We don't need no stinking customer service. We don't do service.

So, the other day I go out to the mailbox and try to open it. Key won't work, so I put a note on it asking the mail PERSON...not the mailman or the mail woman...but the mail person to please advise what I should do. I tell my wife to look out for the mail person so we can get this straight. My wife sees the mail person opening the boxes (we have one of those community box set ups) and tells her that we can't get our box open and there must be something wrong with the lock. The less than courteous mail PERSON advises that if there is anything wrong with the lock, it is out responsibility to get it fixed.

Now, I don't know about you, but I always thought (my bad) that the Unites States Postal boxes belonged to the United States Post Office, not me. Our mail person won't even let you stand there while she is sorting the mail and wait for ours to be put in the box. Nope, you have to stand back 10-15 feet (preferably in your car) and wait until our mail PERSON finishes and then safely and securely locks the community box. DO NOT APPROACH THE MAIL PERSON WHILE THEY ARE SORTING MAIL. THIS MAY VERY WELL BE A FEDERAL CRIME OF SOME NATURE....!!!!!

My question is simply this...if the lock problem is ours to deal with, how am I (an humble, simple United States Citizen) supposed to get into the locked box after I arrange for a locksmith (at my cost) to come out and fix the box that now belongs to me?

If the box is mine...then it seems to me that if I wanted to decorate the front of my box to reflect the changing seasons, I should be free to do so.....I'd be willing to bet that the very thought or suggestion of this would be enough to force my mail PERSON to report me for making some sort of anti-government threat and shipped off to some educational training camp in Siberia......or North Dakota....or some place......

Along those same line...today I take a old pistol of mine to a gun shop for repair. The owner tells me in no uncertain terms that they don't work on pistols...ok, I can accept that but instead of trying to be helpful and suggesting some place to look...he says.... "No one wants to work on some old Saturday night special like that..." First off, this is a $500 pistol and it was made by Colt firearms, not exactly the manufacturer of Saturday night specials. In addition to his caustic comments he ignores me when I ask what exactly does he work on....I have a lot of rifles and shotguns.

So, here is a guy who makes his living working on firearms and manages to hack a potential future customer off on the space of 90 seconds....A new world record.

The United States Post Office spends millions of taxpayer dollars on television commercials and I am certain the gun shop spends bucks on advertising as well, but you'd think they might spend a few dollars on how to perform pleasant customer service.

Oh, by the way....I was using the wrong key for the mail box.

13 more grueling months to go!!!!!!!

I think the first column I wrote some 30 years ago had to do with politics....I was trying to be funny and say that I was suspicious of North Dakota since I had read an advertisement for someone to be a Senator in North Dakota. My premise was simple, I had never heard of any senators or politicians actually from North Dakota and perhaps it was just a political prison or used for some other nefarious reasons. This was, of course, tongue in cheek type of humor....I was not being serious, just writing a story.

But, fast forward to this day and time....here we are 13 months of political campaigning for the next President of these United States of America. Heaven help us all.

In the 1940's when I was a kid....we got our news mainly in about 4 major ways...radio, newspapers, magazines (Saturday Evening Post, Life) and the news reels at the movies. Obviously I didn't pay that much attention to who was running for political offices when I was 10 or 12 years old....my biggest problems were enough movie to go to the movies and how to keep my bike tires pumped up. Harry Truman was some old codger off in Washington...a thousand miles away.

But it's different today, isn't it?

We have 300+ channels on our televisions, 275 of which we never have watched. We have the internet on our computers, we have local and satellite radio, we have cellphones and we still have newspapers and magazines.

In short we have too much.

In our overly sensitive politically correct country at this time, anyone, politician or not can make a comment about anything and it will hit the news around the globe within 10 minutes. Tell some lady that you think her dress is pretty...BAM! you're sexist....Talk about racial issues (either side...makes no difference) and BAM!!!...you are a racist. Talk about poverty and changes needed for our kid's education and  BAM!!! you are a liberal....mention, just mention hunting, guns, police lives matter and you are branded a right winged red neck.....How can you win?

How can anyone win....how can anyone try to get elected who will look out for the best interests of us all? How can we draw conclusions about the people trying to lead our country when we get 30 second sound bites and biased reporting from all of the media about these candidates?

I am not so concerned over what someone called their 4th grade teacher or their position on gun control when their comments were mad 35 or 40 years ago.  People can change their points of view...people SHOULD change their points of view.

As I said, when I was 10 or 12, my scope of knowledge was very narrow...but as I grew up and obtained more information, I was able to modify my viewpoint and see someone elses side of the issue.

I would hope those running for the highest office in our land could do the same....13 more months of loud, shrill voices day after day forced upon us by a multitude of media sources is way more than I care to contend with....

Killing pastors One Cut at a time....

From Flat tires to Cancer…..How we are guilty of helping to defeat our church pastors…. You may not agree with what I am about to write, but that is ok with me….this is what I feel in my heart to say about this situation. This past Sunday, our pastor committed suicide. Obviously it was a shock to all of us and our hearts are saddened and hurting for his family as well as for ourselves. But in trying to make sense of this event, let’s take a moment to look at some sobering statistics, according to the Schaeffer Institute, 70% of pastors fight depression and over 71% are burned out. See: http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/42063-why-are-so-many-pastors-committing-suicide. Another insightful paper can be found at: http://www.benjaminisraelrobinson.com/pastors-committing-suicide/ Since I became a Christian some 32 years ago, I have had the pleasure to know a number of great pastors personally. These were mighty men of God, gifted and ordained to preach the gospel and take care of their flocks. These men were extroverts, outgoing and eager to try to help for any reason. Their wives? Not so eager. In fact, I found their wives to be more reserved and somewhat reticent in a number of occasions. I could not blame them if they were angry. But then, why shouldn’t they be? Here you are married to a man who comes home each night bringing in the burdens of his flock with him that he has listened to each day for how many years? His brain and energy have been sucked dry with issues he is not trained to deal with in any sort of in depth manner. He has been to seminary or undergone theological training, but he is not….a financial consultant, a medical doctor or a psychiatrist. He cannot fix all of the things that go wrong in his congregation. I cannot fix the things I see and hear about in the news. I can turn it off or not read about it. He can’t. This is his job. He can listen to yours (or my) problems and be concerned but in the end exactly what can he do about them? For the most part, practically nothing. He can pray for us, but we can pray for ourselves. He wants to help, but his ability to help is either constrained by the finances of the church or its resources. The more compassionate he is, the larger the load he carries for the things he cannot fix. His wife sees him carrying these burdens year after year. She hears him talk and pray about the things he wants to fix, but cannot. Perhaps she views the congregation as too many ‘takers’ and not enough givers. He doesn’t discuss names, so how does she know who has a real burden or who is wasting the time and energy of the man she loves with a trivial problem that they could or should fix themselves? She doesn’t. All she sees are people vying for the time and attention of her husband, year after year after year. When he comes home, it’s as if his big toe has been pulled off and his brains have drained out. We are all to blame, regardless if we are or not. There were those yesterday that said to us…. “How could he do this to US? To this church?” It isn’t about US….or this Church…it’s about him. How did we fail him by not giving him the support and assistance his selected vocation requires? We want pastors who have compassion and are caring and have concerns for their members, but at what cost? Look at those statistics again….70% suffer from depression. Who wouldn’t if they had to listen to a constant litany of whining from people to solve their problems that they ought to take care of for themselves? Cancer, death of children, loss of job or other major issues….sure but come on, taking time to ask the pastor for gas money or finding a job for their kids in the summer…complaining about the sermon you heard this week? Perhaps it was for you to hear. Didn’t like the decorations for the last church luncheon? How about you doing them next time we have an event? Don’t care for the food that was served last Wednesday night? Can you cook? Just get in that kitchen and whip up something for 10-150 people. No tables for you to eat snacks off of in your Bible study class? Grow up. Leave the pastor alone …..he has better things to do with his time. Then we have the issue of some church members dealing with their pastors as their own personal priests. They look to their pastor as somehow being closer to God. I have had pastors tell me that men and women come to them to ask for prayer because they think God listens to the prayers of the pastor more than to their prayers. They want the pastor to do their praying for them. Lord help us. This event causes me to worry for the mental health and well-being of our young pastors and their families. They need to be aware of the dangers of worrying about problems they cannot solve or remedy. They need to focus on the issues they can have some effect upon and leave the others at the steps of the church each night when they go home. I know this is easier said than done, but adding more and more to your load with eventually cause you to break down and then what good are you? I also think this is a perfect time for us to reflect on how we can be of better assistance to our pastoral staff. Do we make them…yes, MAKE them take vacations and breaks on a regular basis. Do we utilize the staff for mundane requests that arrive on a daily basis? A flat tire and a hangnail is important to the person dealing with them at the time, but come on, someone on the staff should be able to assist with minor issues so that the pastor does not get overwhelmed with every event. Does the deacon body provide assistance and help or are they standing around impressed with their title and not interested in serving the church body? Please do not get me wrong on this message….I do think the pastor cares and should care for the people in the purview of his responsibility, but let’s be real….he is a man. He has needs, feeling and shortcomings as we all do. We cannot put these men (and or women) on such a high pedestal that they hurt themselves when they fall back to earth. We, us, you and me….need to pray for guidance and God’s wisdom on how we can help prevent these tragedies from occurring. These men and women of God who have voluntarily chosen to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ need all of our help and assistance we can give to them….they cannot nor should they be expected to carry these troubles and burdens all alone. God Bless us all…..

A Nation of Fools

“Et Tu, Scott Walker?” So now we have the second drop out of the wanna be Republicans in the primary race for the presidential nomination coming next year. Walker has done a terrific job in cleaning up Wisconsin and surviving two attempts to remove him. All of this in a largely Democratic state. Not a small achievement by anyone’s means. He fought the unions and survived a hostile citizen takeover of the state capital and went on to live another day. Good for him. The field of potential candidates is vast and the road to Pennsylvania Avenue is narrow. I salute Gov. Walker for his ambition and his intestinal fortitude to have stayed the course this long. I cannot begin to imagine the stress and strain these kinds of ordeals can place on any one person. What I do want to say is that I would have a much better taste in my mouth if he had bowed out gracefully and without a ‘sour grapes’ bomb directed at the front runner of the day, Donald Trump. Let’s face it, Trump is antagonistic, egotistical, arrogant, brash and very out spoken and those are his good points. But how has he climbed to the top of the charts in such a short time and stayed there week after week in spite of one gaff or faux pas after another? Simple, finally someone has come along who has the chutzpah to talk about the elephants in the room that we had all been led to believe aren’t there. Immigration, tax reform, balanced budgets, military strength, race relations, education and foreign enemies or threats to our country to name a few. Our current crop of politicians seem to believe that if they keep ignoring these issues, somehow they will go away…or perhaps these elected elites can retire in luxury before any of these matters need to be addressed. Our people are not stupid. We might be dumb when it comes to picking our leaders, but look what we have had to choose from. Our choices have been narrowed to just pick the best of the worst. No, Trump may not be the best of the lot….but he has gotten everyone talking about the things we have on our minds and what matters the most to us. The focus of the remaining members of the group should be focused upon the ills of the past seven years and what will happen to our country if we elect another person inclined to repeat these grievous sins. The personalities will speak for themselves in the coming year as to what the American public likes or dislikes. Attacking Mr. Trump at this stage of the game is hardly productive to say the least. Mr. Walker could have scored some points in my book if he had welcomed the idea that even in today’s tech world … ‘Mr. Smith can Still Go to Washington.’ It’s about time. Peary Perry 9/23/15

'It's Alive...It's Alive...'

A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry

“It’s Alive…It’s Alive..”

To start us off this week, I offer the following quote :
"The problem is, and always has been, that once government programs and agencies are created, they quickly become sacrosanct and virtually impossible to destroy. As Ronald Reagan said, 'Government programs, once launched, never disappear ... a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!' So it doesn't matter that the Department of Education doesn't educate, or that the Department of Energy doesn't produce energy. It's government and, thus, by definition good in the minds of the Washington establishment." --columnist Cal Thomas
Truer words were never spoken. One has to wonder if anyone, anyone out there has a complete understanding of just how many agencies are in our government? Or better yet, what the functions and annual progress indices are for any of these agencies. I was surfing the internet the other day and ran across an interesting federal agency called the FLC. Never heard of it? No wonder, here is a description of what it is and what it does:
“The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is the nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace.”
I’m certain this made you feel better didn’t it? How many government employees are working at this place? What is their budget and what do they produce or accomplish? How can we find out if we wanted to do so? You can’t look at their website and see any of this information. Public companies post this kind of information on their annual reports and websites for the entire world to see, but I bet you’d have to file a freedom of information request to see anything about this agency. I realize my question might be broad, but private enterprise companies are judged based upon their annual performance. Generally this consists of something as simple as …did we bring in more revenue than we spent in expenses? It’s all fine to discuss such things as these next couple of items (from their mission statement):
• Promote and facilitate the full range of technical cooperation between the federal laboratories and America's large and small businesses, academia, state and local governments, and federal agencies.
• Provide direct services to member laboratories and agencies in support of their technology transfer efforts.
• Enhance efforts that couple federal laboratories with American industry and small businesses to strengthen the nation's economic competitiveness.

But my question is how much actually got accomplished in any given year to improve the gross domestic product of this nation by increasing any one business segment? If you are spending millions each year and have no quantitative method of assessing your effectiveness, then what is the purpose of your existence in the first place?

How many agencies such as this one do we have in this country? Who reviews them after they have been completed to determine if they are really making any headway with their programs or are they just engaging in pointless watermelon talk? Watermelon talk is a local term for; well you know what it is, don’t you?

I once bid on a government contracting job that employed about 50 people and had a budget of several million a year. My bid came in at about ½ the cost and used about ½ the number of employees. The bid was rejected and the entire process stayed with the municipality. In an after action meeting I inquired why the government needed twice as many employees as it would take for me to do the job. Their answer was that the government supervisors kept asking for more employees to get the job done on time. No one had ever asked if the employees were being efficient with their time (they weren’t) or if the processes could have been improved upon (it could have been) or was anyone actually looking at performance on a regular basis (no one was) so their budget requirements keep being increased year after year.

If you and I ran a private business the same way the government runs their business, we would have been broke a long time ago. But then isn’t that the current status of our national debt? Fiscal responsibility should be more than an election year slogan; it should be a mission statement.

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Talking out of both sides of their mouths.....

A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry


“Talking out of both sides of their mouths”


The Boston tea party of 1773 was committed by a group of angry colonists disguised as Indians or Native Americans… if I need to be politically correct. These die hard citizens were rightfully disturbed over the increase in taxation from England along with a host of other unwelcomed rules and regulations. As you know from history, this is one of the pivotal events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign country.

It now seems as if history is once again repeating itself by the creation of a new, but different tea party in our country. This time it is somewhat different from the first one.

Tea party opponents try to uncover the so called ‘disguise’ of the members of this new political movement and seem to be stumped because they cannot find its core or even its leaders. It’s almost as if all of the members are still disguised and are hidden from view. In the minds of those opposed to the tea party concept, the members of the tea party are still running around refusing to show their true identities.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What’s humorous about this situation is that none of the members are hidden at all; no …they are all in plain sight and walking freely among us. They are simply us. They are our neighbors, our relatives and our friends. They come from all walks of life and are members of all political parties. They are not hiding at all, which is what makes their detection all that more difficult.

I say again….History repeats itself. It is not uncommon for those in opposition to something to put labels and disparage any form of things unknown. In this instance the tea party movement to the established political parties (of both major parties) is an unknown. The major parties simply do not know how to react to a grass roots movement that has only been in existence for a short time and has no central leadership or even organization behind it. They keep looking for something that does not exist.

It simply is what it is.

This, as you might well imagine seems baffling to career politicians. They are used to everything being done on a quid pro quo basis. The theory that you would actually do something or be a part of something without having some sort of ulterior motive is beyond their normal range of comprehension. You and I both have witnessed our elected representatives going at each other tooth and nail at 10am and then praising each other at cocktail parties at 10pm. All in a days work for them. Their lives are lives of compromise and give and take depending upon what each one of them can give or take. From what I’ve seen, very little consideration is given to those of us who have voted to send someone to Congress to work on our behalf. No, the normal behavior is to do what works for their purposes and then if there is anything left over for us then it may or may not trickle down to our level.

Is it any wonder that the average American is sick and tired of this farce and is now ready for some real changes, not just the same old tired campaign slogans we have been hearing for years and years? We all know the potholes and roads get fixed just before elections, but what about all the rest of the time? Why can’t our government be more responsive to our nation’s ills and problems when there is no election to be considered?

No, our problem is that since the 1700’s our nation has become more and more diverse and in an effort to win the hearts and minds of voters, the politicians have tried their best to carve out a piece of the pie for each individual group. Our growth over these past 200 plus years makes that almost impossible. We are too complicated and diverse to tailor our government so that each and every one of our needs is addressed by the state. Perhaps it was possible in 1773, but certainly it isn’t possible now. We need to get back to basics and address the issues that are of concern to all of us, not just a few.

The sole purpose, in my opinion, of the rise of the tea party movement is to unite people across this land who are seeking the solutions to our common problems. The unity being expressed by the growth of this movement should be applauded and encouraged, not spoken about as if it were a secret society.

It is no secret; it is the will of the people. It was no different in Boston in 1773.

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'Run...the voters are after us!!!'

A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry

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‘Run…the voters are after us!!!!!’

I suppose I’m just naïve or something, but I always thought being a member of the United States Congress was an honorable position and one we should all look up to for guidance and inspiration.

Having said that, I’m of the opinion that those who run away from adversity and challenges are often called by less than inspirational names….such as cowards or ‘yellow’ or shirkers or (and I love this old word)…a poltroon.

So as in the course of any major military battle, since recorded history began, the commanding force that ran from the challenge at hand was deemed to be cowardly due to their actions. Thus we can safely attach that same label to any and all who shirk from their respective responsibilities, can’t we?

Obviously, there is a point to all of this bit of explanation… and that is to illustrate the actions of our current federal congress that recently fled the nation’s capital leaving a multitude of tasks unfinished. Several members advised that the session had … ‘just ran out of time’… before the fall break. Small wonder that they didn’t have time to convene on really important national items, but did manage to allocate forty minutes of their time towards considering whether or not to recognize the Washington Stealth Lacrosse team for its winning season. Nothing against a winning team, but I do think we have larger fish to fry, don’t you?

So, the Congress packed up its bags and quietly slunk out of town and back home for the remaining few weeks before the 2010 mid term elections. Or perhaps hop on another taxpayer funder junket to Paris (for info on the Islamic world), Dublin (Information on US/Russian relations) or Punta de Mita Resort in Mexico (for conference on South American policies). Oh and be sure and invite your spouse, since they come in handy at the embassy parties given in your honor. At taxpayer expense, naturally.

What a wonderful life they have. Great benefits, excellent retirement options, good travel, better than average pay, lengthy vacations and multiple opportunities for private enterprise all at someone else’s expense. All you have to do is make big promises and get yourself elected, then make more promises to get reelected…..do this a number of times and you are on easy street for the remainder of your life.

Of course every once in awhile some of those nasty old voters may want to bring you to task for running away from the very things they elected you to do for them.

Such as you did this past week, when you left town before you:

1. Told anyone how you would vote on the upcoming decision to extend or deny the Bush tax credits (due to expire on December 31st)
2. Enacted and passed a budget for the forthcoming year. Choosing instead to just vote on a stopgap measure for the next two months.
3. Failed to consider ethics charges against two house members who are up for re-election as the outcome of their trial might endanger their reelection chances. (You think?)

These items as well as slew of others just as important were left hanging until after the mid term elections. So none of us in this country actually know what our budget is going to be or what our tax rates will be until after we elect or not elect those who were sworn to represent us.

A fine kettle of fish this is.

The entire country is basically frozen in place, afraid to jump in any direction because no one knows what the Congress is going to do….and they won’t tell us. No sane business man or woman wants to lay their lives and fortunes on the line by building a new plant or facility and hiring more workers without being able to calculate their overhead costs.

Who can tell me right now what any healthcare plan for any of my current employees or future employees will be or might be? No one, that’s who.

Who can tell me what my taxes will be in the coming year? No one, that’s who.

Who can tell me if the person I vote for will even be my representative (if mine is one of those currently involved in the ethics investigation) after their ethics trials are held? No one, that’s who.

Run, run away and keep on going…..then perhaps we can elect honest and responsible people to look after our affairs after you are long gone. Good riddance and don’t come back.

We don’t need cowards, we need real Americans.

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