Greetings from Tyler,

            We got through the world’s Halloween observance without incident.  Maybe they’ll start removing the spider webs and flashing inflatables from the neighborhood yards, and the skeletons from the entries of every dollar store.  Not that we’re frightened or upset.  We’ve got enough concerns in real life to worry about all the ghastly rubber and plastic that’s not fit for the trash bin.  My neighborhood saw a few adults shepherding little children up and down the streets with their bags of candy.  Wouldn’t you love to hear what they’re telling their impressionable youngsters in explanation? 

            Yesterday was supposed to be the drop dead date for Brexit, deal or no deal.  But that didn’t happen.  The EU has agreed to another delay, this time to late January.  Northern Ireland is apparently one of the major sticking points, and Boris has arranged a deal that will leave Northern Ireland subject to EU regulations while exempting the rest of the UK.  Nigel Farage, known as the godfather of Brexit, says Boris’ new deal with the EU is little better than the utter capitulation offered by Theresa May.  The concern is that EU policies will remain in effect as part of Brexit!  Meanwhile Boris faces another national election in mid-December.   

            You’ve undoubtedly seen footage from the several wildfires across the state of California.  In its infinite wisdom, the power company PG&E has cut power to hundreds of thousands out of concern that the high winds will cause tree branches to come into contact with live wires and ignite fires.  Many hands went up when the question was asked at the recent Feast about how many had had their power shut off.  When the blackout goes for days, there goes all the food in the refrigerator and the freezer.  It was particularly idiotic when the Indian guru appeared in his blue headgear to proclaim that global warming was generating fire danger.  Anybody who lived in Southern California, say, in the sixties or seventies knows that these winds, known as the Santa Ana winds, blow every year at this time and always present the danger of raging wildfires.  Back then, they told us that a new ice age was coming.  They think they can feed us any line of nonsense with grave sincerity, and we’re just expected to nod and agree. 

            California’s leadership is the author of many of the horrible problems driving thousands out of the former paradise.  You don’t need us to tell you of the rampant homeless situation that’s been allowed to spread out of control.  Not only do they have bums living in filth all up and down the streets, they’ve created a crime wave that’s killing businesses.  It seems that theft and shoplifting is way down the list of law enforcement priorities, so they’ve reduced the penalty for any theft under the amount of $950 to a misdemeanor.  So now, the “homeless” can steal whatever they want, run out the door and sell it for half the price, then go back and steal some more to support their homeless habits. Reports say it’s become brazen and takes place often in broad daylight.  Nothing will be done about petty theft, so it’s become a way of life for the down and out all across the state, spreading from San Francisco. 

            And as goes California, we’ve learned the hard way, so goes the nation.  These types of laws are already in effect in Dallas, TX, where an employee is not even allowed to make contact with a thief carrying stolen goods from a store, under penalty of being fired.  So that means a petty thief can shoplift at will, as long as he doesn’t go over the amount deemed a felony.  It’s another milestone on the road to communist Utopia. 

            Since the inception of the United States, one philosophy has reigned and been stated in various ways by the founders and past presidents.  That is that the USA will not be defeated by a foreign enemy.  The real danger is internal.  If the majority ever determines to elect representatives that will hand them every earthly need at government expense, look out. 

            Why is socialism so popular, particularly among the nation’s youth?  One of the largest, most hobbling debts on the nation and on the younger set is student debt.  It prevents young adults from getting married, buying houses and realizing the lifestyle to which they feel entitled.  When someone comes along and says, “We’re going to forgive your student loans,” it sounds like a panacea.  That appears to be the price of patriotism for big crowds cheering socialism.

            Open borders, free health care for all!  Free college, and government programs to cover all your needs.  That sounds like a terrific deal to adult kids living with their folks because they’re too hobbled with debt to make a go of it.  We’ve got people promising them that every need will be provided at somebody else’s expense, and they’re falling for it.  All this free stuff may bankrupt the most prosperous nation on earth.  And somebody should tell them.  Socialism destroys everything it touches.  For the sakes of our kids and grandkids, we hope and pray they don’t have to learn by experience. 

            Meanwhile, it’s impeachment talk around the clock.  We’ve learned that the “whistleblower” has been part and parcel with the push to get rid of President Trump all along.  It’s rather disconcerting when the idiots reporting the news know so much less than we do.  But that’s where we are.  May God see that they suffer the embarrassment they deserve, and the masses see through the onslaught of deception. 

Mark Armstrong