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with their homes not selling quickly if at all,
and with our businesses failing, there was next to nothing in revenues
for the schools. Eventually, the few remaining children in Greenbush
had to travel a long distance to a school in a suburb of the big city.
The expense of that daily commute encouraged most of the remaining families
that had children to leave Greenbush. The churches, like the schools,
struggled to stay open. Despite their best efforts, their dues, their
tithing, and their membership dwindled. Eventually, the houses of
worship were gone. Since about a year ago, there hasn't been even
one church in Greenbush.
Our public library, despite a complete lack of funds, stayed open longer than any of our other public institutions. That was entirely due to the efforts of our dedicated elderly librarian, who paid the library's bills each month from her own savings. Those savings dwindled because she was no longer receiving a salary. Then, the wonderful old lady died, breaking everyone's hearts, and the library closed. It's a further shame, but she couldn't even be buried by a funeral home in Greenbush. The town's one mortuary hadn't been able to stay open with so few people staying in town to die. It had closed its doors more than a year before the librarian needed its services. There came a time when you couldn't get prescriptions filled, have hair permanents, get a haircut, fill up your car's gas tank, or get a vehicle serviced in Greenbush. The only dry cleaner left town years ago. We haven't had a jewelry store for as long as I can remember. It got difficult, then impossible, to buy groceries in town. Even the convenience store was gone. As life ebbed in Greenbush, real estate values fell through the floor. People were glad to get 25 cents on the dollar for their homes. It was sad to see so many old people lose the equity that they'd been accumulating for all of their married lives. A few days ago, the former mayor called me from the big city, where he now works as a salesman in a furniture store, and asked me to turn off the one remaining street light and to close the valve at the water pumping station. Transporting our poor besotted town drunk to the big city was my last humanitarian act before I move out of town myself. Having accomplished that, I can now carry out the former mayor's requests. As soon as I finish writing this, I'll shut off what's left of the town's services and leave. I don't really care much for the big city but I don't have any other choice about where to live. I wonder how the two families that plan to stay in Greenbush will survive. I worry about them. I especially worry about their children. I'll pray for them tonight, in my lonely little apartment in the big city. My only consolation is the knowledge that Greenbush didn't die alone. It isn't much of a consolation but it's all that I have. No, Greenbush traveled in good company. Across this nation, hundreds of other lovely little towns like Greenbush have met a similar fate. Greenbush is the dying echo of their fading memory. Vapor Standard
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Fascist Mentality
Sam Aurelius Milam III
On Monday, July 20, 2009, I took 35 lbs. of crushed aluminum cans to Lanier Scrap Metal, in Gainesville, Georgia. All went well as the young fellow at the scales weighed my cans and took them away. After he'd dumped them wherever the scrap yard keeps its aluminum cans, he directed me toward the office, where I expected to be paid for my cans. In the office, the first words out of the mouth of the woman in charge were that she needed to see my driver's license. I told her that I don't have a driver's license. She said that she needed to see some form of ID. I told her that I was undocumented, for political reasons. She wouldn't pay me for my cans. Instead, she got the driver's license from the man with whom I was travelling at the time, and gave the payment to him. There might be various excuses for a government ID requirement as a prerequisite to selling 35 lbs. of crushed aluminum cans at a scrap metal yard. No matter how many excuses there are, they don't constitute a justification. There isn't any justification. The only reason for the requirement is the fascist mentality that has become prevalent in this country. That is, a man isn't considered competent to conduct legitimate business unless he can prove, by way of government ID, that his every transaction has been authorized, and is being carefully regulated, by the fascist police state that has destroyed our liberty in this country.
Fun and Games Sam Aurelius Milam III I don't know much about holography. Maybe these ideas aren't feasible. Maybe one of the subscribers can enlighten us. Anyway, put holographic projectors in your car. Project an image of somebody in the passenger seat and use the commute lane. Project your license plate and change numbers at the touch of a button. Surprise the cops with an image of a gun turret on the roof. Project an image completely around your car and appear to be driving a Rolls Royce. At home, put a flying saucer hovering over your house or a bear trap just outside of your front door. Surprise your wife with a lovely blonde in the bedroom. Two blondes. Get new curtains on the front windows and never need to wash them. Impress your neighbors with an expensive boat in the back yard. I see a new business opportunity here. Somebody can start selling images for people to use in their projectors. Figure out how to do it and you might be the next Bill Gates. Letters to the Editor These two messages are with regard to my article "Remembering Mere Keep", on pages 1 and 2 of the August issue. — editor
The most recent change in language that annoys me is the sudden use by journalists of the word "troop" as a synonym for the word "soldier". I'm puzzled as to why this change occurred, and why it was widely accepted. —Sir Donald the elusive
I really enjoyed your article on specific uses of words as especially in here 99.5% of those here do not know the differences and that includes the C/O's and Administration, yet they really believe their "intelligence" allows them to do/act whatever their hearts desire! They think that because they can, they may! —a prisoner
Stray Thoughts Sam Aurelius Milam III Sad Fact — Willful ignorance isn't much different from stupidity. Eternal Vigilance — Eternal insecurity is another part of the cost of liberty. Please use the enclosed envelope to send a contribution. I prefer cash. For checks or money orders, please inquire. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net.
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Acknowledgments My thanks to the following: SantaClara Bob; Lady Jan the Voluptuous; my mother; and Dewey and Betty. — editor
Court Quotes From Humor in the Court and More Humor in the Court, by Mary Louise Gilman, editor of the National Shorthand Reporter. Forwarded by Don G.
Lights On, Nobody Home Original Source Unknown. Forwarded by Don G. I was in a car dealership when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair. The whole thing generally looked like an extra in Twister. I asked the manager what had happened. He told me that the driver had set the cruise control and then went in the back to make a sandwich. A lady at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When asked what she was doing, she said that she was shopping on the Internet and that they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the ATM "thingy". Frontiersman Subscriptions and Back Issues — Printed copies of this newsletter, either subscriptions or back issues, are available by application only. Cancellations — If you don't want to keep receiving this newsletter, then print REFUSED, RETURN TO SENDER above your name and address and return the newsletter. When I receive it, I'll terminate your subscription. You can also cancel by letter, e-mail, carrier pigeon, or any other method that gets the message to me. Reprint Policy — Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this newsletter in its entirety or to reproduce material from it, provided that the reproduction is accurate and that proper credit is given. Please note that I do not have the authority to give permission to reprint material that I have reprinted from other sources. For that permission, you must go to the original source. I would appreciate receiving a courtesy copy of any document or publication in which you reprint my material. Submissions — I solicit letters, articles, and cartoons for the newsletter, but I don't pay for them. Short items are more likely to be printed. I suggest that letters and articles be shorter than 500 words but that's flexible depending on space available and the content of the piece. I give credit for all items printed unless the author specifies otherwise. Payment — This newsletter isn't for sale. If you care to make a voluntary contribution, then I prefer cash, prepaid telephone cards, or U.S. postage stamps. For checks or money orders, please inquire. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net. The continued existence of the newsletter will depend, in part, on such contributions. I don't accept anything that requires me to provide ID to receive it. In case anybody's curious, I also accept gold, silver, platinum, etc. — Sam Aurelius Milam III, editor
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