Tag: 1970s

How You Can Finally Make a Real Difference In Your Life

Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

During Sunday School Mr. Jones had Monopoly on his mind.

Every Sunday after church and a good meal, the family would gather around the table for their weekly round of the famous board game.

He absolutely loved this American pastime and knew much trivia about the game. It first originated in 1933 and is now played in 47 different languages in 114 countries.

Jones even counted the amount of money in a Monopoly game to realize it is $20,580. He also knew the longest recorded game. It lasted 70 straight days.

During World War II, escape maps, compasses, and files were inserted into Monopoly game boards smuggled into POW camps inside Germany. Real money for escapees was slipped into the packs of Monopoly money.

He must have had the game and other things on his mind when one morning Mr. Jones stood up and said “I’d like us to pray for some smiling faces in this church.” Then, in typical fashion, he added, “I think more people would want to go to heaven, if they weren’t afraid it’d be like church when they go there!”

“Church shouldn’t be fake.” he suggested. “It’s not about entertainment, comfort, or fads. Church should be a place to bring your joys and your sorrows and connect with others who want to find God and be loved. Fog machines, exotic coffee, and specialty groups will never meet those needs the way the core truths will. Let’s focus on what will not change: God, His Word, and our need to love each other.”

“I grew up in a church, back in the sixties, and we only sang hymns,” Jones continued. “Then came the contemporary praise movement in the seventies and I thought, wow this might be better than the old hymns. And we all know the rest of the story. It seems my nine-year-old granddaughter will never know the great hymns like I do. And to be honest, that makes me sad.”

“Contemporary music can mean a stronger focus on individual performance rather than group worship as a whole,” he suggested. “New music should not be forgotten as it is necessary to express current burdens of the culture in song, but we should be congregation-ready and free of commercial trappings.”

“I just want to quit worrying and pay attention to the sermon,” he continued. “There is no get out of jail free card. Do not pass Go and do not collect $200.”

“What was all of that about?” his family asked, after the services. He gathered his thoughts and explained when they arrived home.

Life, according to Mr. Jones

Life is like a game of Monopoly. You may own hotels on Boardwalk or you may be renting on Baltic Avenue, but in the end, it all goes back into the box. The next generation will be getting out all of your stuff and playing with it or fighting over it.

The Small Stuff

The small stuff is what makes up the larger picture of our lives. Many people are like you. But their perspective is distorted. They ignore ‘small stuff’ claiming to have an eye on the bigger picture, never understanding that the bigger picture is composed of nothing more than—are you ready?—‘small stuff.’

Have you ever been bitten by an elephant?  How about a mosquito? It’s the small stuff that’ll get you!

You Choose

At this very moment, you possess the power of perspective. You can choose to see your life becoming whatever you wish. If you choose, you can move the mountains in your life’s path with the eventual help of those who will come to love you and learn to respect you for what you are becoming.

Happiness and Charisma

You must become a person that others want to be around! This is far and away the greatest success secret in existence. This is the person who gets the chance. The second chance and the benefit of the doubt. You should ask yourself this question every day: What is it about me that other people would change if they could?

What is it about the way I dress that other people would change if they could?

What is it about the way I act that other people would change if they could?

What is it about the way I talk that other people would change if they could?

You WILL Make a Difference

One day, you will look back on your ‘worst time’ in your life as a fortuitous event. Even your worst times have value and can become, in retrospect, your best times. You will make a difference. Now, what kind of difference? That’s up to you.

Just keep smiling and roll the dice. When you get a chance, sing a good ‘ol gospel hymn now and then.

In God We Trust

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CLICK: PARK LANE by Rebecca Taylor

Subliminal Techniques Media Uses to Manipulate Your Thoughts

Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

In the late 1970s, during university journalism classes, I first studied how movies, television, news and politics purposefully used manipulation techniques to control our thoughts.

It was then that I realized I was one of millions of moviegoers who unknowingly sensed the power of sublimation.

When director William Friedkin’s The Exorcist opened in 1973, it quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful horror films of all time.

Local newscasts reported viewers fainting, vomiting, and fleeing the theater, shaken by the film’s explicit depiction of a young girl named Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) possessed by demons and exhibiting blasphemous behavior.

But what we didn’t know was just how unsettled we became because of Friedkin’s insertion into the film surreptitiously—a frightening, subliminal image that was funneled straight into the audience’s subconscious.

Unbeknownst to us, there was a white-faced demon briefly flashed onscreen at 45 minutes and one second into the film.

At one hour, 43 minutes, and 13 seconds in, there is another 1/8 of a second flashes cuts in:

The micro shots were part of Friedkin’s strategy to unnerve moviegoers using both visuals and sounds that he felt stood the best chance of creating an uneasy atmosphere. The face was intended to represent one of the demons inhabiting Regan. Here is another:

The subliminal techniques worked. As of September 2022, the movie has garnered $441,306,145 in worldwide earnings.

The idea for manipulating the masses came from print media. In this day of internet advertising, propaganda and politics, “social influencers” are called in to impact purchases, choices and cultural norms. Let’s look at celebrity influencers of yesteryear:


Advertisers and bloggers know that most people will not spend much time looking at print advertisements or reading long articles. That’s where pictures and images come in.

WHISKEY A LA MODE

Here is a classic example of how hidden (subliminal) ideas, imagery, and words can be placed in print advertisements without immediate detection.


On average, people look at a print ad for no more than two seconds.  In the following case the advertiser had two seconds in which to convey a message.


With this in mind, look closely at this advertisement and see if you notice anything interesting:

This is not a photograph of a glass of whiskey, this is a piece of artwork.



Take a look at this area of the print advertisement.  Do you see the image of a dead wasp?

Here is a comparison of the image of the dead wasp with a darkened image of the dead wasp:

Below is a comparison of the image of the dead wasp with a picture of a wasp:

Notice that the colors black and yellow are prominent in this advertisement, the same colors of a wasp.


There are three subliminal images of birds in this advertisement.


BIRD #1:
Above the image of the dead wasp is another image.  Do you see the image of a vulture above the dead wasp?

This image is a cartoon rendition of a vulture.  The vulture is hovering over the image of the dead wasp:

Here is a comparison of the image of the vulture with both another cartoon rendition and a photograph of a vulture:

BIRD #2:
Take a look at this section of the print advertisement.  Do you see the image of a dead white bird?

Here is a comparison of the image of the dead white bird next to a picture of a white bird:

BIRD #3:
Take a look at this section of the print advertisement.  Do you see the image of a Red-tailed Hawk?

Here is a comparison of the image of the Red-tailed Hawk’s head with a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk’s head.

The image of the Red-tailed Hawk looks like it is about to take flight due to the positioning of the wings:

COLOR PSYCHOLOGY
There are three predominant colors in this advertisement:  yellow, black, and gold.
As mentioned previously, the colors yellow and black relate to the colors of a wasp.


Gold is another color of this advertisement which is the color of the whiskey in the glass.


To an addicted heavy consumer of alcohol, whiskey is as good as gold.


SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
Subliminal images of a wasp and birds in this Calvert whiskey ad have been revealed.


Through subliminal imagery and symbolic meanings, it appears that this ad is portraying an addicted heavy drinker’s life coming to an end.


🔹It is important to understand that the subconscious mind operates with symbols, pictures and images.

🔹They convey far more information than words. They reach us on an intuitive level. We understand images by making associations with them.


WASP SYMBOLISM:
In this advertisement, the wasp is a symbol of whiskey because both the wasp and the whiskey are known for their ability to sting.

🔹This stinging of the alcohol can cause some rawness and discomfort in the short-term, and in the long-term it may have other consequences. 


🔹A wasp can sting multiple times without harm to itself.   Wasps do not die after stinging their victims.


🔹Since the wasp in this advertisement is dead, it has lost it’s power to sting.


🔹The whiskey (wasp) loses it’s power to sting after an addicted heavy consumer of alcohol dies.


VULTURE SYMBOLISM:
In the ad above, the image of a vulture–a universal symbol of death–is hovering over the dead wasp.

🔹Death is inevitably approaching any heavy drinker.


WHITE DEAD BIRD SYMBOLISM:
According to a Germanic superstition, the “omen most often associated with death was a white dove that would appear on the windowsill or in the room of the terminally ill and forewarn the family of the impending death.” 

🔹Although a white dove has been a symbol of peace and hope for thousands of years, in this advertisement the dead bird represents the situation where the addicted heavy drinker has lost peace and hope as the end of his life draws near.


HAWK SYMBOLISM:
In this advertisement, the hawk is at the top of the glass of whiskey and is poised to take flight.  The hawk’s back is towards the dead white bird, the vulture, and the dead wasp.


🔹Hawk symbolism is also associated with death, for the birds often act as the bearers of souls heavenward.

🔹The hawk’s swiftness of darting down and grasping its weakened prey also serves as a symbol of death, injustice, and violence.

Now here is what the advertisers knew about the demographics of their consumers at the time:


🔹The top 5% of drinkers of alcohol accounted for 42% of the United States total alcohol consumption. 


🔹About 17.6 million Americans abused or were dependent on alcohol. 


🔹In the United States, excessive alcohol use accounted for an estimated average of 80,000 deaths annually. 

On a global scale, the “harmful use of alcohol results in approximately 2.5 million deaths each year. 

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

Think about how much information and statistics advertisers, propagandists, and social engineers had back then.

Now considering the enormous amount of spying via internet, cellphones, financial records, purchasing habits and locations you frequent, just how much more accessible are your customs, patterns and obsessions? How can these be used to not only track your existence, but manipulate your life?

Thank you for reading Part 2 of our Social Enginnering Manipulation series.

Read Part 1 Here

Part 3 Coming Soon

________

In God We Trust

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Texas Drug Store Cowboys Celebrating 50 Years as Dancehall & Venue Legends

Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

50th Anniversary will be on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022 at John T. Floores Country Store & Dance Hall in Helotes, Texas. 3-7 p.m.

Admired by fiercely loyal fans, The Drugstore Cowboys have brought their electric energy to venues throughout the US and Europe.

The south side of San Antonio, in the neighborhoods surrounding McCollum and Harlandale high schools, are the childhood homes of many notable people in Country, Funk, Soul and Tejano Music.

Legendary Country Music DJ Hall of Famer and everybody’s “Cousin” Jerry King went to Harlandale in the 1960s. I can remember when King, along with other DJs and musicians, played with the likes of Willie Nelson and George Jones at a charity basketball matchup at the McCollum gym in the late 1960s.

During the 1972-73 school year Nashville recording artist Johnny Bush played on stage at the McCollum Auditorium. Country.

Down on Harding Blvd., a talented local newspaper country music and entertainment writer, John Goodspeed, served as an early inspiration for me.

    The late Emilio Navaira, from the McCollum Class of 1980, was a Mexican-American musician who performed country and Tejano music nationally. His classmate from the year ahead of him, Yolanda Saldívar, is the convicted murderer of Latin music superstar Selena, and is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison.

    Especially in the late 70s and early 80s many of us would go watch Horizon perform. Southsiders Charlie, John, and Geoff Boggess joined classmate Freddy Carrillo and others (T-Bo Gonzalez, Bill Dudley, Larry Scott and Sahara Greer come to mind) and actually opened for the Commodores. The story goes they were offered to go on the road with Cool and the Gang but turned them down.

      Through the years, southsider singers and musicians continued to play venues and dances as far away as Europe, on television and especially throughout the Lone Star State.

      Some of the more enduring included Rex Allen McNeil, Walter “Tooter” Ripps, Ray Morris, Randy Potts, Lonnie Castleman, John Marsh, Leonard Wong, and the rockers, The Toman Brothers, Randy and Russell—and who could forget R

      1972

      In the fall of 1972, 17-year-old McCollum senior Dub Robinson had organized a country trio and began playing around a little bit. He went to go see Willie Nelson at the John T. Floore Country Store northwest of San Antonio in the foothills of the Hill Country town of Helotes.

      Johnny Bush, Paul English, Willie Nelson

      Nelson was to perform as a trio with drummer Paul English and Bee Spears on bass. The steel player didn’t show.

      “I watched Willie play that gut string guitar and it didn’t lose anything,” Robinson remembers. Since age 12, Robinson had played professionally across South Texas, but on this night he was particularly inspired.

      He called his drummer, Robert “Cotton” Payne, and his bassist, Tommy McKay the next day and proclaimed that if they could be a hundredth as good as Nelson was, they might have a chance.

      They knew their taste in music was a blend of country, rock, and blues. McKay suggested the perfect name for their new band. It described the kind of “cowboy” who didn’t want to get his boots dirty.

      I’ve followed Dub and other fellow McCollum Cowboys classmates over the years. He continues to be a favorite.

      At a ten year class reunion in 1983 at the downtown El Tropicano Hotel Ballroom, Dub and his band honored his classmates as we danced in memories of “old times.” I was particularly honored. I knew the band was good, but when I was called over during a break, he asked me what Elvis song I was going to sing later that evening.

      I suggested “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hearbreak Hotel,” and “Hound Dog.”

      He grinned, and with guitar in hand, said, “Okay. Let me hear you sing them.”

      1983 McCollum 10 Yr Reunion. Dub (guitar) was the ultra-professional. What an honor for me.

        I only had to belt out a sentence or a few words of each. He immediately knew what key and chords to play.

        Later, when some of our classmates were literally pulling my pants off while singing, I looked back at Dub. He was grinning big time. He and his band never missed a lick. I tried my best not to also. It remains a fun and wonderful memory in my heart.

        In 2011, while interviewing George Strait and Ray Benson at a fundraiser for wounded veterans at Tapatio Springs outside of Boerne, Texas, Strait said something that reminded me of Dub.

        “When everyone thinks of Asleep at the Wheel, they think of Ray.”

        That’s exactly how I feel about the Drug Store Cowboys. When I think of them, I think of Dub Robinson.

        The Drugstore Cowboys with Gary Stewart: Dub Robinson (left), Stewart, Randy Toman and Robert "Cotton" Payne.
        Dub Robinson on the left.

        Dub just announced the band will be celebrating their 50th anniversary with a new CD. What are his thoughts?

        In his own creative words, the songwriter, musician and singer posted:

        Originally, McKay lasted about a year and a half and Randy Toman, (who now performs with his brother Russell), became the bassist for 13 years.

        They became the touring band for country stars Gary Stewart and Stoney Edwards. The Drugstore Cowboys also backed Johnny Rodriguez, Freddy Fender, Johnny Bush and Gene Watson.

        Other artists they shared the stage with or even backed up include Nelson, Merle Haggard, Mel Tillis, Frenchy Burke, Greg Allman, David Allen Cole, Charlie Daniels, the Mavericks, Jerry Jeff Walker, and even Asleep At The Wheel.

        “They joined Stewart, who was known for such hits as “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles),” when his backing band could not make a gig at the old Kicker’s Palace,” Goodspeed once reported. “The owner told Stewart they knew all his songs and he gave them a try. Stewart hired them and they toured coast to coast. Robinson quit after four years.”

        “I didn’t want to be somebody’s backup band the rest of my life,” he said. “I’m a songwriter first and wanted to do my own thing.”

          In 50 years, at least that many musicians have played in The Drugstore Cowboys.

          Some of the members went on to play for the Bellamy Brothers, Janie Fricke, Bill Anderson, and Judas Priest.

          “I believe it’s all about the song. It’s a lot of work running a band, but I do it just to play my music the way I want to hear it,” Dub said.

          In God We Trust

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          Politics, Entertainment & History: Can You Identify Them by Their Mugshots?

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          Can you identify these historic, political and entertainment figures by their arrested mugshots and photographs?

          Answers at the bottom.

          POLITICS & HISTORY

          Politics, News and History: John Hinkley, Shepherd Smith, Bill Gates, John Edwards, Bernard Madoff, Lee Harvey Oswald, Rod Blagojevich, Rosa Parks, Billy Carter, Roger Clinton, James Earl Ray, Jack Ruby, Charles Manson

          Entertainment: Harvey Weinstein, Jane Fonda, O.J. Simpson, Nick Nolte, Heather Locklear, Jussie Smollett, Paul Reubens

          In God We Trust

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          History, Texas, Pioneers, Genealogy

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          CLICK: PARK LANE by Rebecca Taylor

          Are These the Most Evil and Notorious Serial Killers Who Were Ever Caught?

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          This article is part of CleverJourneys ongoing series exploring American history from a perspective that burrows deep into criminal profiles, the penal system, victim’s stories, crime prevention, forensic science, law enforcement and our justice system.

          Perhaps these evil individuals were the most sick serial killers of modern times.

          David Berkowitz

          Also known as the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz performed a series of shootings in 1976. Using a .44 Bulldog revolver, Berkowitz shot 6 people and wounded 7 more. During his spree, he sent numerous letters to the police and press taunting them.

          Edmund Kemper

          Kemper was known as “The Co-ed Killer” for the brutal murders he carried out in the 1970’s. After murdering his grandparents when he was 15, Kemper killed and dismembered 6 female hitchhikers. He then murdered his mother and a friend of hers before turning himself in.

          Larry Bittaker and Roy Norris

          These two men were known as ‘The Tool Box Killers’. Between the two of them, they murdered 5 young women in 1979 across California. The two killers would lure their victims to their van before raping and torturing them with tools.

          Ian Brady and Myra Hindley

          Between 1963 and 1965, Northern England’s Ian Brady and Myra Hindley killed 5 children, aged between 10 and 17 years old. Their victims were sexually assaulted before being murdered. Three were discovered in graves on Saddleworth Moor, the last victims were discovered within their home.

          Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Bueno

          These two men, both cousins, were known as The Hillside Stranglers. Between late 1977 and early 1978, the two men kidnapped, raped, and killed 10 women, aged 12 to 28 years old. Each one was strangled in the hills above Los Angeles.

          Arthur Shawcross

          Shawcross was known as the Genesee River Killer. His first murder was in 1972, when he sexually assaulted and murdered a 10-year-old boy. He then raped and killed an eight-year-old girl. He was released from prison in 1988 after serving 14 years. He then killed 12 female prostitutes, aged 22 to 29 years old, before being captured once more.

          Richard Ramirez

          Between 1984 and 1985, Richard Ramirez terrorized Los Angeles. He became known as the Night Stalker, and broke into the homes of his victims to shoot, stab, and rape and mutilate them. His victims ranged from a 9-year-old girl to a married couple in their late sixties. He smeared pentagrams on the walls of each crime scene.

          Jeffrey Dahmer

          Dahmer is one of the most well-known serial killers of all time. In Milwaukee, Dahmer was convicted of raping, murdering, and dismembering 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Upon dismembering the bodies, Dahmer would then devour pieces of them. He was beaten to death by an inmate at Columbia Correctional Institution just two years into his sentence.

          Gary Ridgway

          Gary Ridgway was arrested in 2001 for 4 separate murders, but later confessed to killing at least 70 women in Washington within the 1980’s and 1990’s. He ultimately avoided the death sentence by leading police to his dumpsite for the bodies, five of which were within the Green River. He was convicted of 49 murders.

          Dr. Harold Shipman

          Dr. Harold Fredrick Shipman was an English doctor at one point in his life, then he became responsible for around 250 murders. He was respected within his community, but raised concerns when the death rate in the area became too high. He would inject fatal drugs into his patients, causing their deaths, then forge their wills to inherit massive amounts of money from his victims.

          Ted Bundy

          Bundy is one of the most prolific serial killers in the 20th century. He kidnapped and raped young women and girls in the 1970’s. He ended up decapitating at least 12 of his victims, keeping their heads in his apartment as a sort of trophy. He escaped from police and court houses on two separate occasions.

          Charles Ng and Leonard Lake

          Charles Ng and Leonard Lake together raped, tortured, and murdered anywhere between 11 and 25 victims in Calaveras County, California. The two were discovered when police searched Lake’s ranch, finding human remains within.

          John Wayne Gacy

          John Wayne Gacy sexually assaulted and killed 33 teenage boys and young men throughout Chicago between 1972 and 1978. He lured his victims to his own home with the promise of work or money before he strangled them with a tourniquet. He buried 26 of the bodies in the crawl space below his own house.

          Tommy Lynn Sells

          Sells claimed to have killed at least 70 people, and is considered one of the most dangerous men in Texas. ‘The Coast to Coast Killer” was convicted of numerous murders between 1985 and 1999, including the stabbing of a 13-year-old girl a total of sixteen times. He broke into the bedroom of a 10-year-old, stabbed her and left her for dead, and then was captured. The young girl survived, thankfully. He was executed at Huntsville prison in 2014.

          In God We Trust

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          Are We in Jeopardy? Things Only Baby Boomers Understand

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          Here are the same guys with the exact same car 50 years later:

          Only Baby Boomers understand.

          In the 1970s, I changed the oil, set the timing, cleaned the carburetor and installed Jenssen speakers for the 8-track player (also self installed) in my car.

          This was my first car.

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          QUIZ–What Do These Photos Have in Common?

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          What began in 1893 became a huge tradition reflecting the hopes and wishes of many Americans.

          Spanning the years 1910 through 1994, photos from this collection consisted of seasonal influence and tradition.

          Baby Boomers will be more apt to guess what these pictures all have in common. Can you?

          Long before there was an Amazon or Etsy or even a dot.com, America had a Sears catalogue…or “Wish Book.”

          In God We Trust

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          History, Texas, Pioneers, Genealogy

          From award-winning Texas author Cynthia Leal Massey.

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          Where Did ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ Come From?

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          During World War II (1945), a Japanese boy stood in front of a funeral pyre and waited his turn to cremate his little dead brother.

          The person who took the photograph said, in an interview, that the boy was biting his lips so hard to keep from crying that blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth.

          It was then that the guard asked him for the body and said, “Give me the load you are carrying on your back.” And the boy answered:

          “He ain’t heavy, he is my brother”. He handed over the body, turned around, and left…

          In Japan, even today, this image is used as a symbol of strength.

          In college during the mid 1970s, I had the opportunity to meet and interview some music entertainers of the times. As the Fine Arts Editor for the Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) University Star, it helped me go backstage for artists like Freddy Mercury and Queen, Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Alvin Lee with Ten Years After, and more.

          One of my classmates was a young fellow who would sit out in the hall before a business class trying to catch up because he had been out singing late into the night before. You may have heard of him–George Strait.

          A special moment was meeting Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina backstage before their San Antonio Municipal Auditorium (now the expanded Tobin Center) concert. I secured autographs, asked a few questions and was allowed to watch their sound check.

          From the side of the stage they sat on stools, side-by-side, singing to an empty auditorium that would soon be filled to the brim.

          The song was “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” I had heard the recordings by The Hollies and Neil Diamond, but this one time “personal” performance remains in my heart and memories to this day.

          It was written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell. They only met three times to collaborate before Russell died of lymphoma.

          A guy name Reginald played piano on The Hollies’ version which was released in 1970. It was a worldwide hit. You likely know the piano player by another name–Elton John.

          The title actually didn’t come from the Japanese picture shown above. It came from the motto for Boys Town, a community formed in 1917 by a Catholic priest named Father Edward Flanagan.

          Located in Omaha, Nebraska, it was a place where troubled or homeless boys could come for help. In 1941, Father Flanagan was looking at a magazine called The Messenger when he came across a drawing of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, with the caption, “He ain’t heavy Mr., he’s my brother.”

          Today, there is a statue with that phrase that serves as the symbol for Boys Town.

          In 1938, actor Spencer Tracey portrayed Father Flanagan in the movie Boys Town, which also starred Mickey Rooney. In 1941, they made a sequel called Men Of Boys Town, where they used the phrase “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s my brother” for the first time in a movie.

          In God We Trust

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          ___________________________

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          History, Texas, Pioneers, Genealogy

          From award-winning Texas author Cynthia Leal Massey.

          _________________________

          CLICK: PARK LANE by Rebecca Taylor

          Things My Policeman Father Taught Me

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          Some of our regular readers know, my father, Walter “Corky” Dennis was a policeman, homicide detective for the San Antonio Police Department for decades.

          He was in the motorcycle detail that traveled beside John F. Kennedy’s limousine in the Alamo City motorcade the day before the President’s assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. After SAPD retirement, he was employed as a U.S. Marshal and worked on the Federal Judge John H. Wood, Jr. assassination case in 1979 and early 1980s.

          One proud moment was when we found out he and I made it in the world famous Ripley’s Believe It or Not cartoon together.

          Although Dad taught me a good deal about investigation, forensics, criminal psychology and police work, like all good fathers, he provided immeasurable guidance on other important matters:


          1. How to make a fire
          2. How to grill meat
          3. How to cook on a stove
          4. How to create a budget
          5. Basic knot tying 
          6. Basic woodworking
          7. Basic firearm safety
          8. How to throw a punch
          9. How to take a punch
          10. Basic boxing strategy
          11. How to change a tire
          12. Basic gardening
          13. How to change oil in a car


          14. How to pray
          15. How to play poker
          16. Basic first aid
          17. How to pitch a tent
          18. How to read the Bible
          19. How to summarize a book
          20. How to map a family tree
          21. Basic dining etiquette
          22. How to iron clothes
          23. How to mow the lawn


          24. How to read a map
          25. How to be a polite guest
          26. How to talk to a girl
          27. Where to go on a first date
          28. What to do on a first date
          29. How to speak to a girl’s parents
          30. How to make small talk
          31. How to make deep talk 


          32. How to pump gas
          33. How to rope a cow
          34. How to use a credit card
          35. How to dress for an occasion 
          36. How to “read” a person (later we called it “profiling”)
          37. How to milk a cow
          38. How to wrap a gift
          39. How to write a thank you note
          40. How to think critically
          41. How to reverse engineer concepts
          42. How to look for signs of criminal activity
          43. How to ride a horse


          44. Basic photography concepts
          45. How to be aware of con artists
          46. How to tie a tie
          47. How to put on cufflinks
          48. How to shine shoes
          49. How to roof a house
          50. How to use a saw

          These next ten, I suppose, are not typically taught to most children by their parents in everyday living.

          51. How to rescue people from a raging flooded river or creek.

          52. How to dedicate yourself to helping, protecting, and sacrifice for other’s wellbeing, safety and benefit.

          53. How to respond responsibly to a crisis, strangers in an emergency, and/or communities in need (hurricanes, flooding, fires, etc.).

          54. How police and emergency workers respond when one of their fellow men/women are killed.

          55. The importance of visiting and helping those in hospitals, nursing homes, shelters, and with victims of disaster.

          56. Why some people call the police names like “Pig.”

          57. Why and how some people repeatedly live a life of crime, hate and anger.

          58. How to work for the betterment of a community.

          59. How to smile when you are angered, fearful or scared.

          60.. How much he loved me and always would, even though there was a chance he might not make it home from work ever.

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          The One Thing Most Americans May Not Be Considering is World Shocking

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          IF THIS EXPLANATION DOESNT FRIGHTEN PEOPLE ENOUGH TO WAKE UP, WHAT WILL?

          Henry Kissinger-99, George Soros-91, Jacob Rothschild-86, Pope Francis-85, Nancy Pelosi-82, Joe Biden-79, Bill Clinton-75, Hillary Clinton-74, Bill Gates-66, Valerie Jarrett-65, Barack Obama-60, Susan Rice-57.

          Here’s a reliable take on how and why Susan Rice and her Joe Biden puppet have been failing miserably. It is from Benjamin Fulford of benjaminfulford.net.


          The fake US President Biden failed to get oil on his recent begging trip to the Middle East. This means the countdown for the implosion of the US and Western Europe has begun. Revolution is in the air and there will be no turning back, multiple sources agree.

          Biden’s handlers’ hoped to use Iran as an “enemy” in order to justify massive arms sales in exchange for oil. Saudi ambassador to Washington Remma bint Bandar Al Saud summed up the region’s thinking when she dismissed the “oil-for-security paradigm” as “outdated and reductionist.”

          🔹No weapons for oil means no oil for the US and its’ client states. No oil means no economic activity.

          The Khazarian mafia meanwhile, like a dying beast, is spitting out fear porn, bio-weapons and threatening war in a desperate effort to stave off the inevitable. However, their medical mafia is being systematically hunted down and killed.

          Fulford submits that, “the result was US industry lost its competitiveness and over 50 years of trade deficits turned the US into the most indebted country in world history.”

          “Then finally the rest of the world decided to stop lending money to the US in 2008, leading to the ‘Lehman shock,’” he continued.

          Note, in September 2008, the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a crisis that paralyzed financial markets around the world. 

          “The Americans were able to buy time then by promising to put a black communist in as president,” he stated, indicating the public should realize that “communism was created by the Vatican or should I say the P2 freemasons who control the Vatican and that Obama was/is their house slave.”

          “In any case, the Obama ruse convinced the Asians to hand over 700 tons of gold to the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan,” Fulford claims. “This was leveraged over a thousand-fold to create $23 trillion that kept the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CORPORATION going until 2020.”

          “When the money ran out in January of 2020 the Khazarian Mafia-controlled West responded with a massive bio-weapons and vaccine attack,” he stated. “They hoped to murder enough people so that they could stay in power. This effort has failed.”

          OBAMA’S FRONTMAN BIDEN

          “They also managed to get some funding for the US CORPORATION by promising to bring back Barack Obama with Joe Biden acting as his front man,” Fulford indicates.

          “Now, as a result of general disgust with the antics of the fake Biden regime, this money has been cut off,” he explains. “This is the background to the truly historic events that are unfolding before our eyes.”

          In the news, this can be seen in the fall of multiple governments and the isolation of the G7 from the rest of the world economy.

          Fulford offers insight to Biden’s recent failed Beg For Oil visit to the Middle East.


          “His failure to get continued free oil in exchange for money printed out of nothing is going to have ramifications far beyond the United States,” he surmises. “It will mean the end of the BIS, the UN, the EU and perhaps even the Papacy.”


          To understand why this is, Fulford offers a historical review:

          🔹The BIS, or central bank of central banks, was founded in 1930 using Asian gold.

          🔹This gold was lent to the Germans to help them pay their obligations under the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of World War I.

          🔹In exchange, the Asians were promised the United Nations would be set up as a world parliament with the ancient royal families of East and West (the dragon family) acting as background supervisors.

          🔹However, at the end of World War II the victorious allies reneged on their promise to spend the gold that was lent to them to develop the entire planet, Instead, their Marshall Plan only developed the countries they controlled (now known as the G7).

          🔹In retaliation, the Asians cut off any further access to their gold.

          🔹When the US ran out of gold, we had the “Nixon shock” of 1971. That is when the dollar was decoupled from gold.

          🔹Instead, the countries of the world had to use dollars to buy oil.

          “This was a giant sugar high to the US,” Fulford makes clear. “The countries of the world had to have a trade surplus with the US in order to buy oil. This led to a strong dollar and free money for the Americans.”

          “However, the result was US industry lost its competitiveness and over 50 years of trade deficits turned the US into the most indebted country in world history.”

          BLEAK FUTURE?

          Where do people like Bill Gates and George Soros fit into this?

          Soros, like Biden, and Henry Kissinger, may not be around much longer due to age and health. Perhaps their hope is in Gates and his contemporaries, as they continue on buying up businesses, farms, ranches, land and technologies to move their odd like agendas forward.

          Soros
          Gates

          Fulford sums it up:

          “When we look at what has happened to us, especially in the West, over the past two years, we can see that a powerful group has been trying to alter our genes with vaccines designed to turn us into domesticated animals.

          “As Henry Kissinger once famously boasted: ‘In the future it will be as impossible for the ordinary people to rebel against us as it is for a sheep to rebel against a farmer.’

          “We are fighting against a tribal group that wants to monopolize the ability to become superhuman. They want the rest of us to have short, ignorant lives of inescapable and permanent slavery.

          In other words, humanity is at a cross roads.”

          .

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          From award-winning Texas author Cynthia Leal Massey.

          History, Texas, Pioneers, Genealogy

          My First Big Interview Was With Elvis Presley

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          In the early spring of 1976, my Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) journalism professor Jeff Henderson, asked his class on the second floor of Old Main to write down the names of two people we would like to interview if we could. 

          Old Main
          Jeff Henderson

          When he called on me to reveal my answers, embarrassingly, I said “Elvis Presley and Clint Eastwood.”

          Spontaneously, my classmates laughed. Their answers were reasonable…and safe: the police chief, fire marshal, county commissioner, etc. But Jeff held his hand up and looked me seriously straight in the eyes and asked, “Why don’t you?”

          WHY DON’T YOU?

          “Look, Jack. You just came back from winning Investigative Reporter of the Year Award out of every university in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Association,” he smirked, then grinned. “So, my question to you is—why don’t you?”

          I thought of scores of reasons why I couldn’t. Jeff’s question would have profound impact the rest of my life. So, why don’t I? Within eight months, I interviewed both Presley and Eastwood.

          I traveled to Memphis during Spring Break with one mission in mind: To do the impossible by interviewing Elvis.

          Just a few days after my arrival, staying at a nearby (from Graceland) Howard Johnson’s, I was called in by a local radio station to be interviewed myself because there was much buzz (was that even a word, other than the sound a bee makes, in ’76?) about Elvis.

          It was recently announced he’d be performing in his hometown later that summer. Months away and thousands of fans had been camped out for two days in line to buy tickets.

          The day before, I drove by the Mid-South Colosseum and was astonished. People were in tents, sleeping bags, lawn chairs and on blankets waiting. Although it was hot and humid, they were happy.

          Through the years I’ve found dedicated Elvis fans to be among the happiest people on the planet. Their camaraderie expands beyond man-made limiting boundaries such as race, politics, religion and sex. Generally, they’re united.

          Two nights before, I gained quick notoriety among Memphis fans for gaining the “impossible dream.” I scored an interview with Elvis Presley!

          As a young journalism student from then Southwest Texas State, I did my homework. The stars were aligned:

          🔹Local fans were not swarming around Graceland,

          🔹It was a time sandwiched between Elvis’ mother Gladys’ birthday week (reasoned he may leave to visit her gravesite) and Mother’s Day. Yes, it was a long shot, but I was giving it all I could.

          🔹With donuts, coffee and burgers from the Hickory Log cafe, I befriended Elvis’ cousin Harold Loyd and other Graceland gate security guards at night…and Uncle Vester Presley, Charlie Hodge and others during the day in between naps (Elvis was a night owl, so I had to be).

          Harold Loyd

          .

          🔹The big card up my sleeve was the ace in the hole: I was President of the Texas Chapter of the official Elvis Presley Graceland Fan Club.

          Invited to the radio station because of the spike in interest of the upcoming concerts and me landing the interview, the DJ began asking questions in rapid fire.

          I answered them as fast as he spit them out, but when he paused for a commercial break, I defaulted to my normal mode of operation–to engage in conversation rather than his Q&A approach.

          Elvis’ Bicentennial Harley.

          .

          He started taking live listener calls. It was compelling enough that he kept me on air for over an hour.

          I was psyched, of course, but somehow all this excitement calmed my youthful ego. I was very thankful for meeting Elvis, but especially grateful for his kindness. When you hear or read how nice he was to fans, believe me, it was very genuine kindness.

          Shaking the hand of the man my parents, my sister Bobbi and I would see on the giant screens of the Trail or Mission Drive-In theaters, watch on TV, or read about in magazines and newspapers, was a surreal and humbling experience.

          Elvis’ personal keys to Graceland.

          Meeting Elvis taught me much, including the value of doing homework, being prepared, investigation and a more engaging approach to interviewing.

          Most of all, it taught me to never let self-imposed obstacles get in the way of my dreams.

          Photos from 6/24/2020: White Lion jumpsuit worn in San Antonio for ‘Elvis On Tour’ movie in 1972; .

          Photos of Dodie and me taken at Graceland, SUN Studio, on June 24, 25 2020.

          The following August, I was able to meet Elvis briefly backstage at Hemisfair Arena in San Antonio to present him some official honorary documents from the City, Bexar County and a Texas-shaped award from fans across the state.

          Two of my favorite journalism classmates under Jeff Henderson, Janis Johnson and Vicky Highsaw, joined me on the front row center section for the Elvis concert.

          Jack Dennis

          Photos taken from front row, center at Elvis Presley’s August 18, 1976 concert.

          Thanks for supporting independent true journalism with a small tip. Dodie & Jack

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          History, Texas, Pioneers, Genealogy

          From award-winning Texas author Cynthia Leal Massey.

          The ‘Hello, My Name is Jose Jiminez’ Eye Opener

          Posted on by Texans Jack & Dodie

          When William Szathmary died on June 15, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee, millions of fans who knew him, did not know him by his birth name.

          Eleven years prior to his death, meeting American comedian Bill Dana was a complete surprise, because I had completely forgotten about the entertainer.

          Like many baby boomers growing up in the 1960s, Dana would make America laugh with his signature, “Hello, my name is Jose Jiminez” astronaut routine. It was so popular, another celebrity, a country and western singing star, would adapt his own stage introductions with “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash!”

          In 2006, I had the pleasure of meeting Buzz Aldrin, Wally Schirra, Gene Krantz, and other space related notables at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.

          Among some of the “celebrities” I talked with were movie and television stars James Drury (The Virginian, Disney’s Toby Tyler), Lana Wood (The Searchers, Peyton Place, Diamonds Are Forever) Clint Howard (Gentle Ben, Apollo 13), and Warren Stevens (Forbidden Planet). It was certainly an unexpected eye opener to spend some time with Bill Dana.

          “Okay, José, you’re on your way!”


          With those words, radioed to Alan Shepard as he lifted off to become the first American astronaut to fly into space on May 5, 1961, Bill Dana’s role in NASA history was sealed.

          Because of his popularity portraying “José Jiménez,” Dana was bestowed the title of being the eighth of the Mercury 7 astronauts.

          When he died on that June 15th in 2017, Dana was 92.

          “He’ll be missed not only by the astronaut family, but many more around the world,” said Tammy Sudler, president and CEO of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. “Bill Dana was lovingly known as our honorary Mercury 8 astronaut.”

          First created in 1959 for “The Steve Allen Show” and later appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” José Jiménez held several positions, including an elevator operator, a bobsled racer, a Navy submariner and a lion tamer, but it was as the shiny-spacesuited, reluctant astronaut that the Bolivian character became famous (Dana was of Hungarian-Jewish ancestry in reality).

          “What do you consider the most important thing in rocket travel?” asked Ed Sullivan, playing the straight man during one of Dana’s better-known skits.

          “To me the most important thing in the rocket travel is the blast-off,” said Dana.

          “The blast-off…” repeated Sullivan.

          “I always take a blast before I take off. Otherwise, I would not go near that thing,” Dana quipped as Jiménez.

          Danny Thomas
          Dean Martin
          Ed Sullivan

          Dana’s José Jiménez routine was later released on record albums, rising to the Top 20 on the Billboard charts, which drew the attention of the real-life Mercury astronauts.

          “The astronauts, especially Shepard, absolutely loved the record, and listened to it in the office after intense training sessions,” author Neal Thompson described in “Light This Candle” (Crown, 2004), his biography of the first astronaut. “Shepard even tape recorded the album and during lulls between training exercises or during test launches at the Cape would play the tapes at full volume near the Mission Control loudspeakers.”

          The astronaut and comedian first met at a Cocoa Beach night club, where Shepard — from out in the audience and without the prior knowledge of Dana — took on the role of the straight man, setting up Jiménez’s replies. Soon, fellow astronauts Wally Schirra and Deke Slayton joined in.

          Dana, 3rd from left with Mercury astronauts



          “The club was roaring as the three astronauts took turns,” wrote Thompson. After the show, Dana hurried to a phone to call his producer in New York.

          “‘They know us. They know every word. And they love us,” exclaimed Dana, as described by Thompson.

          Shepard and the other astronauts’ fondness for Dana and his character led to José Jiménez becoming the unofficial mascot of the Mercury program.

          In addition to inspiring the 1961 launch call between Slayton (in the blockhouse) and Shepard (on top of a Redstone rocket), Dana performed at President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural ball with Shepard in attendance.

          The comedian also inspired a “gotcha” – a practical joke – that Shepard arranged in secret for John Glenn to discover once aboard his Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft. Opening up a pouch while in orbit, Glenn was surprised by a small stuffed mouse floating free, a reference to the “leetle mice” Jiménez would cite as fellow test subjects in his routine.

          Sammy Davis, Jr. Meets Archie Bunker

          One of the most celebrated televised episodes of the classic and controversial All in the Family aired in 1972. It’s the tale about the time entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. stopped by to visit the Bunkers.

          It begins with a briefcase he left in Archie’s cab and ends with the kiss of infamy. Very few people are aware that the writer of this episode was Bill Dana.

          CAREER HIGHLIGHTS



          🔹Born William Szathmary in Quincy, Massachusetts on Oct. 5, 1924, Dana served as a gunner and mortarman in the U.S. Army during World War II.

          🔹He began his career in comedy as a page and a writer for other comedians’ stand-up routines.

          🔹Dana was also a screenwriter for television and movies, writing the Emmy-Award-winning “All in the Family” episode, “Sammy Davis Visits Archie Bunker” (1972), penning jokes for the “Donny and Marie” show (1977-1978), and co-writing the script for the “Get Smart” film “The Nude Bomb” (1980).

          Dana also showed up as José Jiménez in a number of TV cameos, including as part of a 1966 episode of “Batman,” appearing alongside the late Adam West and Burt Ward.

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          From award-winning Texas author Cynthia Leal Massey.