Rocky Mountain Straight Talk

by Muriel Sluyter
2 January 2013

America has reached an astonishing and far from enviable state. We have graduated more lawyers than any country could ever need or use. As a result, every time we turn on the TV, we have the great fun of watching law firm advertisements attempting to entice us to sue the pants off everyone we know or with whom we have ever had dealings.

Somewhere within the ad the viewer is assured that he truly deserves money from every firm or individual with which he has had contact. This is designed to whet the viewers’ appetite for money, and lots of it!

Is this really the way the citizens of a great country should think and act?

Does this not turn common, everyday citizens into predators? In my view it does precisely that! It encourages good people to behave in a way that is far from good, far from honorable, even far from decent.

>> Read the rest of the article on News Corner USA

Our administration has a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature. They seem to think that, if they speak sweetly and gently to the leaders of countries that hate us, they will cease to threaten us with nuclear extinction. Those with an aggressive nature and a determination to control their fellow humans do not react this way. In fact, such naive, indeed foolish, treatment only makes them more aggressive and dangerous.

Bullies, by their very nature, attack the weak, such as an elderly bus monitor and/or a child with crippling caused by one of those awful diseases to which all humans are vulnerable.

One of my grandsons has been sweet and gentle from birth. He was bullied by some schoolmates for years. Now that he is 6'6" and over 200 pounds of muscle and bone, with coaches salivating over his football future, his schoolmates let him alone. Why? Because he no longer gives off a sense of being an easy victim. To put it precisely, they are afraid to attack him.

Human nature never changes, whether Middle Eastern or Western. Our President is telling our enemies that they have nothing to fear from us. The next step in this drama is for our enemies to attack us, as they have done in Libya and Egypt. Why? They no longer fear the consequences of such an attack, because our President has assured them there will be none.

Walter Williams, George Mason University economist, reports that, when a reporter asked Nancy Pelosi where, specifically, the Constitution granted Congress authority to mandate American citizens buy insurance, her response was: "Are you serious? Are you serious?"
When the reporter said: "Yes, yes, I am." Pelosi just shook her head and took a different reporter’s question.

Pelosi’s press spokesman later explained: "You can put this on the record. That is not a serious question. That is not a serious question."

After that response does anyone wonder why we are going to end up with government mandated, controlled and disastrously run health insurance (and I use that word "insurance" loosely)? It also explains why and how our country will go bankrupt, literally.

These people not only consider the Constitution irrelevant, they have utter contempt for it.
This demands a complete flushing of Washington. Why? Because, though John Shadegg introduced the Enumerated Powers Act in 1995, to "require Congress to specify authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws and for other purposes," it has never gained more than 54 co-sponsors in the House and none in the Senate, until this year. Now it has 22 senators.

Why so few sponsors? And why almost none until this year? Because only a few representatives or senators have any use for our Constitution, except when it serves their political purposes.
Many of our tragically uneducated citizens have no use for the Constitution, either, though it is the only thing that has stood between us and the utter devastation forced on vast portions of the world’s occupants throughout history. Look it up!

It is time to flush Washington’s political toilet. When it stops up, I vote we use ballot box lye on it. Nothing else will work.

Muriel Sluyter

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

Every Christmas we watch "White Christmas" at least once. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye do a number called, "Oh! I wish I were back in the Army." One line goes this way: "The best of doctors watched us carefully." Every time I hear that line I crack up laughing. I know the guys were cared for, and I think it may be even better today, but universal medical care, as they have in the service, doesn’t include "watching carefully."

Let’s examine this thing called "universal healthcare." We are hearing much about it from the new administration. It sounds great! Affordable medical care for everyone! Wow! Who could argue with that? The answer? Anyone who has experienced it. Why? Because it works very badly. Want an explanation? I thought you’d never ask!

Okay. All joking aside, it really doesn’t work well at all, as anyone who has been involved in it can explain. Since my children and I were military defendants for several years, they and I had plenty of time to see it from the inside out.

Those years were during my youth, back when I was still having my children. The rules said you had to make an appointment by a certain time of your pregnancy, because they had to get you on the schedule for the baby’s delivery, so they would not be too backed up by other mothers due to deliver all at the same time.

It is important to know that the bulk of the military dependent women were young wives, almost all of whom were having their families during that time of their lives. That, all by itself, created the same conditions that exist in today’s clinics, designed to provide universal medical care. Both Canadian and English residents can attest to the results of those conditions.

Many of the military doctors were interns, who had recently graduated from medical school. Back then, all men were required to serve in the military during their youth. If they didn’t enlist, they would be drafted into the Army, so many chose to enlist in the Marine Corps, Navy or Air Force, rather than the Army. This meant many doctors were still young and relatively inexperienced compared to civilian doctors, who often had decades of experience under their belts. It was not unusual to have complications that increased the chance of danger to either the mother or baby. If there was an older, more experienced doctor on duty, you were in luck. If not, you simply took your and your baby’s chances with the young doctor. You had no choice. If he made no mistakes, all was well. Sometimes he did make mistakes.

When your new baby was six weeks old, you were required to take it to a "well baby clinic." It was universally assumed that your baby would come down with a cold the next day. Why? Because you had to sit for hours in a crowded room with what seemed to be thousands of other babies, some of whom had colds. There really were not thousands, but it was usual to have several dozens of mothers and babies, many of whom were accompanied by older siblings. It truly seemed like thousands.

During the winter, getting a cold increased your baby’s chance of getting pneumonia. If the young mother realized what was happening and caught it in time, and if the baby responded to the antibiotics, the baby recovered. If she did not, or if the baby didn’t respond to the medicine, the consequences could be fatal. Why? Because with universal healthcare, you have to follow the schedule of the clinic, which told you what, when and how.

It became the norm for a mother to wait until the baby/child was definitely sick , before going to the clinic, because if he was not really sick when he was taken to the clinic, the attention he got would be scant and hurried. Unfortunately, waiting for a child to get really sick is a recipe for a potential disaster. A sickness caught early is much easier to treat than one that has had time to get past the child’s defenses and become entrenched in his little body.

The quality of prenatal care in the military was such that I learned to wait until I was a few months along, rather than going in when I was supposed to do. That way, I was told the delivery date schedule was full, and I must arrange to be treated by a civilian doctor. I learned the hard way that an experienced older doctor would not give me a prenatal exam until I was far enough along that it would not cause a miscarriage, which had happened several times. The military clinic followed a schedule designed for the mass of women, ignoring the special needs of problem pregnancies.

This is just the tip of the universal healthcare iceberg. It goes straight downhill from there. My first daughter came within a hair of dying because of a careless and grossly incorrect diagnosis by doctors who were required to treat indigent citizens. Unfortunately, many doctors are less diligent with those who are not paying patients. It is a fact of life, and it accomplishes nothing to deny it. They often must care for people who are destroying their own health with disgustingly destructive types of behavior, and some of them react in a fashion that is all too human.

In both of these circumstances, whether with military or civilian universal healthcare, the quality of care is too often questionable. The doctors and nurses are overworked, because people who do not have to pay for care tend to come in more often than they would if they had to turn over hard cash every time they saw a doctor. The result is a doctor having to spend time on someone who doesn’t feel well, instead of spending it on a patient who is genuinely sick. The genuinely sick patient needs more time than the doctor has to spend, while the "doesn’t feel well" patient uses up time without legitimate cause. Why? Because the care is free or close to it.

Universal healthcare sounds great, but it isn’t. Don’t be tricked. If you can afford to pay the doctor, you will be given much better care when you truly need it. And if it’s any comfort, before the government got involved in medicare for the elderly, a doctor’s visit cost five dollars. From the time medicare began, healthcare began a rapid climb, until now, it’s through the roof, as everyone knows.

Until next time,

Muriel Sluyter

Greetings Gentle Reader,

This stimulus package–and I use the word stimulus loosely–is loaded with garbage, because it’s authors needed decoys. When we citizens scream loudly enough, the politicians "reluctantly" take out something they put in as a decoy. That way we don’t realize they are going to end up with everything they really wanted, all along.

They have put so many decoys in front of their real programs that we could scream for weeks and never get rid of the "toxic" spending they intend to keep. The stuff they will have left is so destructive our economy, indeed our culture, never will recover. We cannot repay the trillions to which they are obligating us, and the programs those trillions finance will change our culture forever, and not for the good.

If I overdraft my budget by $1,000, spending an additional $2,000 is not going to solve my bankruptcy problems.

If I borrow money from Daddy to buy a new car (with interest added), then I borrow from my violent Auntie to repay Daddy (with interest added), then I borrow from my axe-murderer Uncle to repay Auntie (with interest added), I am now indebted to deadly-dangerous people. Soon, they will call in those debts, and I won’t be able to pay. Then what? I will have to pay the price of bankruptcy, and if I am lucky, they won’t slice and dice me in the bargain. What part of borrowing from people who want to harm us does our government not understand?

The only thing that works for an individual (or a government) is responsible money management. We’re getting none of that in this package. It’s nothing but a spoiled child’s wish list and an open manifestation of that child’s malignant desire to control his siblings. (For "child" read Congress and the President.)

Until next time,
Muriel Sluyter

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

In all my years I have never heard of a candidate for President of the United States failing to produce a legitimate birth certificate. Why would anyone do such as astonishing thing?

Supreme Court Justice Souter has given Barack Obama until December 1st to produce an authentic birth certificate, so he legally can be sworn in as President. It is impossible for me to say whether the birth certificate he has shown online has, indeed, been visibly altered, as it has been reported. I’ve never seen it, and I am surely no expert, but if he has no problem producing a legitimate birth certificate, why has it not yet happened?

It makes no sense to me that his paternal grandmother would have produced a tape in which she stated that, not only was he born in Kenya, but that she was in the delivery room when it happened, unless it is true.

When Obama went to school in Indonesia, where only Indonesian citizens could attend, he was registered as Barry Soetoro, Indonesian citizen.

Many decent Americans have become so neurotic about being called racist, that they would rather have a President, whom they know is foreign-born, and therefore ineligible to be President, than to pursue this issue, because of the risk of being tagged a racist, but it is imperative that this be thoroughly explored. Can you imagine what a stink there would be if he were sworn in as President, only to be proven ineligible, when all the leads have been followed and examined? It is such a horrifying thought that I am overwhelmed by the possibility.

If Joe Biden is correct in saying that Obama will be tested by some power, what would happen if it was discovered that he had no authority to deal with either that power or the attack, whatever it is? One cannot help thinking it might be a terrorist attack, such as the one on the World Trade Center. That was so terrible that we desperately needed a strong, stable President to take charge and deal with the aftermath. Fortunately, we had President Bush and he did precisely that. But he was the legitimate President of the United States. What would we have done if we had been in a situation where we actually had no legal President?

Either this guy is legit or he isn’t, and we citizens have a right to find out without any further delay, because the Electoral College is due to convene on the 15th of this month to confirm him as the new President of the United States of America.

Time’s a wastin’ guys. Let’s get on with it!

Until next time,
Muriel Sluyter

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

When activists want to change laws, but haven’t a chance, they turn to activist judges, who do their dirty work for them. That is what has happened in three states, Massachusetts, California, and now, Connecticut. In each of these states, courts have struck down laws confining marriage to a man and a woman, and have made marriage legal between two women or two men.

The citizens of California have overturned that court ruling and have, if we understand correctly, returned to the original law, permanently. They put it in their constitution, which should keep the courts from having the power to override.

Too bad I don’t have much faith in their success. Somehow, I think the activists will find a way to get around the will of the people.

So, what is our job? Let’s not wimp out! The citizens of California have shown us the way. They have paid the price, and they won. We must do the same from one day to the next, in one circumstance or the next. While it won’t always be easy, that is our task. When we are convinced something is right, we must be willing to fight for it. If we are short on money, as many of us are, we can write letters to the editor, we can get online and talk to all who will listen.

Most of us have friends, who have friends, who have friends, etc. Personal contact is the most successful way of fighting a cause.

We have entered into a particularly tricky time in our country’s existence. We have some politicians who do dumb things and cause terrible problems. Then we have others who deliberately work to overthrow the will of the citizens, as happened in California.

We live in the one country on this earth that allows its citizens to overrule their government, by passing laws to protect their own interests. So, what is our weak point? Those citizens who should be working to pass laws to protect our interests. Huh?

It’s this way: Too many of our people allow themselves to be manipulated by organizations and individuals who definitely do not have their best interests at heart. It is easy for such types to misrepresent their goals. All they really have to do is convince us they are our good buddies and want only the best for us. They tell a good story, but if we are alert and watchful, we can see through them and circumvent their devious machinations by working with other like-minded people, especially those who are real experts at seeing through these types and their tricky games.

Let’s gird up our loins and diligently watch our elected officials and others who just might not care about our wishes, especially if our wishes are contrary to their wishes. Somebody has to be the grownup in this old world of ours, and I vote that we take on the job!

Until next time,
Muriel Sluyter

Return to the Neighborhood.

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

As I watched a man discussing this upcoming election, he bowed his head and asked Heavenly Father to give us wise leaders. So what responsibility do we have in this "wise leaders" business? Do we just ask for them and automatically get them? I don’t think so. Why? Because we have to do the actual voting that brings those wise leaders into office. Too bad there are so many "slips twixt cup and lip". Let’s examine a few.

Let’s say a very wise man runs for office. He should be an automatic winner, right? Not really. Why? Because he must run the gauntlet of political assassination, before he could get into office. Think I have overstated it? I haven’t. Let’s use the newest celebrity as an example. Let’s discuss "Joe the plumber."

Joe Wurzelbacher, an aspiring small business owner, asked Obama about getting his taxes increased if Obama was elected. Obama responded that such an increase would be necessary to "spread the wealth around." Wurzelbacher objected, saying that was socialism and he didn’t think it was right.

The media firestorm that followed this particular minor event was, and is yet, beyond any normal human being’s expectation. His personal records were examined, giving those who chose to attack him because of his views enough information to begin an immediate smear campaign, which reached preposterous proportions. Their attacks were grossly dishonest, but who cared? They were made anyway.

Let’s say a quiet, shy, but unusually competent potential candidate watched this venomous circus, before making up his/her mind whether or not to run for office. An ornery, tough old buzzard would ignore the attacks, but how about the quiet shy type? If the tough old buzzard is less competent than the young shy candidate, which of the two will end up winning that office, the tough but less competent one, or the quiet but more competent one? Is there anyone who does not know the answer to that one?

My question is simple. If we have a choice to vote for a superior, as opposed to an inferior, candidate, will we make a wise choice? You see, it doesn’t matter how wise our potential leaders are, if we refuse to vote them into office. The bottom line of all this? It is of no consequence how wise our potential leaders are, if we are too dumb to vote for them.

The simple fact is, the buck stops here, with the voter. Unfortunately, our voters are becoming more and more swayed by unions and organizations to vote for candidates and/or proposals that are either less than good or downright destructive.

Our top government officials have put several "bail out" actions into effect. None of these things would have been needed, if we had put wise leaders into office, but we didn’t do that. Several elected officials forced lending agencies to grant loans to people who either could not or would not repay them. It was known ahead of time that these particular borrowers had a very high probability of defaulting on their loans.

Next, the lending organizations put huge numbers of these loans out to be bought by banks around the world. Normally no banks would have bought these types of loans, so they bundled them and labeled them "triple A." That tricked the potential buying banks into thinking they really were good loans, made to people who typically almost never default on their obligations.

Our President and several of our elected officials have been saying for years that these things were happening and were going to "hit the fan," given enough time. They have tried repeatedly to make necessary changes, but those in Congress who were being given millions of dollars by these lending agencies insisted there was no problem. When it became obvious the President and the various worried senators and congressmen were right, they were venomously attacked by these lending agencies’ congressional supporters. They were accused of having caused the horrific problem, even though they were the ones trying to stop the inevitable "financial train wreck."

How important is it that we elect wise leaders? We are learning the hard way that it is very important to do so, but will that change our behavior when we are in that voting booth? It could, but it rarely does.

So whose fault is it that we are in big trouble? It is our fault. We consistently choose the guy with the most appealing line, even when he is a consummate con-man.

We have made our own bed, and now we are being made to lie in it.

Until next time,
Muriel Sluyter

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Greetings, Gentle Reader,

We have always referred to the election season as "The Silly Season." We had good reason for this bit of levity. Seemingly sane people can be persuaded by the smoothest talker in town to vote for the worst, dumbest, most crooked guy in town. They will vote themselves a tax increase without a second thought. All it takes is smooooth packaging, by a smooooth talker.

Somehow, this year the silly season has ceased to be silly. It has become fraught with a level of danger to which we are unaccustomed. Voting for someone who says he is going to cut our taxes, when his history says he will raise them, is silly, but not dangerous. Voting for the guy who says he will give us the moon all wrapped up in shiny paper is silly, but not dangerous.

Now we are being persuaded to vote for a guy, some of whose cohorts think and say is Jesus Christ. That scares me. Neither of today’s candidates is Jesus Christ, but we are being encouraged to think one of them is precisely that. I may be overreacting, but I think this is dangerous. It wouldn’t be dangerous, if everyone knew he was just a plain, garden-variety politician, but many seem not to know that.

I may have little clout in this situation, but I want to tell all my readers that we have two choices. One the one hand, we have a crusty old coot, who is a dyed-in-the-wool American. He would go to war, personally, to defend us if he had to do so. He isn’t all we could wish, but he is what we have, and he will not give away the "store", so to speak, in order to persuade our enemies (and we have a lot of them) not to attack us.

On the other hand we have a smooth talker with no experience, one who has voted "present" a great deal of the time, no matter how important the question at hand. When/if Vladimir Putin tries to do to us what he did to Georgia, he will come up a few body parts short, if we have the war horse in power. If we have the other guy, we and he will discover you cannot vote "present" if the bombs are raining down. Nor can you vote "present" when a tank has you in it’s sights. That being the case, we Americans just might be the ones who will come up a few body parts (and a few cities) short, if we are attacked by a powerful enemy.


During this last two weeks, in the last 30 minutes of each trading day, there came what was called a "flurry of activity." It was said to be done late enough that no one could respond. Was it economical warfare? Maybe. Has it had a gruesome effect? Absolutely. Who did it? We don’t know. We haven’t been told.

These are the types of things we are facing today. Some are very dangerous to us as individuals and as a nation, so let’s be wise. In fact, let’s not be so naive as to fall for a charmer, who is equally naive. We need a ornery old war horse, not a popularity contest winner.

Until next time,
Muriel Sluyter

Return to the Neighborhood.

And while you're there subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. Welcome to the yourLDSneighborhood newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Greetings Gentle Reader,

As I was spending some time this morning in prayer and contemplation, it occurred to me that the candidate for whom we should vote in this election is dependent on whom Vladimir Putin, Ahmadinejad, China’s leader, Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Columbia, etc., want to see elected. For whom would they vote if they could vote in our election?

Would it be the old war horse, who would bomb them into people-paste if they attacked us (and they know it), or would it be the dimpled darling of the anti-America university professor set, the hero of the pathological Bush-hating set, the world citizen?

It will be one or the other, and we need to consider carefully the ramifications of getting the wrong one. We may get the wrong one anyway, no matter for whom we vote, but we must not help to elect him.

We should remember that James Madison, president during the war of 1812, genius of the Virginia Plan that became our Constitution, was the worst one we could have had in the White House during that time. He had brains to burn, but what we needed was a tough, obnoxious old war horse, someone who knew how, when and where to fight, not a genius who didn’t know anything about war and its dangers and consequences.

That is where we are now in our country’s history. We have a tough, obnoxious (Oh, yeah!) old war horse, who understands war in all its horrors, dangers and consequences, and we have a brilliant novice, who thinks he can use his considerable communication skills to charm those who hate us and everything we stand for.

We have never been in a more precarious situation. We have enemies on all sides, and more than one of them is nuclear armed, and we must keep this firmly in mind as we vote.

The confusion of the election season, bad enough as it is, is compounded by the news media. They have chosen the young charmer as their candidate, and they have the power and opportunity to help him in his campaign. Though this is reprehensible, it is a fact. Okay. So be it. It is not our responsibility to cater to their wishes and goals. We have wishes and goals of our own, and they are more important than all the foolishness put out by the various media.

Since we don’t owe the media anything, let’s make up our own minds. We have perfectly good ones. They work just great, so since we have them, we might just as well use them.

Until next time,
Muriel Sluyter

Return to the Neighborhood.

And while you're there subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. Welcome to the yourLDSneighborhood newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Americans must accept some irrefutable facts, like it or not. First, moral decline inevitably precedes societal decline. Next, societal decline inevitably precedes a decline in the government’s ability to make and act wisely upon tough decisions, which inevitably precedes a decline in national power, meaning a nation’s power of self-preservation. Finally, having lost the power of self-preservation, a nation is at the mercy of every other nation with the weaponry, the cunning, and the will to destroy it.

Few in this world would deny America’s power to defend itself. Few would deny its capacity to annihilate an attacker. But our nation’s foundation is being undermined by the rats of this world, both internal and external. And no foundation is impervious to the quiet, under the radar, so to speak, gnawing away of its structural strength. That is where America is today.

Let’s look at rat number one: An astonishing percentage of our young, strong men and women, our country’s foundation in reality, are drug-addicted. They are useless, self-destructive, and destructive of others. The production and/or importation of those drugs is always done by criminals. As that criminal class grows in numbers, it also grows in both the power and the will to destroy all who oppose it.

Rat number two: 44,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens were arrested last year. And many – including those from Arab countries – have been released into our population, because our immigration control people have so many with which to deal, they take the path of least resistance and simply turn them loose.

According to Congressman Norwood of Georgia, an estimated 85,000 illegal aliens, whose names and fingerprints we have, are violent criminals. That doesn’t include those already in prisons. Some illegal aliens have been discovered working for oil refineries, nuclear power plants, on Navy surveillance aircraft, in many positions for commercial airlines, and even as security
guards.

Rat number three: Even in a small town in the Rockies we have big city crime. A woman is mugged as she leaves work. A credit union is robbed at gunpoint. Drugs are "cooked" in every rural area, both here and in the Midwest, often in residences occupied by small children.

Rat number four: Our homes have fallen – and are falling – apart. Children shuffled from parent to parent by foolish judges grow up unattached and filled with rage, and as they grow, they develop the power and desire to destroy. Many are put in foster homes, and some are sexually molested by predators, who know where to find unprotected children.

Rat number five: Pornography. It destroys homes and especially the women and children who live in, and are dependent upon, those homes. It creates a sexual appetite that cannot be filled within a marriage. It is the poster child for the law of diminishing returns. Whatever level of sexual activity and perversion satisfies its consumers today, will not satisfy them tomorrow. That level must be progressively elevated to appease the sexual need created by pornography. Many of its users advance to "snuff" pornography, in which the victim must be killed for maximum sexual gratification.

Rat number six: The deliberate perversion of the first and second amendments to our constitution by our judges. They have been twisted so profoundly, they are successfully used to deprive citizens of the very freedoms they were designed to protect, especially those of religion and speech and the right to bear arms.

Rat number seven: Our universities employ thousands of rabid anti-American professors. And, predictably, their students become the same.

Can rats be killed? Yes, but only if their victims have the will to do so, and the strength of Americans’ will is still in question.

Until next time,



Return to the Neighborhood.

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

Do Americans remember these words? "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

How about these? "... America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine ... God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea."

Compare those with the German national anthem, "Deutschland, Deutschland, Über Alles!" Translated straight across, those words mean, "Germany, Germany, Over All." Americans think that means the same as "Girls rule!" or maybe "We’re The Greatest!" Not so. They refer to the royal, racial right of Germany to rule the entirety of humanity. When they say "rule," they actually mean "rule."

Compare "Give me your tired, your poor," with, "(T)he only person who matters is Allah – and the only question he will ask me is, ‘How many infidels did you kill?’ "

When Neville Chamberlain came back to England, he said he had secured "peace in our time" by giving Czechoslovakia, a country "...of which we know little" to Hitler. Then at war’s end, Roosevelt gave Eastern Europe to Stalin, because Roosevelt was sure, "...Uncle Joe will do the right thing." These two, the Brit and the American, had the worldly understanding of babes in the woods.

When American "human shields" went to Iraq before the war, they were astonished Saddam put them around his strategic systems, instead of in front of his vulnerable citizens. They naively supposed he cared about the welfare of Iraqi people, though a minute amount of research would’ve informed them he and his sons had killed – and were continuing to kill – Iraqis by the millions. Sometimes he killed for entertainment, sometimes for military research, sometimes as minefield sweepers (It was their job to be blown up by Iranian land mines.).

These idealistic Americans had no clue. They were acting on the propaganda they so eagerly had swallowed. They’re still doing so.

Why are those words, "Give me your tired, your poor,..." written at the statue of liberty? Why is, "..till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine...and crown thy good with brotherhood..." different from "Über Alles" or, "How many infidels did you kill?"

The French shouted, "Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!," then they cranked up the guillotine and shed French blood until it actually ran down the streets. Then they wondered why their gains were anything but divine.

Many Americans think we did the same to the Indians. That’s what they see on TV. Those who were taught American history by teachers who knew nothing of their own ancestors’ struggles – and few do – or by the Ward Churchill types, don’t know both sides of the story. And there were two sides.

When the Pilgrims arrived on these shores, they were peaceful Christians. They came not to harm, but to worship their God and to teach the Indians Christianity. They bought land from tribes eager to establish the naive newcomers as a buffer between them and the ferocious tribes that consistently preyed upon them. That afforded peaceful tribes a degree of safety, and allowed them to teach the inexperienced Pilgrims to survive both climate and predacious tribes. Still, each exacted a tragic toll.

One entire group of settlers, surrounded by both peaceful and warlike Indians, disappeared without a trace. Since kidnaping and selling captives into slavery was a lucrative business for some tribes (It happened in my ancestors’ family.), the disappearance wasn’t an unheard of occurrence.

It’s time we Americans, though inheritors of noble rather than base intent, shed our politically-correct naivete and discover the real world. There are bloodthirsty tyrants and idiotic young martyrs out there. If we want to survive, we’d better understand our enemies and learn to fight smart, as well as hard.

Return to the Neighborhood.

Until next time,

Muriel Sluyter

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

When I hear that music, my heart swells, then my tear ducts begin to work overtime. That shouldn’t happen after all these years. Should it? I should be blase’ about that flag and that music. I’m a big girl, now. Ah well. I may be a big girl, but I’m still a bloomin’ crybaby when I hear that music and watch that flag whip in the breeze.

Though I was just a toddler when WW2 started, three of my cousins were young men. They all enlisted, as did millions of other brave young Americans. One became a medic, one a sailor, and one a paratrooper. They all saw combat, much of it, and though they all returned, it left its stamp on each of them. Subsequent wars have done the same to others, many of whom live to this day, including many who have lived with injured bodies from that day to this.

My ancestors have fought in every war this country has had. If they had not, my life would not be what it is today. Would we have a king, if they had not fought the British? Would we be forced to belong to the national church, whatever that might be? Would the class system be so firmly enforced that we would have no choice of occupation? All of those conditions exist in many countries around the world, even now.

So many LDS families have sent beloved sons off to war, and those sons have not all returned. Their sacrifice is the reason I can walk into the chapel door without fear. I can pray without endangering myself or my family.

We LDS have one more thing for which to be grateful to this country, and that is the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is very true, as we have been told, that the Church could not have been restored in any other country. Even here, the persecution was intense, as we know. If not so, the Prophet Joseph would have lived to a ripe old age. He would have had the joy of raising his children to adulthood. The Church would have remained in the Midwest. It would not have moved to the tops of the mountains.

Somehow, it seems to me we owe a debt of honor to those who fought and gave their lives to keep us free. Indeed, we have young people all around us in this day, who have prosthetic legs, arms, hands, etc. Do we owe them a debt of honor? I think so.

What do we owe them? We owe them more than respect, more than gratitude. If we sit around and waste the freedom which their sacrifice has guaranteed us, if we choose not to vote, are we showing them respect and gratitude? I don’t think so. So how do we express our thanks?
Are there people around you who need help? Will someone else help them if you do not? Are there those who need love and support? Will someone else take your place if you do nothing? Will someone else vote in your place, if you choose not to do so?

Let’s take it to the lowest common denominator. Have you smiled at someone today? Have you encouraged them? Have they seen that you are concerned for their welfare? Have you gently, respectfully helped them make a choice that will redound to their benefit? Some people need support in order to make the decisions that will lift them up, encourage them to reach higher, give them a sense of security.

Let’s begin to count the smiles we give others. Let’s count the times we encourage. Let’s count our good deeds. Did you mow the neighbor’s lawn? Count it. Did you tell the neighbor’s teenager he was destined for greatness? Count it. Did you tell a Sunday School teacher she was doing a super job? Count it. Did you let the Bishop know how much you appreciate his devotion and expenditure of time? Count it.

Let’s count the times we cheer others on, and let them know they have done something good. Now let’s do that at home, as well as in our neighborhoods. Our parents, our teens, our little ones need that too.

What do we owe our fighters, who have sacrificed for us? We owe them a better country, a kinder country, a country filled with responsible people of honor. Now let’s start with us, each of us, right at home. Just don’t forget to count it. We need encouragement, too.

Happy Fourth of July!

Return to the Neighborhood.

Until next time,

Muriel Sluyter

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

There are few Americans who wouldn't prefer to draw within our borders, cushioned by two oceans, and live our lives in peace. It is doubtful we could find enough gung ho warrior types to start an old timey blood feud, much less a real war. Too bad we so rarely get our druthers. Too bad there are truly evil people in this world, determined to subjugate their fellow humans, shedding as much blood as possible in the process. Twas ever thus. Too bad so few Americans know real history. Too bad so many have the need to tweak reality, doggedly fabricating their own version.

As I hear them shouting, "Give peace a chance," I wonder how they can live in this world without noticing that people who refuse to fight for freedom have none. How can they not see that countries who want freedom, and are willing to fight for it, lose it, if they haven't the military muscle to back up their hopes and dreams?

As a schoolchild I watched the Soviets annihilate the aspirations of the Hungarians. I watched tanks rumble through the streets of Budapest. I watched Russians slaughtering peace-hungry Hungarians, crushing the liberty movement in its cradle.

As we young teenagers witnessed the horrifying attacks, we saw no naive Hungarians carrying signs demanding their leaders "give peace a chance." These people lived in the real world. They lived under crushing tyranny. They knew, when fighting evil people, peace comes only through the barrel of a gun. They knew their dreams of freedom could come to fruition only if they were strong enough to fight the behemoth Soviet Union. They were not, and no marching, sign-carrying herd of nitwits could have changed that reality.

When General MacArthur took the job of turning Japan into a free country, he had absolute power. He knew what had to be done, and he had the power and authority to do it. He wrote Japan's constitution, modeling it after ours. He dragged a medieval, predatory society into the 20th century in roughly half a decade, but only because he had the power to do so. If he had been forced to accommodate the incomprehensibly irresponsible crazies of modern America, he could never have done it.

Our tragedy is that we have so many people eager to attack their own country, their own leaders, because they have no interest in, nor comprehension of, reality. They have been tutored by crafty doctrinarians, who know how to obtain their goals through persuasive arguments and slogans, however nonsensical and unrealistic.

This is not new. We have seen the hysterical devotion of Hitler's followers, as he harangued them. To this day we watch in unbelief as the crowds cry, wave and salute, shouting "Heil Hitler" to that depraved animal. The banners, the music, the cry of racial and national superiority were all it took to persuade a plurality of Germans to commit incomprehensible atrocities.

Some Americans steadfastly refuse to believe the horrors committed by the Nazis. To such, I say: Ask my husband what happened. He was there. He watched the blood flow in living color.

To today's mental midgets I say: All it takes for a replay of the bloodletting of Hitler, Togo, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, etc., is for Americans to deny truth, deny history, defend evil, and attack righteousness and virtue.

Some Americans eagerly line up to do precisely that. We created them ourselves, by wallowing in irresponsible selfishness and self-righteousness, leaving them to grow up unattended or in daycare centers. We trained them in our schools and universities. We made them what they are.

May the God whom we have denied forgive us.

Greetings, Gentle Reader,

When the First World War ended, it became important to the American people to commemorate the signing of the peace treaties. As a result, November 11 was set aside and celebrated as Armistice Day. Several decades ago, it was changed to Armed Forces Day, and the armistice which ended that awful conflict was forgotten.

The American people wanted to remember those brave men who had fallen in that hideous slaughter, their fathers, sons, brothers and husbands, and so, a day was set aside to decorate their graves. It was appropriately called Decoration Day. Several decades ago, it was changed to Memorial Day. Our men who had fallen in the First World War had made the first step toward becoming forgotten heroes.

The truly great and noble man who was our first President was born on February 22, 1732. I suppose our people must have celebrated his birthday for close to 200 years. School children were taught of his wisdom, courage, honesty, sacrifice and his basic human goodness. And yes, most of all, they were taught of his noble service to his country. A few years ago, we changed all of that. Celebrating his greatness was too much of a bother. Now we sell cars and furniture on that day, and our children aren't sure why we have a national holiday set aside to do that.

Abraham Lincoln, a man of humility and wisdom, of courage and overwhelming kindness, of sorrow and gentle fun and a man of brilliance and devotion to his country, captained our ship of state through the most turbulent period in our history. He was born on February 12, 1809 Each year on that date, American school children were taught of this great man's humble beginnings, his noble service to his country and of the murder that took him from his beloved people. The celebration of his birthday has ceased to be a time of teaching our younger generation of this great American servant and hero. It has been lumped together with that of George Washington and is now called President's Day. These men of virtue and courage are no longer in style.

Since the end of the Second World War, we have remembered Victory In Europe and Victory Over Japan days. We called them VE Day and VJ Day. That was close enough. The men knew what it meant; they were there. Now that is being changed. Those names are no longer considered appropriate. We have become Globalists, and patriotism of any type is not desirable. It is not even appropriate.

Now, my friends and neighbors, I have no interest in becoming more like Ho Chi Minh. I knew his history before it was whitewashed for modern consumption. I prefer to struggle to be more like Abraham Lincoln. I have no desire to emulate Mao Tse Tung. I was already alive and kicking when he bathed China in the blood of his own countrymen. George Washington will do fine for me, thank you. I have little admiration for the Aztec God, Quetzalcoatl. Human sacrifice has never been my cup of tea. I'll just settle for manger scenes and a constant reminder that I must learn to love ALL of my fellowmen and women, even those who are trying to steal the history of the country I love.

Americans have always celebrated their great historic moments and those men and women who participated in them. They have always celebrated virtue and courage. Those historic moments are no longer in vogue. Sad to say, neither are virtue and courage.

Return to the Neighborhood!

Old Column: In California's Mojave Desert, a mine called Molycorp produces lanthanides, an essential mineral used commercially in aircraft parts, floor tiles, catalytic converters, communications and electronic products. We can get by without them only if we are willing to revert to a much more primitive lifestyle. They are critical for military use; for instance, we can't fire our Patriot missiles without them.

Molycorp is the only source of lanthanides in this country. In 1994 California Senator Diane Feinstein and Representative George Miller created a Dept. of The Interior National Preserve to protect the desert tortoise, one that carefully enclosed all of Molycorp. The tortoise is protected on their side of the Colorado River; but on our side it is not protected, because it is not endangered. The designation is a fake, as we will see. The mine pumps water across part of the Preserve's land, to an evaporative area it owns. In the summer of 1996, a pipe ruptured, spilling clean water onto BLM land a small distance short of the evaporative area. The mine reported the spill and arranged to clean up the sand made
wet by the clean water, as per federal regulations.

Miller and Feinstein, having found their opportunity, each wrote letters of outrage, accusing the mine of endangering the citizens of California and demanding that the government take action. A month later, armed federal agents wearing flack jackets, showed up at the mine gate demanding entrance, which the guard denied. They told him they were armed and were going to come onto the compound, and they did. With guns drawn, they herded employees into a conference room and held them for hours, telling them nothing. They turned away the corporation's lawyers at the gate. After several hours of being held captive, some of the employees had to go to the restroom. They were escorted to and from the restroom by an armed guard.

The employees were unarmed; it is against federal regulations to have weapons on the mine property. The agents knew the employees were no threat, so the flack jackets and drawn weapons were strictly for intimidation purposes. The agents examined all documents pertaining to the spill. That's all they were after, although the employees thought they must be conducting a drug or weapons raid, because of the uniforms and the abusive swat team behavior of the agents.

The employees were not permitted to clean up the spill. It was designated toxic waste - even though only government environmentalists could call clean water a toxic waste with a straight face. They put up warning signs and brought full toxic waste gear; the mine employees say they are just putting on a show, since they work around the byproducts of lanthanides everyday, and there is no danger.

The agencies proceeded to levy fines, though Molly Brady, on-site representative of the BLM, admitted the government had done no studies to see whether the mine's product presented any danger to humans; she also admitted they didn't think there was an "acute hazard" and that the mine had broken no laws. The fines are for noncompliance.

Remember, the agents forced the mine into non-compliance by refusing to let them clean up the sand "contaminated" by the clean water; an employee says the agents don't care whether the spill is cleaned, because they know it isn't dangerous. Then the employees found a dead tortoise on the mine's property. Regulations require that they report it, since it is on the endangered species list. They were promptly fined a million dollars, and an autopsy was ordered by the government. They found no evidence the tortoise died of anything but natural causes, but the mine was still fined. The employees dubbed it the million dollar tortoise.

The mine was required to institute a complete tortoise protection program. If anyone touches a tortoise, they are subject to a $75,000 fine and a year in jail. Vehicles can travel no more than 15 miles per hour and must keep a distance of 100 feet apart. If a tortoise gets close to one of the massive mine vehicles, the vehicle may not be moved until the tortoise leaves. There are so many tortoises it is common for one or more to tie up mine vehicles for hours each day. So much for their being endangered.

The mine has had to put up a tortoise fence at their own expense, but since tortoises burrow, they go under the fence. Every work day begins and ends with forced tortoise training. The idiotic agent who described it said they are raising the employees' awareness of the tortoise, but the employees call it "tortoise sensitivity training."

Twenty-nine federal, state and county agencies are on the compound, and the mine has to foot the bills. The BLM rep said there are so many they hamper each other's activities, not that their activities have a legitimate purpose, anyway. The sheriff of that county has the legal authority and responsibility to protect Molycorp from all state and federal agents, but the county people are among those preying on Molycorp. Maybe "to serve and protect" doesn't mean the same in California, as it does here.

The fines have mounted to $6.2 million. The mine has laid off 1/3 of their 300 workers, and they anticipate laying off 30 to 60 more, because they are broke. Production of the essential lanthanides has dropped, but a mine in China, owned and operated by the Chinese government, has eagerly made up the difference. (This is the same Chinese government that illegally put millions of dollars into the Clinton/Gore re- election campaign.) A representative of that mine announced they had plenty of lanthanides. Since the government owns the mine, he says they don't have to worry about environmental restraints. He knew all about Molycorp's private business, and smiled widely as he affirmed that they would probably have to shut down.

Molycorp is projected to be forced to close by June, because of the exorbitant fines levied by the bloodsucking agencies. One of those involved in this persecution of Molycorp has business interests in China, but there is no proof that those interests are connected with the attack on Molycorp.

Why did the environmental crazies trump up charges against a mine with an exemplary record of environmental compliance? Whatever their motivation, since lanthanides are critical to our defense, closing the only mine in America, making our military dependent on the Chinese government, is treason.

I have demanded answers from our representatives, and have told them their answers will be reported in this column. We'll see what happens next.

My name is Muriel Sluyter. For many years I was a controversial columnist, in other words, a conservative columnist publishing in an exceedingly liberal paper. Over the years I had many battles with the editors until the time finally came when they decided they no longer wanted a conservative columnist in their paper. So my columnist days were over. My daughter, Candace Salima, wants me to start publishing my columns through this blog so that everyone across the world is able to enjoy them. So here is my first foray into Blogland.

I became very popular as a social commentary columnist. With the 2008 Presidential Campaign season heating up, I thought it'd be fun to post some of my older columns on America.

Greetings Gentle Reader,

In the Southwest, there is a velvety, bright, red and black bug commonly called a cow-killer. It is in pastures and mangers where cows eat, and it has been said for many years to be able to kill a cow with a sting on the nose. The books say it can't kill, but can cause great pain. This bug is about one-half inch long and moves very quickly, so fast that it is hard to pin down. It has a fascinating trait that gives kids lots of fun. If you hold one down with a tiny stick (don't hurt it), and keep it from doing what it wants to do, it squeals. Now, remember the comparative size of this bug to the cow and the pain (death?) it can inflict. The cow is huge and placid and likes to eat, swat flies, chew its cud and sleep. The bug is tiny, fast, mean and noisy, when discovered and restrained, and yet, small as it is, it can injure a huge cow.

Most humans are like cows; they spend their lives tending to the basic needs and enjoyments of life. Some, unfortunately, are more like little red and black bugs; they are mean and few in number, but they are destroyers who are hard to catch in the act and, if you succeed in pinning one down, he screams foul at the top of his lungs.

Now, don't misunderstand. I am not referring to the ornery little banty rooster who picks fights with the bigger boys in the school yard. Oh, he has his moments, but he's more a royal pain than a danger. I am talking about the mean little bug who must be in control, and only feels in control when he is taking away another's freedoms. When this type is caught in the act and is held him down so that he cannot do as he wants, he squeals and cries foul so convincingly that, without fail, he fools many people. He always ends up with a following, those who, to their shame, are convinced of his innocence. Human history is filled with examples of this nasty little species.

America has probably never had, in all of its history, so many cow-killers in its activist ranks, people whose expressed goal is to destroy. Somehow, an opportunity to gain political power brings them out of the woodwork.

If they can make their aims sound noble enough, if they can target their audience successfully enough, they can be elected to offices with great power. Once they are firmly entrenched in those positions, they bring in many others who were not elected and appoint them to positions of authority. In this way, they can change the entire thrust of government to one which emphasizes control of the citizens. That is where America is today.

These little human bugs are mean, fast and elusive and when they are cornered they scream, but we had better watch them more closely because, although they are few, they are quietly changing rules and regulations in order to peel away our freedoms, one layer at a time. We citizens don't even know what they are doing until someone stands up, becomes visible and tries to stop them, at which time the invective hurled at that poor citizen's head is enough to convince the electorate that he is a fool at best and, at worst, a conniving, self-serving villain.

These cow-killers, both elected and unelected, are quietly depriving us of our freedoms. We can only stop them if we take personal responsibility for keeping our rights intact and stop paying attention to the squealing of those who would destroy us.