes, guns or words or demanding accommodation it has the same affect. It forces those who kowtow to that fear and intimidation into submission and allows the perpetrators of terror to have their way no matter what the consequences are.

Americans know the difference between the Muslim radicals and the moderates. We know the difference between those who follow Islam as a religion and those who use it as a weapon to kill. We do not need to be reminded on a daily basis on how to be tolerant of Muslims. We do not need to be reminded daily that there are Muslims who live in the United States as good citizens and do not follow the ideas of the radicals. We as a nation do not need to bend over and ,”tolerate,” Muslims to the point that we are afraid to even mention the word Muslim or the religion of Islam without fear of offending someone or being accused of being racist.

We are told by Obama that we need to be sensitive to the feelings of Muslim. WHAT ABOUT THE FEELINGS OF THE FAMILIES AND AMERICANS WHO STILL REMEMBER 9/11 and that in 2014 there were 2999 radical Muslim Islamic attacks in 55 countries, in which 32262 people were killed and 27522 injured?

Our leaders manipulate us and we allow it.

We think we live in a democracy. We think ultimate power rest with us the people. We think our leaders are our servants, accountable to us the people and doing what we want, making decisions for the greater good of all. We think that because our religious leaders, political leaders, corporate leaders and media leaders have cleverly led us to believe we are still in control when we are not.

Media has become a monopoly. Only a handful of multinationals own and control the majority of mainstream media outlets. We are given the information they want us to have. They tell us the conclusion we are supposed to reach.  Mainstream media is now mass produced, corporate friendly, political friendly (liberal/conservative) and unchallenged. The information channels that most people use in democratic societies are becoming more distorted and are eroding democracy.

Our political leaders don't care about democracy. Why should they? After all, being accountable to the people only reduces their power. ObamaCare, national debt, balanced budget, gun control and Presidential Executive Orders are prime examples of that. George Orwell said, "No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of power is power."  Government leaders and big business leaders are bedfellows, with ex-politicians often sitting on the boards of big companies, the business community is able to unduly and undemocratically influence the legislative process, steering our legal system towards a corporate controlled state. Political leaders and corporate leaders work hand in hand to erode democracy because that is in their interest. When will we wake up to the fact that we are merely a pseudo-democracy? Some might argue that we are this already.

Why would corporate leaders put people first when their ultimate goal is to maximize profits? When it comes to what is best for the people and profit they will always put profit before people. C.E.O’s do not lose sleep when they move manufacturing overseas and layoff hundreds of people if it increases profit. The decision by General Motors to manufacture the Buick Envision in China is a slap in the face to American taxpayers who bailed GM out of bankruptcy in 2008. General Motors does not care what American's think they are banking we will be stupid enough to purchase the Envision SUV and once again put our greed above what is good for America and its people.

We need to realize that whenever any group of people, even religious leaders, have a disproportionate influence over government policy democracy suffers. There are no exceptions. When religious leaders have access to millions upon millions of dollars without accountability to the government like the rest of us they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders live in multi-million dollar estates provided by their ministry, free of income tax, they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders can threaten political leaders with excommunication and block votes they have disproportionate influence.

If we want to live in societies that are democracies only in name, bearing all the attributes of dictatorships, then we only need to carry on in the direction we are headed. If that is what we want, then we will have it soon, sooner than we think. When we can no longer be critical of political, religious, corporate and media leaders without being accused of being racist, bigots, prejudice, politically incorrect and un-American we are no longer living in a democracy.

We need to understand exactly how we are manipulated into doing the bidding of our leaders, against our own interest. We need to understand the methods of manipulation:

Media ownership is central to the manipulation of the people. Manipulate the people, and you manipulate their vote. You either control the media by owning it or by doing favors for those who own it. In the United States, large corporations own the media and they receive favors from the government in the form of influence over legislation and special tax breaks. Only five mega-media corporations control almost all of the U.S. media, which is why American’s are becoming among the most brainwashed people in the world.

The war against terror has allowed political leaders to take freedoms from the people under the guise of "national security" and "protection". The politicians want the war on terror to seem unwinnable because it serves those who want power. Fear is one of the greatest manipulators of people. Create fear in the minds of the people and they fall in line – fear of hell, fear of crime, fear of terrorist, fear of layoff, fear of guns, fear of police, etc. Herman Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Control language and you control people's thoughts – political correctness. The elimination of selected words is a prerequisite for the control of the people. Radical Muslim Terrorist, Illegal Aliens, Christmas and the list goes on. Political correctness has corrupted the news media, universities, business, Congress, politics, etc. Political correctness is a tool used to limit thought in education, science, and culture by intimidation and coercion.

Politicians use patriotism to manipulate and control. As long as people are patriotic, they will overlook the sins of their government, both towards their own people and towards other those in other countries.

The promise of eternal life and the threat of hell has been one of the greatest manipulator of people than any other form of manipulation in history. The Roman Catholic Church has even apologized for its abusive past, but that does not necessarily mean their apology will have much effect on their future behavior. Anything "fundamentalist" just means that ideology is being put in front of people and is a recipe for individual and mass abuse.

It is untrue that only the uneducated can be manipulated. Some believe that the educated are actually the easiest to manipulate because they have been trained to process so much information that they often become less critical. The educated also tend to need an opinion on everything. Students in the past were more revolutionary and questioned society more on serious matters than they do today. It seems the main issues for students today are what foods are served in the cafeteria.

Politicians never admit a lie they simply keep repeating it until the people believe it. Obama administration said over an over Benghazi was the results of a video; Hillary did not send or receive classified information on unsecured Internet; Obama if you want to keep your doctor and your insurance you can; Bill Clinton I did not have sex with that woman; Richard Nixon I am not a crook; Obama I didn’t call the Islamic State a ‘JV’ team; John McCain met with Islamist State terrorists; Obama Republicans have filibustered 500 pieces of legislation; Paul Ryan a boy didn’t want a government lunch but one in a brown paper bag; Mitch McConnell took $600,000 from anti-coal groups; Republican cuts to Ebola research are killing people, etc.

Politicians are using unnecessary secrecy as a means to keep truth from surfacing and manipulate the people. Every government needs to have some level of secrecy in military matters to protect its boarders and its people. But when this is used to withhold information from the people which is not necessary for national security then the use of classify information is being abused. This is now happening on a daily basis because politicians do not consider the voters right to know to be important.

Leading politicians know exactly how to duck their way out of sticky situations by setting up a string of fall guys and girls. Obama has proven to be an expert at this. Master manipulators are great at throwing up smokescreens and being evasive. The people are continually manipulated into thinking the problem is everyone except the leader.

One of the simplest ways to control the information going to the media is to control which reporters have access to the source of information. Reporters were manipulated during recent middle-east conflicts when they were embedded with the military personnel on the battlefield. They were dependent on the forces they were embedded with for protection in hostile environments. It is doubtful you will be critical of the hand that is feeding and protecting you.

Above are but a few of the methods used to manipulate society. Anytime we allow ourselves to be manipulated we lose power. It is naïve to think leaders always put the people’s interest first! The leaders of Greece wanted to win elections regardless of what was in the best interest of Greece and you see what happen. The Democrats are known for buying votes with welfare programs regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States – national debt. Republicans and Democrats do not take a stand on immigration because they want the Hispanic vote regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States. 

Note: An example of political manipulation of citizens Carpio claims the U.S. presence in the Philippines will boost Philippine defense against China. Senator Santiago claims the U.S. is responsible for the Philippines being weak when it comes to their military.

The U.S. will protect their equipment and personnel in the Philippines against China's aggression so Carpio is partly right. But, as any nation would the U.S. will do what is in the best interest of the U.S. when it comes to China. 

Senator Santiago needs to blame Philippine politicians for the weak military and poverty in the Philippines. Corrupt Filipino politicians are responsible for both. The U.S. has protected and have personnel stationed in Japan, Germany and South Korea and all three countries are not faced with the poverty problems as the Philippines is and all three have strong military units and all three are INDEPENDENT of the U.S. and the leaders of Germany, Japan and South Korea do not blame all their problems on their people clinging to colonial ideas.  Senator Santiago is right the agreement between the U.S. and Philippines is made weaker because the U.S. does not recognize it as a treaty.

You are marrying their past if you want to admit it or not.

Today more and more people are getting married without knowing anything about their partner’s present family or their childhood family relationships. I could not begin to tell you the number of times I have been told, “I am not marrying his or her family I am marrying them.”  You are marrying his or her past childhood family relationships and sometimes present family relationships if you want to admit it or not. We learn how to live in relationships from our families.

Here is a true story from a man whose father was an alcoholic, ““I want so much to trust that love isn’t going to cost me in the long run. I grew up with a father who loved me to death when he was sober, but beat me when he was drunk. I tried to anticipate when it would be safe to be close to him, but I was usually wrong. He had two sides, as I guess most people do, but they were nothing like each other. I still always wanted his approval and I think I’m looking for that in my relationships. But I keep pulling away when someone gives too much. I keep waiting to be clobbered. Better just not to get too close.”

That anticipation of waiting to be clobbered prevented him from establishing trust in any personal relationship. Anyone who marries him, without him working out his own childhood demons, is marrying remnants of his father. If you think that is not important to your relationship or marriage you have better think again.

I am the product of a good man who was an alcoholic. People would have thought our life was charmed, but it wasn’t. My mother was an enabler and taught us at an early age how to keep the family secret. He provided all the material things we could possibly ever need or want. Our emotional needs were never met. It was like walking on egg shells in our home. We never knew what would set him off. There was no physical abuse, but there was mental abuse, name calling, humiliation, cursing, etc. If you think mental abuse cannot be as damaging as physical abuse you are wrong. I think you can get over childhood physical abuse easier than mental abuse.

I knew from the time I started dating that something was wrong with me when it came to maintaining personal relationships, but I could not put my finger on the problem. I reasoned that I became bored easily and always wanted something new. Years later I was in Galveston, Texas and picked up a small book in a used bookstore title, “Children of alcoholics”. I thumbed through the book and was intrigued. I purchased the book and went to a nearby park and sat down and read the entire book. I finally knew what was wrong with me, my childhood family relationships, had doomed my future relationships.

I learned when children are raised in environments where love is associated with fear, they have only two choices. The first is to tolerate the pain in order to get the love that goes with it and the second is to run from the pain and go without love. I was like a deer in headlights and had hoped that things would resolve themselves and it was not happening.  I had no problem attracting love, but I always ran before the anticipated betrayal occurred.  If there was to be any breaking up I wanted to be the one to end the relationship. I could not handle rejection.

I would always begin the relationship giving the love I did not get from my father, but in the back of my mind the fear of rejection loomed. I would test my partner to see if they really loved me. The testing needless to say always damaged the relationship.

This is the response of the partner to the young man I mentioned earlier, “I think I’m doing everything to make him feel loved and cared for, but just when I’m gaining ground, he finds just one thing I did wrong and sees me as having a hidden agenda to rip him off. Sometimes he tells me he’s never felt so loved and accepted and that’s what keeps me going. Then, he turns on me. It’s so incredibly frustrating. I don’t know how much more I can give and never be trusted.” This could easily have been the comments of any of my partners.

I wanted to trust my partner without being in control of my every thought and action, but I felt more secure with them knowing the least they could about my needs and desires, because I felt that gave them less control over me. Every time I seem to open up and let my partner in I got hurt. If I wasn’t hurting I was wondering when they would hurt me. I generally would run before they had a chance to do so.   

It is hard to believe that my being hard to get close to actually attracted some people to me. I guess it was a challenge for them, a game to see who would win. The harder they tried the more I looked for a reason to run. I feared being dominated. The sad thing is some of them, maybe most of them, may have been sincere in their love for me and had no interest in controlling me. I may have misread their trying to be close to me as wanting to control me. If that was the case I was the looser.  

I never wanted to be obligated to anyone and always felt if my partner gave me too much I would be obligated to them. Whatever they gave me I had to give better in return in order not to feel obligated. So many times I have mentioned I wanted something and when my partner wanted to get it for me I would pretend I no longer wanted it. I always made sure that my partner was getting more out of the relationship than me because I did not want to feel trapped or owing when I did run.

I was familiar with past relationships where I was burned by people who used coercion, guilt, or threats to try and keep me in a relationship and I did not want to repeat those experiences. I had accepted their offers of attention and gifts only to find out later that those behaviors were attached to expected entitlements in return.

I began to build relationships with people I knew were weaker than me, had less than me, were not as intelligent as me thinking they would not try to control me. If there was to be any controlling done I would be the controller. That did not work because the relationships did not stimulate me.

People who have had their boundaries violated as children or in prior relationships build strong walls around them. They feel that the only way they are safe is to never let a partner know what they are feeling. They especially, do not want a partner to know or think they may need them. It makes no difference that we may want to be loved and feel secure we just cannot do it because of the fear of rejection. It is hard work pretending you do not care as much as you do.

We may act as if nothing our partners offer matters that much, but secretly inside it matters a lot. Outwardly we can act quite indifferent when inwardly we are enjoying the gifts. We have to keep our guard up at all times for the anticipated rejection that surely will come later. We may act like separation does not matter when in reality it feels like our world is ending.

When a person can’t love because of childhood trauma, past failures or anticipation of hurt, they are frustrating to their partners. Human beings live in harmony by creating an atmosphere of giving and receiving. They learn rhythms of sharing and exchange that builds trust and future expectations. When one person gives and the other either doesn’t take it, or pretends not to, the imbalance will eventually harm the relationship.

If you are a person who cannot let love in, you can change. The first step is to recognize what you are doing. The second is to share those underlying reasons and your desire to change with your current partner if you are in a relationship. The third is to challenge your old behaviors as you observe them happening and choose to take a different path. Over time and with lots of work - I found counseling extremely helpful - your interactions will become more authentic, you will begin to feel the joy of living your life without the need to protect yourself by keeping love away.

I am not saying that a time will come when you do not have to work at not reverting back to your old ways, at least I did not find that to be the case. You may also begin to over compensate like I did and tend to stay in toxic relationships far too long because you want to make sure you are not slipping back into your old patterns. 

Those that are thinking of marrying a person that you know nothing about their family interactions or childhood and think they are not important let me warn you - you are making a terrible mistake and if you do not think it matters you are living in a fantasy world.

Those from dysfunction background need to get help before they marry after they marry it is generally too late.

Summary killings are a crime regardess of who does it.

A free society regardless if it is a Federalist or Democratic cannot allow elected officials or their agents to perpetuate violence upon people they suspect of committing a crime. If we do we eventually will have to look over our shoulders to see if we are being watched. Politicians are eager to capitalize on our fears.

It is becoming more common for police and elected officials to see themselves as judge and jury dispensing inappropriate summary justice on the streets. It is also becoming more common for citizens to look the other way because they fear crime taking over their community. The Constitution does not allow those who are there to enforce the law to be put in the position of becoming judge and jury.

Politicians are supposed to make the laws, police officers are supposed to enforce the laws and the judiciary is supposed to determine what happens when evidence is presented to them of lawbreaking. This separation has become blurred over the last few years as more and more politicians are winning elections playing on the fears of the citizens, but citizens need to understand we will eventually lose our freedom if we allow this to continue. Americans or citizens of any country must never sacrifice their liberty for false security.

Politicians will claim that the reason they act as they do is because the judicial system is flawed and criminals are not being convicted. That is not justification to ignore the constitution and laws. Politicians should be taking action to reform the judicial system not become judge, jury and executor of suspected criminals. When politicians and police become judge, jury and executor they also become criminals.

I am not sure killing drug dealers without giving them an opportunity to have their day in court or offering any rehabilitation programs or adequate rehabilitation programs is a humane process. This subject is very personal to me and I realize my views may be influenced by personal family experiences. My brother who died in 2004 of cancer in the ninth grade started smoking marijuana. He did use and sell marijuana to friends to supply his needs. He could have been a victim of summary street justice. He was fortunate that he received a trial and spent time in prison. He got out opened a business and became quite successful, married and raised a family. I just do not think any elected official or police officer would have been justified of robbing him of his life.

I do not accept the end justifies the means. I do not accept short cutting the legal procedure as a valid solution to crime. I do accept and whole heartily believe those involved in summary killing are criminals themselves and should be tried in the judicial system they flaunt. Their sentence should be severe since they are suppose to be role models for regular citizens.  

I realize a lot of citizens disagree with me.

We know that some who have been sentence to death for crimes were eventually found to be innocent. Mistakes are made even when the accused is given a 'fair' trial. How many suspected criminals killed by summary killers were innocent and they were denied a 'fair' trial.

What is the difference in Martial Law and summary killings? Both deny suspects of their international human rights. Politicians involved in or who encourage summary killing cannot guarantee laws will apply equally to all.

A society that does not demand that their police officers who shoot without legal justification face conviction are condoning summary killing. A policeman recently shot a young man in Chicago 16 times killing him. The young man is said to have had a knife in each hand while walking down the street. It took one year before the Chicago elected officials brought charges against the policeman and they only did so after pressure from the black community was put on them. How can any society justify 16 shots by one policeman in one victim?

The 6th Amendment states: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…” The right to a jury trial was designed by our founders to be a fundamental right bestowed upon our citizens and a means to keep the government under control of the people.

When a defendant exercises his right to a jury trial, it is the jury of his peers that decides whether the defendant is guilty or not. In these circumstances a great deal of control is relinquished by the government and put into the hands of the citizens.

The right to trial by jury takes the control of the outcome of a criminal case away from the government and gives it to the citizens. This right, though it has its limitations, is essential in maintaining liberty and imposing restraint on the government.

Let us not forget the summary killings in the South perpetrated by the KKK. The membership of KKK consisted of a lot of Southern policemen and politicians. They were self-appointed vigilantes who regarded themselves as both outside and above the law when they perpetrated their crimes. Do we want to return to those days?

The KKK did largely bring their barbaric justice to the black communities in the south, but blacks were not the only ones lynched by the KKK. They lynched Jews, foreigners, rapist (black or white), northerners, wife beaters (black and white), Catholics, homosexuals, communists and thief’s (black and white). I am sure today drug dealers and drug users would be their victims. They were white men, consisting of a lot of politicians, that thought they knew best how to deal with society’s problems. Their illegal actions were accepted by the citizens out of fear of the blacks which then became fear of any and all suspected law breakers or people they disagreed with in general.

At an early age I was introduced to public officials acting as judge, jury and executors. I was twelve and went to spend the summer with relatives in Alabama. My cousin by marriage was the sheriff. One Saturday night his son and I were allowed to ride with him in the patrol car.  He arrested a young black man for “standing” on the corner in the downtown area at night. He put the young man in the back of his patrol car under the pretense of carrying him to jail.

On the way to the jail we stopped for coffee at the local café. He opened the back door of the patrol car and he told the Blackman to stay in the car while he drank coffee. The car door was left opened.  I kept watching the man from the café window and later I realized my cousin was watching to. I finally had the courage to ask what if he gets out of the car and runs away. His reply came with a hardy laugh, “I hope the ‘nigger’ is that stupid then I will shoot him and we do not have to take him to jail.” The young man was smart enough not to run and he was turned lose in the café parking lot. A few years later he was returning for the summer from college in Tuskegee and got off the bus on the highway and was taken by the KKK and lynched.  That is what they did to 'uppity niggers' that went to college. I have never forgotten that and have since had a real distaste for injustice regardless of who inflicts it - bullies, police officer, politicians, judges, religious leaders or citizens.