"Back and Forward"

 

“Back and Forward”

By Jim Culp

December 20, 2022

 

I don’t celebrate Christmas, and I haven’t since 2004 when I converted to Modern Paganism. We pagans celebrate the Season of Yule this time of year. Yule is the symbolic “death” of the year…the trees have lost their leaves, the air is cold, and most humans are less active at this time. The New Year is right around the corner, and we’ll go from there. Many people here in the Mid-West are Christians (at least thirty versions of such) and attend various rituals and things that pertain to the life and death of a Savior, one that would bring them peace and prosperity. I do not care what a person believes, so long as he/she doesn’t want to cram it down my air tube. Every man and woman on this planet have some say on his/her fate, and every one of us dances to either their own tune, or to someone else’s. I say, “you do you,” and “I’ll do me.”

 I live in western Missouri, and we are about to have a bout of weather that we haven’t seen in years of later. The West is already experiencing heavy snows and deadly cold temperatures as a write this. My brothers in Idaho are better weathermen than the ones on TV, so if I really want to know something, I give them a call.

This year is winding down to a close soon; and we’ll head into a new year with plenty of doubt and fear. The Earth is one the verge of World War III, and we will see what happens the next 2-3 days.

Whatever decisions are made, they had better not be taken lightly. I wish you all a merry holiday season, and may we all have peace in our hearts, and joy with what we have.

As for the aforementioned… I say this. Love with all your heart…be kind to one another and appreciate your blessings that you are alive and well. This may well be the last Holiday Season that we experience in peacetime.

-JimC

 

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com

"Get Lost"

 

“Get Lost”

By Jim Culp

12/15/2022

Another year is about to pass, and I say good riddance. This year has been filled with extreme doubt, government bullshit, and way too much focus on demigods instead of reality.

There are two things that need our highly focused attention to, and those (in my opinion) are (A) the war in Ukraine, where the Russians lose ground and hundreds of soldiers dies every day needlessly. Vladmir Putin ordered this travesty a year ago, and it’s been downhill every day. This guy needs a hobby and a farm that are about a thousand miles from civilization. Maybe he and Donald Trump could live in a little villa where they can play chess and chase goats hoping for a date. Whatever they do, they won’t be located anywhere the big red button is, and there’s no Generals to take another order for mass mobilization.

(B) The mass exodus of Mexican people entering the USA illegally. These people yearn for a better way of life, and I can’t blame them for that. But folks, you got to do it legally. Having ten, twenty, or fifty thousand people entering our country is a big no-no in my book. I have nothing against the Mexican people, but it is their country that needs to tend to them, not the USA. Everyone I know says that if Trump were still in power, the wall would be built, and no one would be getting in. Well, we never needed a wall in the first place. We needed A) a line of demarcation, and B) Guard towers with excellent snipers that stand ready for violators. You’d be amazed at the amount of people that change their minds when the person in front of them suddenly has no head. Hate speech? Nope. Reality speech.

Last caveat. This December, I am very sick of two things. A) Tom Brady and B) Christmas trees. Let me explain...Tom Brady is a damn good football player, but he’s not worth all the bullshit that he tries to install every day, and his fit-throwing on the field anytime anyone makes a mistake. Get over yourself man.

Lastly, Christmas trees. No, I don’t mind people purchasing Christmas trees and placing them in their homes for the holiday. I mind very much the assholes that cut down beautiful, oxygen producing clean air to breathe, and help keep soil intact as they grow. Buy a synthetic tree, and use it for ten, twenty, or even fifty years. Nothing gets killed, and we preserve critical forests that are the backbone of ecosystems.

I don’t ask for much.

Merry Christmas, and to my pagan brothers and sisters, Blessed Yule to you and yours.

-JimC

 

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com

"Of Songs and Diatribe"

 

“Of Songs and Diatribe”

By Jim Culp

December 11, 2022

 

Way back in 1981, I wrote a song that would sit in a box for many years. Years later, I read all my song lyrics that night, and decided to put four of them on an album. As luck would have it, I worked at a company called ACS, and many times that work took me to Tacoma, Washington. Amid that large stretch of cities lied the massive bases of Fort Lewis (Army) and Fort McChord (Air Force). I worked exclusively with Range Control on Fort Lewis building their MOUT* sites. My team and I installed seven of these sites, and then were tasked much later on to repaint many of them.

During this time, I met a great guy named Mike Morrison. Mike was a hard worker, and a killer guitar player. So, I asked him to play guitar on my coming CD. The record had four songs but let me focus on one of them for the purposes of this article. The first song on the CD was called “the Devil’s Blues…” which I had written in 1981 with my trust Harmony guitar that I had received for Christmas the past year. “The Devil’s Blues” was a parody about people blaming their problems and life’s negative occurrences on an imaginary figure. This figure (or entity if you like) was “the Devil,” or “Satan,” the father of lies and deceit. This character was in many religions (most notably in Christianity and Islam) but in some other also.

Anyway, the album was painstakingly recorded and produced, and place on three music outlets: You Tube, iTunes, and word of mouth. I gave it as a gift to a large number of people and sent a copy to everyone in my immediate family; but that’s another subject you can read about in my autobiography, due to publish in summer of 2023.

Time went by, and this record had been on those two channels for eleven years. Great…right?

I get a notice from YouTube last night, and it said they were removing it from that channel, because “it might imply violence.”

Holy Shit on a Ritz cracker. I am now complete… because I’ll heard it all now.

(* MOUT means “Military Operations in Urban Terrain)

 

-JimC

Join Me on Facebook

Join Me at jimculp.blogspot.com

 

Lies, and more lies III

 

Lies, and More Lies III

By Jim Culp

December 6, 2022

 

Well, it seems that Big Don’s hypocrisy and lies only go so far…but far enough to make me understand that he is a brilliant money maker, world traveler, and bullshit artist all rolled into one fat taco.

Let’s start with today’s news. It seems that Big Don’s hypocrisy and lies know no bounds. I love the movie where Val Kilmer played a famous gambler and gunfighter and used those very words on his death bed.

Ex-President Trump is a con artist. Well, there’s a million of those out there; but none of them are the former President of these here United States.

Today the headlines read something car less than the last two days where this stupid asshole talked about screwing with the Constitution. First, I heartly laughed at this gesture on Big Don’s part; but soon after became deeply concerned that this idiot is serious about it.

Now, today…this moron is being thumped again because he “forgot” to include $19.8 Million dollars on his taxes while he was the POTUS. Whoops! A little mistake on the Trumpster’s track record. Can I tell you why he got caught? Carelessness…plain and simple. The asshole thinks that he is above the law, and in many cases, he is probably right. A friend at the library saw me writing this and started a short political debate with me.

“Yeah man…but Joe Biden is a bleeding-heart liberal that is way worse than Trump.”

“I know, and that is the problem. We have to choose the lesser of two shitheads every single time we cast votes for POTUS.”

“But Biden is a career politician,” he said in disgust.

“You’re right Charlie, I continued…” but that’s just as bad. Those idiots need to be voting for the right way, not the parties wet dreams.”

We laughed it off. We’re both old veterans that have seen more corruption in the military and civilian life, it’s too much to take in. So, I headed home and continued this paper.

What do you think would happen to you if you “forgot” $19.8 “thousand” on your tax return? I know…you’d pay it back in a reasonable amount of time, or you’d soon be acquainted with Bubba the gorilla wiener.

But none of these politicians are going to jail or prison; they have so much on each other that no one is going to throw the big book at them. Yeah, they set in forums and act like they give a fuck, but they don’t.

Last thing, and I am done for the day. I don’t care about political parties; I care about the people of the United States of America, and my brother veterans that died for the cause of freedom.

It is now not a reason of who is a Democrat or a Republican; it is a choice of a man or woman with conviction, knowledge of the job he is doing, and acting in the interest of the people of the USA.

 

-JimC

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com  

 

 

 

Round Two

 

“Round Two”

By Jim Culp

November 22, 2022

 

Well, it seems that I am a punk magnet. It has been a while since I was attacked by punks, and I was glad to be past that. Last night, I talked to several friends that I try to keep in touch with…and then settled into watch a movie and relax. Nothing would be further than the truth. At about 10:30, I realized that I had left my wallet in my car. No matter how anyone else feels, I can’t stand to let that slide. It’s just too easy for some asshole to steal it and go on a bar binge before you can say howdy doody has wooden balls.

So out I went, down to the old parking lot. It was as quiet as a church on Monday, and I proceeded towards my car. A visual reconnaissance told me that no one was about, or so I thought. I pressed my FOB button and the car beeped back at me in response.

I opened the passenger door and retrieved my wallet, and then heard a sound. It was footsteps, and fairly heavy ones. I turned my head, and something struck my forehead. It was a 24-inch piece of half inch rebar, and the tip of it was jagged. I was lucky that it was a glancing blow, or I would have been in a bad way quick.

“Not this shit again…what am I? A faggot magnet?”

Luckily, the fat punk had stepped back a bit (obviously to observe the damage done) and that gave me about 10 seconds to get my hand on my .45 that stays in my car. I drew it and thumbed the safety off. Homeboy suddenly realized that he had brought a stick of steel to a gunfight.

“Oh shit!” he yelled…and ran away.

“Punk mother fucker…” I thought.

Blood dripped from my forehead, so I locked the car and staggered up the stairs.

Life is good…just stay armed if you live in the city.

-Jim

 

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com

Veterans Day III

“Veterans Day III”

November 11, 2022

By Jim Culp

 

Veterans Day coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major US veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954,

In my family, we have veterans that participated in every major conflict that has occurred since 1918. The reason I don’t mention wars before that is because there are no known records of us before then. The following is a list of persons in our family (including persons married to a member of the Culp family or associated with such.)

World War I: William “Birdie” Bristow

World War II: Bill Bristow, Bill Lesperance, Jack Bristow, George Bristow, Amon Harrison

Korean Conflict: Amon Harrison

Vietnam War: Phillip “Flip” Hill, Amon Harrison

Gulf War (code named Operation Desert Storm): Mart Jeffery Culp, James Culp

Operation Iraqi Freedom 1: James Culp

These people contributed their best to these conflicts and returned home to tell their tales; many did not. The latter is why we have Memorial Day.

To my brothers and sisters in arms, I salute you for your service. Our country is stronger and safer because of you.

Cheers,

Jim Culp

SFC, Retired

 

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com

The Right...and the Wrong

 

“The Right…and the Wrong”

By Jim Culp

November 6, 2022

 

Ballot Measure 114 is the most extreme Gun Control Measure ever put forth. The issue here is simple. This isn’t “gun control,” it is the continuing effort of people in the US Government to destroy the Second Amendment, a Constitutional Right.

An eligible initiative measure is one in which the required number of signatures have been submitted to and verified by the county elections officials.

In the United States, a ballot measure is a law, issue, or question that appears on a statewide or local ballot for voters of the jurisdiction to decide.

The problem here is, the last thing we need in the USA is to strip anyone of their rights. In a country where we have the most crooked bunch of shit-heads since Tricky Dickey; we need action by the citizenry.

I will address this is my own special way, and there will be two…me as a citizen, and me as a veteran.

As a citizen, taking away by right to defend my hearth and home with firearms (that were purchased legally) when someone tries to rob, kill, do any harm to me or mine in any way, is my Constitutional Right as a citizen of the USA. The opposite of me is the trash that runs around our cities and towns today, and I draw your attention to Kansas City. These thugs are A) “people” that are life-long criminals, B) obtained their firearms illegally, and B) modified said weapons to fire in automatic mode (which is also a felony).

Let’s look at some statistics. Kansas City (as a whole) had the following numbers for these three years:

2020: 182

2021: 155

2022: 220

Regionally: 269

This is simply because the system is broken. There are people trying to fix it, but it’s an extreme uphill battle.

As a veteran, I have higher insight than the average drunk. There are countries that I have visited where there is very low crime, and the police are not tough on the citizenry, because there is somewhat of a symbiosis in that perspective.

Then, there are countries like England and Germany, and there is crime…   but it is almost never with guns. That is because it is illegal to own firearms unless these are secured in a place where their sporting ranges and the like exist. When I was in Germany, the Wall was still there, and Germany was divided per the rules in place since World War II. There is a different Germany there now, but the gun rules remain the same for both areas. As for crime, German police are very tough and stomp it out (brutally if necessary).

I have also been to countries where there is practically no law enforced, except for religious laws, which are brutally squashed within hours or day.

Every time I went anywhere (17 countries in my career) I tried to learn the laws and unspoken rules in each. This, of course, was governed by the amount I had to do this. There are some that are in a common group with others, and some that have laws that were unique to that country (like Saudi Arabia).

All that said, none of those countries had a constitution with some of the unique amendments like the USA. The ruthless idea that restricting or confiscating law abiding citizen’s legally purchased firearms and ammunition is another assault on the Second Amendment, the amendment that guarantees our freedom of gun ownership.

Destroy the 2^nd Amendment? This country will collapse on itself with a brutal civil war.

Most Sincerely,

Jim Culp

US Army, Retired

 

Follow me on Facebook

Follow me at jimculp.blogspot.com