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Saturday, June 24, 2006

Deja Vu All Over Again

***** WARNING!!! *****

This dangerously illegal and immoral subversive underground resistance message is being surreptitiously monitored by the Beaming Internet Government Broadband Radio Oscillation Telecommunications Hearing Electronic Reconnaissance (i.e., B.I.G. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.) as part of a coordinated official clandestine domestic surveillance investigation, in cooperation with the National Administration of Zealous Interrogation (i.e., N.A.Z.I.) and the Commission On Message Monitoring Investigative Electronics (i.e., C.O.M.M.I.E.).

Serious felony criminal charges are pending, with extreme penalties yet to be determined!


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Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

During the course of doing something today (which I can't remember), I was somehow reminded of the old song, "BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?".

Do you remember that song?

It was written in Nineteen Thirty-One, during the Great Depression, and recorded by Bing Crosby.

I think, from what I'm seeing in the breaking news stories every day, that those lyrics might become popular once again, or at least, certainly applicable to the coming circumstances of our own present day and age.

So, I copied the lyrics, and now, I'm practicing singing the song.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

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"BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?"

Lyrics by:
Yip Harburg
Music by: Jay Gorney
1931

Once, they told me
I was building a dream
And so, I followed the mob.
There was earth to plow
And guns to bear.
I was there on the job.

Once, they told me
I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead.
Oh, why should I
Be standing in line,
Hoping for a piece of bread?

Once, I built a railroad,
Made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once, I built a railroad.
Now, it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once, I built a tower
To the sun;
Brick, and rivet, and lime.
Once, I built a tower.
Now it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?

Once, in khaki suits;
Gee, we looked swell,
Full of Yankee Doodle dum.
Half a million boots
Went slogging through Hell.
I was the kid with the drum!

Don't you remember,
You called me "Al".
I was "Al" all the time.
Why can't you remember
I was your pal?
Brother, can you spare a dime?

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I highlighted, copied, and pasted these lyrics into a MicroSoft WordPad document, using Rich Text Format, and then edited the lyrics to my liking (according to how I plan to sing it).

So, since the song is being switched from web site to WordPad to YAHOO! e-mail, all of which use different formats, I wonder what the final product will look like?

Maybe it'll be so unrecognizably messed up, I'll just delete the whole thing and forget all about it.

In the past, when publicizing similar documents, I haven't had good experiences with proper spacing between fonts or phrases, so it seldom turned out the way I wanted it to appear.

I was just planning to post this on my personal blog, "OUR ETERNAL STRUGGLE", and nowhere else, but because of sheer curiosity, I'll also post it at my various discussion group web sites, just to see what the finished product looks like.

Of course, I do have one question about the song lyrics:

What good is a "dime" now?

In Nineteen Thirty-One, it might have bought something to eat, but today, you can't even buy chewing gum for ten cents.

In fact, I don't know of ANYTHING that can be purchased for just ten cents, do you?

So, can you loan me ten bucks?

Hey, do you remember the "POPEYE" cartoon series?

Do you remember the oft repeated words of "Wimpy", one of the characters in the "POPEYE" cartoon series, i.e. "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."?

Yep, Popeye, the sailor man ate spinach (which kept him "strong to the finish" - - - toot! toot!) and Wimpy ate hamburgers, whole STACKS of hamburgers!

In the meantime, I'll go to the mess hall here in the Old Soldiers' Home and enjoy lots and lots of FREE vanilla ice cream and Coca Cola!

Still, I see the proverbial "writing on the wall", don't you?

It would be wise to start stockpiling each month a case or two of rations, and a case or two of bottled drinking water, along with gradual purchases to enhance our individual medical kits and camping supplies.

And, yes, even if it's illegal, common sense dictates we'd better find some way to secretly arm ourselves.

I really do expect this historic Old Soldiers' Home will eventually turn into a modern day version of the "Alamo".

Thanks to the Viet Nam War, a lot of us old soldiers are trained and experienced in unconventional warfare, small unit tactics, S.E.R.E. (i.e., "Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape") , and improvising weapons, munitions, explosives, and booby traps from ordinary materials we already have on hand.

We certainly can't rely on our government.

When the economy collapses, the federal government will be unable to function, as our military manpower is already globally overextended.

We can't trust the local authorities - - - how do you know which of the police are actually honest, and which ones wear tarnished badges?

We residents at the Old Soldiers' Home are on our own - - - and I mean, REALLY on our own!

There'll be no resupply, there'll be no reinforcements, and no evacuation.

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Lest We Forget - - -

Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

This is just to remind everybody that on this date, 14 June 1775, two hundred and thirty-one years ago, the Continental Congress authorized George Washington to raise an Army to defend the Colonies.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! to my own beloved United States Army in which I proudly served, as did both my fathers (I'm adopted), my uncles, a younger brother, and a brother-in-law!

What's more, my ancestor on my father's side, and my ancestor on my mother's side, BOTH served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War for Independence!!!

How do you like them there apples, hey?

Also, as I am still learning of my Scottish heritage, it is important to remember that on yesterday's date, 13 June 1814, one hundred and ninety-two years ago, the horribly infamous CLEARANCES began in the Scottish Highlands.

Now, not very many Americans know about the history of the Clearances, but most Americans do know that the potato famine in Ireland is the reason why so many Americans have Irish ancestry.

The same is true of the Clearances in Scotland.

The Clearances are the reason so many Scots became Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders.

The English wanted the Scots removed from the Highlands because the land would be more valuable raising herds of sheep, rather than merely renting to poor tenant farmers (called "crofters" in Scotland).

Just as so many Irish perished because of the potato famine, many Scots also perished because of the Clearances.

What made the Clearances even worse was Scots betraying Scots, accepting money from the English to evict impoverished tenants from their crofts (Scottish farm houses), which were then burned, all to make room for sheep.

So, I will add that unhappy date to my YAHOO! calendar, so I won't ever forget.

I've heard that a major Hollywood movie is going to be made (or is already being made) to tell the story of the Clearances, but I don't know if that's true.

The other major historic event which brought Scots to America en masse was the failed Jacobite uprising, known as "the '45", when Bonny Prince Charley was attempting to reclaim the throne of Scotland.

But, that's another story for another time.

Anyway, that's why you have so many Scots and Irish living among you today!

Ain't we lucky?

Slainte mhath, y'all!

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

My Suggestion For Border Security

Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

Do you ever watch the "ANIMAL PLANET" cable television channel?

They have lots of documentaries about folks who provide shelter and rehabilitation for exotic pets which have been abandoned or abused, and many of those animals can never be returned to their native habitat.

What if we made the United States side of the Mexican and Canadian borders a wildlife refuge for abandoned or abused exotic pets?

We could create a fenced in hundred mile strip of land all along the Rio Grande filled with free roaming "lions and tigers and bears - - - oh my!"

I doubt very many folks would want to try to sneak through that area!

We could even make it a hunting preserve for the old fashioned exotic great white hunter guided safaris, which would make the area even more dangerous.

"Lions and tigers and bears - - - oh my!"

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

NOTE: "My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."