First Kiss and a Peppermint Twist by Ken La Rive

First Kiss and a Peppermint Twist   By: Ken La Rive

I was taught to have respect for women. In my day we tipped our hats when they crossed our path, and said something cordial like “Good evening Ma’am,” or just “Ma’am?”, like it was a proper question. Usually it would get you a coy hint of a smile in return, which was thought to be a priceless gift. We opened all doors for women, with respect bordering on reverence. Never did it cross our minds to ever swear or cuss in front of one, and with a woman on our arm, a man would be right to dot the eye of anyone who spoke out of turn. But then, somewhere in this proverbial tangle of ideas, those that define our human nature and our place in society, I learned that women were indeed beautiful, made to love, admire, and an enigmatic and mysterious art object. I was nervously tongue tied around then, in admiration of their self-control, their practiced poise, their articulation of language, and their demure and soft strength that proved to be stronger then steel, and stronger by far then me.

A mother and child are so beautiful, beyond a poet’s wonder, or understanding. There is a tie that binds them together that was so amazing to me, so awesome, and so spiritual. I realized this before I realized myself: that although our physical bodies are weak, a woman’s will, a mother’s maternal love, is the most incredible strength of all.

I remember those CYO dances, and the first time I ever did the “Peppermint Twist” with a girl. Before air conditioning, the night’s fresh breezes blew from open windows and mixed by revolving ceiling fans of St. Raphael’s recreation hall. My taps rang out as I made the long walk across the polished hardwood floor, to the girl’s side. I had jelly legs, a burning in the pit of my stomach, but I had a mission, to ask one of these angels to dance. I had scoped her out hours before, long before I had the nerve to break away from my buddies. What great fear there was in my heart.  Fear that she would say no, but even more fear that she would say yes! Notwithstanding, there is a bridge that must be crossed by all of us, one way or the other, as we realize that both men and women are two halves of the same thing. I got my first inkling of this powerful thought, as in a dream, and clumsily tried to guide her between the other dancers, to that perfect and comfortable place. Those soft and moist cheeks, the smell of spray net on teased hair, and subtle smells, like fresh baked bread, vanilla extract, and something more, like a pheromone magnetism radiating from the heat of dancing...  I was hooked.

I played the gambit, the game, by what I knew of love from songs and television.  I saw literally what was meant by “Venus in Blue Jeans” and the whispers of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, The Shirelles, and Tommy James dictated the words and feelings that came pouring from my heart. I remember well that fevered first kiss, and I thank you Debbie, wherever you are. A million miles and years ago, it seems, but really, only yesterday. I have carried effortlessly, tuns of girl books, while walking home from school. Those perfectly covered books, without a mark, a scuff, a dent, …and I tried with boyish wonder to understand the hows and whys of these bewildering and perplexing creatures that could touch something so deep inside of me. They were so clean, so fresh, so sparkling…

I have been lucky with women. Though there have been a few to have broken my heart, mostly, it was magic. One along the way took up my spirit as her own, and through the years I can no longer tell where she leaves off and I begin. I guess love is the cement for such a thing, and as time has a way of teaching us what we thought we already knew, the joy and pain blend into what we are and have become, and finally gives a sense of peace.

I can’t Peppermint Twist like I could in the old days, but in my heart I still feel the same twinge of magic when I ask Maddy to dance. I guess I’m still in love, and surely, still in awe…

Caribbean Calm by Ken LaRive

Caribbean Calm

By Ken La Rive 120893

We passed hot days behind pastel curtains and cooling wood fans. Her blond pale beauty glided from room to room in flowing gowns of alabaster and coral. Smiles reflected glowing drapes of beach glare on soft porcelain skin. Damp breath and whispered laughter filled my ears as we lounged on the verandah hammock. Knots of creaking hemp calmed my mind as the afternoon turned to evening in each others arms.

In the twilight cool we would drive our red Stellar under giant breadfruit and palm, darting along Georgetown boulevards of pink stucco and aqua-blue sun blinds. With sweet dusk breezes on our faces, we would search for rare treasures through cavalcades of multicolored boutiques. Women in white summer dresses, and men in colored cotton shirts moved slowly along the boardwalk, glowing festivity in the late day sun.

Mingling with tourists, we would watch the sun die as glinting gold on the tide, and breathe the chilled night breezes of Caribbean spice, sea salt, Poinciana, periwinkle, and rum. From tables of crisp linen, we hardly noticed our Cayman waiter floating past, refilling our “sun-downer” from a frosty pink pitcher of Pimm’s cup. Shells of lobster and bowls of conch salad are ordered, followed by plantain slices and scoops of stuffed land crab. Small green parrots squawked goodnight in the gloom of lofty mahogany trees as the last patches of sun would flicker as a rosy halo around Maddy’s head.

Somewhere along the beach of strung lights and moon was the sound of children’s revelry and steel drums. Wavelets chimed like broken glass beyond the rail... Tiny rainbow fish danced in the shadows of crystal water, drawn by the same light reflected in Maddy’s eyes. I caught her glance at the blue-black horizon band and a pair of white schooner sails bellowing to safe night’s harbor. Holding her hand I could close my eyes... and a hush of calm would fill me... 

Signatures in blood, and the death of Liberty By: Ken La Rive

Signatures in blood, and the death of Liberty

                                                                 By: Ken La Rive

We all know well the significance of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Each individual who made his mark knew at that moment his life was no longer his own. That document was a testament, a charged declaration for change. If they actually failed, they would surely be put to death, or worse, reside in a dank prison somewhere in England for the rest of their days. Failing was no option.

In that early civilized society, the signature was a primary binding contract. Though today it can come in many forms, from a cryptic password on EBay, finger prints on a check, cameras at a register, even a retina scan, but is all a grand attempt to do the same thing a signature originally did, i.e., make us responsible. So important is the signature bond that some, so called, primitive societies sign documents with their own blood! With it, a person becomes accountable, answerable not only to the words that came before, but to their actions as well. There was a time when a man’s pride went along with that signature, and he would rather die than ever have it revoked. It was called honor...

The modern legal system is undermining this original concept, and the validity of a signature can be as complicated as the many loopholes they have designed.  No longer is an individual being held accountable, responsible, and there are times when it is not even worth the paper it is written on. Lawyers are twisting the basic individual accountability that was once the cement that held us together as a society... and why? Because it is lucrative. 

 On our way back from the West Pacific in 1971, aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, just a day from Hawaii, there was a surprise locker inspection in my division. Several men were arrested by the Master at Arms in their offices, and handed over to our Marines. From that point they were confined to the outer hole of the brig, awaiting an XO mast. It seems that drugs or drug paraphernalia was found, and this was highly unacceptable behavior in the US Navy.

One man caught, was an educated, and well liked yeoman. He worked in the personnel office, and slept in my same berthing compartment, along with about 50 others. He was made to sign a confession, by his own hand. Under his signature he put the letters, “UD”. The Marine’s Duty Officer asked him what those letters meant. He told him that he had heard that if he would put UD under his name, signifying “Under Duress” that it would make the signature null in a court of law. This spread around the ship like wildfire, and I got a call from a friend to tell me what he had heard.

The XO was not amused, and this young guy was detained for one month in the stockade. His head was shaved, and he was told what to do by Marines every moment of the day. He lost his orders, previously being assigned to land duty somewhere in The States, one stripe and a pay grade, and went directly back to Vietnam for another nine months. Indeed, it hit home: we belonged entirely to the US Government. UD meant nothing, and because he attempted to bypass his responsibility, his signature, and his honor, no longer belonged to him.

A signature can take the form of a mere handshake, or a number found in the pocket of your new coat. Two leaders shaking hands on public television making promises for peace would seem to be under contract to do so, and the person who inspected that article of clothes seems to be the final party responsible. And so, a signature’s wide description can be defined basically as... the taking of individual responsibility.

Why should we contemplate such a nebulous concept? What good will it do in our day and age, where responsibility is being waylaid by the promise to make a quick buck? Lawyers, and their lackeys, Certified Public Accountants, are eating away at what was once held sacred in this country, and the word, the signatory promise of an individual, no longer has substance. In a court of law precedence is now being set by Progressive minded opinions that a person can relinquish responsibility for the signature by situational circumstance. A person was spanked too much, or not enough, too poor in formidable years, or too rich, can undermine responsibility for action. Frivolous law suits are breaking this country, along with the socialistic ideals set forth by the Progressive Democrat Socialists. No working responsible man today should be required to share his wealth, won by hard work and time, to those who take no responsible inclination toward those goals.

Just as a signature was once a promise for what came before, so too should we look at what made this nation great for over 200 years. We didn’t stand back and let other countries, or an individual, nibble at our wealth. Industry was strong because of an ideal called free enterprise. Socialism/Communism, Progressive Marxism, does not work. Look at Russia for a guide, look to England, France, Spain, and many others in Europe where individuals are taxed for the common good. Low quality is the result. Low quality and unmotivated people, lack of pride, apathetic, and enslaved.

Socialism takes hope and pride from the working class, and brings low quality people up to standards they neither understand, nor deserve. The backbone of this country will belong to the lawyers, and the bottom line of CPAs. Look at the housing projects in New Orleans. Our tax dollars build and maintain a place where drugs, violence, and ignorance is nurtured, where pride is taken by feeding peanuts to those with no motivation but to eat peanuts, or use those very peanuts to buy weapons and drugs, for an internal war that keeps them suppressed. Are we responsible? You bet! Not seeing that the political process has changed, with those selfishly motivated to get something for nothing, will come back on us all. Nothing can come from nothing, with a payment that can only come by giving up Liberty! Dependency is slavery...

Though the following has been attributed to a Scottish professor named Alexander Tyler in 1787, I have not yet found where it was first published. Still, these words are emphatically true, and every responsible person in America should memorize them:

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up to and (until) the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to lose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by dictatorship." Note here that our founders did not want to give us a Democracy, and were emphatically opposed to the premise. What they gave us was a Republic based on Constitutional Law, and that indicated that We the People, if we were strong enough, was in control. Unfortunately, that ideal no longer exists, and hasn't since 1871 when the United States became incorporated, adhering to Maritime Law. We live in an Oligarchy of powerful entities, international corporations, a Federal Reserve System that is itself a corporation stronger than the President himself, the Rothschild Zionist Banking Cartel of Central Banks, who have been responsible for orchestrating every war, every economic catastrophe, and is able to make money not only from both sides of war, by loans and sponsorship, but using "put" options on the down turn, opening the door for their Carpet Baggers to buy up everything for pennies on the dollar, even before the dust settles. and bodies buried. Yes we are slaves, both mind and spirit...  but slavery is against human nature, and that cannot be denied.

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From Bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From courage to liberty;

From liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back to bondage.”

Author's Note: I'm a Trump supporter. What I see, after 11 years of study and writing, is that there is indeed a connection between President Trump and Russia. Winston Churchill said it best as he described Russia: a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Never doubt that President Trump has signed his name with honor. He does not play the games of men, but creates the game.  He creates the game according to his rules, and his terms. In that way he can control the outcome. He has a very high intellect and savvy, and knows the games that men play... He will chip away, one increment after another, until America will once again be ruled by We the People. He has vowed to drain the swamp, and that is exactly what he is doing. Amazingly, the only other President that attempted to do this monumental task was, believe it or not, a Democrat. He was a true Liberal, not the Progressive Communistic Philosophy that has stolen that standard. His name was John F. Kennedy, and he said: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

Liberty from Tyranny was in the minds and hearts of every Founding Father, though they argued and debated what process to choose. Liberty was in the minds of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, who were fed up, just as those who defied the establishment, and voted President Trump into office. It was an amazing feat, and  shocked to the core our enslaving oligarchs, who have vied to control this nation from cradle to grave since the convoluted time of Woodrow Wilson. It was a convolution they themselves created. Just as our ancestors, our framers, our loving and brave founders demanded truth to power: “No Taxation without Representation?” our risk is just as dangerous, just as profound, just as intense. When they pushed back with the words, "Give me Liberty or give me death." it was a call for patriots, American Patriots, Oath keepers who have sworn to protect our Constitution from all enemies both domestic and foreign. This connection is so powerful; it transcends both time and space. This unbroken connection gives us solace, and strength of purpose, with the ability to say out loud that failing is no option.

Let's drain the swamp! As it may very well be that We the People will never get another chance to control or destiny, without bloodshed.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/winston_churchill_156896

 

 Dr. Ron Paul's "What If" Speech.