I happened to be on Old Highway 54 heading across Kansas on Saturday to visit my cousin Frank and his wife Rayleen in Osage City.
There are places behind some older farm houses where you can see the remnants of the belts of trees called green belts. In the 1930’s, President Roosevelt urged people to plant them to counteract the dust bowls that were sweeping across Kansas and Oklahoma. I’m wandering around a bit, but I remember Mr. Brady teaching us that lesson during 8th grade history. Speaking of history, I flipped on TCM last night and The Grapes of Wrath was playing. I remember reading the book years ago. It was about an Oklahoma family who had their home destroyed by bank bulldozers when they couldn’t pay for the house anymore. This happened to people in the 1930’s. The family managed to drive to California which had been pictured as Heaven. They worked along the way to get some money. Those years were bad for many families but they made it through. This was a long time ago but there are still people who have memories of things like this happening. And could again.
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Well, The Donald is off and running with all kinds of executive orders and plans. One of them is to eliminate the 80,000 new IRS agents that Uncle Joe added to the Inflation Reduction Act. Did anyone actually believe these agents were only going to go after the “rich?” That’s why they wanted banks to report any deposits of $600 and over. He also ordered the release of the remaining classified documents in the assassination of President Kennedy. My great Aunt Casey was the "original conspiracy theorist" in the family. Or as I like to call it, a person who can think for themselves. I remember as a kid in the late 70’s, she had a whole cabinet of newspaper clippings and information gathered about JFK’s assassination. She always said it was “an inside job” and not at all what “they” said it was. Ah well, whether the final documents get released without redactions won’t make a difference. The truth was shredded decades ago and those in the know are long gone. Regardless, President Trump is breaking the myth that the federal government is superior to the citizens it serves.
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Time to bow off this keyboard and see what’s for lunch. Take care Old Buddy and remember, while life isn’t always fair, it’s always interesting. Onward and upward!
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'Til Next Week:
J.M.W.
