Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day's history is very sketchy. First recognized by the Catholic church in 496 AD, and removed from the calender of saints in 1969. Valentine's Day pertains to two saints named Valentine, one ~197 AD, the other ~269 AD, both of them early martyrs of the Catholic church.

Amidst the flowers, candy, cards, and hoopla of the commercialization “day of love” fest, we remember the famous Saint Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago where seven gang members were killed. Such would hardly get a headline any longer, because there are so many homicides everyday. A mother in White Plains, New York strangled her 18 year-old daughter because she was “constantly disrespectful.” A 23 year old father killed his two sons in Atlanta (ages 1 and 3), and critically wounded another, because of the mother's boyfriend.

There are 45 homicides in America each day, all of them some mother's child. When the notorious John Dillinger was killed in 1934, just the picture of his feet in national publications, brought home to every one, that every person, regardless of death circumstances, is some mother's child. Every baby, blessed to be born and not aborted, blessed to be loved by the mother, who carried the child in the sanctity and safety of the womb, is totally dependent on the maturation of a caring world in determining destiny. Character determines destiny, every child deserves “love and care”.

Life is a battle between the world, the flesh, the devil. The devil wants me to get mad because I am disabled. The devil wants me to get mad because I have had little or no encouragement from anyone during my disability. The devil wants me to give up because the world is in the condition it is in... 30 billion pounds of explosives dropped on God's earth by my country, taxation beyond comprehension. I have been told by a local attorney, handling the estate of a wealthy man in town, who, in his final instructions to him, told him to have his body cremated at death. He said, “then I want you to put the ashes in a cardboard box, mail them to the director of the IRS in Washington, with a note which states as to the deceased's instructions, he wanted me to tell you, 'now you have it all'.”

I well understand this man's attitude, particularly veterans who have defended this country. Time and time again, I write a politician about something specific, giving documentation, only to receive in return, a generic reply, on expensive paper, which could go to anyone about anything. Almost always, without exception a letter and envelope asking for a political contribution. Most of us have found that writing anyone in Washington is just a waste of time.

Since 1970, the greatest proportion of tax dollars has gone to those at the top. Even the average federal employee makes a salary of $130,000 a year plus benefits. Retirement benefits for most federal, state, local government workers is almost beyond comprehension, compared to the private sector. The greatest ambition of most hard-working, God-fearing, taxpaying parents who love their children is to send their children to a good school. They think they can move them up the ladder through education, better schools. We have learned, sadly, that the more money you throw at education, the worse education becomes. The average income of a middle class family of four, $50,000.

When I came out of school, the advertised pay for a beginning doctor in a hospital emergency room was $12,000 a year. My 5^th grade teacher made $85 a month. The President of the United States, FDR, made $50,000 a year. He ran WWII with one secretary and a few extra employees. Today, with the Executive Office Building, etc. there are 1,800 employees on the staff of the President. President Harry Truman, borrowed money to move his family back to Independence, Missouri.

Germany has always set the pace in the European economy...savers, people who stretch their money. Germany hates the change of supporting other countries in the European Union (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, etc.). The Frankfurt Stock Market is about to take over the New York stock exchange (the Marshall Plan really worked!).

One cannot get completely disillusioned, distraught, seeing Arab nations becoming more and more in line against Israel. Egypt and its recent reconstruction is a diplomatic nightmare. Think of the 18 million people, population of Cairo, just across the border from Gaza. Think of the history of the Suez Canal. We understand the 87 year old King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, is in a state of frenzy concerning America forsaking Mubarak of Egypt. Is his country next? In many of these middle east Islamic countries, Jordan, Yemen, Dubai, Libya. What next? America has put $500 billion into Israel. Aoth Rupert Murdoch and Bill O'Reilly have recently addressed the American Defamation League (ADL). A Christian whether in Israel or America, cannot buy one square inch of land in Israel.

Every river is a challenge, to build a bridge, use a boat, or just leave it alone. When will we learn that we do not have to build a bridge across every river in the world. That the 50% of Americans who do pay taxes cannot support the entire world, Valentine's day or any day. Pygmy-brained Americans think that in the coldest winter in history, we still have global warming, that there is no connection between the Rothschilds and Rupert Murdoch, that in order to climb out of poverty, you must be a mason or a member of skull and bones. When will we learn that on Valentine's Day or any day, we must be sure of our affections. We thought Bush 43 was a conservative, we supported him. We find that Laura supports abortion, and that the Bush twins are making videos supporting same-sex marriage. On Valentine's Day or any day, you cannot go forwards looking backwards, just glance through the rear-view mirror occasionally.