TWO DAYS AFTER

Just a brief note to thank all well-wishers for their birthday greetings.  My secrete-- I don't follow my advise.Next year will be a bang!!

Also my apprerciarion to Dan for his Clips comments;  flattering!!!!!

Instead of some profound comments; some cartoons:

A POSTING

 This was supposed to have been posted Saturday  but computers being what they will be it did not go through, It is now 264364 and counting.

This365 and counting! Just another winter day, but no snow. This coming week will be cold here but perhaps hot (not the temperature) in DC.

  For Plainfielders the biggest news is that Payless Shoes is bankrupt and closing all it stores; the last of the chain shoe stores which along with the 10cent stores, three big department stores plus “Monkey Ward”, Sears, and three theaters made downtown Plainfield the regional economic center. 

  There were several “Fur Stores” and now with the nearest one “Flemington Furs” closing its doors we are deeper into a new world. 

  Too much political shenanigans and “fake news or claims”.    I have missed posting cartoons so here are some that are topical:

ON THIS WEEKEND BEFORE PRESIDENT'S DAY

Thank you nephew David. This poem is appropriate at this time when we have a President who sends mixed messages.

This Administration’s professed admiration with democracy against dictatorship is questionable when one notes  Secretary of State Pompeo’s recent visit to Budapest when he praised Prime Minister Orban’s restrictive attacks on any opposition or Vice  Presidents Pence’s remarks in Poland praising a increasingly Anti-Semitic Government for its Liberalism.This Administration’s professed admiration with democracy against dictatorship is questionable when one notes  Secretary of State Pompeo’s recent visit to Budapest when he praised Prime Minister Oban’s restrictive attacks on any opposition or Vice  Presidents Pence’s remarks in Poland praising a increasingly Anti-Semitic Government for its Liberalism. Or professes to call North Korea's  murderous dictator, his friend.

A POEM WORTH READING

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Joe has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Veteran died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Veteran died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young,
But the passing of a Veteran
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Veteran,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever-waffling stand?

Or would you want a Veteran
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Veteran,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Veteran,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his likes again.
For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Veteran's part,
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A VETERAN DIED TODAY."