TheOzarksChronicle.com Blog

Sunday sermon

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:00:00 +0000

The Constitution Party has principles, unlike others

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:57:00 +0000

I wish now that I had voted for the Constitution Party, which I was thinking about doing. I voted for McCain because I figured that voting for the Constitution Party would be the equivalent of voting for the liberal Democrat, who won anyway, so we've got 4-8 years of fighting for the rights of the unborn, fighting increased taxation, fighting for free speech, etc.

The Constitution Party has principles with which I agree. I think they are values and beliefs that most Ozarkers and most Missourians also hold. Here, from the party website, are those principles:

Seven Principles of the Constitution Party are:
1. Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural death;
2. Liberty: Freedom of conscience and actions for the self-governed individual;
3. Family: One husband and one wife with their children as divinely instituted;
4. Property: Each individual's right to own and steward personal property without government burden;
5. Constitution: and Bill of Rights interpreted according to the actual intent of the Founding Fathers;
6. States' Rights: Everything not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government is reserved for the state and local jurisdictions;
7. American Sovereignty: American government committed to the protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of Americans, and not entangled in foreign alliances.

I joined the party's mailing list. It's free, so I'll study on this awhile before I actually join up. Maybe you'd like to do the same.

Why Obama was elected

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:00:00 +0000

Because most voters were like this moron:

Won't they all be surprised to find out the truth?

Adverse reaction to payday loan companies

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0000

Lots of folks don't like payday loan companies, as you can see if you click here, but Rolla residents apparently like them quite a bit. How else can you explain the proliferation of them in our town, as this web log shows?

Sunday sermon

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:41:00 +0000

I love to listen to gospel music, whether it's bluegrass, Southern, acapella, Black or country.

When I was a kid, there was a lot of gospel music on the radio, especially on Sunday mornings on multiple radio stations. There's not so much on the radio nowadays, at least not around Rolla, Mo., but we are fortunate to have one fantastic program, Sunday Morning Sounds, on one fantastic radio station, public radio KMST. It airs from 7-9 a.m. and thanks to streaming audio you can hear it anywhere in the world with a computer and a good connection to the 'net.

Years ago when I wrote a fairly regular column for the local newspaper, I said that the two hours of Sunday Morning Sounds were better than an hour of preaching. I stand by that statement although I will amend that to say that I not only listen to the two hours of Sunday Morning Sounds, but I also go to Sunday School for an hour and a worship service for an hour. Those four hours of attention to the Lord Jesus Christ and his birth, life, death and resurrection (along with daily Bible reading and prayer) keep me going. I'm not what you'd call a good Christian; in fact, I'm pretty rough-edged, but just think what I'd be without those four hours on Sunday.

How about you? Why not pick up a copy of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John and get to know Jesus Christ. He'll give you a newborn soul if you'll make him the Lord of your life.

I started another blog about Rolla

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:07:00 +0000

Take a look at my new blog about Rolla and let me know what you think about it.

Freezing last night

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:14:00 +0000

The low at our place last night was 28 degrees.

Delisting of GateHouse begins

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:43:00 +0000

The Central New York Business Journal reports the New York Stock Exchange is beginning the process of delisting GateHouse Media.

In spite of a plan filed by GateHouse Media, Inc. to return the company's stock to listing standards, the New York Stock Exchange's regulatory arm announced Monday the stock will be suspended before the market opens Friday.
NYSE Regulation, Inc., which handles regulation for the exchange, will also begin the process to delist GateHouse from the exchange. The company owns a number of newspapers in the area including The Observer-Dispatch in Utica.

And today Google Finance reported GateHouse closed at 18 cents per share, up from its 52-week low of 15 cents.

I don't think any of this has ever been reported in the Rolla Daily News, the St. James Leader-Journal or the St. Robert Daily Guide, which are owned by GateHouse.

Fleeing GateHouse

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:35:00 +0000

Editor & Publisher reports GateHouse is being abandoned by a big investor:

San Francisco investor Jeffrey G. Edwards, who had been the second-biggest single stakeholder in GateHouse Media Inc., disclosed Tuesday that he has sold off virtually all his holdings in the community newspaper publisher.

Through JGE Capital Management LLC and East Peak Partners LLC, Edwards had controlled 6,466,600 shares of stock, or 11.1% of outstanding shares, according to GateHouse's 2008 annual proxy. That stake was surpassed only by GateHouse's principal owner, Fortress Investment Holdings LLC, which owned 41.9%, according to the proxy.

Why does the phrase "rats deserting a sinking ship" come to my mind?

GateHouse owns papers in Rolla, St. Robert and St. James around these parts, and I understand there are several openings in the newsrooms if any of you are interested in an exciting career in journalism.

GateHouse also owns papers in southwest Missouri and throughout Missouri.

Piano player puts Christ first, ethnicity second

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:15:00 +0000

I received an e-mail today with an attachment from an article investigated by Snopes and found to be accurate.

The attachment was an e-mail that a Christian concert pianist named Huntley Brown had sent to his friends. Mr. Brown is a black man, and he wrote, in part:

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.

I can't vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.

Snopes wrote to Brown to verify that he had written the essay. In his reply, Mr. Brown said he had no intention of seeing his e-mail to his friends so widely circulated. He made some additions, though, and I was struck by this observation by Mr. Brown:

What has really bothered me is our beautiful black women constitute only 6% of the population, yet they comprise 36% of the abortion industry's clientele. Obama has done nothing to stop this. Most people don't know that the leading abortion providers have chosen to exploit us blacks by locating 94% of their abortuaries in urban neighborhoods with high black populations. Obama has done nothing to stop this.

GateHouse sets 52-week low

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:13:00 +0000

According to Google Finance, GateHouse Media set its 52-week low Friday when it closed at 15 cents per share.

GateHouse publishes daily and weekly newspapers in Rolla, St. James, St. Robert, Camdenton and other towns in the Ozarks and throughout Missouri.

The New York Times in the Ozarks

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:01:00 +0000

Way up yonder in New York City they are reading about us simple hillfolk, wondering who we will vote for Nov. 4: John McCain or Barack Obama:

Rural Missouri, where at least 30 percent of the population lives, and the towns between Kansas City and St. Louis pose a challenge to Mr. Obama. Bill Clinton won Crawford County, whose county seat is Steelville, in 1996, but the county has gone Republican, like the state, ever since.
“It won’t be easy for people to vote for Obama,” Mr. Hale said, looking out over the modest brick courthouse in this old mining town, population 1,445, about 75 miles southwest of St. Louis. “There’s concern that Obama is associated with people that don’t like us, and don’t look like us.”
The deal is not closed in a state that deserves its reputation for cautious deliberation.
“I have mixed emotions about it; I haven’t made up my mind,” said Jack Billingsley, a car salesman up the street from Mr. Hale who usually votes Republican. Crawford County was strictly Republican a few years ago, Mr. Billingsley said. “But it’s not like that this year.”

Palin coming to Missouri

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:50:00 +0000

It says here that Gov. Palin will be campaigning along I-44 next week. I wonder if she'll stop in Rolla? Obama did, and the local newspaper columnist endorsed him. Maybe the paper will endorse McCain-Palin, too, if she stops in town.

GateHouse needs a bailout, too

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:59:00 +0000

GateHouse Media closed yesterday at 20 cents per share. Maybe the guvmint needs to bail that company out at taxpayer expense, too.

GateHouse publishes newspapers in Rolla, St. James, St. Robert, Camdenton and many other cities in the Ozarks and throughout Missouri.

Gasoline prices dropping just before election

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:52:00 +0000

Gasoline prices have been dropping, and fuel now costs $2.749 in Rolla. It's even cheaper in Springfield, where it is $2.469 at most stations.

I suspect this is a pre-election phenomenon and once Nov. 4 is over, prices will start rising again--no matter who is elected. I hope I'm wrong.

Our energy future--Part I

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:51:00 +0000

Here's a guy with a plan for our energy future. I doubt if politicians will listen, though, because the oil companies contribute to their campaingns.

Our energy future--Part II

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Here's how one town has benefited from a new vision for the future of energy production. Sadly, oil companies and environmentalist whack-jobs will fight this tooth-and-nail.

One man's view of Democrats

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:53:00 +0000

A friend of mine over in Pulaski County was telling me recently that he doesn't watch television because he's too busy on his farm. "As soon as I get home from work, I get outside and cut wood for the winter or work on my food plots," he said. "I don't have time for TV."

"Don't you watch any news?" I asked.

"Nope, it's just depressing," he said.

"Well, how do you know who to vote for if you don't follow the news?" I asked.

"I just vote for Republicans," he said. "I won't vote for a Democrat. Democrats are immoral, and I won't vote for one."

Democrats believe in the trickle down theory

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:47:00 +0000

Would someone please explain to me why the Democrats, who complain about so-called "tax cuts for the wealthy," are so doggone adamant about giving $700 billion of our money to wealthy bankers and financiers? Is it because they believe in the trickle-down theory and that money $700 billion given to Wall Street will trickle down to Main Street? Am I understanding the thinking of the liberals correctly? If you're a liberal, please explain your position to me.

Fat cats haven't got ahold of taxpayers' money yet

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:14:00 +0000

I'm sorely disappointed in my Missouri Eighth District congressional representative. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jo Ann Emerson voted for the bailout of the fat cats. Here's the story:

More than half of the Missouri and southern Illinois delegations voted against the failed financial bailout plan that was negotiated by congressional leaders. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, called the proposal a "solution that doesn't fix the problem."
The $700 bailout bill failed 228-205.
Those voting against were Reps. Akin; Kenny Hulshof, R-Columbia; William Lacy Clay Jr., D-St .Louis; Jerry Costello, D-Belleville; and John Shimkus, R-Collinsville
Those voting in favor were Reps. Roy Blunt, R-Stafford; Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis; Ike Skelton, D-Lexington and Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau.

I thought she was a conservative. I guess I was wrong. She's in favor of robbing from the taxpayers and giving to high-rolling businessmen who took risks, lost money and now want the rest of us to make it go away like it never happened.

I probably won't vote for her in November. I'm rethinking my support for McCain, too; it was given grudgingly, and only because he selected Gov. Palin.

How will Missouri lawmakers vote on this money-down-a-rathole bill?

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:24:00 +0000

I've been trying to find what Rep. Joann Emerson thinks about the bailout of the nation's financial fat cats, but I can't find any news that mentions her since a Tuesday story in the Post-Dispatch.

I was encouraged to find that Rep. Emerson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday she couldn't support it without having more information:

Said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau: "I have 10 questions that I would like to have answered before I even take a position on it." She said she doesn't have "a clue" what the measure will look like by the time it hits the House floor, possibly by the week's end.

Silly Sen. Christioper "Kit" Bond, of course, was buying the bailout hook, line and sinker. He wouldn't ever question the president. Besides, he's got to "pay back" some of that lobbyist money he has received over the years, and a positive vote and some arm-twisting is the best way to do that.

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., expressed support for quick action, saying Congress needs to "stop this crisis from raging across this country."

Democrat Sen. McCaskill was in the same boat as Rep. Emerson:

"The question is, what is this thing?" said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who like others said there were too many unanswered questions to say how she might vote.

Having supper with Satan

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:13:00 +0000

A rabbi attended the dinner with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the 21st century's Hitler, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Talk about an appeaser. Ahmadinejad wants to kill every Jew on the planet to wipe the nation of Israel off the planet and this moron is breaking bread with him. What an absolute moron Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb is.

Gottlieb said she attended because it was important for religious groups to create a forum for engagement in the absence of formal diplomatic talks between the Iranian and the US governments.
"We were all there for the sake of pressuring the US government to engage in direct dialogue and conversation," she said.
"The emphasis shouldn't be on [Ahmadinejad] per se, he may not even be in office in June," Gottlieb added, referring to the upcoming Iranian elections.
The event - an Iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan - was organized by a coalition of Mennonite, Quaker and other pacifist religious groups and billed as an interfaith dialogue on "the significance of religious contributions to peace." The Iranian mission to the UN was also a sponsor.

The World Council of Churches was also a sponsor, making Ozarks Christians a small part of the meeting. Some of the denominations that financially support the World Council of Churches are the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church of the USA, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ and Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Quakers. If you're part of these denominations, then you, whether you like it or not, helped support the meeting with the anti-Semite and antichrist Iranian dictator. Will you remain silent or will you be an appeaser?

Sunday Sermon

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Biden is not the sharpest tool in the shed, nor is Obama

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:20:00 +0000

If Gov. Palin said anything even close to this stupid we'd never hear the end of it.

Go into someone else's house uninvited and you deserve to die

rdh@theozarkschronicle.com (Ozarks Boy) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Here's a story that outrages me. A man in his 60's has been charged with murder because he defended his own home.

You can click and read the entire story, but here's the gist: Mr. Gonzalez has been plagued by burglaries of his home. While he was working in another building on his place one night, four teenaged boys broke into the house to steal some snack food from him. He went into the house and killed one of them.

Good for him.

Now he's being tried for murder. Shame on the prosecuting attorney. This is one of the many things wrong with the country today. Lawbreakers have more rights than law-abiders. In this case, the prosecutor sees that the lawbreaking teenagers had the right to go into a private home to find a snack to eat, but the law-abiding homeowner does not have the right to protect his home from intruders. This kind of crap happens all too often. It happens in the Ozarks. We've had it happen in Phelps County. I remember covering the killing of a man who forced his way into another man's home; the resident was charged with murder but he was able to afford a good attorney and was found not guilty. That he was charged at all is an outrage.

Your home is your castle and you should have the right to protect it with deadly force. It doesn't matter whether the burglar is looking for snacks, beer, cash, diamonds or a color TV. A person who burglarizes your home writes his own death warrant, as far as I'm concerned.