Hi Vern,
There are lots of critics of the Catholic Church and some of them do bring up valid points. However, as you and I both believe and know the Catholic Church is not a Democracy and never will be. It is believed that the Holy Spirit definitely has an input into what happens and when men input their own ways and ideas things can go wrong. The history of the church is not impeccable because humans have the biggest influence on the direction it goes in for its own future. We have a more serious problem then that however. Many women that do the majority of all the behind the scenes work for the church are feeling left out. Second rate or second best and they are being shunned from the priesthood and that rubs many or them the wrong way. I am not too concerned with outside critics of the church but I am deeply concerned about the women power and it the church loses that then we are in big trouble. I just don’t know what direction I would like to see things go. I am probably a conservative when it comes to the church but my views and ideas have long been buried in time and new people are running things now. Okay I will not fight it as long as souls are being prepared for acceptance by, Almighty God. Whatever works is good along those lines. Take care and God Bless All.
Richard Williams
Tags: Women In The Church
Unbelievable death and destruction with a history of bad storms here in the USA. Pictures are surreal perhaps because the destruction had no prejudices on what it destroyed. I think it is time that we start thinking of new shapes of our homes to stand up to such tremendous winds. There are such shapes and materials and not expensive either, but we have to change our ways of thinking. Think Igloo or domed homes. I did a search on this subject and I was surprised to find many really nice looking homes that would stand up a lot better to such violent storms like we have recently seen. Cement reinforced domed shaped structures are not only feasible but practical. They could easily be built near to the damaged areas and built on site with prefabricated forms used to pour the cement. I’m no expert here, but I know it is doable. Richard Williams aka Corporal Willy cplrich@cox.net
Tags: Joplin MO
Think and wonder. Just my thoughts. Well I can sum things up like this. I moved to South Florida to get away from the ever increasing high cost of living in New York. While in South Florida four hurricanes came into that part of the state in rapid succession and blew us out of there. As a family we landed in a desert area called the Mojave Desert and we found Las Vegas here too. The weather here is bearable and not of the New York extremes, but it is also nothing like the really comfortable winters in South Florida. But where we live now has its problems too. Every place on earth does if you are honest about it. But how do you combat the newest plague that will be increasing in our newest living area? We will soon be glowing in the dark right after California lights up like Broadway. That will not be caused by any new found special formulation to light up roadways and buildings, but by the radioactivity that will be surrounding us once again in this country. Most people living today won’t know about it or remember our Atomic Bomb testing days with ground zero about 70 miles North West of Las Vegas. But I do and I remember hearing about alarming Strontium 90 levels that was getting into our milk and other food chain supplied products. Could that have spurred on the numbers of cancer cases now in my generation? No proof is forthcoming on that one, but I also don’t think anyone is doing any research on that topic. We now have the prevailing easterly heading winds from Japan coming across our nation and the rest of the world. Diluted they say it is and not to worry, but how would you protect yourself from this if that was not the case? Don’t go outside and play in the dust and dirt or move to Mars perhaps. Not much of a choice here, but I also don’t think we should take it so lightly either. We humans are accumulation chemical factories as far as our bodies are concerned. We are at the top of the food chain and ingest everything that the lower animals and plants did. The lower living things did not read about those dangers of it in the newspapers. Even the drugs that are there to help cure us have definite written warnings that come within its packaging, if you can read it with a handy magnifying glass. Add to all of this the natural disasters that hit us in a seemingly more routine basis at this time in history and it makes you wonder. I wonder. Then one last thought has crossed my mind, leadership or the lack of it. What are we seeing around the world and even here in the USA? Discontent and a lot of it, is at the base for establishing a resistance to rule, laws and so called leadership. We see it being manifested in a physical way in the Middle Eastern countries today. It isn’t just an isolated case but is spreading like a wild fire and where it will go from there no one really knows. Mars sound any better right now? Running away from problems only gets you newer ones. I think about this a lot and I have come to the conclusion that the best people to have in these positions to resolve all the issues I talk about, are not in those positions. Well Rome wasn’t built in a day either. So let us just agree to agree on working on solutions and helping one another instead of creating more problems. Take care. Richard Williams
Tags: South Florida Las Vegas
They very well might have saved us from having World War 3. That is by the way the meaning of those men assigned to this very top secret mission of spy planes. Many people don’t realize that, but back in those times all of us kids were practicing ducking under our school desks because of the very real possibility of a nuclear war with the Russians. It was very dangerous times back then. We needed information on the logistics of the Russian capabilities of delivering nuclear missiles to the USA. We got it from some of the activities done by these brave men. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for finding out that the Russian threat back then was only problematical. A war diverted and many lives saved. I happen to lived next to an engineer that helped design the engines for this super spy plane. Remember Gary Powers when he was shot down over Russia?
Richard
It is my sad duty to report the final flight of another of our Roadrunners, Lt Col Ralph William (Bill) Thomas on 8 March 2011. Lt Col Thomas was born in Council Bluffs , Iowa on September 4, 1923, the son of a Union Pacific Engineer and spend his youth working on trains throughout the Midwest. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army and became a Radioman stationed at Ft Dix. He broke his back just prior to shipping out or he would have been in D-Day as as part of the 27th Division. After the war he returned to collage, went into the Air Force where he served for over 30 years as Meteorologist . Thomas' duty Assignments included Harmon AFB, Newfoundland Canada - Langley AFB, Va. - Ramstien AB, Germany - Offutt AFB (SAC HQ) Neb. - Nellis AFB, Nevada (1129th Det 1 3rd Wx /CC Kadena AB, Okinawa Commander Det 6, 20th Wx - and Peterson Field, Co. Norad IG Team. He retired in 1974 and moved to Las Vegas where he remained until 2008 when his darling wife Ruth died and he was moved to Santa Clarita , Ca to be near his only child, Ronald. Bill died on March 8th at 2221, peacefully. His most remembered times were spent at the Ranch and though he only spoke of it briefly in later years with his son Ron, who was working at the Ranch for Lockheed, it was always will warmth and pride for the job and the people.
Thomas, while a USAF Major was assigned to the Air Force 1129th SAS contingent at Groom Lake, Nevada during the CIA Project Oxcart. Project OXCART was the building of a Mach 3+ plane capable of flying above 80,000 feet to replace the U-2 surveillance plane. Major Thomas was a member of the meteorology team at Groom Lake for the flights of the A-12 and the F-101 VooDoo support planes. Major Thomas deployed to Kadena, Okinawa during Operation Black Shield, the operational phase of Project OXCART where the A-12 flew sorties over North Vietnam to locate the SAM and surface to surface missiles of the enemy, and the missions over North Korea to locate the USS Pueblo seized by the North Korean navy. Major Powell resided in the Morgan Manor with the CIA project pilots and the Air Force support team, including his fellow meteorologist Weldon "Walt" King who was killed in the crash of one of the Blackshield F-101 planes. Major Thomas served with the 1129th SAS from 1965 to 1968 and shared with all Roadrunners the consideration of his time at the "Ranch" being the best years of his 30-year Air Force career. Colonel Thomas is survived by a son, Ron, who followed his footsteps 20 plus years later to work at the Ranch for Lockheed on another leading edge platform. No services are planned. RIP Bill. You served your nation well and will be missed.
Thornton D. (TD) Barnes President/Webmaster Roadrunners Internationale http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/ 468 Palegold St., Henderson, NV 89012 (702) 566-4168 "You can delegate authority but not responsibility" What did you do today for freedom?
Tags: Passing Vets
