Definition of Opinion:  A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof.

Please be respectful to others with differing opinions. 

Bill RIHS

Buckle up buttercup.

Mary Powers (Evans)

Dave, wishing you all the best on your birthday and for all your adventures in the coming years!

Jim Coats

Golly, gee.  I thought we were going to be all "Mary Poppins" on this Forum.  Oh well.  At least we all now know it is "vile men" that that person whose name will not be spoken is railing against.  Is there something to be inferred there?  Someone smarter than me please take over.

I like quizzes or polls.  Here's one for you.  CHOOSE one....only one.

1.  POLITICS...NOT RESULTS!!        

2.  RESULTS...NOT POLITICS!!

When the results are tabulated, I'll tell you which political party is represented by each answer...In my opinion.

AMERICA FIRST!!  SECURE THE BORDER!!  ENFORCE THE LAW!!

Frank Wiley

Happy Birthday David!!  By the way, I've been meaning to ask you, are you related to Randy Rainwater?  I played golf with him and we had a very good day.

Frank Wiley

It seems interesting to me that some people are so concerned about what MIGHT happen with DOGE flushing the Government waste toilets, but had no concern about the open borders and the hundreds (or thousands) of criminals that have invaded our country and have, and are committing crimes as I write, including theft, rape, drug distribution, and murder.  Please remember--Barrack Obama snarkelly stated, "Elections have consequences!"  Boy, is it a whole different story when a President you didn't vote for has a "Phone and a pen"?

David Rainwater

Thanks for the good wishes.  I've been busy moving into our new digs in Oklahoma.  Lots of empty boxes and, for the most part, things in boxes are going to stay in boxes.  Turns out it's fairly easy to start services in a new place, but canceling services in the old place puts you in seemingly never-ending phone trees.  (Jim, I have only ever used my title in a professional setting...and this ain't it!)  

Frank Wiley

Happy 113th Birthday Arizona!

Jim Coats

Yesterday and today I have seen and heard the chanting outside government buildings by people who are anti-Musk and Trump.  The part that really registered was "You can't spell felon without Elon."  Now I understand.  These people are AGAINST the elimination of waste.  I am going to change my voting registration from "R" to "D" today thanks to having my eyes opened by the "adults in the room with blue hair."

Who's with me???

P.S.  Dave Rainwater.  Be sure to say hi to my Dad 's relatives named Coats and Corlett in Guthrie, OK.

DeWitt Bacon

First, may I wish you the happiest of birthdays, Dave, and many more.?

Second, I could put this in a separate post, but I want to conserve space on the forum. That's what conservatives do. lol. Jim, the liberals are in a panic over Trump and Elon exposing the waste and fraud in the government. Wasteful spending has been a part of government forever. The defense department will spend hundreds of dollars for a nut or bolt you can buy for less than a dollar at Home Depot. Wasteful spending has made millionaires and billionaires out of a lot of people—especially politicians. Although Democrats have been the biggest recipients of this, many Republicans have benefitted from it, too. I knew little about USAID Until the recent exposers, and I'm sure they have done a lot of good. But politicians are experts at taking a good thing and twisting it around to their own benefit. And remember, it's your money they're spending and putting in their pockets. I applaud Elon Musk and President Trump for their efforts to curb this waste. You cannot curb inflation or lower taxes until this waste and fraud are eliminated. 

Michael Kelly

About  Government excessive spending, one of the things that came to my attention, was a fact that a young woman who was involved in the manufacturing of Aerospace components, was her statement to me that it was a habitual practice, for the Corporation and its division she worked with was the complete waste of machine tools. She said that the Department she was employed in would habitually Scrap out all the tools, including machinery that had been used in any one project. It didn't matter how long, or how brief in time such newly purchased tools and machinery had been put to use, the ending of the project no matter if it lasted a day, or five years, all the tools and machinery would be auctioned off for pennies on the dollar when the project was deemed to be concluded, and even if the  project was resumed, new equipment had to be purchased before resumption of a project began all over again. 

A missile Range, to test a newly developed missile, would run up the range for a test firing, and if a small, single cloud appeared in the sky miles and miles and miles away, the range time would go down as interfered with by inclement weather, or some such nomenclature, and the Cost of this lost time woud count against the Budget for that particular project. Consumption of endless gallons of Coffee would take place, conversations would cover evey known subject on the planet, and the next day, the spending would commence all over againl

All of this amounted to endless waste of Dollars, but at least it was somewhat close to a Margin of Justification, but limitless of Millions of Dollars spent for Alternative Lifestyle Comic Books in Kurghistan, and other Boondoggles is beyond Justification, and Complaining about "Cutting it from the USAID Budget" is beyond the Pale. Lipstick on a Pig type of thing. 

Frank Wiley

I have to say that it is important to remember that all of Washington wether they are R's, I's or D's are responsible for this travesty of wasteful spending.  In my humble opinion it took a Washington outsider to find it and expose it.  I truly believe that Elon Musk and his team have the best intentions and he is not doing this for personal gain.  It is important to remember that Elon was a Democrat and contributed a lot of money to Obama so I don't think he's even truly a Republican and I don't care.  Anyone who does things to make America stronger I want to be on their team.  Sometimes some damage needs to be done before things get better.  I think a good analogy is Cancer.  Killing the cancer cells can be very hard on the body and damage has to be done before healing starts.  Thanks!

Bill RIHS

TDS and now MDS! Laughable meltdown👍😁🇺🇸😎

Michael Kelly

DeWitt Bacon

David, what part of Oklahoma are you in? I'm in NW Arkansas near the Oklahoma line, in the Town of Rogers.

Michael Kelly

Michael Kelly

Economy of Verbiage reflects accuracy of thought. Charlie Chan

Frank Wiley

I would like to tell a true story and I would appreciate if you all would be a part of it.  My Wife ask me a question, "How many times have you watched that?"  I just got done watching it again.  My answer was, "Not enough!"  The Movie (one of my top 5 best) was "Dances with Wolves".  Now the rest of the story.  Our Rotary Club in Sun Lakes did a lot to help the Native American Tribes close to our community.  We would help with their schools, deliver Christmas presents, and even at time deliver clothing.  There were a couple, or few times that there would be a very small number of Tribal Members that would angerly object to us coming on to their land and we were even accused of trying to influence them.  Our initial response was, how dare them!  I now understand their anger and have done so for years.  Whenever I had, or heard about a bad experience some other Rotary Club Member had, I would ask them to watch "Dances with Wolves".  Then they could understand the anger and mistrust!  I drive across the Navajo Reservation frequently and I still feel, and always will, guilt.  I also feel similar guilt about the Slavery issue although my relatives weren't even in the U.S. when all that occurred, I Pray to God none of my family would have ever been involved in any of it!!!  Thanks for reading!

Michael Kelly

Frank, your story sounds like two or so episodes of "Longmire"  and bitterness can be held onto forever and justifiably so, but to go on with Life which is not always Fair holding onto bitterness can cloud one's ability to see opportunities that can work out favorably. 

Just saw on Instagram a video made by an Arizona traveler of two Adult Jaguar cats crossing an Arizona roadway. Looks like the Border Fence is not interfering with their Migratory patterns. 

David Rainwater

DeWitt: I'm in Norman, which if you ignore the panhandle part is nearly dead center in the state of Oklahoma.  google maps says Rogers AR is about 4 hours drive away.

Jim: Guthrie OK is about 45 miles due north of here.

Gentlemen: thanks for giving me the opportunity to explore a little bit my new state.  I remember driving to Virginia in early summer on I-40 in the 70s and how beautiful the wild flowers were in eastern OK and particularly western AR.  I sure wish I could find some forested mountains around here, but it doesn't look very promising so far.  Maybe we should have kept our old house:

DeWitt Bacon

Katy, about the only thing I can agree with you on is your freedom to disagree with Mike, me, or anyone on this forum. That is the kind of freedom that President Trump is trying to bring back to our country. In the meantime, you are attacking bumper sticker remarks with your own bumper sticker remarks. talk about hypocrisy. I use my constitutional freedom of speech to disagree with you on many things. Your snide reference to Elon Musk as "President Musk" shows your lack of reality. Just because President Trump refers to Musk's duties as a 'department' does not mean it is a cabinet-level department. Musk has been appointed SZAR to uncover government waste. He has no legal authority other than the one that the President grants him to investigate and report. That makes him legally appointed. And, Sorry to have to tell you, He's just getting started.  Yes, since Trum['s inauguration, Many far-left activists have been demonstrating and screaming about losing their cash cows. Is Trump going after YOUR cash cow?

I had a teacher in grade school who was fond of the saying, "TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT." 

well,

TWO LIES OR EVEN A MULTITUDE OF LIES

DO NOT MAKE A TRUTH!

Jim Coats

David.  WOW!  I presume that was your house in OR.  Beee-yeeeuuuu-ti-ful!!  I'll bet it was hard to leave that wonderful area.

New subject:  Remember a few years ago when Trump took The Beast around the Daytona track?  You know what would blow everybody away???  He should take the Garbage truck around the track.  He would truly be legendary.

Jim Coats

Katie.  Seek professional help.  Leave it to you to pee all over something meant in good humor.  

DeWitt Bacon

David, I looked up Norman, OK, on Google Maps and saw that you are just south of Oklahoma City. I've driven through there many times on I-40. Boy, can that be congested at times? I went through there a couple of times during the remodeling of portions of that area, and, WOW, was that a trip? l hope you enjoy your new digs. Look out for those tornadoes. Lol. We get them here, too. One of the great benefits of living in "Tornado Alley." Lol.

DeWitt Bacon

Katy, I'm not worried. I find you amusing at times.  

Earl Harris III

Frank,

Reading your most recent post, #15017 from yesterday, came as a welcomed relief to several rather strident political postings of late. As you and many others on this site know, I’m more interested in learning about former classmates’ lives…past and present…as well as musings about future plans. Your sharing of an interaction you had with your wife involving your obsession with the movie, “Dancing with Wolves” coupled with what I know about other wonderful service work you and the Rotary Club have done, inspires me. 

The fact that you would choose to share your story with us illustrates, in a very personal way, an event or a series of events that helped shape your thinking and continues to impact you to this very day. Thank you for sharing with us! 

I, too, have watched “Dances with Wolves” many times. I recently finished watching the miniseries on Netflix titled, “American Primeval”. The cinematography was wonderful and the story disturbingly violent, but I believe it’s worth a watch. The book by John Krakauer, “Under the Banner of Heaven” ($10 on Amazon) is also an interesting read for those wanting to learn more about the history of the Mormon religion and its treatment of indigenous people and the settling of the Utah Territory. Another good read is, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which I believe is far better than the movie version.

I truly wish that we would all use this Message Forum more often to talk about the impact that events and/or people have had in our lives. We are certainly capable of doing so. I don’t think there’s a single person that I can think of who, at one time or another, hasn’t done so. Michael Kelly’s recent post, #14977, detailing the positive influence his step-grandfather had on him as he was growing up is another example offering insight into a former classmate’s true character. His earlier stories about his work with horses and his amazingly courageous battle with serious medical issues he’s facing is what I most enjoy about what Michael’s offerings.

Again, I believe the PRIMARY PURPOSE of this Message Forum should be to post things that educate, entertain and inspire us. I know I may be sounding like a broken record, but personal stories that serve to rekindle old memories and/or ones that may help others as we age seem to be more important than winning a political argument, especially when attempting force a change in the hearts and minds of “others”.