Peoples Osprey

Times change and new opportunities emerge. Substack is new to me, but it sure seems to be a path for me to be able to write what I want when I want. In eons past, I was able to write articles and columns for the Kokomo (IN) Tribune at will. You see, I was part of the family that owned that newspaper. I was either in top management or the CEO/Publisher of this then a 34,000 daily newspaper having about 185 employees and over 300 newspaper carriers. All employees were considered family. Together, we were designated the top newspaper in the USA for penetration (subscribers) of its market for 9 of 10 years running; and second the one odd year. On top of that, we were leaders in new technology in the industry. Times have changed since then…. and not for the good. Many communities now are news deserts without a local newspaper.

I do write a blog and have for many years: kentblacklidge.com. I will continue to post on it, but I have become rather erratic in posting. I know why. I no longer have and have not had the decision authority for decades about what goes into the Kokomo Tribune. Since my family sold the KT, this newspaper has passed through two group owners. It is now owned by a group (CNHI) that editorially is way too far left politically for me. The Managing Editor has published columns I have written from time to time, but I have given up that route. It felt constrained. In recent times, when the KT prints a column with which I disagree strongly, I typically will email the columnist directly. Again, constraint given no one else reads/knows my thoughts and writing directly has resulted in fewer blog posts. Not a good reason, but true.

On a national and state level, I write representatives directly. I intend to continue this but at the same time will post any letters to Substack and my blog. I have things to say even if no one else gives a damn about my opinions.

My interests are wide. I have indicated in Substack I would be particularly interested in politics, government, science, and the environment. These interests are not limited to local issues. They would include local, state, and national matters. And what credentials do I have to write about these areas: four degrees from Purdue University which are a BS Industrial Management, MS Conservation, MS Aquatic toxicology, and a Ph.D. in genetics. Those plus over 20 years in newspaper journalism.

In my opinion, honest and open communications between people is the glue that holds communities and countries together. The major media, print and electronic, in the USA have failed. They largely have become propaganda tools of the political left. It is up to us, individuals, to restore the integrity of news offered to the public. We must. I intend to do my part. The Peoples Osprey on Substack is open.

Kent Blacklidge Ph.D.
(kentblacklidge.com and peoplesosprey.substack.com)

The Value of Silence

“We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for us, silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us. Observe, listen, and then act, they would tell us. That was the manner of living.

With you, it is just the opposite. You learn by talking. You reward the children that talk the most at school. In your parties, you all try to talk at the same time. In your work, you are always having meetings in which everybody interrupts everybody and all talk five, ten or a hundred times. And you call that ‘solving a problem’.

When you are in a room and there is silence, you get nervous. You must fill the space with sounds. So you talk compulsorily, even before you know what you are going to say.

White people love to discuss. They don’t even allow the other person to finish a sentence. They always interrupt. For us Indians, this looks like bad manners or even stupidity. If you start talking, I’m not going to interrupt you. I will listen. Maybe I’ll stop listening if I don’t like what you are saying, but I won’t interrupt you.

When you finish speaking, I’ll make up my mind about what you said, but I will not tell you I don’t agree unless it is important. Otherwise, I’ll just keep quiet and I’ll go away. You have told me all I need to know. There is no more to be said. But this is not enough for the majority of white people.

People should regard their words as seeds. They should sow them, and then allow them to grow in silence. Our elders taught us that the earth is always talking to us, but we should keep silent in order to hear her.

There are many voices besides ours. Many voices…”

-Ella Deloria

Stay Healthy!

I have held on to this one for a long time. Ole Joe is telling us to stay healthy. In helping us to do so, he hired a new health secretary……. a man who believes he is a woman. He was Richard Lavine who was married and had two children (wait ’til you see them). He decided to become a woman with a new name: Rachael Lavine. In the process, old Joe fired a very qualified black secretary. Here you go…….

Lavine has a family. Thought you should see them as well……….

Does this make you a bit sick to your stomach??? Rachael is supposed to be telling us how to be healthy. He/She is obese as are his children. Don’t know about the dog in his/her arm. Give me a damn break. This is yet one more of ole Joe Biden’s marvelous decisions.

Joe and about all of the top of his administration really should be in jail. They are both crooked and incompetent or trying to make this country communist. They are taking the country down the tube. I am not sure the USA will survive until January 2025. That is in question. I just pray the military stays strong, reasonably independent, and ready to defend from foreign incursions. We already have millions and millions of military age males illegally in the country. What is the hell do you think they are doing. Working? Yep.

Christmas

Christmas is a time for celebration, reflection, and honoring the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a time for lights and decorations as reminders of the many blessings we have received.

Each year, Marcia devotes untold hours with the most beautiful Christmas creations in our home. This is a picture of one end of our living/dining room. Photos do not do it justice, really. The creation you see is spectacular. To see it is uplifting in this time of real darkness in our country.

And below you see a photo of what I call our “Angel Corner”. It is an antique marble top table in our foyer. All who enter will see it and we both pass by it every time we walk from our bedroom wing to the main rooms of our home. This table display and another in the foyer are, too, reminders of Christmas and the spiritual time it really is. Angels watch over us.

Marcia and I are so grateful for each other. We are, indeed, soul mates. Our walk together on this earth now as husband and wife has now been more than 37 years, but we really found each other close to a half century ago.

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas. We wish you many, many Blessings in the days that come. We ask that you pray for our country, the United States of America, as we all pass through these very, very dark days ahead.

Thanksgiving 2023

Marcia and I are grateful for the many blessings we have received in our lives. Yes, we would have some things be different than they are, but life goes on. We cannot decide what others choose. We trust God.

So, we enjoyed together, the two of us, the preparation of our Thanksgiving dinner. Marcia was the wonderful, loving chef that prepared many of her family’s traditional dishes. And to boot, we had apple pie as desert. The food was presented on Blacklidge family China and bowls and served with Blacklidge Sterling Silver tableware. We felt the presence of ancestors from both sides of our family. They shared with us the time together.

At the same time, we pray for our country and the world. We pray for protection and blessings for those we dearly love.

Now we move on to the Christmas season and recognition of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Guide.

Humans

“It took most of human history for our  population to reach 1 billion—and just over 200 years to reach 8 billion. But growth has begun slowing, as women have fewer babies on average. When will our global population peak? And how can we minimize our impact on Earth’s resources, even as we approach 10 billion?” American Museum of Natural History

Now demographers are predicting human population on planet Earth will peak at about 10 billion. That is when birth rates and death rates are predicted to equalize. The big question is whether planet Earth can survive at this level of human beings. In his book, 10 Billion, Dr. Stephen Emmott, who is the head of Computational Research at MicroSoft Research, does not think so.

Emmott summarizes his conclusions on the last two pages of his book. “The biggest and most important experiment on Earth is the one we’re all conducting, right now, on Earth itself. Only an idiot would deny that there is a limit to how many people our Earth can support. The question is, is it seven billion (our current population [which is now 8 billion]) ten billion, or twenty-eight billion? I think we have already gone past it (at 7 billion). Well past it.”

“We could change the situation we are now in. Probably not by technologizing our way out of it, but by radically changing our behavior. But there is no sign that his is happening or about to happen. I think it’s going to be business as usual for us. As a scientist, what to I think about our current situation? Science is essentially organized skepticism. I spend my life trying to prove my work wrong or look for alternative explanations for my results. I hope I’m wrong. But the science points to my not being wrong. “

“As I said at the beginning, we can rightly call the situation we’re in an unprecedented emergency. We urgently need to do — and I mean actually do — something radical to avert a global catastrophe. But I don’t think we will. I think we’re fucked.”

The two most populated countries on Earth are China and India. Chinese population is estimated at a little over 1.4 billion. India’s population is also at a little over 1.4 billion. In comparison, USA population is about 332 million. The continent of Africa population is a little over 1.2 billion and growing. All ten countries with the highest birth rates are African with those in the Middle East being not far behind along with some in South America. And take a look at living conditions in most of those countries. Many at poverty levels.

What happens then? Population number pressure in one area results in pressure to migrate to areas of lower population and higher standards of living. We are seeing this worldwide which is causing major disruptions to countries and cultures. Look at Europe and the USA now. It is happening. The hordes are moving. And unless there is back pressure, it will continue.

Until we face head on the fact that Earth cannot support an ever increasing human population — or even the current population level — the planet is headed for biological collapse. The wisest decision is to find ways to gradually decrease human numbers and consumption levels and natural resource use over time, but no one appears to really take this seriously. Unfortunately, Dr. Stephen Emmott may be right…… “Fucked”.

Christianity & Islam

Time for Western nations to wake up. There is a war again between nations predominantly Christian and those predominantly Muslim. This is against a backdrop of over 2000 years. In short, Christianity and Islam are incompatible. Islam today is dominated by violent aggressors wanting to take over the world. The goal is to overtake any nation or peoples that are Christian or Jewish. It cannot be allowed to happen.

All western European nations have their roots in Christianity. Hundreds of years ago, they had to beat back Islamic aggressors. With the hordes of Muslim illegal immigrants that have flooded into Europe, they may have to do it again.

The United States of America was founded by Christians. Those that wrote the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were not Muslims, nor Buddhists, nor Hindus, nor any other religion found around the world. They were Christians. The USA is a Christian based country. Yes, there are minorities of a variety of religions now in the USA, but none except Islam followers seem to be aggressive and wanting to take over the “West”. It cannot be allowed to happen.

Our southern border is being flooded with illegal aliens. The DHS reports there are hundreds of potential terrorists among those who have crossed the US border. And who are these terrorists: followers of Islam.

It is time to slam the US borders shut to all illegal aliens with particular attention to Islamists. It is time to export all illegal aliens, again with particular attention to Islamists. And it is time to keep a very close eye on all Islam communities existing already in our country. I heard even this week that New York City has proposals for there to be more mosques and public loud speakers that call for Islam prayers during the day. This, too, must be stopped.

Christians must be prepared to defend the country and the Christian faith. The Judeo-Christian roots must be made stronger. Otherwise, the country is in peril.

The Father

I have included here an image of a small wood carved piece that spoke to me at the Hallmark store as it was closing up for good. I am father to four children: Dawn, Jill, Doug, and Mark. From the day each was born, I treasured each. I did my best to help raise them and be supportive as they grew from infants to young adulthood. I deeply love them all in spite of some really rough times along the way. Their mother and I were divorced in 1979 after 19 years of marriage. This was an action I was advised by a clinical psychologist to take some 9 years earlier, but I just could not leave my children. Following the divorce, my two sons and I lived within a mile of our original family home for many years. Some 7 years after my divorce, I married again. This time to a remarkable and very loving woman whom I feel is my soul mate and whose daughter became as precious to me as my original four. Our marriage is now in its 38th year.

The monstrous and grotesque problem that has existed for now 44 years is my first wife never came to mature terms with the divorce. She made it her goal in life to never allow a blended family. She was not having any of that. She successfully prevailed over all of her four children who became adults over the years and then on to the grandchildren. What a tragedy. And the children, now middle aged adults, seemingly never questioned what was going on. They catered to her every wish and about literally worshiped the ground she walked on.

I cannot, however, absolve myself from responsibility. Had I been forceful and direct from the beginning with her and with the “children” and not allowed lies to stand, things may have been different. That I did not do at now a great cost. The mother of the four was not an innocent victim as she so successfully made herself out to be.

The result of her actions and attitudes — and my lack of forcefulness particularly early on — is they, the “children”, have now only one living parent, the father, and one living step-mother; both of whom were exiled long ago. Their mother and her subsequent husband of decades (their step father whom they ultimately embraced) died this year, 2023.

This entire story is sad and all laid at the feet of now one who is deceased as well as at my feet. Nice going. Of course, the “children” will continue blindly on as will the grandchildren. Again, sad.

The Bible

Mark's Bible
Mark’s Bible

For the Christmas 1984, I gave each of my children, Mark being one, a Bible. I hoped this Bible would be a light to them along their paths. This was over 38 years ago. Much has passed since then.

Mark died on March 18th, 2023. His life was much too short. He was born in 1966, December 9th.

One rainy day after Mark had died, I happened to go out the west passage door of our garage. This was not a normal way out for me. Much to my surprise, this Bible in its original worn box was laying on the concrete walk in front of me. I learned later one of Mark’s daughters, Kelcie, had returned it to me. I am grateful.

What did I see. I saw something Mark had treasured for over 38 years. I saw a Bible he had protected in its original box that was now worn on its edges. I took the Bible from the box and opened the leather cover. Inside I read, ….. “In All Your Ways, Acknowledge Him; And He will make your Paths Straight”; Proverbs 3:6. And I read, “To Mark, With Much Love, Your Pop. Christmas 1984”

And there was the original letter I had written to my children. The last paragraph reads… “I love you all very much and I hope this Bible will help make your Way a little easier as you go. Look for the gems as you read and your life will become fuller for it. Remember, the teachings and truths all already reside in your own hearts and the Bible cannot really tell you anything you do not already know deep inside. It can only help bring them to your consciousness.”

But what caught my most attention was the red ribbon marker. I opened the page marked. There was the 23rd Psalm in front of me. There was the Psalm Mark had chosen to make his favorite….. ‘The Lord is my shepherd…….. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

His father misses the good days we had.

Declaration

“…..Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

I am wondering if we are coming close to a time again talked about in the Declaration of Independence? Our federal government is failing us. Many courts are corrupt and are political tools of the Democrats/Socialists/Communists. The residents of Washington DC vote something like 90% Democrat. They are the entrenched bureaucrats — the deep state — that have interest in larger and larger government to protect their own jobs. The Congress is mixed with many patriots, but just as many or more that want to feather their own nests and are corrupt. This includes about all Democrats and many RINOs including Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell. And I often have wondered how millionaires are made on Congressional salaries. And now we have a President who blatantly is corrupt along with his extended family. They are in fact openly criminals, but nothing has been or likely will be done about holding any to account under Department of Justice leadership. Even the move to impeach the President seems anemic.

The other elephant in the room issue threatening to sink the county is that of the illegal alien invasion of the United States. It is now up to an estimated 12-15 million illegal aliens now inside the country. Even major cities like New York and Chicago, who were openly “sanctuary cities”, are crying for more federal money and help. I say, too damned bad. You made your beds, now lay in them. In the end, if we are to survive as a country, there must be mass deportation of illegal aliens back to their countries of origin. No questions. No sympathy. Illegal border crossing = out.

Our country is failing. If patriots do not act soon, it may be too late. I have my doubts about waiting for the 2024 election. I think we are on the verge of a need to “alter or abolish” what we see before us now every day. I don’t like to think about armed action by citizens of the United States of America, but it may come to that. Hope that it does not have to.

American Flag