~ “I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts.” Ronald Reagan.
Russians and Democrats are not the same. I’ve actually known honorable Russians.
In 1991 I met a man from the USSR named Valentin Suchkov. I was working with a Ukrainian trading company in Cincinnati. Mr Suchkov was leading a trade delegation from Gorkiy, the famous “closed city” and the internal exile home of the Soviet refusenik, Andrei Sakharov, who had only died the year before in Moscow. I was told that Mr Suchkov headed an oil and gas company in Russia and using the trading company to sign blank invoices that would allow them to buy American gifts for family back home. A common form of “collusion” even in Cold War days.
A short, stocky man, we shook hands and gnarlier hands I’d never gripped. An engineer for sure, those hands signified years of handling heavy drilling tools, not the white collar type you’d expect to see in America. I gave him my card, which was called “Retrotechnology” at the time, and after it was read to him, he asked it meant. He spoke no English, so everything was translated. I explained that I helped countries acquire older, retired production equipment in America, where they would still be a generation or two more advanced than what were currently used in the Soviet Bloc. I explained there were many opportunities in Asia and the USSR now that Perestroika was in full swing.
He seemed interested, and we shook hands good bye, and he left to meet his delegation, no doubt for a raid on Home Depot. Next day Vechilov of the trading company called to say Mr Suchkov would like us to join him for dinner. We met them at the old Rookwood Pottery Restaurant (now closed) and we had a nice friendly meal over vodka, wine and fine beef. Mr Suchkov quizzed me about “biznez in Amerika”. We talked for maybe two hours, with Vechilov translating.
Then we shook hands, I drove back across the river, and he winged his way home to the USSR[…]
Every week, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week’s question: If You Could Have Had A Different Career What Would It Be?
Bookworm: I’ve never liked being a lawyer, although I’m reasonably good at it. It’s honed my analytical abilities and my writing skills. It makes possible the blogging I enjoy doing, although I don’t seem to be able to make money as a blogger.
What I’d really like to be is a member of the idle rich. My favorite pastimes are reading books; writing short, horribly proofread essays off the top of my head; and eating chocolate ice cream. I’m really not sure there’s a career pathway for all of that.
Rob Miller:I have to giggle a little when I think of the word ‘career’ applied to me.Everything I ever did that was reasonably successful, I just sort of fell into.
One day I accidentally strummed a cheap guitar my parents brought home from a trip to Mexico and fell in love. I never wanted to do anything else afterwards, so that became my ‘career.’ even if I wasn’t earning anything from it. I had a lot of different jobs,(I left home at 18) some of them quite interesting, but they were always just to finance and pave the way towards playing music for a living.
Eventually I managed to do that after a few false starts and made a fairly decent living out of it. It also was something of a fascinating sort of sub culture in which I was a ‘semi-celebrity.’ In other words, I wasn’t any multi- millionaire, but I was known, sort of, whatever that means. I could get into clubs for free and into their VIP sections all across the country, get backstage at concerts to ‘say hello’ and enjoy the adult refreshments and other diversions, drink for free in certain watering holes (thank you, Esther and George Wong) meet a lot of interesting people and fulfill a fair amount of fantasies. And the money wasn’t bad at all.
The way that sort of ended was that I became a hired hack basically playing music I didn’t really like at all for other people. And for someone who loves music the way I did, that made it just another job, a way to make some money. About that time, I met my wife and we married, and I wasn’t exactly rabid with excitement over the offers I had. So I went back to just doing sessions, mostly commercials, and working as a customer service manager for a large office supplies company.
When business went down at the office supply company and I was fired, it was time for another accident in my ‘career.’ I met an Israeli contractor (we knew some of the same people in Israel) who I got some jobs for in exchange for some baksheesh, and he told me about an Israeli friend of his who was ‘doing loans’ and that it was commission only, ‘but you talk nice to people chaver, and you could make some nice money.’
Well, OK. Todah rabah.
I had a friend who was refinancing her house and I knew she’d give me the job, so I figured I’d do this once, make some money, hate it and move on. The Israeli broker hired me and I proceeded to learn about the paperwork and other things I needed to know. Instead of hating it, once I saw that first commission check I wanted nothing more but to master this new occupation the way a Samurai wanted to master his swordsmanship and do a lot more business.I ended up being pretty good at it.
After three years working for my Israeli boss (lots of fun!), I got my broker’s license, opened up my own business and ended up being rather successful. For me, the 1990’s and early 2000’s were literally golden years. Aside from mortgages and refis, we also listed and sold houses and I also did quite well buying foreclosures once I learned how to do it properly. I’d refurbish them and either sell them or rent them out.
I sold my business right before the nasty stuff hit the fan in 2008, and I’m still not exactly sure why I did but the timing was right. Now, I’m semi retired, mostly manage my properties, and partner up now and then with a couple of brokers I know to find refurb houses, fix them up, and sell them. It bothers me a bit because it’s mostly investors buying them to rent out rather than families who want a home of their own, but so be it.
All in all, considering where I started which was basically with nothing, I’m quite grateful to the Almighty for the life I have. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Jeffrey Avalon Freidberg: Like one of my personal idols, Bookworm, I am really really really good with ice cream.
However, I tend to specialize in Hagen Dazs chocolate covered ice cream popsicles and Julie’s Organic ice cream sandwiches, which kind of limits my style and reach.
I too think I’d be really good at being filthy rich like Diane Feinstein and practically the entire senate.
Amazing how they go to DC poor and leave rich as kings and queens, with unlimited lifetime medical, insurance, pensions, and all….
I guess they get smarter when they get off the bus?
Of course John McCain married the Beer Queen and had so many houses they were almost as many as Obama has—but not as many as John Kerry.
Anyways….
Anyways, I got into the private eye biz by accident and stuck with it for 35 years. I guess I did everything there was to do in that line. I wooda been something else, except I think I liked the private eye gig. I got to be outdoors and run a lot.
Then one day I just could not open one more file and walked away…
…what a DUMB THING TO DO!
Now I have no income, no job, and temp’ services won’t touch me because—even though I built and ran a million dollar business—I don’t appear anywhere in their “categories.” I was never—say—an accountant, lawyer, or secretary. No listing.
As bugs Bunny said, “Ehhhh…I knew I shoulda took that left toin at Albu-qoikey.”
Laura Rambeau Lee: Once I got past my childhood obsession with dinosaurs and wanting to be an archaeologist I set my sights on becoming a physician. I studied hard and was a pretty good student, often studying beyond what was available in school. Growing up outside of Philadelphia in a small college town the college professors would give me text books which I read voraciously. In junior high I was attacking texts on abnormal psychology, organic chemistry, and books on human anatomy and physiology. I began college with a premed major. That changed when my father died when I was nineteen. At that point I decided I did not want to become a doctor and deal with life and death issues on a daily basis. I quickly lost interest, got married, had a daughter and divorced within six years. At age twenty-five I was a single mom who needed to make money, and make it without a college education. As a vice-president of a local bank my mother introduced me to an owner of a title insurance company and I was hired as a processor. My wages went from $145.00 a week working in a bank to $175.00 a week. That was a big jump back then, especially when child care alone was $45.00 a week.
I learned the business and after a couple of years went to work for an attorney doing real estate closings. Then I went into business with my mother for ten years, she having a mortgage company and me running the title insurance side. After my mom retired my company was bought out by a national title company owned by a national builder. (I had let the mortgage company dissolve due to the savings and loan crash in the late 80s early 90s. It became nearly impossible to be a mortgage broker at the time). I worked there for thirteen years until the crash in 2008.
One thing I realized early on was the chairman of the Federal Reserve really controls our country. I would tell people that whoever controls the cost and flow of money controls it all. I was still in my 20s. As I looked into it more I realized how correct I was in my analysis.
Then around 2004 I began to see it coming apart. The mortgages they were selling were certain foreclosures. No doubt about it in my mind. But it became personal when they started selling purchase money first and second mortgages. People could get one hundred percent financing by taking out an eighty percent first mortgage along with a twenty percent second mortgage. They avoided private mortgage insurance and avoided having to put money in escrow with their payments for property taxes and homeowners insurance. We called them NoNo loans – they required no asset and no income verification to qualify for these mortgages, all under full approval of FNMA guidelines. At that point I understood that now we would have a situation where we would have millions of people in homes they couldn’t afford and they would not be able to pay their property taxes either. That would severely cripple our local municipalities and county revenues, meaning we would not have money for schools, firefighters, police, transportation and social services. Where I was naïve was in believing that these lenders would go out of business. I never would have believed our government would steal our savings and wealth to bail out the banks. Americans collectively lost over 19 Trillion Dollars in wealth between savings, stock market accounts and real estate! That was my wake up call. That was my call to action and when I started blogging. It helped that I was laid off from my position as division president of the company I worked for and gave me time to write, get involved with the Tea Party and also help care for my mother who was terminally ill with cancer at the time. I also returned to college to finish my bachelor’s degree, which I did with high honors in American Studies with a major in communication and media. It was also an eye opener to the open Marxist ideology indoctrination occurring on our college and university campuses. I was the token conservative on campus.
Thinking back on everything I am content with the path my life has taken. I am back in the title insurance business, doing real estate closings. It is interesting and challenging and I have always enjoyed the business and the work. I find it amazing that when I was still in college back in 1975 and knowing I no longer wanted to pursue a career in medicine I took a test to see where my interests and abilities might take me. The results came back that a career in politics or the law, or writing and reporting would best serve my personal interests and career goals. Interesting, huh?
Dave Schuler:If I knew then what I know now, I would have swallowed, sucked it up, and remained in the corporate world rather than going off on my own and starting my own business. I would have been less happy then but probably happier now.
Well, there it is!
Make sure to drop by every Monday for the WoW! Magazine Forum. And enjoy WoW! Magazine 24-7 with some of the best stuff written in the ‘net. Take from me, you won’t want to miss it.
Every Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week’s question: Are Sanctions On Countries Trading With Iran Wise Policy?
Don Surber:Yes. Given that the Iranian protests are in their second month, there is a chance for a regime change. Women are doffing their headgear, and drivers are parking their trucks. The Grand Bazaar in Teheran shut down. 40 years ago, merchants in the Grand Bazaar backed the Iranian Revolution. Now they seem to want a regime change.
The only influence the United States has is in commerce. President Trump wisely is avoiding too much public support, and I doubt we are doing clandestine operations, as well. Why risk being associated with the rebellion? Any conection betwen us and them will end the revolution. The one thing we can do is not trade with Iran, and tom punish those who do.
This is the latest sign that the New World Order failed. Brexit, Trump, Macron, AMLO in Mexico, and now this. There are many other examples of regime changes because the old order failed The People.
Patrick O’Hannigan:I wish I could be more original on this question than to say that I agree with Don, but — I agree with Don!
Deterrence does not have to be exclusively in the military realm. The sanctions game (and it is a game, of sorts) amounts to “Leave the gun –Take the cannoli” writ large.
Rob Miller: Oh, I think it’s imperative. Iran’s economy is in free fall. No one wants the rial, inflation is rampant and the prices of food and other necessities is skyrocketing. That’s a big part of what’s behind the protests. Iran will not be able to continue to financially afford adventures abroad in Yemen, Syria or Lebanon for too much longer, and even Iraq’s kingmaker Muqtada al-Sadr is inching away from Iran somewhat. This will get even worse once Trump’s sanctions on countries buying Iran’s oil and natural gas take effect. Iran also my not have the funds needed to continue to be Hamas’s pay master along with Erdogan. The EU, BTW are looking like they’re reluctantly going along with the sanctions. They need our markets far more than Iran’s, and their choice will boil down to paying Putin’s atrocious prices or buying U.S. LPGD.
I also think our President and his team members are making a mistake by NOT informing the American people what a hideous regime this is…how it brutalizes its own people, the corruption of the Ayatollahs, and that Iran is not in any sense a ‘democracy. They need to explain that Iran has been in a state of war with America since 1979. They need to tell the American people that Iran never actually even signed th eso called ‘Iran Deal.’ They need to remind the American people about Iran’s complicity in 9/11, and how the rhetoric of both Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamanei focus on the Twelver Sect’s open embrace of apocalypse as a necessity for the Hidden Imam to return to rule the world for their brand of Islam.
The days of Iran’s despotic regime aren’t over yet. That won’t happen until the Army turns. But this is a great way to get the ball rolling.
Bookworm:I’m going to be so original that I’ll say I agree with both Don and Patrick! Honestly, I’d love to add some unique, wonderful insight, but I think they said it all.
What I will tack on, because I’m petty, is that one of Obama’s most significant failings as president happened early in his administration when he refused to give the Green Revolution any moral support. As we know now, the self-centered Obama had his own grand dream of “solving” Iran and was content to let people die in the streets rather than risk losing the halo he envisioned for himself.
Laura Rambeau Lee:I must say I agree with everyone, also. Sanctions hit them where it hurts most and can often lead to cooperation where and when we need it.
Well, there it is!
Make sure to drop by every Monday for the WoW! Magazine Forum. And enjoy WoW! Magazine 24-7 with some of the best stuff written in the ‘net. Take from me, you won’t want to miss it.
Every Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week’s question:What’s The Best Response To Leftist Assaults on Their Political Opponents?
Scott Kirwan: Interesting question. My first instinct is to punch back twice as hard but considering how hysterical the Left is getting I’m thinking another course of action might be called for:
Laughter.
I never thought the Left would become more unhinged than it was in the lead-up to the Iraq War, but Trump has pushed them passed that point years ago. I’d be embarrassed to be a Democrat today. The party has lost its collective mind, and I find that hilarious. And now they are trotting out a 20-something as their standard-bearer, a girl who wasn’t around for Communism the first time but who just knows it’s sooo cool. Yeah, that Brezhnev – what a fashionista.
That said if we are going to laugh at them, we should do so while heading to the polls this Fall. Normally I don’t vote in non-presidential elections but I’ll be doing so this year.
Rob Miller: By all means, vote…unless you’ve had your votes made meaningless because you live in a blue run state and your neighborhood has been gerrymandered to be safe Democrat no matter what. I think more is called for.
Two things I haven’t seen discussed too much, certainly not by the usual suspects in the media. Almost all of these incidents have two things in common. First, they all occur in blue run jurisdictions, where the police, who take their orders from the local politicians can be told not to interfere. Second, they mostly involve mobs descending on smaller groups or even single individuals.
They’re not only totalitarian barbarians but cowards. What’s called for is what I refer to as puppy training. That means consequences for misbehavior.
Once the president gets rid of Jeff Sessions and gets a real attorney general, there are a lot of corrections to be had. You’ll notice that a bunch of ‘resistance’ punks in Portland, Oregon surrounded and blockaded an ICE office and the mayor and the police did nothing…and then, all of a sudden, after a day or so of this, the police moved in, cleared away the ‘demonstrators’ and arrested some of them. Perhaps someone at the White House called the Mayor and mentioned that impeding federal officers from carrying out their duties s a felony, and so is impeding a federal office from carrying out their normal business. And so is aiding and abetting.
Former president Barack Hussein Obama got away with weaponizing federal agencies like the IRS to go after those he considered his political opponents. Things like that can also work both ways if necessary.So can lawfare. And Dick Tuck style pranks. These people have no sense of humor and get literally hysterical when they’re mocked.
And on some occasions, simply standing up to these people can bear fruit,when the odds are right. It’s time the Left learned that there’s a price to pay for their antics.
Laura Rambeau Lee:The proper response seems to be just keep calm, keep speaking the truth whenever and wherever we can, grab some popcorn and watch it play out. Follow the growing #WalkAway Campaign founded by former liberal Brandon Straka. People from all “identity groups” are waking up to the lies they have been told by liberals and the Democrat Party and are walking away. Their testimonials on Facebook are powerful and enlightening to read.
And I agree with Don. We have to vote and get others to vote. That’s how we win!
Well, there it is!
Make sure to drop by every Monday for the WoW! Magazine Forum. And enjoy WoW! Magazine 24-7 with some of the best stuff written in the ‘net. Take from me, you won’t want to miss it.
Every Monday, the WoW! community and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher’s Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week’s question: Is Trump Improving Race Relations?
Doug Hagin: Frankly, race relations have been improving steadily. Of course President Obama did his best to reverse that course, and the left makes every effort to divide people along every possible demographic. I find President Trump to be a person who is reversing a lot of he damage his predecessor did.
At their heart, people are people, regardless of skin tone. Our president understands this, as most of us, of all colors do.
Puma By Design: Now that Barack Obama is out of office, race relations is improving.
I have noticed the change in conversation from neighbors, family members, my son’s friends and friends of my nieces. Many folks who throughout the 2016 presidential campaign season and Obama’s reign of terror fell for the Trump is racist and Trump supporters are racist, too storylines are now viewing the President through a not so tainted lens.
Of course, the race baiters, pundits, NeverTrumper, Communist media complex, deep state, their globalist masters and the Mueller investigation helped. The 24/7 anti-Trump derangement is annoying and causing people to question the agenda which leads them to re-visit their original views of President Trump.
Enter Kanye West, the pardons of Jack Johnso and Alice Marie Johnson, the tax cuts, jobs, an improved economy, the President’s stand against illegal immigration which is detrimental to the nation and devastating to the Black community. Obama offered none of this.
As a matter of fact, Obama, while hiding behind identity politics, in particular, the race card proceeded to set Black America back decades.
I am often reminded of my travels throughout Brooklyn, New York during George W. Bush’s final two years in office. Black communities that were destroyed in the late 60’s to mid-70’s had returned to what they once were. While not perfect, they had become thriving communities dotted with small businesses everywhere. The businesses, many of them were owned by Blacks who were finally living the American dream.
In 2008, these same communities and businesses elected Barack Obama. By January 2010, these same businesses were now fighting to keep their heads above water and by the spring of 2012, all that was left of most of the businesses were the awnings and shuttered gates.
In two years under Obama, Black communities across the country had regressed to pre-2005 status or much earlier.
So yes, those paying attention realize that President Trump is not the monster that ideologues make him out to be.
As for the ideologues, expect them not to stand down. Out of touch, they are in their own zone as are many of the useful idiots who question nothing. They are whom Kanye West has referred to as physically free but mentally enslaved.
Ignorant to the horrors of Communism and that their disdain for President Trump is beyond all rationale, they welcome Communism with open arms.
Those who are the real racists will always choose to believe that President Trump is racist and dividing the nation because Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and queen, Don Lemon, tells them so.
My son’s mother-in-law (yes, her again) hates non-Blacks. I believe that she, an immigrant from Jamaica, also hates Americans but she hides her bias because there is a grandchild involved (that and the fact that I make no secret about my love for country which has led me to suggest once or twice that she could always return to Jamaica).
Moving on…This woman hangs on to every word from Al Sharpton, Joy Reid, Don Lemon and her hero, Barack Obama.
She sees every attack against President Trump by the usual suspects as vindication of her belief that the President is evil.
Then there are those who live in poor Black communities who have spent their lives in poverty because they have convinced themselves that all whites (and Trump supporters) are prejudiced and responsible for their plight even though most have never lifted a finger on their own behalf to “upgrade.”
While these individuals despise the President, they worship Obama whose legacy to them and their neighbors is several Obamaphones and a food stamp card. As it turns out, many of these same people despise working Blacks, especially those who refuse to live on the Democratic plantation. Such Black are viewed as “uppity,” “stupid” and deserving to be abused or worse, used as a bank account for freeloaders.
When challenged on their bias, they cannot explain it and/or produce facts to back up their argument or lack thereof. It is at this point that many become hostile.
Below is a video that I ran across a few days ago on YouTube. Conservative activist and pastor, Jesse Lee Peterson took to the streets of Los Angeles where he questioned Black folks, most of whom are mentally enslaved.
Even though I have long distanced myself from the mentally enslaved, the video was painful to watch.
For the record, I made it a little more than half-way through. These are the people that I warned my son and nieces about when they were children.
Warning: Raw language, really bad vibes, ignorance on full display.
I don’t think President Trump is actually trying at this point to target race relations per se, especially when it comes to blacks. He did try that in the beginning, and it worked somewhat (remember ‘a New Deal for the black community’) but black voters stayed home or mostly voted Democrat like always. More on that particular group later.
Asians are a very diverse community, which includes East Asians as well as Indians and Pakistanis as well as Southeast Asians like Thais and Vietnamese. My personal observation is that most of the Koreans and Chinese I run into seem to appreciate Trump because they are very into business and feel his efforts and policies are improving the economy. Like most East Asians, they also respect age, so Trump is a natural. Indian Hindus tend to like Trump, Indian and Pakistani Muslims not nearly so much.
An additional factor is that Asians are realizing that traditional values they have always held dear like diligence in education, studying hard and reaping the benefits mean nothing to today’s Democratic Party and its minions. Even East Asians who vote Democratic now understand that they’ve been sold out.
Hispanics are another diverse group. Again, there was no ‘beautiful brown wave’ in 2016 like the media assured us there would be. Many Hispanics stayed home, others voted Democrat and a surprising number, especially in certain communities voted for Trump because they realized how the surge of illegal migrants was affecting jobs, housing and thew schools their kids go to. Now that Hispanic unemployment is at record lows, they might not vote Trump but they aren’t going to vote Democrat either. Peer pressure in their communities will ensure that Trump voters will keep it to themselves.
Much of the politicized class of Hispanics in the universities and various companies like Telemundo or who were heavily involved in the amnesty movement of course voted for Hillary. So did a lot of the illegal migrants in places like Nevada and California. California in particular is voter fraud heaven. These Hispanics still hate Trump and always will.
Some of what I said about Hispanics applies to blacks. I don’t think relations have gotten better for several reasons.
During the Obama administration, blacks were encouraged to think of themselves as victims and as entitled because of various antiquated grievances both real and exaggerated, or just because. As I explained here, Kanye West was more correct than he realized when he said that “400 years of slavery? That sounds like a choice.”
While some blacks are finally waking up, many still cling to that choice and can’t let go. To do so would mean abandoning the slave mentality and embracing self reliance, discipline and meritocracy. This kid of mindset, by the way, is quite prevalent among blacks in America who came originally from the West Indies and some of the former British colonies in Africa. They grew up with the British school system and came largely from married, two parent families who prized education as the way up. Many if them voted for Trump because they understood his message. So did blacks (very quietly) who understood what illegal migration was doing to their communities.
For many blacks, to abandon the eternal grievance attitude would mean losing a powerful political weapon, one very useful at election time when it comes to certain black demographics. With time, and given the jobs Trump has already created, that attitude may fade, but it will never disappear as long as it remains useful.
Laura Rambeau Lee: We are hearing and seeing less racial tensions erupting around the country since President Trump took office. He refuses to engage in the politics of race, genuinely wanting everyone to realize their dreams. People are feeling better about the economy. I believe he has improved race relations by enacting policies that are allowing the economy to grow and reducing unemployment, particularly in the black and Hispanic communities where unemployment numbers are at historic lows. Gainful employment improves self-confidence and reduces the feelings of victimhood. Working people do not have the time to be manipulated by the social justice warrior instigators. As the proverb says: Idle hands are the devil’s tools.
Patrick O’Hannigan: I think President Trump is improving race relations for two reasons: First, in contrast to his immediate predecessor, he does not seem to see himself as a teacher or mentor for his fellow citizens, and does not therefore give speeches steeped in the idea that “real” Americans should share his own attitudes. Trump seems to have an “executive ego” rather than a “professorial ego.” Secondly, POTUS is notable for being what his enemies call uncouth and his friends call refreshingly honest. His straight talk can trigger arguments, but its singular virtue is honesty, which in the end will do more to improve race relations than “sensitivity training” in its various forms. Activists who try to paint Trump as racist do so because they have ideological differences with him, and that’s obvious to anyone who looks his Cabinet picks or business record.
Well, there it is!
Make sure to drop by every Monday for the WoW! Magazine Forum. And enjoy WoW! Magazine 24-7 with some of the best stuff written in the ‘net. Take from me, you won’t want to miss it.
In my freshman year in high school, 1960, I participated in the Kentucky high school regionals of what was called The State Speech Festival. Organized like Spelling Bee competitions, the best of the best at the regionals would be selected and sent onto state finals a couple of weeks later. I can’t recall all the categories, but ever since I was in first grade, we would gather in the high school gym and watch our best performers, juniors and seniors, do their presentations; dramatic readings. poetry, etc.
Being part of the East Kentucky region, this was also where students were supposed to show state leaders that we knew the difference between “fire” and “far” and could say it out loud. Without pausing first.
Being a freshman, this was just a preparatory trip for me, and I was entered in “Extemporaneous Speaking” where students would draw from a hat a theme, be given 20 minutes to think on it and then give a three-minute talk. I reached into the book and pulled out “Federal Aid to Education, A good idea?”
What?
Hell, I didn’t even know there was federal aid to education (which at the time there wasn’t) or that people were even fer it, or agin it. I paced and muttered for 20 minutes, then, when called, muttered my way through my presentation[…]
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