www.MyCounty-Line.com --- JULY 2014
Big Country Ce ntr al Texas E d i t i o n
Volume 7 Issue 80
National News and Opinions mixed with Local Small Town History and Story Telling. Representing the Small-Town Conservative Viewpoint, Values & Patriotism!
~Mike Norris, Owner & Publisher
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2014
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On The Cover Growing Up Small Town Texas Conservative Michael Ramirez Tumbleweed Smith Treasure Hunters Love Lessons Huddle Up! Breckenridge Wall Distribution Map Our Four Great Faiths Cisco Loboes Territory Welcome to Rising Star This Week In Texas History B.C. The Wizard of ID In Sickness & In Health
COVER ART:
David Barton (born January 28, 1954) is an American evangelical Christian minister, conservative activist, and author. He founded WallBuilders, a Texas-based organization dedicated to presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built – a foundation which, in recent years, has been seriously attacked and undermined. Barton is the former vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas. He has been described as a Christian nationalist with much of his work devoted to educating the nation concerning the Godly foundation of our country. Photo ©2014 Time Inc.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All. B:510-152550100200
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EDUCATE, INSPIRE, ENGAGE
Did you know there’s an organization in Eastland County working specifically to educate, inspire and engage voters to know and protect their constitutional rights? It’s called Tea Party Patriots of Eastland County (TPPEC). It meets every second Thursday of the month at 6:30 at the Myrtle Wilks Community Center, and you are cordially invited to attend. The next meeting is Thursday, August 14, at 6:30. Discussing proposed by-laws and electing officers was the first order of business when the Tea Party Patriots of Eastland County (TPPEC) met on July 10. The officers, who also form the board of directors, will serve until December 31. They are Jay Slaughter, President; Ruth York, Vice President/Events/Networking Director; Leita Washburn, Secretary; and Darrell Basham, Treasurer/Finance/Membership Director. The position of Communication/Promotion Director is temporarily open. The by-laws are now complete and ready for distribution to members for discussion in August with formal adoption planned for September. If you would like to receive a copy, please contact us. (See below.) The group discussed plans for a booth at the Cisco Gun and Knife Show July 26-27. It was a resounding success. A competition Colt rifle was raffled off to raise money, but United States Constitutions and other literature were available free. Thanks to all those who contributed to the success of that operation. The purpose of the Tea Party Patriots of Eastland County is to promote the values, principles and ideals of freedom that made America great. We believe that means taking back our country from politicians and government bureaucrats who promote socialism rather than a republican form of government. Of crucial importance is promoting strict adherence to our foundational documents, primarily the U.S. Constitution, in order to protect the rule of law, private property rights and individual liberty. The group formed in February 2009, inspired by Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project. The nine principles and twelve values referenced in that Project form the bedrock character traits we believe we should live by and promote. They are included in our proposed by-laws and membership application. They are: THE 9 PRINCIPLES
1. America Is Good. 2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life. God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address. 3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday. Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
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4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government. Continued on page 16...
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, Mike W. Norris
David Barton, Part 1
Eastland County Christian Values Summit by Mike W. Norris Myrtl Wilks Community Center, Cisco, TX July 17, 2014
“The United States is a Christian nation. This assertion is widely believed by followers of the religious Right and often repeated. It seeps into the beliefs of the rest of the population as well, but like other myths that are widely accepted it lacks a factual basis. “ This opening paragraph leads off a Google search result of over 2.5-million documents if you search the following phrase in the popular search engine: “the constitution is a non-christian document”
communities, states, and nation. David is the author of numerous best-selling books, with the subjects being drawn largely from his massive personal library of tens of thousands of original writings from the Founding Era. He also addresses well over 400 groups each year and has served as advisor to hundreds of Conservative political campaigns across the nation. His exhaustive research has rendered him a self-made expert in historical and constitutional issues and he has participated in several cases before the Supreme Court, was involved in the development of the History/ Social Studies standards for states such as Texas and California, and has helped produce history textbooks now used in schools across the nation. The following are the words of David Barton as spoken this past week in Cisco, TX at the Christian Values Summit and I am honored to present David’s words to you, my fellow Patriots:
The above quote is from the #1 top search result of those 2.5-million documents and the title of the article appearing on that resulting webpage is “Five Reasons America Is Not – And Never Has Been – A Christian Nation” by Rob Boston dated June 24, 2012. The author of this article is the Director of Communications at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This gentleman also serves as editor of AU’s “Church & State” magazine and is the author of three books: “Close Encounters with the Religious Right: Journeys into the Twilight Zone of Religion and Politics” (2000); “The David Barton’s Presentation: Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise Let me start off by just reminding you of the Christian Coalition” (1996) and “Why the Religious Right Is Wrong About Separation of Church and State” (1993; second edition, 2003). The organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has the stated mission of being a “nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation” and was founded in 1947. Regardless of their claim to be “nonpartisan,” it’s fairly easy to see that this particular individual strongly disagrees with the “Religious Right,” a.k.a. Conservative Christians, when it comes to America’s Founding Faith in God.
that two weeks ago we had our 4th of July celebration. Remember two weeks ago, 4th of July, we celebrated our 238th birthday. Now no other nation has come close to that in the history of the world. Every single year that we celebrate 4th of July we set another world record. We don’t recognize that but most of the rest of the world does. We’re just so used to that stability we just think it’s normal. We have stability, we have prosperity unlike any other nation. We have creativity unlike any other nation. And had you been in our schools 50yrs ago, we would not have hesitated to tell you that the reason America was so unique is because of the Bible. Now we don’t hear that today, we hear quite the opposite as a matter of fact. But you know it’s still easy to prove the impact of the Bible even on Americans today. Whether they recognize it or not. Easy way we do that is the way we talk to one another. We have 257 idioms that we use on a daily basis that are nothing more than quotations out of the Bible. You hear these all the time, hopefully you’ll recognize these, they are all Bible Continued on page 4...
To offer a completely different viewpoint, allow me to introduce you to the words of David Barton. David Barton is a fellow Texan and is the Founder and President of Wallbuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage. WallBuilders is a name taken from the Old Testament writings of Nehemiah, who led a grassroots movement to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore its strength and honor. In the same way, David Barton seeks to energize the grassroots today to become involved in strengthening their Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
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verses. Things like; “by the skin of your teeth”, “I’ll give you my two cents worth”, “a leopard can’t change his spots”, “there’s nothing new under the sun”, “signs of the times”, “cradle to grave”, “handwriting on the wall”, “fly in the ointment” all these. There’s 257 idioms we use on a daily basis that are all quotations out of the Bible. Anywhere you go, or anytime you go out, be prepared to use these and have a lot of fun. Next time you go to Macy’s or Walmart or you go to Walgreens or Home Depot, anywhere. You’ll hear somebody say one of those 257 phrases you ought to stop them right there and say, “Do you know what Bible verse you just quoted?” As soon as you do, they will look at you and say, “No I don’t” But the problem is they will also say, “What Bible verse was that??” Now hopefully; maybe you can recognize all these Bible verses right here. I think where we are today is closely described by John Quincy Adams, who said: “With regard to history contained in the Bible it’s not so much praise worthy to be acquainted with it as it is shameful to be ignorant of it.” See our default position today is that if you had known those Bible verses we would have praised you, “Oh that’s remarkable! I can’t believe you know that!” Back then they would have said, “Whoa! Timeout! You didn’t know that came out of the Bible? How do you call yourself an educated individual and not know the Bible?” What a change in our default position we’ve had in 50-years. You’ve all heard about presidents like Teddy Roosevelt, who have said things like this... President Roosevelt said this: “The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed.” Notice he did not say “scripture” because that was a given. But what he was saying is that if you take out the Bible from America you would not even recognize America any more. Now again, as the result of education today, most people don’t have a clue. But back then, for example, they knew that our prosperity came as a result of our free market economic system. The American free market system is quite different from other free markets in the world. Millions have tried to copy us. What we came up with for the free market system is very unique and what we used to teach historically was that it was the result from five Bible verses. We know that our free market system
came out of 1st Timothy 5:8, 2nd Thessalonians 3:10, Matthew 25, Luke 19 and Matthew 20. We don’t have a clue about that today but if you take away our free market system you wouldn’t recognize America. And today nobody knows it came out of the Bible. Same with forms of government. There are seven different forms of government in the world. We specifically chose what’s called a republican form of government. We are not a democracy. Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution prohibits America from ever becoming a democracy. We are required to be a republic. And that came out of Exodus 18:21, Deuteronomy 1:15-16, Deuteronomy 16-18. That’s our form of government. If you took away our form of government you wouldn’t recognize us. People don’t have a clue that it came out of the Bible. And there’s so many other things. And then you have Franklin Roosevelt, by the way you might notice I’m going to use a lot of presidents tonight. I do that specifically. You might expect me or Pastor Jerry or another pastor to say good things about the Bible. But you don’t realize that for two centuries it was the presidents of the United States who carried the water on the Bible. They’re the ones who told the people how important the Bible was; that our nation can’t survive without the Bible. It was our political leaders who said that. Here’s what President Roosevelt said: “In the formative days of the Republic the directing influence the Bible exercised upon the fathers of the Nation is conspicuously evident.” Unless you go to school today; now it’s conspicuously absent. There’s no way you’ll see that the Bible had any influence, after all, the Founding Fathers were atheists and agnostics and that’s what we get today. He continued: “We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a Nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.” Back then he said there’s no way you can study American History and not see the influence of the Bible. You can today, but that’s because they have removed references to the Bible’s influence as much as
possible. Let me show you an example of the kinds of things he’s talking about. If you think back to Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin out of all our Founding Fathers we’re taught he’s one of the five least religious Founding Fathers. Now Ben Franklin is the first guy in America to think we should be the “united states” of America. He proposed that back in 1754 in what’s called the “Albany Plan of Union.” Back then, they didn’t buy into it, they didn’t do it. But 22-yrs later he’s one of the 56 guys who signed the Declaration of Independence. So now we’re a step closer to what he’s been wanting for 22-yrs and that’s the “United States of America.” Seven years later, he’s one of only three guys who signed the peace treaty that ended the Revolution; now we’re getting really close to this “United States of America” and four years later he’s sitting in the Constitutional Convention helping make it the “United States of America.” This is what he’s wanted for 33-yrs. He’s loved this. At least initially. He didn’t keep involved in it all that much because things started going really bad in the Convention. All the states that came showed up with their own agendas. You had the New York Plan, the New Jersey Plan, you had the Connecticut Plan. And you had the Virginia Plan. The guys from Virginia liked the Virginia Plan but they didn’t like the New York Plan. New York guys didn’t like the New Jersey Plan so after five weeks of arguing, fighting and bickering, the Convention is literally falling apart. Alexander Hamilton of New York, he’s headed out of there; he’s got better things to do with his time than fight with everybody else. George Mason of Virginia, he’s gone, he’s got better things to do. Continued on page 5...
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So Franklin, who has wanted this for 33-yrs, is watching this fall apart in front of his eyes. And Franklin is an old man at the time of the Convention. You can see him sitting right there, he’s 81-yrs old at this point. By the way, that’s not impressive today because the average life span in America today is 80, so he’s 81, so what? “So what?” is that life span at the time they signed the Constitution is 33-yrs old. So that’s pretty impressive to be 81 at a time that the average lifespan is 33. So the longest speech he gave at the Convention was on Thursday, June 28th, 1787 – at that point, the Convention is falling apart and this is what old man Franklin had to say to the delegation: “In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.” Time out here, this is THE same room that eleven years earlier they had signed the Declaration of Independence. Eleven years earlier the Continental Congress had only one body. They had one body but they did have two chaplains and they prayed all the time. As a matter of fact, these guys prayed so much that by 1815, there had been 1,400 government issued calls for prayer in America by 1815...so they were really into prayer. So Franklin said: “Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel.”
He concluded: “I therefore beg leave to move-that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business.”
Now, may I point out that’s not too bad for our country’s least religious Founding Father? But what you just saw is fourteen sentences long and I have a question for you--can I just ask how many Bible verses did you recognize out of Continued on page 6...
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those fourteen sentences? The answer is fourteen. These are the Bible verses that Ben Franklin just quoted. Now again today, if you recognized that we would say “I can’t believe you noticed that and know all those verses.” But back then, your LEAST religious Founding Father knows the Bible well enough to quote all those verses. That’s the cultural difference. A little side caveat here; directly after Franklin’s call for prayer, according to George Washington’s diary, they knocked off for three days. A kind of cooling off period. They went to church, they listened to patriotic orations. So here they are at church and while they’re at church the Reverend William Rogers prays over the delegation. We own about 100,000 documents from before 1812. So many thousands of hand-written documents from Washington, Jefferson, all of these folks. And I have the actual prayer that the Reverend Rogers prayed over the Constitutional Convention. So he’s in church and he’s got the whole Convention right there in his church; and this was not a dinky little “God bless this gathering” kind of prayer. That prayer was actually printed on the front page in the newspapers back then because everyone knew the convention was falling apart, this was not good for America. The prayer that he prayed over the Constitutional Convention takes up three-fourths of the front page of the newspaper. This was a long prayer.
After they’ve heard these prayers and taken their three days off, they’ve all gone to church and they come back; for the first time the whole attitude of the Convention has changed. What was a really dumb idea last week now makes a lot of sense this week. And so, going from the verge of complete disaster to only ten weeks later producing the Constitution of the United States is one of the best turn-arounds you’ve ever seen. If you know the Bible and if you read the Constitution, you will see Bible verses throughout the Constitution. Now a lot of folks today, specially academics, say no, no, no. They say it’s a “godless document” it’s a godless constitution. There’s a book out “The Godless Constitution” by two professors from Cornell University. People say all the time, “It’s a godless document.” When someone tells me it’s a godless constitution, what they have just told ME is that THEY are BIBLICALLY ILLITERATE. None the less, this is so obvious to previous generations that even President Andrew Jackson, one of our least religious Founding Fathers, said of THE BIBLE: “That book, sir, is THE ROCK upon which our republic rests.” We knew that, it was unequivocal. You also have presidents like Zachary Taylor who was a military hero, his nickname was “Old Rough and Ready.” Zachary Taylor said:
“The Bible is the best of books, and I wish it were in the hands of everyone. It is indispensable to the safety and permanence of our institutions…” Notice he didn’t say “faith” he said “institutions.” If you want our economics system, our political system, our education system, our judicial system, our medical system; If you want it to work...the Bible is indispensable in the safety and permanence of our institutions. The more secular we become the less each of those will work like it’s supposed to. As you get away from the foundation it’s not going to work well. He continued: “Especially should the Bible be placed in the hands of the young. It is the best school book in the world…” WHOA!!! Best school book in the world??? Doesn’t he know that’s unconstitutional? You can’t do that! Isn’t it amazing that for us to do today what was standard practice in America for nearly two centuries and became a standard practice because the Founders who gave us these documents are the ones who started it. To finish that quote, Taylor said: “I would that all of our people were brought up under the influence of that Holy Book.” Continued on page 7...
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Now that would be accused of being unconstitutional. That’s interesting because if you look at a second point you can look at Benjamin Rush. Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration, a ratifying member to the Constitution, served as Surgeon General during the Revolution. John Adams said that Benjamin Rush was one our most noble Founding Fathers and yet we never study today. He was also known as the father of public schools under the Constitution. On March 10th, 1791, Benjamin Rush came out with a public policy piece that gave a dozen reasons why we would never take the Bible out of public schools. He went through and explained why we should never take the Bible out of our schools. In fact at the end of that piece, he warned that if any generation were to take the Bible out of our schools, that generation would spend all their time and money fighting crime when they could have prevented crime right there in the class room. The simple thing is that if you have selfcontrolled citizens then you have self-government and you can get by with less government. Real simple stuff. And I could show you so many other Founding Fathers that said the same thing. But by the time you get to 1844, you have a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Vidal vs. Girard’s Executors that had this issue if a public school was going to teach the Bible. And the court very simply said that if you’re a public school, you’re a government funded school, we would never think of having a publicly funded school NOT teach the Bible. That was a unanimous 8-0 ruling by the Supreme Court. All public schools were required by the court’s decision to teach the Bible. Obviously we’re not doing that. So how come? The reason is because in 1963, two cases Abington vs. Schempp and Murray vs. Curlett, said you know this deal about using the Bible in schools? Well..... we’re not going to do that anymore. You can read those decisions online, you can read them yourself.
The court acknowledged that taking the Bible out of schools was without any legal or historical precedent. There’s no historical basis for taking the Bible out. There’s no legal basis for taking it out. So why did they do it? If you read the case, you find out that they quoted testimony from a Dr. Solomon Grayzel who testified that if the Bible was read without any explanation that it could be psychologically harmful. Oh my! We just found out that the Bible causes brain damage! We have to protect our kids from brain damage! I want to suggest to you that we have lost our minds in so many areas. We don’t seem to have common sense anymore. The only way that makes sense is the further you get away from the Spirit of the Word, the further you get away from Wisdom. So when Benjamin Rush talked about this in 1791, he talked about what would happen if we stopped teaching the Bible. He said that if the Bible is not read in schools it is not likely to be read later in life. If you don’t start reading the Bible when you’re young and small you’ll rarely pick it up when you’re old. If you don’t read it when you’re seven or eight, you’ll rarely read it when you’re sixteen and seventeen. Even less so when your twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight. And even less so when you’re fourty-six, fourty-seven, fifty. If you don’t get it young, you usually don’t get it much at all. And that’s why America is so biblically illiterate today. And that biblical illiteracy now affects the Christian community in a very specific way. Not the least of which is easy to prove through politics. Let me just take you to the last election, 2012. In that election I was part of a national news coverage team at that time so we spent hours watching the presidential election. As they were watching the blue versus the red I wasn’t that interested in watching blue and red. I really didn’t care about the electoral college. Here’s what I’m gonna do, I’m
gonna watch ballot initiatives. We had 176 ballot initiatives out there in the election of 2012. I said these issues are neither Republican or Democrat but they did tell me what people think about things. If I can see how people are voting on these issues, I can tell you who’s going to win the election just by watching ballot issues. And so what happened was in that election we busted our tail to get Christians turned out and we did. We had the second highest evangelical turn out in three years. We did really good getting our folks out to vote. They showed up, but they didn’t bring their brains with them. For example; we had four states that said they didn’t like traditional marriage. Did you know that polling right now, 59% of Christians think that homosexual relations is moral? That’s 59% of Christians think that homosexuality is moral. No wonder they voted against traditional marriage. We also had the issue of whether a physician should save your life or kill you. It was a 50/50 split in states where it was considered. Right now, today, 48% of Christians who attend church think that doctors should be able to take your life if they want to. That’s 48% of Christians who go to church. We also didn’t lose a gambling initiative. Everywhere gambling appeared on the ballot it passed. 75% of Christians cannot name a single Bible verse that deals with gambling in any way, shape, fashion or form. We also had the issue of if we ought to defund Planned Parenthood. Did you know that right now in America there’s a million abortions performed a year. 65% of all abortions performed in the year are performed on professing Christians and 250,000 abortions a year are on born again Christians. You also have the issue of religious liberty. We had ballot initiatives to protect that and we voted those ballot initiatives down. Across the board we just lost our brains. We were not thinking biblically. We may have been thinking a lot of ways but we were not reflecting what the Bible says. Which is why that Bible illiteracy is such a problem. You see, for Christians today, we should be able to take any issue that’s in the news; not just these issues, but any issue that’s in the news, we should be able to put a Bible verse to it. Any issue that’s in the news, we should be able to put a Bible verse to it. Oh you say “minimum wage?” Jesus covers that in Matthew 20. “Capital Gains Tax?” Jesus covers that in Luke 19 and Matthew 25. “Due Process?” Jesus covers that in John 8:12. You can go though all the Bible verses of the Founding Continued on page 8...
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Fathers and implement this and we gotta get away from that biblical illiteracy. In fact, there are places in the world that are starting to find the Bible is a very practical book. Let’s take Norway for example. In Norway, you know where Norway is, up in northern Europe. Norway is considered to be “secular” Norway, because they are a very “secular” nation. Something interesting happened in 2012. The Norway Bible Society came up in 2012, with this really brainy idea that no matter what came up in the news, we’ll put a Bible verse to it. If it’s military, we’ll do that. If it’s taxing, we’ll do that. If it’s family, we’ll do that. If it’s foreign relations, we’ll do that. So along with the headlines, they included Bible verses, just the content. They never told people it was Bible verses, they just put out the content linked with headlines but they didn’t say it was from John or Matthew. So in putting out the content the people of Norway started noticing that these ideas made sense. They said this is really smart stuff. Where did this all come from? Finally the Bible Society let it out that this was all Bible verses, it comes out of the Bible. Guess what. The Bible became the #1 best selling book in Norway. That’s the problem with American Christians. We think the Bible only applies to our spiritual life, but the Bible applies to every single aspect of life. The Bible is the #1 selling book in Norway but in America it didn’t even make the top 100. In Norway they are moving toward it but in America we are going away from that. That’s a very significant thing. We have 4.4 Bibles in the average American home. We have lots of Bibles, we just don’t know what’s in those Bibles. John Quincy Adams wrote letters to his son during his presidency and in 1848 they took all his writings about the Bible and formulated it into a book to teach 10-yr old Americans how to read the Bible from cover to cover in the span of a year. Could you imagine any American president in the last 50-yrs instructing 10-yr olds to read the Bible cover to cover? John Quincy Adams did. Here is what he told 10-yr olds: “I have myself, for many years, made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit and temper of mind, which I now recommend to you: that is, with the intention and desire that it may contribute to my advancement in wisdom and virtue.” He was saying that he was not reading the Bible as a spiritual book, he was looking for something that would change my thinking. He was saying that I was looking for something that would change my behavior. I’m looking for practical application when I crack that book open. That’s what we have to get our people to do. Everyone in our sphere of influence, we’ve got to get them back into knowing what the book of our Founders says. Like them, you will be amazed at the practical applications that are there. ~mwnorris www.MyCounty-Line.com
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, Chuck Norris - The Man
In God We Trust United We Stand
By Chuck Norris
Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. What America Needs Now
Forty-five years ago, there was a day like few others that rallied Americans and changed America forever. Yet I could find but one or two news stories about that momentous occasion and triumph. Do you remember what it was? It’s the type of event that America needs now, maybe more than ever before. If you’re old enough, you remember July 20, 1969, when 123 million of roughly 200 million Americans were riveted to their televisions, watching astronaut Neil Armstrong 240,000 miles from Earth. As he stepped off the Eagle -- the lunar landing module -- to become the first human to walk on the moon, Armstrong’s words were heard by over a billion people around the globe: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was a moment that inspired America and even the world. And we all know that the impetus for that inspiring moment came nearly a decade earlier, on May 25, 1961, when then-President John F. Kennedy uttered this challenge to our Congress and country: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” Where are the presidents today who are visionary leaders and spur on American exceptionalism, excellence and the entrepreneurial spirit? Where are the leaders who call us to dream again -- to rise above the levels of maintenance and mediocrity? Where have American innovation and exploration gone? I’m not overlooking the achievements of technological wizards, such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and many others. I just believe that their types of drive, passion and vision should permeate every field of American life, especially government. If they did, we’d have a whole new generation of great and inspirational leaders. But instead of raising America out of the muck and mire of global entanglements with new challenges and adventure, too many today believe that the only way forward is by simply shrinking back to our corner of isolationism and preservation. As a result, instead of casting visions, our leaders are crippling American values, apologizing for our power and surrendering our superiority and sovereignty. Dinesh D’Souza’s new blockbuster film, “America: Imagine a World Without Her,” does an outstanding job of critiquing exactly what is killing American exceptionalism. We are surrendering to five major mentalities that are being perpetuated by a progressive drive from Washington to our public schools. As John Zmirak summarized for The Blaze, liberals have convinced Americans that these five historical lies are historical truths about our people and republic: “1. (America) was founded on conquest and genocide aimed at the Indians. “2. It built its wealth on the backs of African slaves, and is essentially white supremacist. “3. It expanded by unjustly stealing land from its neighbor Mexico. “4. It is consistently imperialist and aggressive toward other countries. “5. It is dominated by an unjust and exploitative capitalist system that harms the poor.”
“One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind.”~ Neil Armstrong (left) with Apollo11 fellow crewmen, Michael Collins (center) and Buzz Aldrin (right) -- July 20th, 1969
Dinesh summarizes the state of affairs well in the movie: “The American dream is shrinking because some of our leaders want it to shrink. Decline, in other words, has become a policy objective. And if this decline continues at the current pace, America as we know it will cease to exist. In effect, we will have committed national suicide.” Some might think that America or the world is too unstable for the type of forward-thinking visionary leadership that ushered in missions to reach for the stars. I would completely disagree. Actually, there’s no better time than now -- in the midst of a pessimistic, war-torn era -- to call and challenge the American people to the next level. Remember, when Kennedy called
our nation onward and upward to the moon, the Cold War was happening, and the U.S. was flailing behind the space advances of the Soviet Union. Maybe it’s time again for leaders who have a bigger picture and can raise our vision beyond survival and management. Or to put it how Armstrong once said it: “Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10.” Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot. com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. www.MyCounty-Line.com
©CHUCK NORRIS DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM - Reprinted under license by Mike Norris
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11Michael Ramirez ■
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12Tumbleweed Smith ■
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, Bob Lewis
By Bob Lewis LITTLE BUCKING PONIES
Shetland Pony Bronc Riding is a rodeo event that is gaining in popularity. It has been around for years but has not seen much action lately. That’s all changing with Lonesome Dove Rodeo Company of Mullin, Texas. One of the owners, Heath Hohertz, is taking the little bucking ponies to rodeos around the state nearly every weekend. Contestants, ranging in age from 7 to 13, pay an entry fee of $50 or so to ride. Some of the young bronc riders can take home more than $200 a night if they have the best score. “We bring a dozen to twenty ponies to the rodeo so that each rider will have a fresh mount,” says Heath. “During a 3-night rodeo run we’ll have between 5 and 7 contestants per night. We supply the rigging and helmets and safety vests. We don’t want to get anybody hurt.” Twelve years ago he started supplying sheep to mutton bustin’ events all over the country. He got into Shetland Bronc Riding four years ago, starting out with about 10 horses. He has 75 now. “They’re not all that easy to find. We use just about every source to get them, including Craig’s list. We’ll bring them home and see if they’ll work. If they don’t we’ll trade ‘em off for another one. We want these little horses to perform well to teach the kids how to ride and develop their skills and confidence to prepare them to ride bigger horses.” Don’t let the size of these little horses fool you. They buck just like pro rodeo broncs. And the little kids hit the ground as hard as pro riders do. It is a beautiful sight to watch. The announcer treats the youngsters like real rodeo cowboys, calling their names and the names of their ponies and describing their 6-second rides while exciting rodeo music fills the arena. “It seems that in all phases of rodeo there’s plenty of things to do for a kid eight and under. It might be a boot race, mutton bustin’ or a calf scramble. But we were missing having something for youngsters ages 8 to 13. Pony
bucking gives big brother a chance to come out and ride so he doesn’t have to just sit in the stands and watch his little brother ride a sheep. We try to do it as professional as we possibly can to make it fun to watch. We’ve got a lot of kids that follow us. A young rider might ride with his parents 400 miles to enter the Shetland Bronc Riding event.” In addition to the mutton bustin and pony bucking, Heath has what he calls the amateur class for riders 13 to 17 that ride bigger broncs. They bring their own saddles and ride standard size ranch horses. He says he’s trying to fill the gap so every kid who wants to can ride. Videos of young riders are on the Lonesome Dove Rodeo Company website and facebook. SERENDIPITY ON THE ROAD
For my birthday in June we stayed in the El Capitan Hotel in Van Horn, a historic structure built in the 30’s. On the way we stopped in Midland for a couple of interviews. Jimmy Patterson talked about his new book on the history of Midland, then we visited Magic Jack, who teaches magic to kids. In Fort Davis I interviewed Joe Duncan, who owns the El Capitan. He told me about its history, how it went from a hotel to a bank, then back to a hotel. Fort Davis has a bunch of fascinating folks. Robert Alvarez, who is doing a super job managing the chamber of commerce there, told me about all the things going on in Fort Davis over the4th of July. I made arrangements to do two performances of my one-man show over that weekend. Kelly Bryan of Fort Davis is an expert on hummingbirds and is responsible for a hummingbird festival in his town in August. He bands the tiny birds to find out their traveling habits. Some of them from Fort Davis have turned up in Alaska. Eleanor Taylor is a writer in Fort
Davis who has written two books about the hippie days of the late 60’s and early 70’s. She says the books are autobiographical and contain some extraordinary experiences. Gus Billings had some pecan trees at his place in Fort Davis and started coating them with sugar and spices. That developed into the Davis Mountain Nut Company that ships an extensive product line of pecan goodies all over the world. Steve Lang handles news for Sul Ross State University in Alpine but I visited him because he sings parodies of Swedish songs, complete with a Scandinavian accent. Funny stuff. Brewster County Justice of the Peace Jerry Sotelo told me about his dual careers as a JP and DJ. He has been in office 16 years, but has been a fixture at KVLF in Alpine since he was a teenager. I had the privilege of going to the beautiful mountain home of Kareen Beinhaur who shoots wild hogs for sport. She has shot 40 of them in the past two years. Jim Glendenning, a transplant from Scotland who found his honey pond in Alpine, told me things are getting better in Mexico and he is resuming taking groups by bus and train to Mexico’s Copper Canyon. On the way home we stopped at the Mandujano farm near Coyanosa, which sells cantaloupes and watermelons under the Pecos Fresh label to major food and discount stores. There are 11 brothers and sisters in that family. Nine of them graduated from Angelo State University. I had a great birthday which included a piece of delicious Italian Crème Cake at La Trattoria Cafe in Alpine. Over the two-day trip I picked up eleven interviews with some interesting folks. Tumbleweed Smith rolls around Texas looking for people with unique stories. Contact him at ts@tumbleweedsmith.com
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Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
13Treasure Hunters ■
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, Jerry Eckhart
By Jerry Eckhart To see more of Jerry’s treasure finds, search Facebook for “Jerry Eckhart” How to Read Treasure Symbols
Perhaps the most interesting things of all to treasure hunters is to see an old map or carving filled with mysterious symbols. Those mysterious symbols seem to be the crux of many a lost treasure search. Over the next few weeks, I would like to take a look at some of the most commonly used symbols and what they might mean. Notice I emphasized the word “might.” That is because any symbol used on a map or marker only means what the person who made that symbol wanted it to mean. The Turtle: The turtle is perhaps the most easily recognized of all treasure symbols. In a way, that is strange, because some of the most common maps now printed feature no turtles at all. At any rate, the turtle is equated with many and the way it is depicted can have many different meanings. If the turtle is completely drawn with the shell, the head sticking out, all four legs and a tail, it is important to note the direction it appears to be traveling. Normally, this is determined by which way the head is pointing. Go straight ahead until another sign is found. However, if the tail is curved in a different direction than the head, one would follow the direction the tail is pointing. If the head is turned to the side, you would follow in the direction the head is pointing. I have not seen a turtle with the head pointing in one direction and the tail in another. Sometimes, only one leg will be visible. In that case, the leg acts as a pointer. A person needs to examine the drawing or carving of turtles carefully. Is there any leg that looks a little different that the others. Is one leg longer or shorter? Again these are direction markers. What is the turtle drawn on? Is it on a map? In that case, the seeker would look for an identical turtle in the area they are searching. Does the turtle appear to be climbing a tree, or carved into a tree? That would indicate to look on the opposite side of the tree. How far should a person look when he finds one carved into a tree. Normally, the distance up the tree would indicate the number of steps a person should take to find the next marker. The distance up the tree a turtle is can cause some problems, be cause the early day carvers would not be using inches. How do you measure it? In those early days, map makers only had their hands and feet to lay things out with, so try hand spans and then convert them into steps. The average is one hand span equals ten steps. That is not a hard and fast rule, but is a good starting place. Remember the sign maker is the only one who knew the meaning of the sign. That meaning would only be passed on to whoever was going to be following the sign in the near future. That would mean the immediate members of his party.
At times only the shell of the turtle will be seen. No feet, head or tail is drawn. Dig in the immediate vicinity. You might just get lucky. The thinking on this is that the turtle has stopped traveling, has stopped at the end of his journey. A cross is sometimes drawn into the shell of the turtle, indicating the possibility of a church treasure. You may also find other symbols as well. It is up to you to decide what those symbols mean. I have seen maps with more than one turtle on them, and one map in particular shows a number of turtles going around in a circle. It is interesting and exciting to try to read treasure symbols and your
particular interpretation of a symbol might just be the correct one. Many books have been written about treasure symbols and how to interpret them. Some of the standard interpretations are repeated in many of these books. So far, I have found those books to be of little actual use, although I have spent many dollars on them in an effort to learn what the standard idea for a particular symbol is. Next month, I will take a look at another common and interesting symbol. Stay tuned. ~je www.MyCounty-Line.com
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
14Love Lessons Learned So Far
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, Vicki Stiefer
By Vicki Stiefer
What Kind of Man did you Marry? Let’s take a quiz! Everybody loves to see where they fit on the spectrum of normal. Don’t worry though, you’re already normal, you just don’t realize it. Accepting who you are is the first step and accepting what kind of man you have is the first step towards changing him into the kind of man you want him to be right? Yeah for man changing! Here’s a clue though and I’ll have to charge you some pizza money if I have to tell you again. There is no normal, there’s just life. I repeat-no normal, just life. The house next door to you does things completely different but comes out with the same result. Job, school, car, dog, cat, etc...you get the picture. I was shocked to know my neighbor does not feed her family breakfast until 8AM on a Saturday morning. Shock! Horror! My husband and I don’t mosey on into the kitchen until 11AM for a brunch time treat. And while I was shocked that my neighbor sits down at 8AM with her family she was shocked to know my favorite breakfast was scrambled eggs and pulled pork. Since when does sausage and bacon own the breakfast meat world? Ok, I know, maybe a little weird, but I’m from Texas and we spell B-B-Q with a Y-U-M. OK, quiz time! What kind of man did you marry? Final Jeopardy music playing in the background here. What kind of man did you marry? 1. If you’re husband takes you to the beauty shop, why does he stay and wait until your done? A. because he likes hair B. because he likes to be around women C. because he wants to give the stylist proper instructions D. because he can sit and watch and the game while you dry 2. You have a flat tire on your car, how does your husband handle the situation? A. He puts on the spare and takes your tire to the shop a couple of days later B. He picks you up and gives you the number of his tire repair shop C. He jumps out there and fixes it right away without having to be asked D. He calls AAA and makes you ride with the tow truck driver 3. You and your husband have been asked to give Granny J’s eulogy. How does your husband react? A. Writes a fitting eulogy but asks you to give the speech B. He rips open the casket and gives Granny J mouth to mouth in hopes that she’s not a lost cause C. Hires Yo-Yo Ma to play softly behind you as you read the eulogy D. Sits in the back row sullenly watching his smart phone because he’s not in the will
him. He’s a loyal Magnum PI wanna be who normally carries himself with a great attitude and has a high tolerance level. He’s the kind of guy you want when it’s time to ramble on endlessly about the amount of shoes in your closet and what the women at the office talked about at lunch. Because he doesn’t have too much to say, when that mighty silverback does make a speech it’s time to close your claptrap and listen up! Whatever comes out his mouth will make a difference in your life, even if he just tells you he’s going to take a shower.
family) shrink - Offensive lineman - Man of action
The fixer is a tough dude! His primary goal is to protect his surroundings and those who dwell in it. He’s the rescuer on steroids. If a problem should arise he’s on the case. If it’s a bully in the schoolyard he’s teaching his kids the right left hook. If it’s a over bearing boss at work, he’s teaching you how to breathe. He’s always got a plan and he’s right most of the time. Common phrases that you should be heard saying are, “Don’t make me go get my husband” and “If I call my husband this will hurt you more than me”.
If you chose mostly B’s, prepare for an uplifting speech from your rescuer. He If you chose mostly D’s, I would is sure you did the right thing. suggest you get out your crying towel B: The Rescuer because you’re going to go it alone the Overly courteous - Always has a rest of your life. solution to your problem - Your mother D. Mr. Lazy Bones loves him If he’s awake he’s watching TV - Would If you are a damsel in distress then you are lucky to be married to the rescuer. He’s your favorite kind of guy. Any sticky situation or just a broken heel on your shoe and the rescuer scoops you up leaving you feeling protected safe and secure. You’re mother loves him because he saves her too! Afterall, she’s a lady as well.
rather eat TV dinners because they are easier to cook - Only works because he has to If you married Mr. lazy bones then I feel for you. Luckily though you never have to interact or cook for him. Whatever you’ve got going on is OK with him and your droopy dog would much prefer you do things without him so he doesn’t have to exert too much energy. TV isn’t so great that he can’t turn it off, but still, If you chose mostly C’s, Sallie and he’s not turning you on either. What a guy! Paulie from the Sopranos would be ~vs
proud. You are married to the fixer. C. The Fixer Mr. Know it all-aka: the head (of the
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If you chose mostly A’s, congratulations on marrying a close encounter of the Mangum PI kind. Your guy is a 50/50 mix of planet of the apes and detective dejour. A: The Quiet Gorilla Lot’s of hair - Doesn’t always smell good - Doesn’t say much but when he speaks it’s important If you married the quiet gorilla then you can rest assured that your friends are not coming for
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
15Huddle Up! ■
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www.MyCounty-Line.com ~ JULY 2014 v7.80 ~ www.Facebook.com/mycountyline , Matt Swinney
By Matt Swinney Should College Athletes Get Paid?
As we experience another hot Texas summer, I first want to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day. I hope y’all had a great celebration of this awesome nation. As we get closer to another college football season, there’s been a court case that has caught my eye. That is an antitrust class action lawsuit against the NCAA filed by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon. O’Bannon filed this on behalf of the NCAA Division I football and basketball players. The lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s use of former players for commercial uses, like for video games. The suit argues that upon graduation, a former student athlete should become entitled to financial compensation for NCAA’s commercial uses of his or her image. The NCAA complains that if they paid the players it would violate the concept of amateurism in sports. The “Ed O’Bannon case” was scheduled to go to trial on June 9th with Judge Claudia Wilken presiding over the trial, but due to either not being ready or cold feet, they delayed the start of the trial to June 20th in Los Angeles. Twenty former athletes, including O’Bannon and Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Bill Russell, are going against the entire NCAA!! Seems like a lost cause to me. There was one individual that took the stand that everybody wanted to see take the stand. That person was NCAA President, Mark Emmert. Mark Emmert is adamant in not having NCAA student-athletes get a stipend towards their college living expenses. It goes back to the question that was brought up during the NCAA Basketball Tournament when Connecticut guard, Shabazz Napier, said that he’s having a hard time finding food to eat because he doesn’t having enough money to make ends meet. That question is: “Should College Athletes Get Paid?” When I was first asked this question, my answer was emphatically NO, but, I have a feeling that college players will get paid something. If they are going to get something, shouldn’t ALL sports get something, or is it just football and men’s basketball? What about the other sports like baseball, fencing, volleyball, and rowing? And, also, what about the women sports? They need a piece of the pie. Also, when it comes to the big 5 conferences, which consists of the Atlantic
Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference, the Big 10, the Big 12, and the Pac-12, they each have their own network which adds up to millions of dollars towards the universities in those conferences. What about schools like North Texas, SMU, Houston, and Rice, who represent schools NOT in the “Big 5” conferences? Shouldn’t they get paid too? My answer is YES. What stops these schools from wanting to go where the money is? To me, it’s nothing. It seems like a slippery slope to me. Like I said earlier, I didn’t believe that college players should get paid. If you want to get paid, go pro or get a job. But, after some reflecting and doing some research on this topic, I think that players should get some money, but I think that ALL sports should
get some money not just football and basketball. The “O’Bannon Case” is far from being through. Judge Wilken has yet to give a ruling. It may be months before there is a resolution in the case. NCAA President Mark Emmert is not done talking. He is scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to discuss the exploitation of college athletes. All this has happened during the “offseason”. It seems that college sports is going year-round lately. ~ms www.MyCounty-Line.com
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
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Cover, Continued...
Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson 5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it. Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson 6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results. Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson 7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable. Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington 8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion. On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington 9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me. Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
THE 12 VALUES
● Honesty ● Reverence ● Hope ● Thrift ● Humility ● Charity ● Sincerity ● Moderation ● Hard Work ● Courage ● Personal Responsibility ● Gratitude If you would like to be aware of TPPEC meetings and activities, go to Facebook.com/TeaPartyPatriotsofEastlandCounty and Like our Facebook page. To be added to our email list, write eastlandcountypatriots@gmail. com or for other information, please call 254-442-3530. www.MyCounty-Line.com
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18The County Line
■ , Mike W. Norris The County Line Distribution Area
Published by Michael W. Norris d.b.a. Wolverine Design P.O. Box 1156 Eastland, Texas 76448 http://www.MyCounty-Line.com info@mycounty-line.com
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Four Great Faiths, by W.G. Vollmer
Our Four Great Faiths
We live in a land of plenty, in a land of mechanical miracles and great scientific achievements. We are the best fed, the best clothed, and the best housed people in the world. Our vast ma terial blessings have no equal in the long, turbulent history of civilization. The productive capacity of our farms, our factories, our mines is the envy and the hope of a free world. Yet, at the peak of our prosperity and power, we find ourselves beset by fears, by doubts, and by uncertainties. The situation is a frightening one.
The seeds of this critical situation in which we find ourselves today were planted many years ago by a German named Karl Marx. The teachings of this man long lay dormant. But some years ago they came to life in such forms as fascism, nazism, socialism, and communism. This Marx-bred philosophy is an anti-God concept of life. It de nounces and smears the God-given rights and liberties of man. It de nounces the basic faiths and rights contained in the Bible, the Decla ration of Independence, and our Constitution. Under the Marxist idea, man has only one right—the right to follow blindly and unquestioningly the dictates of the State—and to slave and die uncomplainingly for it. This theory of the all-powerful State is now locked in a death struggle with the concept of freedom, justice, and the dignity of man. It is a global struggle with a philosophy which seeks constantly and craftily to destroy everything we hold dear. It is a conflict between human dignity and godless tyranny, between freedom
and slavery, between God-given rights and state-granted privileges. A Time for Faith
Thus today we stand at a crossroads in the history of our great nation. The time has come when we must act, not procrastinate; when we must lead, not follow; when we must speak, not listen; when we must unite, not divide. In this crisis, we have at our command the strength, the courage, and the inspiration which lay in the Four Great Faiths of our Founding Fathers: • Faith in God • Faith in Ourselves • Faith in Our Fellow Men • Faith in Freedom Our nation was founded upon these Faiths. The men who signed the Constitution, the men—and the women—who braved the prairie and the mountain to pioneer our land lived and died by those Faiths. But what about us — and our Faiths? www.MyCounty-Line.com
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Visit www.MyCounty-Line.com Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
20This Week In Texas History
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, by Bartee Haile
By Bartee Haile INNKEEPER TO THE WORLD GOT START IN TEXAS
On Aug. 4, 1925, Conrad Hilton celebrated the grand opening of the first hotel he built from the ground up and the first he put his name on -- the Dallas Hilton. Even though a governor once introduced him as a native son, Conrad Nicholson Hilton was born at San Antonio, New Mexico not San Antonio, Texas on Christmas Day 1887. But like so many naturalized Texans, he got here just as soon as he could. When Hilton stepped off the train at Cisco in 1919 at the peak of the postWorld War I oil boom, he was looking for a bank to buy. The ex-lieutenant found one to his liking and wired the absentee owner to let him know that he was prepared to meet his asking price. Hilton called the whole thing off, however, after the banker got greedy and tried to squeeze an extra $5,000 out of him. Next on the weary traveler’s agenda was a good night’s sleep, and right across the street from the telegraph office was a two-story hotel called the Mobley. He was elbowing his way through the jam-packed lobby, when the desk clerk shouted, “Full up!” A gray-headed bouncer, who was herding the surly crowd out the front door, spied Hilton propped against a pillar. “Sorry, fella, but we don’t allow loitering in the lobby. Come back in eight hours when we turn this lot loose.” After the kind of day he had had, Hilton was ready to give the man a piece of his mind when the offhand remark finally registered. “You mean you let them sleep eight hours and then get a complete turnover?” “That’s the idea,” the proprietor answered with a strong dose of sarcasm. “Three times every 24 hours, day in and day out. Every nickel I’ve got is sunk in this glorified boarding house when I ought to be out there in the oilfield making real money.” That conversation changed Connie Hilton’s life, despite the fact that his innkeeping experience was limited to the drummers his father had allowed to bed down in the family general store. Money changed hands, papers were signed and he was in the hotel business. Hilton had a full house around the clock. He and L.M. Drown, his trusted right-hand man, took turns catnapping in the office because they even rented their own beds. “The Mobley in Cisco, my first love, was a great lady,” Hilton reminisced in his 1957 autobiography Be My Guest.” Very early in his new career, he developed the two cardinal principles that guided him the rest of his extraordinarily successful life. Grasping the essential fact that “the profit was in beds,” Hilton brought in “carpenters to close the dining room and split it with partitions, just enough space for a bed and a dresser.” He also cut the main desk in half and installed a newsstand. “I decided then and there that the trick to packing a box is to pack a full box.” Hilton’s second concept concerned employee morale. “I know something else that would make us a better hotel,” he told Drown. “Esprit de corps.” To show what he meant, Hilton assembled the staff for a pep talk. “You’re the only ones who can give smiling service. Clean rooms, spotless halls, plenty of fresh soap and linen. Ninety per cent of the Mobley’s reputation is in your hands. You get steady jobs, good money and pay raises if Cisco means the Mobley to travelers.” Hilton left the Mobley in Drown’s capable hands, recruited a “working partner” by the name of Major Jay C. Powers and set about forging the second link in his chain. Powers found the Melba, a 68-room bargain with a Fort
Worth address, which his boss called “our dowdiest dowager.” But elbow grease and fresh paint worked wonders, and the Melba was packing them in by the time Hilton discovered a diamond in the rough in downtown Dallas. Connie ran the 200-room Waldorf until Bill Irwin, his best army buddy, arrived from California. Powers called from Fort Worth one day with news that he had uncovered a second promising property and a wellheeled backer to boot. The Terminal proved to be another money-maker, but D.E. Soderman was trouble with a capital T. A couple of drinks transformed the mild-mannered investor into a paranoid maniac. He made life miserable for poor Powers accusing him of stealing his money and his wife. Soderman walked into the Big D Waldorf in April 1922 and summoned his imaginary nemesis to the lobby on the house phone. When the elevator doors opened, he shot Jay C. Powers in the head killing him instantly. A misguided jury took pity
on the homicidal drunk and gave him five years on a reduced charge of manslaughter. A million-dollar dream came true in August 1925 with the splashy opening of the Dallas Hilton. Four years later, Abilene, Waco, San Angelo and Lubbock had one, too. The El Paso Hilton, eighth link in the Texas chain, welcomed its first guest three weeks before the stock market crashed in 1929. Conrad Hilton nearly went under during the Depression but survived to play host to the world. Before his death in 1979, he owned 188 hotels in 38 states and 54 more around the globe. And it all started with the Mobley in Cisco, Texas. ~bh “Texas Depression-Era Desperadoes,” Bartee’s new book, plus ten different collections of his columns are available at the “General Store” on his web site barteehaile.com.
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www.PeachyTurtle.org
July 2014 -- Thank You for Your Time and Interest
This time last year, Ruthie had just gotten out of the hospital and we were fighting to get her to eat and maintain a regular diet. The prior year, in July of 2012, she had just started back on dialysis after the failure of her kidney transplant. It was a heartbreaking and emotional time. But Ruthie was throwing herself into supporting the upcoming Eastland Dialysis Center which broke ground around this time in 2012. In fact, there is a tv news feature about Ruth from July 30th, 2012 regarding the Eastland Dialysis Center that can be seen on Ruthie’s benefit page - www.PeachyTurtle.org Two years ago, in July of 2011, Ruthie was on a 6-week appointment cycle with Dallas Transplant Institute and was receiving good reviews after her first 6-months with her transplant kidney and pancreas. We had no idea at the time that her good news was not going to last very long. The summer of 2011 was one of the happiest times of our lives. Ruthie could eat basically anything she wanted and the biggest fear we had to deal with was trying not to forget any of her medications. It’s been three and a half years since she underwent her transplant surgery and two full years since she lost the kidney due to rejection and had to go back on routine dialysis treatments. It seems like forever ago, but it has been less than two years since my sweet Ruthie was still working as the store manager at the Eastland Goodwill store. It’s hard to imagine, but since then, we have experienced every emotion I think possible...from the disappointment and heartbreak of going back on dialysis, to the absolute fear and mournful loss we experienced with her stroke and the unforeseen joy and happiness of those rare moments of accomplishment she has had during her slow and gradual recovery. Along the way, we have tried extremely hard to share with you how she is doing and how we are dealing with this adventure. The truth is...it has not been easy for us. In fact, there are days that I literally hate the world because it keeps on spinning and I feel like Ruth and I slip just a little bit further behind.
Friends and family go on about their lives, taking vacations, traveling, enjoying carefree weekends, planning for weddings and new arrivals...just doing all the things that normal people do. I sit here and watch it all pass by on Facebook and I glance up at Ruthie sitting in the living room in her wheelchair, and I think to myself how much she is missing out on and how I can’t give any of it to her. Some days I wonder if I hate it that the world is going by without my Ruthie, or if I just hate it because it’s going by without me. On the other hand, there are the days that Ruthie makes me laugh and I see the same sparkle in her eyes that has been there since the day I met her. On those days, I am just thankful that I am here to see her smiling and happy, to think that I played some part in helping her make it through the hard days and I’m thankful just to see that smile or hear that laugh once again. When she’s really feeling herself, she’s talkative and joyful. She rolls into my office just to see what I’m working on and if it doesn’t look like the newspaper she tells me, “you better get busy. I need my paperwork done!” Then she wheels herself back into the living room with a big, satisfied grin on her face for telling me to get back to work. She’s still the boss lady and likes telling me what to do. I wish I could share all of that with you. I wish you knew what you are missing out on because all you see is what I write down on these pages. Every day something happens that brings a little light into our shadowy existence behind our closed doors. Every day, we take one small step toward what used to be our normal lives. I think we are doing the best that we can do. But I truly wish that it didn’t feel like we were so alone. I know that we have a huge amount of help from our family and I know that there’s hundreds, if not thousands, of people out there that are praying for us and keeping us in their thoughts. And I am truly thankful that you are taking the time to read this. It does get very lonely around here and it is very hard on some days for us to stay motivated
Follow Ruthie’s Progress online:
www.facebook.com/sherriesmom
and optimistic. There have been several people who have tried to help but after a few days of being here and seeing what we go through dayin and day-out, they bail on us...or just simply quit coming by. We see people and friends up town and Ruthie calls out to them to get their attention... dragging them out of their little bubble to speak to her. Many tell us that they intend to come by and visit, but they never do. The truth is that everyone is busy and we understand that. We wish we had better things to do as well. Your interest in Ruthie’s story is what drives me to publish this newspaper and it is your ever-watchful interest that compels me to have hope for each and every day. It is your interest in our lives that strengthens my Faith. I believe it is through you, our readers, that the Lord opens my eyes to the little things that matter that would otherwise slip by without a moment’s thought. It is through my Faith that I am not consumed with the envy and jealousy that attacks me so hard on some days. Yes, there are days that I hate the world and the fact that it just keeps on going. But just when I think that nobody cares and we are all alone, the Lord taps me on the shoulder and says to me, “You better get busy. I need my paperwork done.” He sounds a lot like my Ruthie. All things considered, we are doing fine this month and we thank you for reading and caring...and hopefully sharing our story. We thank God for everything else and it is in Him that we trust.
Donations may be made to: Farmers & Merchants Bank
Ruth Norris Benefit Fund
930 East Main Eastland, TX 76448 (254) 629-3282 Credit Card donations can be made online at:
www.PeachyTurtle.org
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Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com