THERE WAS A TIME...

            There was a time.

            It was when growing up was a time of innocence. It was a time before the San Francisco “hippies,” drugs, the sexual revolution and when a parent’s guidance influenced and guided our decisions.

It was a time when a young person took pride in oneself and not being part of the mob was more important than associating with a recalcitrant dope smoking group of losers. It was a time when one would make a promise and seal it with a handshake and it meant something.

To be known as a “square shooter” was a cherished complement.

It was a time when honor and respect of others had real meaning. It was a time when young girls wore their angora sweaters, skirts, bobby socks and black and white saddle shoes and were treated with respect by their boyfriends who took them to school dances, picnics and carnivals. It was a time of innocence.

            Young men at that time were raised to treat their female friends with respect not as sexual objects to be mistreated for personal gratification. It was a time when character, honesty and self control were the master of a person’s behavior. There was a time when adults were respected by the young and households were a haven.

            It was a time when mom stayed home and took care of the family. It was a time when dad worked to support, protect and care for his family without government intrusion.

            But there was also a time of hardship, wars and change. The 20^th century was the most horrific in the history of mankind. Two world wars overtook nearly every country in the world and those who were not fighting were overrun by those who were. It was a time of misery, hardship and death of untold millions of innocents. It was a time hopefully never to be repeated.

            But that was then and now is now.

            The changes within the past 60 years introduced a 180 degree change from the ideas and values of those past times. First to fall was morality. In the 1960’s the discovery of the pill opened the gates to rampant promiscuity. “Shacking up” no longer carried any sense of shame since belief that a woman could hold to the belief that “it is my body” and they could do anything they wanted with it including killing a child in the womb. There were no longer consequences for their actions.

            As time progressed a review of Nietzsche’s famous proclamation that “God is dead” has now became a reasonable philosophy. Figuratively he said that humans killed God and that rationalism and science has replaced Him. No longer is mankind required to have shared beliefs in ethics, morals or a uniform cultural belief. Like the “hippies said in the 60’s; “If it feels good do it!”

            Even many churches’ today believe there is no longer “sin” but rather a need for more inclusion for those who practice what was once considered the commission of mortal sins. Now emphasis is on “love” and those who continue to hold to such practices are now welcomed with no need for repentance or change of behavior. If God does exist he is a loving “God” who doesn’t judge. Apparently He was kidding when he handed Moses the Ten Commandments. But then again, Moses was another time.

            It is astonishing that within the brief time of the last 60 years what was once wrong is now right and what was once right is now wrong!

            There was a time when schools taught true values. There were courses in civil science, patriotism, love of country, honor of the flag. But now such teaching comes under the Big Brother eye of the federal government, teacher unions and the ACLU. There are now laws outlawing such courses in public schools. In addition to this there are laws prohibiting any reference to God, His Son Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Today there is no need for such beliefs they say.

            The world is in crisis and people wonder why. The answer is really simple if you take stock of what is considered “progress.” Previous values, beliefs and the reliance of the divine is no longer considered appropriate or needed. We live in another time and previous beliefs have no place in our onward charge.

            What will it all come to? Only He who created all has the answer. For us time will tell.

GOD BLESS AMERICA--WHY?

By DELL ARTHUR 

            Rummaging through my files a few days ago I came across an article I had put away and forgot about written by an unknown author that, for me at least, had an enormous jarring impact. It gave pause to reflect about has happened to our society as a nation and as a people. What has happened to our moral compass? Rereading the article made me reflect about and where we are heading.  The article sharpened the incredible difference between what had value before and the lack of value now. The piece is worth reprinting. It is simply titled “God Bless America. Why?”

            “We have ridiculed the absolute truth of God’s Word in the Bible and it called it moral pluralism;

“We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism;

“We have endorsed perversions and called it alternative lifestyle;

“We have exploited the poor and called it lottery;

“We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation;

“We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;

“We have killed our unborn and called it choice;

“We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem;

“We have abused power and called it political savvy;

“We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition;

“We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of oppression;

“We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.”

Why Should He Bless America?

The recent Supreme Court legalizing sodomy between homosexuals, (called Gay marriage), is an example of how indifferent we, as a people, have come. It all seemed to have come to fruit at the beginnings of the 1960’s when the “flower children” took over in San Francisco, California. I recall at the time when I was with a central California newspaper, the Merced Sun Star, covering the 1960 Chinese New Year festival. It had been some time since I had visited the Bay area and was astonished at how much it had changed.

Young people with flowers in their hair sat along the sidewalks and grass park areas asking passersby for donations, smoking marijuana and strumming guitars. I had taken my wife and children with me to enjoy the holiday when we passed a beautiful young girl who appeared to be in her late teens sitting on a door stile. Her expression was of a despondent, unhappy child who had no home, no family and no hope. As we passed, with my little five-year old daughter Beth’s hand in mine, this child of nowhere looked and gave a mournful smile at my little girl. I wonder what has ever happened to this broken child that someone somewhere must have suffered their own hurt at her disappearance.

At the time the most common expression of the “hippie” movement was, “If it feels good do it!” This included everything from “sexual liberation” to the use of narcotics.

Where has all this led us?

The blame for this degeneration can’t be easily explained, but there are some reasons that may afford an answer. And the start is the unknown authors’ piece on “Why Should God Bless America.”

For the atheists their answer is simple. There is no God therefore man has the right and opportunity to forge their life anyway they wish. There are no set values or laws or boundaries’ so every person, according to their individual belief, has their own right to practice whatever they want. But the catch is everyone must believe as they do.

As an example the atheists have proven successful in the removal of the Ten Commandments from public property, praying in school, celebrating religious holidays by school children as Christmas or anything that taints of religious significance. They pretend that all of the above is an affront to the people and should be prohibited. And so it has become. And we have now reaped what we have sown.

The atheist’s position is interesting to say the least. They say, “…prove there IS a God!” The answer is simple. “Prove there is NO God!” At this the secularist and atheist usually will cite everything from the “big bang theory,” to how the mixture of chemicals miraculously came together and formed life and how the earth has been around for billions of years and so on and so on.

A primary question is; can something be created from nothing? The big bang theory is exactly that; a theory. As for the combining of chemicals to form life this position is also illogical. All of these chemicals are a physical property therefore requiring creation.

Nothing can be created from nothing.

PROTECTION OF CITIZENS

By DELL ARTHUR 

           

           While out shopping at a local mall recently we had the chance to strike up a conversation with one of the security guards working outside one of the stores. It was a nice sunny day warmed by spring temperatures and a soft breeze. The crowds were busy and folks were going in and out carrying their packages stuffed with all types of items. That’s what aroused our curiosity. What could possibly be in those packages?

            With all the coverage of terrorist’s attacks around the world it seemed to us that one of the most vulnerable targets could be a shopping mall. That’s what sparked our interest.

            The security guard was an affable fellow who had been on the job for the past three years. He was an older man and a retired police officer. His job was simply to monitor the crowds, run off panhandlers and bike riders and skateboarders off the sidewalks. You would think such a job would be mundane and uninteresting. But after talking with the security guard we gained a far different impression.

            It seems, even though he was a retired police officer, he wasn’t permitted to carry a firearm. “Only guys working at the banks or companies like that are authorized to carry a gun” he related. “Our job here at the mall is strictly to observe and report any activity that would require police assistance.” The only “weapon” he carried was a company telephone.

            And that is where years of experience as a police officer came in. Even though his company prohibited his carrying a gun nevertheless he did. Under his jacket he had concealed a 9 mm automatic and was prepared to use it if necessary. “I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by six,” he said with a firm grin. And I can’t blame him.

            He mentioned that there have been times he had to call 911 to either trespass someone or have a drunk picked up. “Even though the mall is open to the public it is still private property and we do have rules here. We get all types of people shopping here but our biggest problem is vagrants who panhandle, get drunk or simply hassle customers. When I run into situations like that I call 911 and have the cops taken them away.”

            But there are other times that things can get more serious he said. “A while back a guy who claimed to be a member of the Bloods threatened me. He said he was an ex-con and he didn’t like anyone wearing a uniform. I told him he needed to leave the property before he got into trouble and he started to advance towards me. I then told him to stop but he didn’t. That’s when I told him I was a former police officer and he needed to back off before he got into more trouble. He didn’t listen too well!”

            Hitting the emergency button on his phone the local police were immediately alerted. The security guard was able to control the attacker from fighting him when a police cruiser pulled up and took the aggressor into custody. “If he had tried to pull a weapon or cause me bodily harm I probably would have had to take some action to protect myself. Fortunately I didn’t have to,” he related.

            Most of the time his job proved boring he said. And that is the way he liked it. But now with all of the problems with foreign terrorists’ invading our country he has found himself more alert to peoples activities. “You never know who is who these days. Profiling people isn’t politically correct but when you see a guy walking along with his wife wearing a burka following behind three paces it makes you wonder.

            One problem with his job he said was that he had no authority that extended into stores. “The stores have to rely on their own security people—if they have any. The only time we can get involved is if someone causes a problem outside the stores or in the parking lots.” Thieves rummaging cars is another problem. Security guards can’t be everywhere at one time so it’s hit and miss type of thing to apprehend the criminals he said.

            But what concerns him most was the possibility of someone setting off a bomb or shooting up the inside of the mall—especially during holidays or busy weekends. One thing for sure he said with a stern expression, sometime, someday it will most likely happen.

            Hopefully not at his facility.

FASTEST MAN ON EARTH

By DELL ARTHUR 

            He was known as the fastest man on earth and his name was John Paul Stapp. How he acquired such a moniker wasn’t by accident. He earned the title by one of the most heroic adventures of modern times—at least in the 1950’s. He nearly broke the sound barrier riding on a rocket propelled specially designed sled down a 3,550 foot rail at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. What he accomplished hasn’t been surpassed up to present times.

            The year was December 1954 and as a medical officer with the United States Air Force, Stapp was preparing himself for a rocket ride that would take him down the track and obtain a speed of 632 miles per hour. But that wasn’t all—he would be brought to a stop that induced a force of 46.2 “G” forces. This was something that no one believed a human being could survive.

            But he did.

            The reason behind this experiment was Stapp’s insatiable desire to find a way for pilots flying at high altitudes and at speeds near the speed of sound to eject safely in the event of an emergency. It was thought such an emergency would result in automatic death if a pilot attempted to bail out. Either way, the outcome could be disastrous. But Stapp believed survival could be accomplished but there was only one way to prove his idea. And the sled was the answer.

            Named “The Sonic Wind,” the craft was equipped with nine rockets. Stapp made several previous runs on the sled over time and increasing speed accordingly. After much testing he made his final run. Climbing into the seat of the open air cockpit he fastened his special designed safety harness, lowered his head and activated a camera that recorded his unprotected face. Instantly the rockets fired off and he was sent speeding down the railway.

            When he hit the end of the run the sled was almost instantly stopped by a water pool designed for such an event. Cameras recorded what happened. The pictures can still be seen on programs as the History Channel and some scientific shows. The pictures show how his face was completely distorted, his mouth nearly pulled out of his jaws and his eyes bulging almost out of their sockets. In seconds he came to a complete stop and people rushed to aid him.

During the run an Air Force T-33 jet was overhead recording the run. As the sled hit full speed it actually passed the airplane like a speeding bullet. “He went by me like I was standing still and I was going 350 miles per hour,” recalled Joe Kittinger pilot of the chase plane.

Reaching the scene emergency crews found Stapp conscious and great pain. Lifting him gently from the craft they had to escort him to an ambulance since he couldn’t see. It would be a few days before he would regain his sight. What he experienced was what a pilot ejecting at a speed of Mach 1.6 at 40,000 feet would encounter. He proved a man could survive such an ordeal.

Safety was his passion. Stapp invented harnesses that would hold passengers safely enabling them to survive crashes that before would have killed them. He invented ejection systems that have saved unaccountable number of airmen from destroyed aircraft. One of his inventions proved his personal salvation.

I recall taking with this remarkable man about ejection systems and his recount of an incident that nearly killed him.

He said that he was riding as a passenger in a Lockheed T-33 jet trainer. They had just taken off and the wheels were retracted when suddenly the airplane suffered a “flame out.” The airplane was at an altitude of only a few feet off the runway when the engine failed. Instantly both he and the pilot hit the ejection lever and shot into space. “I recall going up and separating from the seat and the parachute opening up just as my feet touched the ground,” he said with a grin. It doesn’t get closer than that!

But there were other hazards associated with high altitude bailout as well. Stapp showed pictures of one unfortunate pilot who ejected when he was in a thunderstorm. His body was riddled with hundreds of punctures that killed him from hailstones. He was flying at nearly 600 miles an hour when he got out of the stricken airplane. He could have survived the bailout but the hailstones were like bullets instantly killing him.

What this remarkable scientist did for aviation and the automobile industry in the development of safety devices is history in itself. After his retirement he settled in at Almogordo N.M. where he remained until his death at the age of 89.