The Message Forum is an ongoing dialogue among classmates. The goal is to encourage friendly interaction, including interaction among classmates who really didn't know each other. Experience on the site has revealed that certain topics tend to cause friction and hard feelings, especially politics and religion. 

Although politics and religion are not completely off-limits, classmates are asked to be positive in their posts and not to be too repetitive or allow a dialog to degenerate into an argument. 

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Jim Bedwell

Wayne,

Thanks A TON for the heads-up about Sue on the other forum. Another reason for that to remain a must to avoid in my mind.

Wayne Gary

Chief Bedpost

I just saw this. I hope you can get out of the lawless area soon.

By SARA CLINE

Jim Bedwell

Thanks, Wayne. ME TOO!! I want outta here YESTERDAY!!! I haven't been to downtown Portland since before the pandemic started so that was before George Floyd. I don't plan on ever returning there.

My current divorce lawyer, an ex-cop, is a female and her husband is a Portland cop, at least the last time I asked her, which was 5/6 months ago! Maybe not now! And in contrast to my early, lawless days, now I love cops (and don't have to avoid them!)!

Jim Bedwell

Tommy,

I didn't know Randy Roberts really. Might have shared a class? Can't remember. He was pretty reserved from my memory and I was too. But I remember him as a person who was likely a Christian then. So no surprises in his obit for me. I can't imagine that he's not in total bliss currently.

I did notice he attended Bible Study Fellowship. That's an OUTSTANDING Bible study, worldwide. Steve attended, so did I 1995-2001 in Alaska, totally NON-DENOMINATIONAL Bible study. They tell you not to tell people where you worship, etc. Even atheists can attend. Anybody. Just study of God's Word.

And it's not just a bunch of Ron's either. There were MANY doctors in the 150+ assembly we had every Monday night (tape the game if you're into the NFL). Not many lawyers though..........hahahaha!

I did know one lawyer/believer in Anchorage, one Steve DeLisio (spelling?), who just died this year. That guy was one of the VERY FEW that whenever he spoke, it was like listening to an EXCELLENT book being read. You can see why he was a very successful lawyer. But really, so few have I ever known like that; it was so appealing and compelling to listen to his speaking. Wow. Really a super smart guy. Of course most of the time his subject matter was also immensely pleasurable to me, but still, I think I would have liked to have observed him in action in court.

Marty Fulton

Janalu - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I agree with most of your viewpoints, and your observation that MANY Democrats, liberal or moderate, won't watch FNC.  Mainly because the truth is too painful.  I'm trying to find a strategy to deal with TWO best friends, and my 'lil sister, who are Life-Long Democrats, and won't budge.  For now, it's just avoidance of the topic.  BTW, it only became an issue in about the last 10 - 15 years.  No sense in throwing a friendship out with the bathwater....

Vamos a Golfiare - as my Hispanic buddy used to say nearly every friday at Exxon in Houston.  W. Timothy Gallwey books provide the thinking between the ears, which is important.  For the other half of the game, the 'Bible' of course is Ben Hogan's FIVE LESSONS - the Modern Fundamentals of Golf (1957).  Really helped with my irons, especially when playing in the wind.  You betcha Hogan was a native Texan!  Same b-day as my Dad.

Personally, I never paid for a private club membership.  But my father joined Brookhaven CC in the early 60's, since it was reasonable $ for what you got.  He used to sneek in 9 holes with his best friend before going to work.  He designed retail stores and commercial buildings for BF Goodrich.  His buddy, Ken Glomski, developed a 'discount tire store idea'.  Whether it was the precursor of DISCOUNT TIRE, I'm not sure.  I wasn't much good at the game in my teen years, but ordering a hamburger / fries at the restaurant ($0.80) and SIGNING for it made me feel special.  Brookhaven has three courses - we used to call the 'short' course the 'Ladies' course.  Truth be told, it was 90% as difficult as the mid-course, just shorter.  The 'Masters' course was for men-only, and if you hadn't turned 21 years of age, I believe you had to have about a 12 handicap.  Luckily, I got to play that course in a company 'scramble' about 20 years ago.  FYI - it's Jordan Spieth's home course.  Otherwise, I would play at Duck Creek or Stevens Park.    

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Hi Marty!

Thanks for the birthday wishes!  I never pictured myself at this age, but I'm glad to still be kicking!  I was just telling one of my elementary friends, Sally, that I remember when we were in third grade together, I thought then that 60 yrs. of age was ancient.  Now I think that 60 years of age is just the beginning of mellowing a little.

Glad you enjoy some of my posts!  Hope you will post more yourself!  There don't seem to be many of us females who like to speak up.  I have this theory, like other ladies I've know, that once you get to the senior years, you can say whatever you feel like saying (!) within reason.  Why not?  

Sounds like you enjoy golfing.  I know nothing of golf.  I believe though, that it is great exercise, and the golf courses are so pretty, with wonderful fresh air and fabulous Texas sun to warm or bake you all the way down to your bones!  Gotta love the Texas sun!

I remember my sister, who was a great student, telling us back at home that the only "B" she got while attending Oklahoma Univ., was when she took a golf course!  She tried to do her best, but just wasn't that good at it.  She was really pissed to have gotten that "B" though.  We laughed and laughed about that.

She became a tennis star instead and played on a ladies team in Plano for many years.

My athleticism high point was running.  I was a pretty fast runner on our college track course, just as my mother was.  I never joined a team, just enjoyed running to let off steam and frustration from daily stuff.  Now I just walk.

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Tommy,

I just finished reading this:

The George Soros Philosophy And Its Fatal Flaw, written in THE GUARDIAN.  (I was trying to find a date for this article----The only date I saw anywhere at the title, was July 2018, but the date was outside the binding.) 

I suggest that you have a look at it.  I think it will tell you what you are trying to understand about the man.

It tells of how it is true that George Soros has been a philanthropist in many helpful ways, but it also points out that his globalist visions are not what Americans want; at least most Americans, who don't desire to accept his vision of a utopian open society, which requests the sharing of the shortcomings produced by ill-advised decisions. Those decisions are made by flawed men of varing abilities.  Soros envisions equality for all, but all are not equal, as we know, and never will be. 

After reading the piece, this is how I undestood it.

Maybe you will understand it differently.

Steve Keene

Janalu,

Happy Birthday!  I am back in town from retrieving my wayward son from liberalism and poverty in Seattle.  He has a broken foot because some crackhead lady needing a free fix which is normally provided by the state of Washington, stomped on his arch.   He pointed out a small park in Seattle that was recently cleaned up by the city.  It is the same park where my granddaughters used to play and picnic.  During the cleanup they found 16,000 used needles (also provided to the addicts by the state).  Not 1600, but 16,000.  The park is overrun with the homeless who live in $150 tents they buy with government subsidies.  The parking situation throughout the city is also horrendous.  They will give a car a ticket for $150 for exceeding the time on a meter.  However, campers and pickups that people are living in are taking up sometimes two or three spaces.  There are standing orders not to ticket people living in their vehicles, presumably because there is no means to collect.  I saw this phenomenon in Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Bend.

Contributing to my son's inability to make a living on Whidbey Island where he was living is the fact that the Covid regulations on the coast and the propaganda regarding the policies has resulted in people not going to work, staying home and collecting government subsidies, and businesses facing stringent regulations to be able to open at all.  There were five restaurants on the Island that were always open.  Now there is one.  None of the businesses can get enough help to be viable.  The increased cost of regulatory requirements makes that impossible.   Even the ferrys are operating at half normal operations over employee issues which has resulted in limited access to the island and tourists electing to stay home rather than face the long lines to cross.  The only winner in this scenario seems to be Amazon as shopping online has replaced Walmart and small independent purchases that are the lifeblood of many tourist destinations.

I am sorry that I have not answered you concerning my proposed Africa trip.  With the countries constantly changing Covid policies, things have been in flux and it looks like I may not be able to go until early next year.

I will detail my adventures to the West Coast and some interesting people I met in a subsequent post.

And, by the way, go fuck yourself, Janalu. You are so full of shit.

Steve Keene

Sandra and David,

I finally got accustomed to the altitude after about 8 days in the mountains.  I feel fine and had a great trip.  My weightloss solutions have not come to fruition as I noticed that after I took a shower this morning, my feet failed to get wet.  LOL

Steve Keene

Janalu and Hollis,

Rather than hole up in my house due to Covid 19.  I set out to see old friends on the way to retrieve my son.  If anyone does not want to hear about my travels, feel free to skip the following travel log.  It has become apparent to me that nothing is as fleeting as wealth, power, self righteousness and political and religious confrontation.  The only thing that lasts is this world are one's salvation and the memories of those we knew and what they might pass on in stories about our life and character.

I set out about two weeks ago on a Monday afternoon on my way to Seattle.  I left at noon and drove to Tucumcari, New Mexico.  I awoke the next morning and proceeded to Santa Fe and checked in at the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in North Santa Fe.  I called Hull and Delisa Barbee as they told me they would be there that week.  They were on their way to see the Nightime Lighted Hot Air Balloon festival in Albuquerque with David and Martha Cordell.  They invited me to join them at the New Mexico Cooking School for lunch and instruction the next day.  I spent a leisurely day in the Resort and shopping downtown and then checked into the Hampton Inn closer to the venue.   We had an excellent meal prepared by a master chef and instruction on how to use different peppers and toasted spices to give an authentic northern New Mexico flair to Mexican food.  David remarked that I was having way too much trouble breathing and needed immediate emergency care.  They had invited me to go dancing that evening but I had not gotten altitute adjusted yet.  I left and drove on to Taos and spent the night there to keep from having them continually worry about  me.  I left Taos the next morning and drove to Pagosa Springs, Colorado where I had left a hat with my friend Gary Boyter on a previous trip.  He was tied up that day, but I was able to get my vaccination booster for free in Pagosa prior to leaving town.  I drove on to Vernal, Utah that night.

The next day, I drove to Bend, Oregon to see Steve Gardner.   I stayed the night and met him at 1:30 the next day.  We talked non stop for 7 1/2 hours and smoked some excellent cigars.  Steve has everything delivered by FedEx or Amazon and does not interract with any locals, including Steve Alford.  I asked if he was hungry along about 6 hours in and he said no he would open a can of ranch style beans later and have a scoop or two of Haagen Daz.  I remarked that explained why he lived alone.

Here is a picture of my truck in front of Steve's house.  I will post a picture of Steve and me later when we met on the way back from Seattle.

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Tommy,

 I know that all men are created equal in the eyes of God, and I worded that last statement badly, when I was talking about the Soros article.

What I meant to say was that Soros wants to have all men to be getting the same proportions in life from the government that he envisions from the "open society" he thinks can be created by those elitists who govern his "open society."  He wants a globalist world.  He doesn't want the US to have sovereignty.  I suppose he envisions the UN governing the whole world, and divvy-ing out the world's wealth produced---to everyman---each man getting the same portion, whatever that might be.  He envisions an end to poverty completely, but as we know from The Bible, there will never be an end to poverty.  I'll bet it is because all men don't think alike, and especially like Soros thinks.

Basically, what Soros does, is play a God-like game.  He decides to weld power in places he thinks are not doing what he desires, so he goes to those places, and with his wealth, he throws money into the arena and causes mayhem to break out, which causes property losses, etc, then he goes in afterward and buys destroyed businesses, etc,. at a diminshed value.  He gets wealthier, he causes damage to areas of the world by his meddling, but he comes out enjoying that he messed up an area he thought was not operating in his utopian dream plan, and he has more money.  The people left behind with wreckage are not at all happy with what he has done to them, but Soros doesn't care about them.  He has gotten what he was desiring.

He plays God.  If you think that is okay from your viewpoint, then you can go ahead and praise the man all you want.  I think that what he does is evil, and the true God does as well, I believe.  Just because Soros does some good for people who he feels push the progressive ideals, does not mean to me that the guy is doing "the Lord's work."  The work Soros is doing is only for himself and his utopian dream world goal.

I browse THE GUARDIAN and several other left-leaning publications, but I do that just to see what they have to offer.  That is what I mean when I say so often, "Everyone needs to view and understand all sides of an issue."  Just because I'm conservative does not mean that I only read or hear conservative viewpoints like you think I do (you and Lowell.)  I think educated people know about HEARING ALL SIDES, yet there are some people who ignore the concept out of laziness, I suppose.

Jim Bedwell

Tommy,

Your citing CNN and the Washington (Com)Post as credible sources is HILARIOUS! Not sure about the Guardian. But when you say foolish things like that, your credibility remains where it's always been with me in this millennium.

Janalu,

Happy belated birthday!!

Steve Keene

Tommy

Martha Cordell grew up in Baytown, also.

Steve Keene

Janalu and Hollis,

After staying one more night in Bend, Oregon after seeing Steve Gardner, I woke up and went to the Pendelton Outlet Store where they were having a big sale.  After that I drove up to the Columbia River Gorge and drove down to near Portland and crossed over the river to Vancouver.  I met Jim Bedwell for dinner on the Columbia River.  The lighting wasn't that great.

David Cordell

Steve,

Martha is from Bay City, Texas, not Baytown.

Hollis Carolyn Heyn

Steve:  I love Whidbey Island, one of my fav places to visit but cannot imagine how one would make a living there.  Is your son returning to Texas?  

Glad you adjusted to the altitude.  I've had trouble with high altitude since childhood, with both plump and not so plump weights.  

Jim Bedwell

Chief Steve No-Stache,

I just saw our "pic" - BIG HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!! And Tommy's a doubting Thomas about it - FANTASTICALLY FUNNY!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

But I wish I had known the picture would be so bad - I wouldn't have had to shower! Who cares if you could have smelled me?

I do hope the secret pictures from your Texas pad are viewable!

Chief Jimi Bob the Nebulous

Lowell Tuttle

Janalu.   Happy birthday.   

Next time you talk to Sally, say hello from all the Tuttles...Lawrance was Garry's best friend.   Susie and my sister Joan were pretty good friends.   My parents were Garry's and (for a short while) Susie's guardian's when mom Carol passed.

Also, I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure Marty Fulton is a guy. 

Garry and my brother Lawrence were weird.   Together, they played roles of "crazy man" and "boss."   They reversed roles as they felt necessary.   Their voices in those persona's were quite un nerving to each of their siblings.   I still hear their mimic lingual manner in my memory as I now think about it.   They also referred to each other as "gug..."   Their gug realm (different from crazy man and boss) was guggerny.  I think Gary's birthday is 10 25.... 

Kids' imaginations are amazing.   

My son has just recently stopped his Dungeon's and Dragon's group...Actually it ended just before Covid hit.  I attended one time not understanding what the obsession could be and was amazed at it being a game of imaginary stories, game settings, sto ries, and wit.   It was very artistic and cool.  You really need to be familiar with the personalities of the group members....

Jim Bedwell

All,

You know, I was thinking at the time.......Steve keeps insisting on getting the river & sunset in the background, and the waitress/photographer did object once about that...and he wanted only the 1 pic (he knew I didn't have a cell phone - although my flip phone in my pocket does take pictures - but I've NEVER taken one with it). Plus I'm now thinking, why did he wait until that particular time to get that particular SOLE photo?

So I was thinking at the time, well I'm certainly no expert AT ALL about photography, I'm not sure this is a good idea, but I thought, well, Steve must know what he's doing with his camera........

Now OBVIOUSLY I'm thinking what a SLY ONE you are, Steve No Stache!!!! GOOD ONE!!!! WHAT A GREAT SUPER DROLL final line "The lighting wasn't that great", the mother of all tongue-in-cheek understatements!

My only question is: did you do this solely because of Tommy and his expected reaction? OK, OK, I know I'm a real cynic...................but I still want to see those Texas photos!!!!

Actually a 2nd question - did you have it fuzzed out additionally to increase Tommy's consternation? And I call myself a RASCAL!??!?!?!?!

And a 3rd - did Tommy privately want to see what I look like now as much as he wanted back on the forum?

Finally a 4th 34 minutes later at 8:08 PDT - was Gardner in on this?

Jim Bedwell

Tommy,

Really it is I on the right. I was about 204 at my peak, about 195 January 1, 2020 and now about 165 - I got down to 150 last year but have put back on 15 pounds approx - BUT NO MORE!!!!

Seriously. Surely you must recognize Steve on the left? I mean, you CAN see the cigarette in his right hand, correct?

Jim Bedwell

Here are the 6 pranksters of the Dreadnought Hoax of 1910 (all are on my family tree); Virginia Woolf is seated, left, her brother is the tallest, and the leader of the hoax is "the other" white person in top hat in the middle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnought_hoax

The leader of the hoax was the brother of the wife of later British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Clink on his link in this Dreadnought article above to see some of the other pranks he pulled.

Steve Keene

David,

I meant Bay City. Thanks 

Jim Bedwell

Here's what Unknown Hinson says about communicating:

Here's the same song electrified so it sounds better (to me). I included the first version above since the words are easier to understand - I was at this show at the Hawthorne Theater in Portland on 6/15/2012!!

Ron Knight

Very saddened to hear of Colin Powell's passing from complications of Covid. And yes he WAS vaccinated. As some of you know, it hits close to home for me. My brother is back home from his recent fight with the Delta version of Covid. He will never be the same as before he had it.

Bob Davidson

Jim -- how are you related to the Bloomsburies?  At one time I was a huge fan of Virginia, Lytton, Maynard, Leonard, Vita, Leslie and Vanessa, Tom, Bertie, etc.  All of them wrote diaries or autobiographies or personal memoirs or had numerous biographies written about them.  In the 70s, I read everything I could find about them.  Probably my favorite was Leonard Woolf's multi-volume autobiography.  He was the outsider of the literary establishment group, a "penniless Jew," who got in with the other men at Cambridge through the Apostles society.  I loved the way he got very rich publishing the writings of the rest of them -- he and Virginia had a printing press in their basement at Hogarth Cottage (hence "Hogarth Press") and put out a first edition by hand printing.  Then he sold the rights to the big publishers.