LINKS

"Just shows why they should keep my restraints tighter and the medicine at full strength."

k herrick

"Is it a real Peace if the French offer to surrender and there is no one to accept it?" K.Herrick, 2006

The Herrickreport.com invites intelligent, reasoned, and thus rational discourse of anything that is posted here .... agree or disagree all you like. But this does not usually include calling the editor

" a racist, Nazi, red-neck, fascist, bigoted A$$hole."

Stunning .... Obama's AG Office Argues First Amendment ..... they are against free speech

"...the Deputy Solicitor General of the United States asserted that the government had the constitutional authority to criminalize the production of any communication with corporate assistance (such as from a publishing house or a film studio) that advocates the election or defeat of a federal candidate near an election.

"..the government claims that the First Amendment, contrary to popular belief, does not confer an inviolable right to speak freely about our elected officials."

But the First was exactly written to protect speech against the Government ...

"Congress shall make no law...."!!

Herrickreport Exclusive.... K. Herrick

Celebrate the American Revolution

The time to watch the Hard Left is when you think you have them cornered.

The Revolutionary Leftists running the Democratic Party were dealt a defeat with the election of Senator Brown; but defeats do not mean victory for the Country.

Leninists have always believed that the revolution was a process of two steps forward and occasionally one step back. Brown is a step back; watch for the new two steps forward and prepare for the next battle. KMH

white bread and jam

In our school we prayed for our daily bread .....

"Give us this day our daily bread."

and the teacher gave us our afternoon snack.

Then one day a new school official said,

"Pray for your daily bread."

And we did;

And nothing happened.

Then he said, "Ask for it from your President and his gracious government."

And we did;

And white bread and jam appeared.

We were so happy.

The next day he said. "Pray to your God for Bread;

But nothing came;

And he said, "Ask your loving President"

And we did;

And white bread and jam appeared.

Now we knew that our God would not give us our daily bread;

But our loving and gracious President would.

And we believed.

Kent Herrick, 2009

No Rights Reserved

Why do Liberals Hate Palin?

Good looking successful women that haven't had a face lift in Hollywood and they have surgically enhanced brainless bimbos. Without Bill ... Hillary was nothing but a non-cookie baking meglo-man hating shrill mouthpiece of the Radical Left. And with Bill ... hmm the same ... and Liberals are pissed that Palin is a Republican and without quotas has made a name for herself without a BC to help her. KMH

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, "

The Government nor the Constitution endows us with rights... we received them from the Creator; they cannot be taken from us; the Government is given powers by us not the other way around; it is from the Government that the Bill of Rights protects us. Exercise all of your Rights and thank and remember those that died to assure them to you.

Declaration of Independence U. S. Constitution

Editorial .... "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ...

The Constitution does not grant us these rights; we had them before the Constitution was written. These Rights were granted before Time; by the Creator.

The Constitution was written to document those "Unalienable Rights". It is not for judges to interpret those Rights but to uphold them; to protect us from the usurpations of government power.

This next election is decisive; as all elections are. We have four judges on the Supreme Court that do not recognize that our Rights are unalienable. The Second Amendment battle was just a scrimmage in a never ending struggle; "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, " not the other way around!

When you consider the candidates for all offices, think first, will they protect the Constitution or progressively weaken it. Will we freely give up our Rights or will we protect them. Kent Herrick

Finding oil is a band-aid..... ? This is a very large band aid..... plus we should be using nuclear; wind...except near Teddy Kennedy's house ... hydro ...unless it hurts the snail darter, alternative fuels ...except they drive up the price of food in every nation ...especially the really hungry ones.... natural gas!! ... opps that means drill now ... and yep ... bio-gas... natures methane ... Greenies already are screaming about animal rights now we want them to tube up to our cars. .... I believe in conservation; alternative methods, but not driving us back into the dark ages sitting around singing combyea.

The U.S. is sitting on the world's largest, untapped oil reserves -- reservoirs which energy experts know exist, .... In fact, such untapped reserves are estimated at about 2.3 trillion barrels, nearly three times more than the reserves held by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations and sufficient to meet 300 years of demand -- at today's levels -- for auto, truck, aircraft, heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.

Oil shales: Oil extracted from shale fields represents the mother lode of untapped reserves, at about 1.5 trillion barrels -- or 200 years worth of supply at current usage levels.

Tar sands: Around 75 billion barrels of oil could come from tar sands, similar to Canadian fields, which now churn out a million barrels a day. The sands are located predominantly in Utah, Alaska, Texas and California, as well as in Alabama and Kentucky on federal and state lands that, by laws and administrative orders, are closed to mineral and petroleum development.

The outer continental shelf (OCS): Something in the neighborhood of 90 billion barrels of oil sit beneath the ocean bed 50 to 100 miles off the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. Presidential bans and congressional prohibitions have put the tracts off-limits to oil company exploration at least until 2012, although there's a chance that Congress may lift the moratorium before then.

The Bakken Play: With up to 100 billion barrels of oil, the reserves locked under rocks buried a mile or more beneath Montana and Saskatchewan, Canada, are more than twice the size of Alaskan's entire oil cache.

Keith

Polls are statistics .... Mondale lead Reagan in Polls and lost 49 states.
Polls also ask the uninformed .... I myself know nothing about brain surgery and asking me in a poll about it would not ellicit an intelligent response. As a university tutor of Economics; History and Political Science ... many of the students graduating from some universities can not tell in what ocean Hawaii is surrounded by ... true.... therefore they may have the right to opinions on energy just not intelligent ones.

Drilling now tells the speculators we will not be blackmailed or forced; as some leading Democrats want ... into high prices for energy... which they then acclaim will restrict economic growth and retard capital expansion. We can be like Sweden and have really high taxes then.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/06/11/obama-id-like-higher-gas-prices-just-not-so-quickly/

The government makes more on gasoline than the retailers, the wholesalers. Exxon is the last of majors to leave the retail business. no profit.

Trust the government to find, drill, extract, refine, deliver at an economically sensible price? .... No not likely.

Your Iraq analogy wrong .... but then rewriting history to suit a political purpose usually is ...wrong.

Our Iraq strategy was excellent .... predicting outcomes in war is useless. Of course in 1938 the appeasers had their way and we got WWII. None of the current crop can extrapolate what would have occurred had we left Saddam alone ... more mass graves? Because we didn't anticipate winning so fast and failing to kill enough of the enemy Mr. Bush should be faulted? Sorry I'm not an apologist; I am a realists; a strong free Iraq will provide a strengthening defense against Jimmy Carter's Mullahs in Iran ..... no more 9-11.

Kent Herrick
Visit the Herrickreport.com

If there are any topics that highlights the disparity between the candidates more ....

Energy and Terror.... and both can be inter related.

Drill Now! is now and necessary. Nuclear is now and necessary. They may not be catchy hip ideas .... but oil is the engine of democracy and nuclear can be cheap and safe and unlimited.

The Democrats are anti-oil; anti-wind "not in my neighborhood"; anti-nuclear; anti-coal; anti-gas; anti-anything that brings us cheaper energy at affordable prices. Their mantra is "failed policies". Yet since they took the Congress; their policies have double energy prices.

Terror.... the Democrats still have a 9-10 mentality .... we can talk to the beheaders; understand the users of children as walking bombs; debate the Hitler's of the world like they had a legitimate agenda .... if those terrorists hate Bush then the Left will support them.

Now mix oil and terror and we have Iran ... another great reason to drill USA.

You may not like Bush ... you may only like 60% of McCain ... but what is it about Obama that will put the oil in the engine of democracy; build a robust and expanding economy; and keep the sane world terror free?

Kent Herrick"

Is it possible .... that instead of evolving from monkeys .... we are evolving into monkeys?" KMH

^{"WE THE
PEOPLE" the three most important words in the history
of man. Kent Herrick}

Political Correctness: on being able to think at all.

The more words we are forced to eliminate from our conscienceousness the fewer free thoughts we will be able to have and the more Liberal orthodoxy will become "thought-speak". That is you will be condemned for thought-crime just for thinking words that do not conform to the proper view. In fact 1984 as arrived. KMH

Orthodoxy means not thinking ---- not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." 1984

I don't pretend to know what is right; nor do I profess perfection; but this I do know .... there are too many here that do not understand that freedom comes from with in not from the government. "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. " from our Declaration of Independence from our Mother Country. It is not the government that grants freedom it is already in us... we grant such power to government as necessary to provide for such common remedies to chaos. "We the People "

Mr. Reagan is gone but not forgotten; there will never be another; it is what it is .... bitch all you want but John; Mike, Mitt and Fred have world's more experience as leaders and managers; do we really want one and two term do-nothings from the Senate as leaders for the next four years. The American Presidency is not a place to learn to lead the free world .... you better know how and now well before January 20th. KMH-editor

On Cuba

Being the tutor of Economics ..... I would dispute the accuracy of the phrase ....Cuba, the "most communist in the world" since no country actually has any system that approaches that idea. What they have are
dictatorship of the oligarchy as Fidel and Raul are neither proletarian or poor. but unarguably the two richest people there and milking the Cuban economy for all they have. The allotment of one rationed chicken every six months makes the place look more like North
Korea except that probably neither of these two could sexually assault as many children as Kim...... Stalin was never a communist .... he was a deformed maniacal dwarf not unlike Hitler who was a nationalist
but never a socialist .Just another sick SOB.

What Castro has really done in building hotels for European tourists is mimic Bautista and the mafia connection.. One Cuba for the rich and another for the people that clean the johns. He has turned a nation
of women into whores to acquire dollars. Nothing has changed in Cuba except the uniforms. KMH

ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

"Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth." excerpt from LTC (RET) Dave Grossman, Ph.D.,author of "On Killing : The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" Link to additional remarks

(I don't agree that the sheep have accepted and appreciated their warriors; in reality the Left tolerated (and only in the short run) the War on Terror, and when it suited their purpose they reverted to their detestation of America's Mighty. The next election, as all elections, will bring out their disregard of the threats and those that stand up against them. KMH)

Kent,

First, thanks for responding. Second, I see your point on the issues
you bring up in your email. Although I'm inclined to think that if
the issues are that there hasn't been enough action in Africa to
prevent civil war, genocide, and ruthless dictatorships; the mistrust
and dislike for politicians that speak from both sides of their mouth;
the defensiveness of political parties (in your case the Democratic
Party) to being wrong; that there is no party in this country that
really speaks to those values.

I tend to think that both parties in our country have a rather myopic
view of the American people and what their concerns are. Republicans
skew towards religion and family values while undermining that very
agenda at home and abroad, whereas Democrats talk a good game about
helping everyone suceed, but obviously have never read the giving
tree. I anxiously await the arrival of legitimate 3rd parties that
aren't shills for a single agenda . . .

Anyway, regards,
brock

Brock....

First the site was not created as a hate-anyone site. The truth is it
was created originally as a place to post the news and with a few
exceptions depending on what's happening, most of the posts are news items from all sorts of sources and very little of it is written by
me. Most of the news sources are main stream .... CNN, FOX, MSNBC, ABC, AP, Reuters ..... etc. This is easily recognized by the quotation marks and hyper-markings of the stories. I do not alter the stories and leave it to the reader to go to the site and read the whole
account ... as they wish.

I rarely allow totally slanderous or salacious remarks. A cartoon of
Kerry as a Woody Allen character is not character assassination... he
dressed in the suit not me. Notice I don't justify my dislike for his
policies, at least those that he has taken a firm stand on; to make
personal attacks on his character or intentions. I have no clue what
he did in Viet-Nam .... but he does ... and he said he committed
atrocities not me. "Yes, I committed the same kinds of atrocities as
thousands of other soldiers have committed," The atrocities he said
he committed; his contact with the North Vietnamese while still in the
Naval Reserve ... his site; his words; not mine.

Which stories spews hatred? When you speak about a Democrat's policies ....it becomes hate speak; if they mis-speak and you challenge them ...it's hate speak; if you catch them in a mis statement or lie it's an attack ad;

( I never had sex with that woman ....BC.)

( or when Kerry said ...''For those of us who are fortunate to share
an Irish ancestry, we take great pride in the contributions that
Irish-Americans …"

—Senate floor statement by John Kerry, March 18, 1986, as quoted in Frank Phillips' and Brian C. Mooney's "1986 Statement Counters Kerry's Stand on Heritage," in the March 6 Boston Globe.

"As some of you may know, I am part-English and part-Irish. And when my Kerry ancestors first came over to Massachusetts from the old country to find work in the New World, it was my English ancestors who refused to hire them."

Why not say I was born of Czech and French ancestry (or whatever) both Christian and Jewish heritage and be proud of it.....

If I have failed at this site it for not writing more of my own stuff
and being lazy at posting too many news stories... I have forgotten
why I started.... Chinese slave children making fireworks, dying in
school fires; AIds in Africa not talk but real; rejoicing in a
billion freed people.... USSR; EASTERN EUROPE; AFGHAN IRAQ, and how
many more....

while millions died in RWANDA in the 90's the Democratic PArty and the Clinton Government chose to ignore Blacks dying; for what to save a small country that Nato or the UN could have saved in Kosovo. Yet they ignored the blacks and they died in millions. Apathy, ignorance, we can save whites but not browns and blacks.

Sorry I don't hate Kerry or Edwards.... maybe they'd be nice fishing
buddies if they bring the beer but as government leaders.... nope no
thanks....

Thanks for visiting the Herrickreport.com I have posted many liberal
stories on the Voices/Forum .... I have posted enviro; slavery;
pollution; anti-seal canadian; wine; Free Venezuela, etc etc...I've
poked some fun.had some fun too.. better and nicer than the hatred,
nasty obscene crap that pours from the Dems every hour on ever
station. Keep in touch ....send stuff ... if it fits the day and
time it will be posted...... I don't take my self to serious
either....

kent

Brock Wrote:

Dear Sir,

Why do you hate John Kerry so much? All I see on your site is
seething anger directed at him, but no real articulation of that anger
(other than the obligatory anti-liberal clap-trap -- of the same
stripe that liberals engage in when discussing Bush).

My interest lies in that many people seem to dislike him (the other
swift-boat veterans, Republicans in general, etc.) but I have yet to
see anything particularly compelling in terms of argument as to why.
I mean, the swift boat veterans have an axe to grind because he used
their image without their permission -- that makes sense: being used
by anyone for any reason can cause quite a visceral reaction. Vietnam vets in general have a legitimate gripe because he casually referred to all vets as war criminals (himself included). Of course, having examined those instances specifically, it seems that his point was more rhetorical in nature -- but I wasn't there, so I can't be sure.
Regardless, Vietnam was the dividing point for many/most in this
nation and I too might be angered if someone I trusted did something
that I felt violated my trust.

Nevertheless, it still doesn't explain why you in particular have such
harsh words for the man: Is it all because of his anti-war agenda
after Vietnam? Is it that he wanted to be president at a young age?
Is it that he has a "liberal voting record"? Is it because he's
running against GWB? Is it because he "waffles" according to the GOP and "contemplates" according to the DNC? And if any of those are the case, how exactly do they translate into what I've seen on your site (unmitigated anger)?

I'm sorry, but I really do want to know, because I always feel like if
someone hates someone so much (or loves someone, for that matter),
it's probably good for me to find out why.

Regards,
Brock

U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people

Personally I think this is great news! An armed law abiding citizen is the best deterrent to any criminal armed or otherwise. On 9-11-2001 one Armed American Citizen on each plane .... ONE citizen would have changed the course of history. Today those armed citizens would have saved thousands; we would not live in fear of the next attack as each plane; each train, truck, taxi ... car ... would contain Armed American Citizens. For terrorism to succeed ... there must be terror and fear. The Armed American Citizen fears nothing.

It is terrorists and criminals who need to fear us. Kent Herrick, Editor

President Bush suffers his critics but I hope in two years he goes on the lecture tour and takes these second rate, no account, back stabbing bastards to the woodshed and pounds the crap out of them!

This was sent to the Kerrville Daily Times and printed--8-9-07

Yellow/Red Lights
Recently we have read a continuing discussion of Yellow/Red Lights and the
effect they have on the driving population. The argument seems to be that
lengthening the yellow light will decrease incidents of redlight infractions
and vehicular accidents.

So if we spread $20 Dollar bills in the street that will decrease bank robberies?

People run redlights because .... they can; and because they have no
regard for the traffic laws or for the lives of the people around them. They
don't care if you live or die. They care that they are not inconvenienced by
redlights or for that matter stop signs.

Stop Signs ... they have no yellow warning light. So why do people run
stop signs. They don't ease through; they don't hesitate and go; they don't
even look! They assume that a stop sign is just another impediment to their
selfish, self centered little lives. If you are killed because of their
malevolent behavior... so be it.

Change the lights however you see fit; but stop expecting this community
to obey traffic laws. The Police are not responsible for your bad behavior;
you are. They are not at fault if you run red lights and ignore stop signs,
you are. If cameras will save lives; then let's do it because you have
proved you will not obey the law.

Kent Herrick

Kent Herrick, Texas / 4:07am 16 May 2007 On Piracy

Of course arming ships in those oceans would be a provocative act and cause these poor misguided victims of American Imperialism to respond with more weapons. Sea captains should like all the sheep of the world submit to slaughter and mayhem. And failing to show their supline and apologetic demeanor .... just blame Bush. Link

I'm still amazed; "we shouldn't atagonize these pirates; then they will go off an hunt weaker prey." Please stop this drivel! It's the same argument that an unarmed peerson is safer from retaliation than an armed person. If the pirates or land based criminals want to steal from honest people and you feel safer unarmed ... than please wear a sign so they will attack you .... because I plan to shoot back even if it really really makes them mad. kh

On Knives and guns on the Scotsman ....

Kent Herrick, Kerrville, Texas USA / 6:18am 13 Mar 2007: First I wear legally a knife everyday, often two and always with a Swiss Army in my pocket. I use those knives daily. I have never been convicted of any crime; I do not resemble vermin of any flavor; I can legally carry a handgun; am trained; and can protect myself. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone. I harass no one and they best not harass me. Prison are for criminals who commit crimes not honest folks about their legal business.

to Kent Herrick

To me you would be a scary person to meet in my local pub or supermarket Kent!

To each their own I suppose but you would be arrested in Scotland. America is a different kettle of fish from here. Can I ask why you travel through day to day life armed to the teeth?

To Kent

#12, Kent you sound like you are armed to the teeth. I carry a knife for utility purposes and have a carry permit for a gun that I Carry when I travel, but not at home. I guess Texas can be a dangerous place. I spend winters in Brownsville and summers at home in Wisc, just can't handle the cold winters anymore.
I think asking people to hand in their knives is ridiculous, as always the criminals will keep theirs and the poor guy on the street will have nothing.

Reading Public

I carry because as a law abiding citizen we are all members of law enforcement. Police come and make reports; it is up to each citizen to protect himself and his family. I am not the least paranoid; nor am I a danger, as I read above, in bars where it is illegal to carry guns; I have only been robbed ... in Denmark ... and a weapon in the hands of a trained person is the best deterrent to thugs, mashers, and street vermin. They see my visible knife on my belt and they don't bother me. It does bother others but that is their hang up not mine. We have crime here; but the criminals pick on the weak and unprotected. On 9-11-2001 ONE person on each airplane armed would have changed history. The unarmed are unprotected; or just buy a 24 hour body guard. Kent Herrick

Hunter Great answer and to the rest ... We are free man going about our business. I wear a knife horizonitally every where except in the Airport and at the Veterans Hospital where I volunteer. I wear a Leatherman and use it daily. I often wear a concealed hand gun.

In this short page we (I) are referred to as criminals, vermin, idiots, and worse. And I have committed no act of violence; threat or intimidation. Just because I own and carry a knife and a gun ...legally I should be jailed in the UK. It is sad to see that as you remove your right of self protection your predictaments will increase; you will experience more crime, and more violence. While in states and cities where the armed citizen is encouraged rates of violence is dropping dramatically.

Here liberals try to reason with criminals; in Texas we jail them or shoot them .... their call. K Herrick

Major Terry 148, I've lived in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and France and always felt perfectly safe walking out my front door without a knife or gun or bazooka or anything else. I've been a few times to America too and, in the main, felt perfectly safe there too, though now that I know there are armed nutters like you, Kent, Byron, Laughing american and apparently The Devil Himself around I don't fancy going back any time soon.

Kent Herrick

The right to self protection is obvious, however many people do not have the self control or discipline to carry weapons. In regard to Guns, military only, would not trust even police.

The States record on firearms offensives is shocking but not unique, South Africa is worse. You seem a decent man but if you fired your gun and a ricoshaded killed a child, what would you feel like then.

Well I must trot off to my fitness center so I can wield my knives accurately. If you must refer to me in a perjorative sense then kindly not as "Nutter" since I am a testicular cancer survivor and less one Nut. Why you "mob" insists on name calling is beside me and if you folks who fear us come this way I will personally avoid defending you in every way possible. And yes I am responsible for every round I fire so I practice a lot so I can hit the felon smack in the heart. KHerrick

Glad I don't live in the good old US of A with all these would be Rambo's wandering around with their concealed guns etc. Hope they are all Magnums boys, would'nt want your victim to survive would we?

bravo Fifer .... Sorry about your daughter. I teach the ladies to stick a finger in both eyes and drive them in to the knuckle ... if you have a knife then drive it a bit further. Live Free and Brave. KHerrick

Icon!!

Pointy Sticks What a criminal you are! Pointy Sticks in the hands of honest folks. Honest folks should just lie back and take a good beating; take it like a man until the police arrive, well if they arrive in time then you will be freed of guilt that might drift your way for wanting to bash the offender with a soft gym shoe.

Ban all pointy objects, pens, pencils, scissors, pipe cleaners, knitting needles except in trained hands, rocks, bowling bowls and war clubs. Back to caves! KHerrick

Laughingamerican

Which Glock? I carry the GLock 22/ .40 in a leather vest holster or a hand made leather behind the hip concealable. So far today I have gone on zero rampages; killed no police or other assorted objects, started no wars, laid waste to the country side with rape and pillage nor have I committed other unsavory violent acts. I also stop at red lights and stop signs. KHerrick

Don Imus is history. He has been at best sophomoric for years. But the First Amendment gives us the right to speak but not a mandate to be heard.

So if he wants to go somewhere else and says stupid stuff, Bless him. Apologizing for saying stupid stuff is silly. Does he mean it less today than when he said it. I doubt it; he apologized for economics and still lost.

We support Free Speech. Keep it free. But Imus... you screwed up. Now go find a sponsor or be like me.

The Herrickreport.com is free; we have no revenues; we ask for none; we have no profits. Our readers are here because they want to be. If you don't want this just remind me. But remember

Freedom Ain't Free. Support the Troops and Support Freedom.

Kent Herrick-

YOUR RIGHT TO SPEAK DOES NOT INCLUDE A REQUIREMENT TO BE HEARD (me)

Dear Mr. Cheney;

I doubt in these days you hear it often enough, but thank you.

The American People whether they know it or not and whether you are told enough have rarely had a better vice-president. As a very amateur historian I can't remember another VP who having stated that his ambitions did not include the White House, has been more steadfast in his loyalty to our President; loyal to his principles; and loyal to the Reagan Revolution.

Salute!! As a wounded veteran told me at the VA where I volunteer... "THANKS" .... but I said "I wasn't able to serve; I was physically unfit" and he replied ... "I didn't need you then ... I need you today."

Your today .... has been the eight years of this administration and your service has been exemplary.

Kent M. Herrick

Do Democrats Live in a Vacuum?

They vote to surrender in Iraq; Iran takes hostages. Iranians see a power vaccuum in Iraq, all of the Middle East, if the Democrats can force the U.S. out. Ahmadinejad now can twist our staunch ally the Brits, who have almost no offensive power in the region and would have to rely on the American Navy for support and guess what? The Democrats are willing to deny that help by surrendering.

The American Democrat Party is the last great hope for the insurgents to win, not on the battlefields but in the Halls of Congress. Iran also sees the weakness and wants evict the British from the Persian Gulf and it's politics by lowering their prestige in the region. Nothing happens in a vaccuum.

Solution ... send a B-2 full of flares over Teheran and light up the sky one time in warning ..... then light up the sky for a fact.

It is a Sad Commentary

It is a sad commentary on the nature of Democrat Party Politics when that party prays for an American/Iraqi Defeat .... they know if there is a stable, freely elected government in Iraq that it lessens their chances for an election victory in 2006 and 2008. They are willing to see Americans and Iraqis die in greater numbers for their own political self interest and encourage our enemies to continue a war that they can not win UNLESS THE DEMOCRATS ARE ELECTED TO POWER.

Is this the limits of Democrat Patriotism. .... the more American DEAD; then the greater chances of their election and the sooner they can withdraw from the world and leave the battlefield to our enemies.

Editor..... Herrickreport.com

Political Realism

On Should Ron Paul be backed by conservatives. .... as a realist he needs seasoning ...so running ...and losing to a more seasoned Republican will help him.

Conservatives better understand that there is no ... no Ronald Reagan out there this four years. If Ron Paul is the reincarnation then he'll have to do like 1976 and get name recognition and face time.... but Conservatives better realize that they can not get 100% this election from any candidate that can win and winning is the key.

They can bitch all they want about how Bush is not Reagan and how Bush is not a real conservative and they may be right; but can you imagine what the last 7 years with Gore as President would have meant.

Let's pull up our big boy panties and support winners.

Or we can have 8 years of Hillary .... but then we'll be allowed to bitch but not govern.

K. Herrick
2007

WE ARE BACK .... Just in time too!!!

The People can be polled; the Senate can vote, the papers can pander; the cable can carp, the heads can yak .... but in the end Bush did not start world terrorism; he does not control world oil; he did not personally fly a plane into the Pentagon (jumping out really fast at the last second); blow up the dikes in New Orleans causing damage to only black houses while sparing whites; cause global warming and secretly kill every whale in ocean allowing the Japanese and Norwegians to have whale oil complexions and blubber steaks.... HE HAS.... lowered taxes, killed terrorists; captured and killed a mad dictator and his murdering sons; put Iraq on whatever road they want to try; liberated Afghanistan, protected Israel, built a better armed forces, a better economy and better quality of life in the last 6 years..... and did it with damn little support from his enemies and now even less from some of his so called allies and friends..... he should toss the middle finger to all of those that are short sighted and dim witted.... BUT no that's not our President but it is what his enemies do.... ok maybe Bush should resign ... PREZ CHENEY!! ok by me too.... and then Rice for VP and then Rice for President hmmmm.... But the President has brains and class.... and we like that in our leaders.

'Lo, there do I see my father. 'Lo, there do I see...
My mother, and my sisters, and my brothers.
'Lo, there do I see...
The line of my people...
Back to the beginning.
'Lo, they do call to me.
They bid me take my place among them.
In the halls of Valhalla...
Where the brave...
May live...
...forever.

13th Warrior

Wars are won by killing your enemies. The Losers want ceasefires. Israel can do the world a favor and achieve victory. Hurry before the useless UN can steal it from you. Posted on Israeli Site

On Crooked Plumbers.... a letter to the editor of the Kerrville Daily Times

I hate thieves. And there is one amongst us. An elderly and nearly blind veteran related to me that he had a very small job done on his house. One 8 foot PVC pipe and one 10 foot PVC pipe were laid along the inside floor with a few couplers and some cement. The home owner called a plumber; without giving an estimate the plunderer worked on the pipes less than an hour and given where the home is driving time out and back would be another hour. Two Hours Max. The charge was $800.00 and to be paid in cash.

The elderly and nearly blind vet paid.

I will find out who this person is and will ask the prosecutor to file charges. I doubt in this county that he will escape a guilty verdict of out right theft or elderly abuse.

I suggest he return the sum of $600.00 to the homeowner and thank his lucky star he didn't try and pull this on able bodied folks. Possibly the IRS will be interested in checking to see if he records cash transactions.

Shame on people who steal and especially from our most vunerable.

Kent Herrick Feb 2006 (Results of this investigation are on going)

ON AFGHAN FREE ELECTIONS

Our own votes of 1787 -1788 and the inauguration of 1789 were won by the sword, the gun and French Navy. Freedom is not free; and around the campfires of Afghanistan they will always remember the Heroes from the Coalition of Nations lead by the USA who aided their cause for Freedom, equality, education and security.

Freedom is not free and the graves of our soldiers and sailors prove it. Kent Herrick, ed.

"Have you ever noticed that the only "Right" that the Democrats are willing to protect is the "Right" to Kill Babies...... Strange that a whole political philosophy is based on this one so called fundamental "Right". "
KH

SAME SONG SECOND VERSE

What and Who? ..... were those groups that destroyed the spirit of the American Military; caused premature early withdraw from a winnable war; and bolstered the sagging enemy fortunes and morale, giving both aid and support .... it was the American Left led by Senators Byrd, Kennedy, the Press of ABC, CBS, BBC, NBC and the same aging movie "stars" and new devotees of the culturally brilliant West Coast.

Jump forward forty years. The Enemy in Iraq and others locations around the world are now applying the pressure, murdering civilians, blowing up churches and schools in an attempt to stop a democratic election and who rises to their assistance but the same people. The North Vietnamese admitted it was the American Left that encouraged them to fight on and fight on until the American Left could convince a wavering Congress to stop the war; and now a new generation of international terrorists are relying on these same morally reprehensible "national leaders" to save their gangs of murderers from their just punishment at the hands of the US Government and our Allies. (Lt. Kerry now Sen. Kerry)

Why do they shrilly demand that every vote be counted here but that even voting in Iraq is an exercise in American Imperialism.... " Just three days before the Iraqi people go to the polls to elect a new government, the Massachusetts Democrat said America must give Iraq back to its people rather than continue an occupation that parallels the failed politics of the Vietnam war."

Kennedy .... "...more violence if we continue our present dangerous and destabilizing course." ....WE ARE THE CAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE??!!!

"Kennedy's partisan political attack stands in stark contrast to President Bush's vision of spreading freedom around the world." Republican National Committee

TEXT OF THE BUSH SPEECH read the speech and then ask .... what is wrong with that vision that spreads freedom and democracy throughout the world... that demands that violence against the innocents be stopped and that people act in a civilized manner.....

Latest on Red Lights

Printed in the Kerrville Daily Times 12-9-04

RED LIGHTS AGAIN

As an unabashed Francophobe I usually can find little positive to say about the country of France. But recently I traveled there for research into World War One. We motored from the Swiss Border to the English Channel and the worst I can relate about French driving is to say that they tailgate. But other than that I saw zero violations of French driving law. But in the first drive through Kerrville after my trip, from East to West Kerr County, I observed no less than three run stop signs; five red light infractions and generally dismal disregard for pedestrians; animals and small children.

This scofflaw approach to Texas driving law is not some new found phenomena but so reoccurring; so persistent, and so commonplace that is has become nothing short of a simmering tragedy. My sister visiting from New Mexico was frightened by the common sight of people running four deep through red lights, and stop signs that are routinely just ignored. It was so bad the other day that the street sweeper ran the light at the Court House and nearly got me. A STREET SWEEPER!!

Ok for those of you that slept through "signs"; the only eight sided sign in the world means ... STOP. Stop is defined as " cessation of all movement " this does not mean rolling, somewhat hesitating; or just plain ignoring. A red light also means STOP. When approaching an intersection the yellow means a red is about to follow and you are required to STOP. What is the second through the fifth guy, and ladies too; thinking when they are running the left turn from Main on to North Sidney Baker. And when you point out the red to them they routinely either scream at you or flip you off. If it were the occasional "tail in the intersection" of someone who got one of those in betweener lights that would be forgivable, but not 10 people on one day while I was driving from VA to Ingram. One 15 minute period; ten people ran lights.

People; the fact that you have poorly planned your trip is no excuse for careening through intersection and generally causing mayhem, not to mention the number of traffic accident YOU CAUSE.

OK OK as usual this will be generally ignored and those of you that drive like morons will continue to do just that. BUT PLEASE be prepared to explain to those you maim and kill why it was that your blasting the light was so bloody (and I mean bloody) important.

Letter to WBAY..... TV Refusing to run the Swift Boat Ads....

Sir.....

On your web page of August 8, 2004 .... at 10:00 AM .... under "Political News" you have selected 1 story on President Bush and 5 on Sen. Kerry. 50% of the space to Mr. Kerry ..... 10% to Mr. Bush . Is this you normal tilt or can we expect worse. I notice you will run stories about "F 9-11" a really fair and balanced piece of fiction but removed a paid ad for the Swift Boat Vets. Obvious to me again is that there are two kinds of vets. Those that your station supports and then all the other liars and malcontents.

Kent Herrick

("the right to free speech does not include a requirement to be heard" ed)

--
Kent M. Herrick, kherrick@ktc.com

Those Nasty Neckties........

As one of the early pioneers for a casual work environment recent medical research has confirmed that the gentleman's tie is not only archaic but dangerous.

When I hired on at Ford Motor Credit three things were mandatory, business attire including jacket and tie; shoes, and the removal of facial hair. Ford Credit Insurance Operation personnel lead the fight to remove these constrictitures. Texans broke the "wing tip" barrier with more fashionable and seriously more expensive western boots. Facial hair returned when bosses showed up with mustaches and beards. But the ubitiquious tie that was another matter.

Again Texans and Arkansans lead the way. We were able to clearly and concisely show that jackets interfered with business. People in the South distrusted business men who wear jackets and ties. The Company began to relent. Little did they know that they were at the fore-front of true medical breakthrough. ................

Study finds neckties can spread germs .... in a hospital study of neckties....

".... ties were found to harbor disease-causing bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2622784
http://myhealth.barnesjewish.org/healthnews/healthday/040524HD519135.htm

Although this study applied to doctors the http://Herrickreport.com believes that in the interest of all Americans that the serious medical problem should be dealt with swiftly and that Neckties should be outlawed as a serious and dangerous national health risk.

And that Necktie Companies be required to pay huge and exorbitant sums of money to all men in compensation for years of possible illness caused by
their product.

Kent Herrick
Copyright, 2004

CLINTON IS A RACIST

It's strange that Bill Clinton acted in Bosnya to save white folks but would not act in Rwanda to save a million blacks .... of course he already had the black vote; he was the "first black President". Neither place was in the American Security Sphere. So was it racism that costs those million's their lives.
Kent M. Herrick ********* Herrickreport.com
TAXES: IT WAS YOUR MONEY FIRST

Believe it or not .... it was your money first! You found the job; you worked the hours; you got the promotion; you earned the raise; you paid the bills; you bought the farm, the machinery, lost a crop; raised a child, paid for the clothes; school and medical bills; built the church you worship in, played and prospered as free men and women and then just when the government decides to take a little less from your pocket some half wit politician says .... ed Herrickreport.com

Need a job? Written to the Kerrville Daily Times Kerrville Texas 2003

Run for Constable in Kerr County. First run for election, don't spend too much on yard signs; get elected; next buy a reliable car because you'll need it. Next buy a gun, ammo and a bullet resistant, no folks they aren't "bullet-proof" vests.   That vehicle ...   pay for it yourself; pay for all the repairs; pay for the insurance, oil changes and car washes yourself. Use it about 15,000 miles a year and at the rate of reimbursement in this county you should receive $5500.00 in car allowance. Right!

Well you'd be right in some counties; not Kerr. You'd be right if you said " but Constables drive county owned cars in Bandera, Kendall and Gillespie Counties." Not in Kerr.

Here's what we ask of our Constables after their election and if they are not already a commissioned peace officer; .... they have to become one!

"Constables and Deputy Constables are classified as peace officers by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and only after meeting specified qualifications, equivalent to those of all other peace officers in the state of Texas, are constables licensed by Texas Commission on Law ."

That means they have 270 days to complete the 576 hours of Basic Police Officer (Commissioned) Course. Hey are we paying the $1,000.00 tuition .... Nope. We make Constables pay for that too! That's 72 trips back and forth to San Antonio in those personal vehicles.

Now what do we ask them to do.

Execute Civil Process. The duty of the Constable is execute and make a return to their respective courts of civil process documents.

To act as Bailiff in the Court. To keep peace and order and act at the direction of the court,

AND! ".... to keep the peace, the constable in Texas may perform patrol, enforce traffic regulations, undertake investigations, arrest law breakers, carry out executions of judgment, ... He may seize, impound, and sell real and personal property as directed by law. "

Full Fledged Officers, treated as second class law enforcement. They do get those fat allowances from county coffers don't they?!! You bet! Constables receive a total yearly budget of $1200.00 That's a year! All their phone costs; forty bucks for stamps; and the same for office supplies; hmm not much to write about I guess. Everything. Oh and if you see a constable on a cell phone .... that's his; he pays for it. No allowance. And in that $1200.00 is that personal vehicle.

THIS county allows the Constables between 500-600 Dollars, depending on the way they budget for that $5,500.00 expense.... (Opps I forgot depreciation on the vehicle too - how much less is it worth after running through the cedar brush chasing dopers, drunks and derelicts not to mention what that personal vehicle smells like after the drunk pukes in your back seat! )

They are ALLOWED the equivalent of one month's operating costs. One Month out of one year. Folks that means they pay for your law enforcement from the whooping $29,492.00 a year we pay them.

How can we in Kerr County benefit from county owned cars. First, we get four already trained commissioned peace officers in high visibility units in all neighborhoods doing their aforementioned jobs. Just a marked unit moving through areas where they were unrecognized previously can bring additional law enforcement and peace of mind to our rural elderly. While constables are going about their civil duties they can more effectively enforce the traffic laws that are repetitively violated.

(Big Thanks to City for their stepped up enforcement!!!)

OK now the Solution ..... Nicely Contact your Precinct Commissioner. Explain to them you want effective law enforcement; that Constables deserve the tools to their jobs; and one of those tools is a marked patrol unit with up-to-date equipment.

Let's pay for our law enforcement not ask the constables to do it for us.

Kent Herrick

Kerrville. Texas (257-0157 OR 377 2310)

kherrick@ktc.com

Red Light District of Kerrville.

Driving around Kerrville makes one think of a God Fearing, Law-biding Hill Country Hamlet.

Wrong Pilgrim!

Try driving through this town and see if you find one intersection where anyone is obeying the red lights.

Now I spent a wonderful 9 days in Brazil. Drivers there are for the most part Italian trained. That is, on a green light every Mario Andretti hammers his horn, irrespective of the fact that all cars are squealing and peeling. So imagine my amazement when I saw people actually obeying the traffic signals. Well almost. Now after dark there is another law.

I was riding with my son down a eight lane avenue dedicated to some dead revolutionary. We were going about 90 ... that's miles a hour, through the downtown. I had just relaxed my death-grip on the door, slightly. So when we approached the first light and it turned yellow I braced slightly and as it turned red I threw my hands across my eyes to avoid the sight of blood and then we breezed untouched through the intersection without death or destruction.

"You, You, don't stop on Red Lights!!" I screamed in true fear.

"Not in Brazil after dark. Possible car jackers." Said matter of factly as one might discuss a coming summer rain.

So imagine further kind reader, as we approached a Green light intersection and I hadn't braced at all and thusly he slammed on the brakes and nearly turned my head into a hood ornament.

"What the ####. That was a green light!"

"Yes in Brazil we stop on Green after dark"

" Why?" I asked amazed.

"Because we know that people don't stop on Red; so we must stop on Green."

Now readers, we come back to Kerrville. Hardly is Kerrville the crime capital of Texas. Men hold open doors for the ladies; ask "Howsyourmomandthem" to strangers; and watch sports without killing the visiting team and their just as loyal fans. But it seems that every driver in this town must run a red-light at the peril of all pedestrians; small children, and drivers of all manner of conveyance. Not just one car runs the light but two and three and once even four. What is the fourth guy thinking.

NEWS!!

(1,000 Americans lose their lives each year in red light running crashes and thousands more are injured.)

The laws of most states are quite clear. If the light is red and you are in the intersection, unless inadvertently due to turning, you are wrong! Dead WRONG! That means maybe one guy can turn. Not four! Our City Police have enough to do without being paid to sit at every intersection and watch you "hurry-up-and-run-red-light" drivers. Combine you with the "coffee-donut-newspaper-cell-phone-baby-hollaring in the back seat, late for work crowd" and we have the beginning of pure pandemonium.

If Red light cameras are installed and they catch one potential light beating, car crashing, baby killer then all the money will have been well spent.

Of course we could just save the money and obey the law. Nah I doubt it.

            Kent Herrick (Printed in the Kerrville Daily Times .... March 14, 2003

The Gift of Normandy

Stand sometime on the sands of any beach where men have died; and try not to cry.

It's not possible.

Heroic deeds by scared young men have dotted the battlefields of this world. Men who gave up dreams of youth for a cold grave in a distant land. Most got no fancy funeral with horse drawn caisson; muffled drums or fired salute. Most didn't get a tearful good bye; a loved one sobbing on the dirt they holds their bodies tight; they got just a fresh dug grave; a dog tag stuck between their teeth and hurried ground thrown down upon them. Just a number on a cross and if they were lucky a blessing from a chaplain who had blessed scores before and would bless hundreds more. Just the coldness of death, dying for a grateful nation and for the liberties that we think commonplace but are more the exception than rule.

Go stand at National cemetery, and listen. Listen for the voices that talk to those that will hear them. They call out to generations that have come after and are still to come. They sing in unison; a chorus begging not to be forgotten. A plea to all they left behind. Not to have died in vain. To have died for something and someone.

Ask them at Normandy, Gettysburg; Saipan, Corrigedor, Bellau Wood, Sharpsburg; Valley Forge, Ia Drang and Hue, Mogadishu and Kafgi ... Baghdad   Why ?

So other won't have too; they died so their sons won't have to go. They died for their buddies; they landed on a grenade meant for others. They died in explosions they never heard. With a bayonet stuck in the stomach; with nightmarish anguish. They burned alive in flaming airplanes. They died in accidents that should never have happened. They drowned in ships across the faceless oceans in places without markers or memorials.

They died that others might not have to follow them into the same bloody cauldron. They died for a peaceful nation. Those are the voices that you hear, on the beach, at the memorials, at the graves .... saying ....

" If I must die in battle then let me fall victoriously" ed.

KH ... 2003

Letter to MP PARRISH of Canada:
Reference " "Damn Americans ... I hate those bastards."

MP Parrish

It is common, very common, of you to refer to us in such familiar tones. My wife and my adopted daughter are both bastards. But I hardly believe that you are entitled even by your lofty position as a parliamentarian to in such casual conversation lump all Americans into a position held in highest esteem, especially in this household.

Please refrain from this breach of manners and in future keep a civil tongue in your head.

Kent Herrick
Kerrville Texas

ps Stay at Home ..... you're not welcome in Texas

Toss out the First Amendment

If the Incumbent re-election for Life Bill passes... throw out the constitution......

Congress shall make no law ......... Free Speech people... the same amendment that allows idiots to say all sorts of trash is being trashed under the guise of donation protection.
MONEY IS NOT CRIMINAL taking the money and doing something for it is called bribery... money does buys "voice", but criminals buy votes and it's criminals, that is criminal Congressmen that accept bribes. So punish the people that are trying to stop "voice" on the assumption that we can stop the criminals in Congress.....??

GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE and NEITHER DO PARKED CARS

Money is not criminal. But taking it for illegal reasons is.......... punish crooks and leave our First Amendment Rights Alone!

PRINTED AT AJC.com
A letter to the Atlanta Journal and Consitution
11/13/01
Members of two Auburn University fraternities dressed up in Ku Klux Klan robes and blackface during a Halloween party. Some might say this was nothing more than a college prank. Others might say the incident reflects a serious failure of Auburn's core curriculum. What is your reaction?

Dear Editor

How can you expect to teach tolerance without teaching morals. Morals have foundations not in constitutions but in religion. Respectfully, you must allow the teaching of religion, morals and thus tolerance follows.

I thought campi of high learning were bastions of free thinking and tolerance. Seems free speech cuts both ways and thus even though they might be incorrect politically and lacking in good sense they still should have the right of free expression as preached by universities for years.
Do I detect intolerance of tolerance.

How I Saved A Cow and Became An Ecological War Criminal

Lt. Col. (USAF-retired) Dan Drew and I like to fish the Waters of Little Red River. We like to fish for Rainbow Trout and the record Brown Trout came from those very waters. But this story is more about a land animal than an aquatic one.

A female cow was watering on a very hot day. She had come down the steep bank and was trying to drink the very trout loving cold water. When she tried to exit the river she hung a rear leg in a tree root falling on her back with her head in the water. She was tiring and would soon drown.

After examining her plight and determining there was no choice; we rescued her now or she would suffer grieviously. Dan expertly guided the boat to shore. I hopped on to the bank and pulled a hunting knife. I had to keep my head away from her hoofs and still cut the holding root. I hacked at the root with three fairly sharp blows and released her leg.

I jumped back and the cow awkwardly got to her feet. She bellowed a few times and then took a monster dump as her insides rearranged t
hemselves in proper order. Story ends.

But does it; that's the facts. Here is the dilemma.

1. Did I commit an ecological war crime?
2. Did I knowingly free an environmental war criminal?
3. Did I murder a front-line freedom fighter for clean water and air?
4. Should I have let the tree strangle the cow in an act of natural selection and natural justice?
5. Should I feel guilt and remorse and in turn blame society and my high school teachers for my transgressions?

All of these questions have led me to wonder whether I will make a worthwhile candidate for the Cow-Nagie Medal Of Valor

DELTA AIRLINES DENIES 20-Old MONTH A LUNCH!

Facts are that our Brasilian son, his beautiful wife and our Extra-super-cute grand-daughter were about to board Delta Flight 744 San Antonio to Atlanta. They had been here for a great visit and were returning to Orlando to complete their vacation before returning to Sao Paulo and then to Recife Brasil. All except the internal Brasilian flights on Delta Airlines.

I approached the counter and as people were already boarding asked if it was okay for them to go on. I received with zero politeness the very official, " only those needing assistance or a little extra time may board early." They would like the extra time, please, " "Small Baby and stroller." I remarked.

"Wait, only taking First Class." "Oh Okay, no problem". We waited patiently and then they called on the speaker for the elderly and parents with small children. The passengers were to then take "Lunch" from the deli wagon as they entered the plane. As the couple's English is limited I inquired if they could have three lunches, one for the baby, "NO! Only two; Two tickets only". The baby had no ticket and therefore would get a lunch. Or at least no lunch from Delta. The agent has sufficiently saved the corporation the price of one lunch and successfully p#ssed off everyone who heard him deny a 20 month old a cold sandwich, chips, and a cookie.

The Herrickreport.com editor.
CNN Poll: Should it be a federal crime to harm a fetus?

--- Yes: 54% ------------40,574
--- No: 46% ------------35,170

Crazy thing is that 99% Believe Animals Should be Protected but only 54% believe Babies should be?

"Planned Parenthood"

Equating Infanticide with Family Planning is like Equating Global Nuclear War with Urban Renewal ed.

Mow the Lawn!

Carolyn and I have moved from the burbs of the Suburb city of Cabot to an ungated community in Kerrville, Texas. I mowed my lawn, er ... weeds and vines when I could get the get the kid next door to come over. That means that after my lawn mower disappeared, (thank God ... it was "stolen"),I didn't mow; I just couldn't do it myself now could I?

So now I moved to an area where Lawn care is a Religion! These people MOW! They fertilize, that's not just peeing on the grass after dark, it's real 13-13-13! Then they spend hundreds of dollars a month to water it. They hire lawn services. They buy LAWN MOWERS. Hell I have deer, what do I need a Lawn Mower for?

So I borrowed a self propelled used mower. I mowed the weeds and wild grasses and leaves.

Now my question is...do they expect that I'm going to do this mowing thing ..... ONCE EVERY YEAR!

Peanut Butter
by: Kent Herrick

My family and I are succeeding at traveling to some of the great cities of the world. It is one of my personal goals, 50 countries by 55. Well I doubt I can reach that goal. But we are having some great times going too as many as possible. Between the four of us we have 34.

Some strange happenings have occurred. But I shall describe a million to one.

It so happened that we traveled to Finland. All four of us. It was a difficult trip; Kristopher was 12 and Katy 7. Our visit to Helsinki was a visit with an exchange student from a few years before to Arkansas. We accepted an invitation that was only predicated on bringing two items. One was plain M&Ms and the second was crunchy premium peanut butter. So we were laden with plenty of both. It and we arrived and the presents were received with much enthusiasm. The peanut butter was also looked upon longingly by the two kids who had politely eaten all manner of food and were now ready for anything American. A smaller jar of American peanut butter was produced and we objected to her sharing it, but as her stock had been generously increased she made the kids each a beautiful Finnish bread and American peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We asked her had she kept this jar the two intervening years since her stay and she replied. " No a friend from Arkansas had been there a month before and brought the jar."

No further was said on that subject. The kids and I greedily ate and we went on with our visit.

We had been home from that trip some three months when as the Student Orientation organizer I decided to solicit "freebies" from various businesses that I worked in. We would package them up as "welcome" bags and give each arriving international student a bag. It so happened that I went to 10 or more places and in each got some give a way that had the business name. Pencils, key chains, cups, can coolers, you know the "trash". My last stop was a dealer that I really did not expect much from. He and I hadn't been really friends. But I went in and made my pitch, saying that this stuff would end up in the hands of the American parents too and made good advertising.

Only partially convinced the general manager passed me off to a young lady about 19 years old and told her to fetch some pencils and pads. He walked off and I waited a few minutes while she gathered the stuff up. She returned and casually asked me what all of this was for:

"It's for some exchange students; I'm making some welcome bags. "

"Oh, I know an exchange student."

"Oh, uh ok."

"She's from Finland."

I perked up a mite.

"Where did you meet her?"

"Oh I went to school with her in ... ; I went to see her this summer." and she named the town where the Peanut Butter girl had stayed.

"What is her first name?" I asked.

"Nina .... "

I paused for a second and then said.

" I ate your peanut butter."

Real Men

It's the women with a real-hair wig, dye jobs to cover the dye job, false eyelashes, eye shadow, rouge, hazelnut and avocado face crème, wrinkle remover, capped teeth, nose surgery, chin tightening therapy, liposuction, breast enhancing cosmetic alterations (Boob Job), tummy tucks, false nails, shoulder pads, hair peels, girdles, high heeled shoes, bunion pads, corn removers, toe nail polish and false finger nails and pierced ears.

that rail and moan about the "fact" that there are so few real men left in the world.

Kent Herrick

I was born here and now you know the reason why? In Riverside, California, it is illegal to kiss unless both parties have first wiped their lips with carbolized rose water. <

"In questions of power then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

President Thomas Jefferson

STOP SIGNS AND RED LIGHTS

Who hasn't learned that from nearly birth that red lights mean stop. Stop signs mean stop. I have driven probably 1.5 million miles. I've seen nearly every traffic violation. I was once even ticketed for a "slight", his words, "movement without coming to a complete stop". So today I was coming out of the grocery store. Thank God there was a pick-up in front of me. The light turned green and the truck started a little forward and here ran a SUV through the red light. He started forward again and you could have easily counted to five in Swahili when as he started into the intersection an elderly citizen blasted through going forty in a thirty five.

Ok, my mistake; I moved to a town where the average age is 75. Her excuse would have probably been " how can I see the red light when I'm eighty and nearly blind!" And it would be laughable if it wasn't a national epidemic. Our mother was just like that. Blind in both eyes and she was driving me in from the airport and said she had no problem seeing the mountains but had a real problem seeing traffic and pedestrians. I drove myself from then on.

I was in Tulsa one evening having in that day seen 3 near misses and numerous lights and signs run and rolled. I stopped for supper at a cafeteria and in the line was a lady cop.

"In Oklahoma just how long after a light turns red are you allowed to drive through the intersection?"

"What do you mean how long?"

"Yes, how long, I mean the average in my driving around Tulsa today seemed to be about 7 seconds. So I assume the law must be 10."

"Are you crazy, you can't drive through on a red any time!"

"Well you could have fooled me."

It's plainly obvious that you can be arrested for smoking in public long before you can get a ticket for a red light/stop sign violation. I once asked a Little Rock cop the same thing and he just laughed and said he could write tickets all day at any intersection but he was too busy with real crime. You can't really blame him but people die every day because of the sorry state of American driving skills and respect.

In Brazil it's standard that you stop on red. Except after dark when no one stops on red because of car jacking. So you slow down on green and honk because you know that no one stops on red. Oh and here if you have traffic behind you and the light turns yellow whoa you are dead because the SOB behind you runs all reds and assumes you do to so surprise, surprise if you should even slow down.

Ok drive like you want. I haven't seen one person stopped in the last ten years for a red light/stop sign crime. We have raised the level of every issue to a "crisis". Had TV specials, colored ribbons, concerts, super-star support for every medical and emotional disease man can discover yet this crisis has no stars or ribbons. As our population gets older and more people are driving later in life it's plainly obvious, as the red on the light, that law enforcement needs to crack down or in a few years no one will stop for anything. Free-for-all driving. Just for the fun of it drive legally and sanely and see how many people honk and swear at you.

Drive safely.
Kent Herrick

Real men don't eat quichee or spell it either.... we eat ham,with onions and peppers mixed with eggs and baked in the oven, not that quichee stuff.

The Park Bench

Edgar Morrison was tired. Worn slap out from his gray head to his fully arthritic toes. The reason for his exhaustion was not his advancing years but his over sugared granddaughter. Who was now exhausting his wallet with large amounts of ice cream. Edgar sagged into a park bench while the child laughed and slurped her cone. He had about nodded off when he more felt the presence of someone else on his park bench.

"Sorry if I woke you." It was a nice pleasant voice. Edgar opened his eyes and found a woman about his own age sitting at the other end of the wooden seat.

"It's okay. I was just resting. The granddaughter ........" He pointed feebly towards the child in the grass.

"Oh, Lord, I know me too. We come here too. But there .... You don't need to hear my life."

"Edgar, Edgar Morrison." he held his hand out to the lady. She was wrinkled but it was evident that she had been and still retained a large measure of beauty. She was fair in complexion with only a hint of light makeup. She seemed of small to medium height and well "preserved". Edgar had never lost his desire or his eye.

"Martha Moore. Martha to my friends."

"Hello Martha."

"They're fun to watch, aren't they? The kids ..." He was regaining his wits and his strength. Old people seemed like they never finished a sentence, as if to save words and time.

"They are to energetic for me. I wish I had their stamina and they my wisdom. Youth is wasted on the young."

"You don't look so weak to me Martha. You look pretty good for an ol' lady." They both laughed lightly. I'll bet your husband thinks so too." That seemed to bring a dark cloud to the bench. "Uh-oh ... did I say something wrong."

"There was a Mr. Moore but it's been three years."

"I'm sorry, me too, four years ago, breast cancer."

"Heart attack. George was a good man, but he smoked and he was over weight. I loved that man but he just would not stop dying long enough to live. He worked to the day he died; everyday except that last day. But he never really lived."

"My Elizabeth had no faults that I knew of, well none that were worth remembering."

"I wasn't finding fault mind you?" said quickly.

Edgar waved his hand in easy dismissal. "I know what you meant."

"Elizabeth nagged me a little but I needed it. I always thought I'd go before her and then one day she came home from the doctor, a regular check up, and there it was. A lump, an operation, the treatment and then after such a long time of pain, she ... died." It still put a lump in his throat. And Martha's too.

They both sat in silence, watching the kids play in the park and just soaking up the afternoon sun. Martha sat remembering her Mr. Moore. He had loved her. She him. But as business forced him further away and their children came and went she looked more inward and less towards him for support and comfort. She had reoccurring stirrings during those lonely years. Their lovemaking had been sporadic and hurried. He was worn out and she was left unhappy. Now she rarely thought about it, until today. She looked at Edgar and wondered if he ..... No probably he couldn't.

"Here comes my daughter," Edgar was watching his daughter running through the park and effortlessly arriving in her jog togs.

"Daddy! How did Sara treat you and your wallet?" She was surprised to see her father sitting beside the beautiful lady and she did a quick survey and decided she was, "Okay for Daddy". "Hi, I'm Lizzie, 'tongue-tied's daughter.'" pointing a finger at her father and extending a hand towards Martha. Each got a warm and slightly wet grip and a feeling past between them that maybe they could like each other and have daddy in common.

"Hi, I'm Martha, your father and I were warming a bench and watching your beautiful child eat ice cream."

"Daddy! She won't eat any supper. How much junk did you give her?"

"Grandpa's have rights." He grinned and mumbled looking away, a bright moment passed him as it went by their bench.

"Yes and you exercise those rights too often." She was both happy that her father was a good grandfather but her Sara was spoiled by him. "Speaking of food what are you doing for dinner Dad?"

"Oh I don't know and I really don't much care." He said that with a distant look maybe remembering his wife's good dinners. Food rarely interested him now. Eating by himself and watching TV, it really wasn't fun. Oh he volunteered at Red Cross and helped out at the hospital. It made him feel good but in the end he lost his desire to be around nice people. Well that's what he admitted to himself. In secret he just could not stand to be around all those really good looking nurses and have them look past him like he was old and shriveled. He was though, he thought. He really enjoyed the ones that dressed in starched whites. And now they were fewer and fewer.

Forty years with Elizabeth had been good ones. You could arrive at the end of the road and not have regrets. But the road hadn't ended for him. It had continued. But, he still had no regrets; now he just had loneliness. Granted he had a daughter and a grand daughter but they both had lives. That they included him was a plus; but it wasn't companionship. So what should he do? The answer always seemed to elude him.

Then Martha had sat down. " Don't care!? I should scold you for that." Exclaimed Martha. "Your wife didn't pass on just to see you waste the rest of your time. Would you want her to, 'don't care'?" Martha felt she had overstepped. They had only just met. Lizzie smiled and gave her a reassuring look. "I'm sorry, it was not my place to speak."

Edgar sat deep on the bench. His shoulders slumped forward. He felt much older and not a bit wiser. " I guess I have felt the way I was supposed to feel. People expect us to wither away and follow. Not to hang on, extending our lives now that our loved ones have …..."

Martha looked at Lizzie and with her head and an almost imperceptible nod, lightly dismissed the daughter and moved an inch closer to her new friend. "Edgar, I know. I have felt exactly that way. Nothing much left and how am I supposed to act, feel, live. So I have retreated too. But I don't like that. George would not be happy. He knew in the end he had spent too much of his life in pursuit of riches so we could pursue happiness in our "Golden" years. But what's those years if your not there to enjoy them."

Edgar stirred a little, afraid to think about what happiness might feel like again. He sat thinking as the evening sun slowly chased the blue horizon. "I've wanted to live some more. I'm not finished yet."

"That's better, really much better. Do you believe it or are you just saying so to shut me up." She smiled but looking forward so she wouldn't be disappointed by his reply.

"I don't know exactly but I can tell you that unhappiness is no fun. So why not enjoy even a few days or a few weeks or a few years. Your George and my Elizabeth may be looking down, together, remarking that we are both idiots since they would be glad to enjoy life, more time than they had, doing things the same or different as the case may be. I'm rattling on."

"No you're not Edgar. They would gladly give-up a day in heaven to spend an hour here with us. Maybe that's not religiously right. But I'd like to think they'd want to be here too."

"My sakes, it's gotten dark. Where is Lizzie?" looking around for his daughter.

"She, she went on. I guess she thought two old people would be safe together."

He hesitated. Looked at Martha. She smiled radiantly. Wrinkles disappeared to replaced with smiles around the eyes.

"Well, then maybe we shouldn't disappoint her. Miss Martha?"

"Yes Edgar."

"How about a little supper?"

"Are you cooking or buying?" she giggled.

"Your place or mine." He winked.

Kent Herrick

1/09/01

Kent M. Herrick, Editor in Chief, 2010

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