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 Holabird AdvocateProviding all the news we see fit to print since 2002!Wednesday, January 25, 2012 For several years now, the ACLU, and the godless communists that support them, have tried to get South Dakota to change, or get rid of it's Motto, "Under God the People Rule". They have been unable to do that. But it looks as though some malevolent force may be able to do the next worst thing. Yesterday, 80 of South Dakota's legislators have introduced a bill to get rid of the beautiful flag that has been our standard for years and replace it with a new design. The flag that proudly declares, "Under God, the People Rule". Those of you who are regular Readers will remember a previous article on this topic. If not please seek out that article to read so I don't have to repeat myself. When I heard about this latest outrage, my first inclination was to fight this change to my last breath. I could fight it, but I fear I would lose. With 80 of South Dakota's 105 legislators behind this, it is bound to go through. Sad fact is, unless there is intervention from a higher power, it will only be a matter of time before South Dakota has this new flag rammed down our throats the way my dad rammed watermelon down my throat yelling "You'll take this and like it". I say to those who would change our flag, just as I told my dad, "I'll take it, but I won't like it!" The unwillingness of these agents of change to engage in a rational discussion on this matter causes me to doubt their motives. Right away, those who oppose them are branded racists. When asked why the change, they can't give a reasonable answer. "Because I said so" never worked with my parents, and it's not gonna work with them. As I was stewing about this last night, I remembered the time I was stewing about the election results for South Dakota Governor in 1998. I had invested a considerable amount of time, effort, and money in that race, only to have my candidate lose. I turned to the Bible for wisdom and I happened upon the passage where Pontious Pilate was telling Jesus that he (Pilate) had the power of life and death over him (Jesus), to which Jesus replied his (Pilate) authority is limited by his (Jesus) Father. I realized then that even though my candidate was not elected Governor, God will bless the one who was elected. And now, I realize that if this new flag design is made official, God will find a way to bless it was such. Yes, the satanic forces that seek to remove God from our state flag will succeed in that endeavor, but they will not succeed from taking Him away from our state. God has richly blessed South Dakota with many things, both seen and unseen, and He will continue to do so for many years to come. The real sad thing about this mess is that the same people who can strong-arm 80 legislators into changing the state flag can't convince them to invest in education and job training. As one of the peaople who rule under God here, I'll be praying for all 105 to do just that and more, and I hope I'm not alone in this! To begin with all of us at the Milk Party applaud the progressive recovery that is underway with Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords. she is an inspiration to all Americans regardless of their political bent! We still see no reason to have the phony show of bipartisanship, with Democrats and Republicans intermingled in the House chamber. We'd rather see some genuine cooperation rather than the divisiveness so common in DC these days. We are glad that the last of the troops stationed in Iraq are back home, as we are that Bin Laden has been neutralized. Our veterans have helped to make our Union stronger, and prouder. The presidents recall of history, both national and person shows us what we as Americans can do both individually and collectively. He also gave a few examples of the bipartisan efforts that have been made to bring about the current economic boom. His tough talk on China falls a little flat, as they hold the mortgage to our future at the moment. The Presidents commitment to higher education at the community college level, while admirable, seems empty. Where is the money going to came to pay for this? He doesn't say! Making high school mandatory until graduation or age 18 sounds good, but is it enforceable. The immigration problem, especially illegal immigration was amusing. Obama crows about how his administration has reduced illegal immigration, yet one has to wonder if the Arizona law has had more to do with this reduction. The very same law that Obama has been fighting since it's inception The Milk party is second to very few in their admiration of American innovation. But we feel that we need to remind the President that those innovations took place because of private sector investment, not the government. The government has been doing everything in it's power to stifle innovation. Clean energy sounds good. Let's plant more corn to keep our energy clean and green. Wind turbines? Let's built them! Solar energy? Shine baby shine! Obama speaks of the building of the Hoover Dam, and the interstate highways. He acts as tough money alone built them. That is incorrect. There was a willing workforce who built and rebuilt this country through the WPA. Where is the president going to find people willing to work to do all of this domestic nation building. It's nice to hear that Obama is reducing the number of outdated regulations. Hopefully this is not just talk on his part. Naturally we oppose spilled milk as well! Obama loves to talk about the taxes that Warren Buffet pays, or rather doesn't pay. He talks about paying a fair share, but doesn't say what that fair share is. We propose a fair tax system known as 20/20 Tax (details available upon request). All the taxes in the world will not pay off our national debt unless we spend less than we take in. We need to eliminate deficit spending and create some surplus if possible. Banning insider training in Congress is good. Will it happen? We'll wait and see! Why it was allowed to go on this long is beyond us. Perhaps the biggest surprise in this speech was that no mention of health-care or his failed policies along those lines. The Governor of India Mitch Daniels, seems to think that, while the president has not caused the economic troubles, he has done precious little to fix them. Obama sees this Union as a nation of "haves and have-nots" . Daniels sees them as "haves and soon-to haves". You gotta respect that kind of optimism. The Governor wants a simpler tax code (20/20, anyone) He also wants the rich to lose some of their tax breaks (WHAT? I thought he is a Republican). Yes he is, because he believes that people can think for themselves. At times, he stops just short of calling Obama a liar. The best part of the Republican response was that it was short, and the sly reference to America being "A city on a hill" The Tea party chose Herman Cain to give their response. We were not able to hear that response, because the link provided was marked "Dangerous" by our antivirus program. One thing that is readily available to us is that Obama has been just as ineffective as President as his predecessor. America gave that president another chance in the election of 2004, mainly because the only candidate the other party could come up with was a man of wealth with absolute zero chrisma. Supporters of Mitt Romney take notice! God be with you and do the best you can! Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Back when I was in High School, I was one of many students on a field trip out of town. As we were getting off the bus, I remember the bus driver telling one of the students, who happened to be his daughter, "Don't forget who you are". It struck me so funny that when I got back home, I related the the story with my own parents. Their reaction was one of complete agreement with the bus driver. They then told me that hopefully I hadn't forgotten who I was. It took me a while, but eventually I realized just what they were talking about. On this particular field trip we were representing not only our school and community, but in a way we were representing our family as well. Back then, people put a lot of stock into their reputation. They wanted to be shown in the best possible light. Parents wanted to be proud of their children, not ashamed. In the movie, "The Lion King", Mufasa reminds Simba "Remember who you are". I can still remember the voice of James Earl Jones as he expressed a similar sentiment to the one expressed but that bus driver many years before. Sometimes I feel that I have to live up to certain standards that have been set by my family. I think of how my Grandparents, Wilbur and Agnes Goehring sponsored a family from Latvia. If I could, I'd show you a picture of the house they lived in at the time. They had something like 5 or 6 kids at the time in this tiny house! And yet there was something, some natural or supernatural force that called them to share their meager existence with a family of 4 from another country. It wasn't easy, it couldn't have been. Can you imagine this TLC reality show in the making? But has difficult as having this family sharing their living space was, something wonderful happened. This family got to live the American Dream. They were able to find work and move out of the house, into another state. This one act of faith has resulted in a blessing to the family that has grown to 3 generations. As incredible as that is, it's only one of the many wonderful things that Wilbur and Agnes did. They have been an positive example to everyone sharp enough to learn from it. Then we have my other pair of grandparents, E.E. and Bergit Hinkle.They may not have taken in another family to show them blessing beyond measure, but they did many extraordinary things, mainly because they had to. One never truly knows what they can do until the need arises. You'd have never found Grandad and Grandma at Occupy Wall Street. They might have agreed with the cause, but they would be too busy working to do much about it. I'm not sure they'd have agreed with all the pot smoking and urinating on police cars either. Grandad always inspired me to always try and do important things, things that would make a difference in the world. I've never really had the chance to do that. It could be that there is no way for me to do that. Perhaps nothing in my part of the world needs changing. It wasn't until well after Grandad died that I realized I didn't have to do anything big or important, I just have to do the best I can and leave the rest up to God. It's true that I don't share my living space with a family, but I have sponsor a youth from Kenya. Until I am able to do something more difficult, that will have to do for now. It's only by God's grace that I am able to help anyone. Right now, nobody needs my help, but like the proverbial boy scout, I'll be prepared when called into action! Until then, God be with you and do the best you can! Monday, January 09, 2012 Last Friday night, I purchased a slightly used computer. It's a Dell Lattitude E6500 with Intel Centrino and W indows Vista.If you understood any of that,you know more about this computer than I do. I have had trouble getting onto Blogger because of some issues with Google Chrome. I got this computer cheap, and I guess it is true that you get what you pay for! But I will get this thing figured out. It's a good machine though, and I Am learning new rhings every day! Wednesday, January 04, 2012 Having New Years Day on Sunday was nice in a few respects. Starting a new week, month, and year on the same day is quite rare. I think the statistic is one of 13 years starts out that way. I enjoyed it because in church we sang "Let There be Peace on Earth" It's a beautiful song, as well as a wonderful idea. As I ponder that idea, I have to wonder if anyone really knows what they are singing about. Peace on Earth is a goal worthy to aim towards, but is it realistic. It is so easy to give into conflict, rather than seek the peaceful gentle answer that Proverbs tells us turns wrath away. This is true on a worldwide scale, but just as true on a personal level as well. The personal level kicks in when we sing the second line "let it begin with me". How many of us relish the thought of saying "I'm sorry" when we hurt our neighbor or "I forgive" before someone who hurts us offers an apology. It's hard to be the first one to reach out in peace. Hard because the other person may not be receptive to such overtures. Some people thrive on conflict. They like to stay mad long after they've forgotten. The infamous Hatfield-McCoy Feud in Kentucky was started over a pig that crossed into the neighbors property. That feud continued for nearly 50 years until finally both families got tired of the fight. It may sound like fun, but keeping up that much anger rage and hatred is unhealthy. So where does the gentle answer come from. When I feel conflicted I reach up to God in prayer, and then I try to reach out to the second party. If that doesn't work, I wait for a better time. The Obama approach to conflict resolution, having both parties talk it out over a beer, doesn't appeal to me, but I have seen it work. He even got a Nobel Prize for peace, so I can't argue with the results. The best thing to do is to put distance between the other party in a conflict until they are ready to resolve differences. This may never happen, but pray for them until it does. Some talk of "killing them with kindness". That is actually a biblical principle. Paul tells us that if we go out of our way to be nice to those who have wronged us, it will be like heaping hot coals on their head. Some may think that heaping the hot coals on directly will solve things, but they never really do. In an episode of "Kung Fu", Master Po told Grasshopper "Anger is a weapon only to one's opponent". There is mush wisdom in that statement. There comes a time in every-one's life when people rage and thunder at us, we have a choice to rage and thunder right back or turn the other cheek. I've operated both ways, and in the long run not joining in the conflict, no matter who "started it" has never solved it, at least not for me. 
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