Every Family Needs a Murder

Years ago back in Muses Mills, Kentucky, my great-uncle Samuel "Glenn" McRoberts murdered his wife "Reva" with a pistol... Which is apparently against the law in Kentucky because he went to prison for it.

Two points:  First of all, you DON'T marry into a family that would name a little girl "Reva." And secondly, with a name like Reva you've got to figure she was asking for it.

All that to ponder this:  When I think of all the women I've dated and worked closely alongside, I  cannot help but wonder if I would have been treated with a little more respect had they known this sort of comportment was in my blood.

....

Quote for 9-11-17

"And before you give me that tired argument that the fundamentalists have perverted the faith, let me be perfectly clear on something.  A religion must stand or fall on its own writings and holy books.  The fundamentalists haven't perverted anything.  In fact, Osama Bin Laden is the best practicing Muslim out there.  He is practicing Islam exactly the way Mohammed wanted it practiced.

It's the world's peaceful Muslims, the majority of the followers of Islam, who have perverted the faith.  They have strayed.  If Mohammed came back today you can bet there'd be hell to pay.  He'd be lopping off heads left and right.  And he'd have a lot of help too because in case you haven't noticed, the largest killer of Muslims in the world isn't us filthy infidels, it's other Muslims.  Fundamentalist Islam is booming..."

--Brad Thor... from his novel Foreign Influence

....

Quote for the Day

"The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church.  It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."
--Morpheus... The Matrix 1999

The apostle John could have written this.

....

My Retirement Truck

This may well be the last truck I will ever own.  I've had it for a month now, and I still have less than 500 miles on it... Love that!

Panda Van sprayed in the liner and attached the steps and mud flaps.

This picture is one month old so yes, my garden is a bit farther along than the picture suggests. 

....

Quote of the Day

"Nothing clears our vision and draws us back from our entanglements with the world more efficiently than illness."
--Malott

....

Keith Ellison and Thomas Perez

Quote of the Day

"It is a classic matchup that places the Democratic Party's unwavering commitment to diversity on full display: The two front-runners in this week's election for DNC chairman are a race-obsessed black hate monger and a race-obsessed Hispanic hate monger."

--John Perazzo

.....

Thirty Days of Trump

After one month of the Trump Administration I wanted to make a couple comments...

This guy is a jerk.  I don't like his style.
But...

1)  I can't think of anything he is pushing that I don't like.

2)  None...  Not one of the other Republican candidates if elected would have pushed for a southern border wall or attempted to keep out dangerous people from dangerous countries.  Trump is the only candidate determined to keep our country from becoming like Europe.

3)  What he says about the press is more true than untrue.

If John McCain and the rest of the Republican Party are smart they will stop grandstanding for liberal press approval and get to work fulfilling Trump's campaign promises.

They don't have to like Trump or his style, but they darn well better satisfy the desires of the voters, both Republican and yes... Democrats, who voted for him.

....

My Poorest Decisions, My Biggest Regrets

Volume I:  The Swimming Team

When I was a small child I enjoyed nothing more than playing in the water.  Everything about it was fun.

After 4 years on the swimming team in high school, getting into the water was boring... and is to this day.

I was a mediocre swimmer and looking back there is only one meet that we would have lost had I not been there:

Eastern  49    Logansport  46
February 1972

Big Woop

....

Clarity

I believe clarity is always a good thing.  The American people see a president trying to make us safe, and an opposition party that wants us to look like Europe.

....

Underground Railroad Hero

This video is about my great-great-great grandfather John Ratliff who was involved in the Underground Railroad in Grant County. He was the father of Harvey, a Quaker preacher, who was the father of Eva, my grandfather Ralph Malott's mother.

As an abolitionist, John contributed to the formation of the Republican Party in Indiana and later in life served in the Indiana General Assembly.

John died in 1912 at the age of 90... Nine years before my Dad was born. But  Dad does remember sitting on John's son Harvey's lap, eating his homemade taffy, and listening to stories.

....

Struck Down, But Not Destroyed.… America Survives

Quote of the Day

"Inside every Progressive is a Totalitarian screaming to get out."
--David Horowitz

....

Meryl Streep is Still Alive?

Well, when an actress gets old and stops making movies that people actually watch, you sometimes wonder if they're still alive.

But there she was at The Golden Globes... Pontificating... Lecturing... Looking like everyone's grandma... Scolding the Least of These... Pouring out her special celebrity wisdom for the benefit of the country.

Thanks Meryl.  We stupid people who voted for Donald Trump desperately seek the advice of ill-educated narcissists to correct our foolish mistakes.  Thank you... Thank you...

....

The Best Westerns

For me the best movies in any category are the ones that you are happy to watch over and over again.  Some of the following I've viewed more than five times and I still enjoy them.  

The West, depending upon the year, can be anywhere from Tennessee to California.

20  The President's Lady... Charlton Heston and Susan Hayward portraying the lives of Andrew Jackson and his Rachael.

19  The Plainsman... Gary Cooper and the beautiful Jean Arthur as Wild Bill and Calamity Jane.   

18  The Horse Soldiers... John Wayne and William Holden

17  Buffalo Bill... Joel McCrea, Linda Darnell, Maureen O'Hara, and the little crippled boy in the bleachers.

16  Cheyenne Social Club... Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.

15  Angel and the Badman... John Wayne, Harry Carey, and a very attractive Gail Russell.

14  The Mark of Zorro...  Tyrone Power and a 17-year-old Linda Darnell.

13  Little Big Man... Chief Dan George and the stars from whom he stole the show.

12  Silverado...  This western has everything but Indians.  It launched the career of Kevin Costner.

11  Tombstone...  The best Wyatt Earp movie, stolen by Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.

10  Outlaw Josey Wales...  Clint Eastwood's best western.

9   Jeremiah Johnson...  A story of the Mountain Men with Robert Redford.

8   Dances with Wolves... The music, the scenery, the love story, and the romanticizing of the plains Indian.  I particularly liked the old Indian woman with the perfect 20th century dental work.

7   The Searchers...  John Wayne, Ward Bond.

6   Red River...  John Wayne, the great Walter Brennan, Montgomery Clift, and Joanne Dru.

5   The Westerner... Gary Cooper, and the great Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean.  Brennan won his third Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

4   Bend of the River... James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson, and the great character actor Jay C Flippen.

3   Shane... Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Ben Johnson, and the beautiful Jean Arthur at the age of 53... still looking great.

2   She Wore a Yellow Ribbon...  John Wayne, Victor McLaglen, Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, the great Mildred Natwick... The perfect cavalry movie.

1   The Big Country...  Gregory Peck, Charles Bickford, Burl Ives, Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston, Carroll Baker, and a very nasty Chuck Connors.

....