January 2012

Happy New Year
Can you be happy if you are not prosperous? Can you be happy under a Marxist government?
According to Lt. Gen. (Ret) W. G. Boykin we may find out. As a Green Beret, part of Boykin’s training was to study the model for developing a Marxist form of government.

1. Nationalize large sectors of the economy which is what the bailouts (started by a Republican and continued by a Democrat) were all about.

2. Redistribution of wealth. Something the health care bill does according to some of the people who actually read it.

3. Discredit the opposition. A memorandum went out from Homeland Security to ever law enforcement in the nation warning that they needed to be on the alert for terrorism from right wing conservatives, prolife groups, gun right groups and returning veterans.

4. Censorship. According to Boykin the hate crime legislation was targeted toward pastors that they would not speak out against same sex marriage, the dangers of Islam etc. Most of the media is already controlled by a few people who seem to go along with the ideas that fit in with the model.

5. Gun ownership control. The president has said he will sign the UN Small Arms Treaty which will control the sale and ownership of individuals in this country.

6. Develop a force to control population. When campaigning the president said he wanted a national security force as large and as well equipped as the military. The health care bill (HR 3590 Sec. 5210) includes provision for a commission of officers to work directly under the president in case of crisis.

What can we do? Boykin suggests email and call Congress until we are a pain in the neck. Also join groups who are trying to reverse the course we are on and elect candidates that believe like we do.

Click on Boykin’s message at http://www.morningstartv.com/oakinitiative/marxism-america

Internet users might want to inform themselves about HR3261. Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market ...and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites. Opponents say that it infringes on First Amendment rights, is Internet censorship,

Opponents say that it infringes on First Amendment rights, is Internet censorship, will cripple the Internet, and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech. To learn all about it just type SOPA in your search engine. This will be coming up in January and is one the bills that is important enough to be a pain to Congress by calling and emailing.

May this be a year that will result in many happy years to come by doing what citizens of the USA should do since our government is “by the people, of the people and for the people.”

ALMEDA DINER IS BACK
The Almeda Diner is back serving the homecooking American food that Almeda customers enjoy. They reopened Dec. 12th. See their ad on page six for hours.

A REQUEST FROM SENIORS FOR SENIORS
Clara Ward, 86, was told by her doctor to exercise or else. She walks about four miles a day and enjoys line dancing at the YMCA on Cartwright Road. But the YMCA has changed the time from 5pm to 7Pm. Concern for themselves and the other people on the road, many senior citizens do not drive at night. Clara and her friends are trying to get enough people lined up to petition the YMCA to make a time during the day for seniors to get their much needed exercise. Call her at 281-261-5771 to add your name to her list, but call after dark as this lady does not sit around in a rocking chair all day.

DO YOU WANT THIS IN TEXAS?
Last April, The Chicago Tribune reported that parents cannot fix their children a lunch for school "unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria."
That couldn’t happen in Texas. Or could it? It is amazing how many rules and regulation have been passed in the last few years which control what we can and cannot do.
We might gripe and complain which doesn’t do any good. We can do something. Your voice and influence is multiplied when you join with others who feel the same way you do on any issue of concern to you. And you can be an informed voter. if you depend on the sound bites of the media for your info you will just vote for whoever they think is good. Instead look at the persons record and ignore the meaningless comments.

Your vote counts far more in the primaries. A good thing about the primary, you cannot vote straight ticket. You have to decide in each race who will best represent your views. Very few people take time to go to the primary convention meeting that starts at 7pm right after the voting stops. Usually the election clerks are tired and want to go home but by law they have to allow all those who voted to come in and participate.

At the meeting decisions are made as to what you want on your party platform. You might want to say that you want anyone running on the Democrat ticket to pledge to enforce lawful local ordinances rather than give way to something the Feds try to ram down our throats with some rule that does not supersede the Texas Constitution. Or maybe you go to the Republican primary and want their platform to include issuing a Green card to anyone who wants to work and eliminate all welfare benefits to non citizens. Whatever you present in writing will
be voted on. If it passes at the primary convention it will be sent to the Senate Convention where it will be voted on again, then it will be deleted or added to the other ideas and sent to the State Convention. Then it could be added to the Texas platform and may become a part of the national platform for your party. Candidates are suppose to agree to their party platform.

It would make sense to read your party’s platform before making a suggestion as well as the other platforms. You will find that Libertarian, Democrat, and Republican platforms all have some good ideas that most everybody is in agreement on. If we could just get all the good ideas on all the platforms and get people elected who at least say they agree to the platform. Besides working on the party platform, you will also vote on delegates to send from your precinct to the local Senate Convention. Some of these delegates may be elected to go on the state convention.

The local Senate convention is a real education on how the political system works within a party. Get involved and attend your Precinct convention April 3rd at 7pm at your voting location.

BEGOTTEN
70 years of going to church but I never could explain exactly what the word “begotten” means until I read a book, Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis. An atheist for years, Lewis thinks through as to why and what he believes and he knows how to put his thoughts on paper.
Most Christians can quote, For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son...John 3:16.
Lewis writes (p. 157) Now that is the first thing to get clear. What God begets is God; just as what man begets is man. What God creates is not God just as what man creates is not man. That is why men are not Sons of God in the sense that Christ is. They may be like God in certain ways but they are not things of the same kind.

The understanding of the word begotten makes clear why Jesus is not only the Son of God, he is God. John 1:12 says, “As many as received him (Jesus) to them he gave the power to become the sons of God even to them who believe on his name.” We who are created or made from the dust of the ground can become the sons of God but we can never be God because we are not begotten of God.

I’ve tried to put in a small space the jest of what Lewis used several pages in his book to do. He gets his point across using illustrations. Mere Christianity is a book I would strongly recommend to any Christian to better understand what they do believe or anyone just curious about what the Christian faith is.

FEEDBACK
I asked Willie Keyworth if he heard about the uproar in Henderson Co. over the nativity scene: He answered:
My goodness , YES !! That's all you hear in this town. !! It's just some Non-religous Zealots , Yankees at that, and they want their 15 minutes of FAME ,and this is the only way they can get it. There is no way in HELL that you gonna get that Nativity scene removed from our CourtHouse Square . This is THE HEART of the BIBLE BELT !!!! There are more Baptist Churches in Henderson County than there are BEER JOINTS in Houston !!! Every year you get Idiots that try to get attention by pulling this kind of garbage. It just serves to get people all worked up and gives the News Media Org's a Field Day, but the really sad thing about all of it Sis, is that Half of the folks that are screaming about all this probably ain't seen the inside of a Church all YEAR

Ed. Note. On Dec. 17th, 5,000 people rallied in front of the courthouse in Athens to show their support for the county commissioner who said the nativity scene would not come down until after Christmas.

Stalin said: “America is like a healthy body, and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.

Almeda Moe
Moe’s daughter, Zoe, got her first Christmas presents as a teacher at Almeda School. The daughter of the manager at the grocery store brought Zoe a basket of fruit. The son of the owner of the candy store gave her a huge box of chocolate and the florist’s daughter gave her a bouquet. The son of the liquor-store owner gave her a big heavy box. Zoe noticed it was leaking a little bit. She touched a drop of the liquid with her finger and tasted it. “Is it wine?” “No,” the boy smiled. She tasted another drop. “Is it Champagne?” “No,” grinned the little boy. “It’s a puppy.”

THANK YOU
Thank you, whoever you are, for the gift in appreciation of Our News.

FRESNO WATER BOARD
The Fresno Water Board meets the 3rd Thurs. of the month at 6 pm at the Mustang Community Center. A special meeting will be held the first part of January. The time, date and place will be on the water board web site: www.fortbendwater1.com
Get the minutes/agenda of past meetings and a map of the construction completed and in progress.

WHAT ARE YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS?
If you make a New Year resolution and have not broken it by January 21st, please call or email (address is at the top of the page) and Our News will share your three weeks of success.

GOD CAN MAKE YOU STRONG
© Emmaline Wiley
If you have felled, because you rebelled against God, because you did wrong, God can make you strong, to go on, and live a righteous life.
Proverbs 10:27-30; II Corinthians 12:7-10 and I John 1:9

MILTON “PEAVINE” MARTIN, 73, born January 4, 1938 in Barnes, Texas went home to his Heavenly Father on December 21, 2011. Milton and his wife, Karen Watson Martin, raised their two daughters Sheryl and Wendy while living on Anderson Road. They moved to Livingston where he was employed with International Paper Company as a millwright for 25 years, and was a faithful member of Central Baptist Church. Survived by his wife of 50 years, Karen Martin, two daughters, Sheryl Griffin and Wendy/Jimmy Willson; five sisters, three grandsons, Tyler Griffin, Daniel Kelley and Max Willson; granddaughter, and Kristina Sumpter. He is preceded in death by his parents, and three brothers.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Gideons International, P. O. Box 178, Livingston, TX 77351.

Vinson Library
3810 West Fuqua 832 393 2120 Open Tue. 10-6, Wed. 10-6, Thurs.12-8, Fri. 1-5, Sat. 10-5. Closed Sunday and Monday. Internet open 24/7 houstonlibrary.org

Sienna Library
8411 Sienna Springs Blvd. 281-341-2677,
Mon/Tue/Thur, 7:30 am to 9:00 pm
Wed. 7:30-6, Fri.7:30-5, Sat. 10- 5
http://www.fortbend.lib.tx.us)
“Free Homework Help for Parents and Students,” Feb.4th, 10am. Includes an introduction to the library’s free online resources that help families with homework, skill-building, and test preparation. online tutoring resources including the SAT and ACT practice tests etc. as well as a variety of other resources available through the library’s website, such as Biography in Context or the MasterFILE Premier database.
Jan. 12, at 10am. Learn how to browse, select, and download eBooks to your eReader from the library’s online digital library collection,
SIENNA BOOK CLUB Mon. Jan. 9, beginning at 1:30 pm, The book to be discussed is One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd.
Mother Goose Time Tues. 10am except Jan. 3rd. Toddler Time -- Thursdays at 10:00 am except Jan. 5th.
Pre-school children, 3 to 6 years of age, Story Time, where they hear stories, watch movies, and participate in age-appropriate craft activities, beginning at 10:00 am each Wed. except Jan. 4th. Kinder Korner 2nd Wed. 4:00 pm. Pajama Night Story Time Mon. at 6:30 pm -- Library closed Jan. 2nd 281-238-2900
Computer classes are free to the public. Reservations are required. Register online at (www.fortbend.lib.tx.us), click on “Calendar,” select “Sienna Branch,” and find the program or register by calling the library at 281-238-2900.The Culinary Book Club will meet on Mon. Jan. 16th, at 1:30 pm, The topic of the month is southern, down-home, country cooking.
FAMILY READING CLUB will begin on Sat. Jan. 21, until March 3rd.

BACK YONDER
On a chilly January morning in 1916, six-year-old Marion Keyworth happily hopped in the back of Mr. Foster’s T-Model Ford. Marion was too young to go to school as kids had to be seven before starting to school in Texas back then.
Mr. Foster was talking to Marion’s mother as they bumped along the gravel road. “As you can see Mrs. Keyworth, Almeda Road (or Highway 19) is passable year round. You can deliver your milk to Houston without a problem.”

Marion was a kid but he wasn’t stupid. Was his mother thinking about moving? After they had passed the beautiful trees at Herman Park and crossed Brays Bayou, Marion didn’t see a tree. Even at Sims Bayou, no trees. Why no trees, he wondered.
“All this land as far as the eye can behold,” said Mr. Foster, “is open range. You can fence your cattle up at night and let them graze anywhere all day long.”

“That would be a relief,” said Marion’s mom. “Right now I have to lease 300 acres for the heifers and dry cows. My foreman with the help of Marion, since he was three years old, has rounded them up when they are ready to have a calf. But getting them from that pasture (Galleria area) to our place (West Gray) creates problems. More people are moving in and some folks don’t appreciate getting free fertilizer in their yards.”

Marion smiled at that remark even as he looked out the window at the dismal countryside. For about the last ten miles he thought he had seen one house. His mother continued talking, “I could buy a piece of land nearby for $8 an acre, (River Oaks) but it is so low and such a swamp, it is a water moccasin haven. I’m afraid to let the boys go near the area.”
About a mile south of Sims, the Model T turned onto a dirt road. “I understand they call this Anderson Road,” said Mr. Foster. “Mr. Anderson uses a team of mules to keep it graded. You notice he has good ditches on both sides of the road so it doesn’t stay muddy too long after a rain.. He lives about a mile further west, beyond him the Buell families (Hiram Clark) and a short distance west of them are the Edmunsons. All good hardworking folks.”

A half mile west of Almeda Road, Mr. Foster turned in front of a two-story unpainted house surrounded by dead grey stalks of blood weeds towering five feet over Marion’s head and not one scraggly tree. It was a dreary scene. He listened to the grown ups talking, then tugged on his mother’s dress, “Momma, you are not going to buy this terrible place, are you?”

All the way back to Houston as his mother and Mr. Foster discussed details, Marion laid in the back seat and cried. Little did he know he would spend the next 60 years on Anderson Road in the little town of Almeda, Texas. Years that were filled with fun, adventure, devilment and hard work of a country boy in the early part of the century.

The Wonderful World Of Auctions. By James Wark
One dollar bid ,now two, now two, will you give me two. Sold to number 17 for a dollar. Welcome to the world of auctions. A auction is a sale where goodies are sold to the highest bidder, regardless of the original cost. First question is, where can you find out where they are held. With the invention of the Internet, just look under auctions. Your newspaper has a section just for auctions. Or for great steals too numerous to list, Federal give away hotlines are as follows. Department of Defense 1- 800 -GOVT-BUY or General Services Administration 1 800- 488-3111. DOD has the deal where you have sealed bids & the G.S.A. has sales where you bid at live auctions. Sealed bids are where you have until a certain date & time to turn in your bid in a sealed envelope, to be opened with everybody else's at the same time. That means if you are the only one who turns in a bid, you just bought it, regardless of price. Do you feel lucky or what?

What is sold at auctions? You name it. The list is too long for this article, but to touch on a few. Real Estate- Art Work- Cars- Trucks- Office Equipment- Ships-Computers. The list would be shorter on what is not sold. Even possessions of the famous can be yours. Always find out what the rules & regulations are before you show up raising your hand or waving you paddle. For instance, check out if they have a buyer premium. That could be as much as 15 %. OUCH. An extra $ 150.00 for every $ 1000.00 you spend. And lets not forget local taxes (average 8 %) But some have no buyers premium at all. Every auction company has different rules. Also check out if there is a minimum or reserve. If its over your budget, don't waste your time. But if its advertised as no minimum or no reserve, you could hit the jackpot if you are the only one there who wants the fine outstanding merchandise.

White HOT Tip: At a auction, you will meet other investors. Learn what they are buying. That way, if you see what they want & if when you see it at another auction, buy cheap & sell to them. Added hint: Have them pick it up at the auction site. How much is that worth? Another feature in my bag of tricks. To be continued next month

Published by Sis Andrews
2500 copies distributed 1st wk of month
12 issues mailed to your home for $8.50
Our News is online at
http://almedaournews.blogspot.com
Deadline for news/ads is the 25th