 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Rick Williams brought the message at the Burning Springs M. E. Church.
Gay Park noted that she was still on the "puny list". She got to spend Christmas Day and two more in the "hotel" where they bring one breakfast in bed, so to speak.
Project Veritas, the group that let the world know that the federal government funded business Planned Parenthood, a tax exempt that funds many politicians, was selling baby parts, dropped another bomb, this time on Common Core. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt executive said, "I'm in it to sell books. Don't kid yourself for a heartbeat [for] it's a money game." Another exec said she wasn't concerned when "states repealed common core" and then renamed it as has been done by the little wife, Gayle Manchin and her stoolies down at the Mouth of the Elk . The book publishing executive said, "It's never about the kids and slapping a new name on it, which in my case I hope that they do . . . [so] . .I can sell a XXXX ton of training around whatever you're calling it. There's always money in it." All this is a horrible example of crony capitalism where the connected are rewarded and the citizens come out on the short end. Little Jebbie Bush is one of those connected folks, part of the cartel that promotes such nonsense.
A local teacher noted that only a few words were changed "after Common Core was repealed" by the answer to no one State Board of Education which takes its cue from Broadway Joe.
The "Reading First Program" which some were paid hundreds of thousands to implement has destroyed the children's ability to read and now 5th & 6th graders have very low reading scores. Now with "Investigations Math" the children are not allowed to develop basic math or arithmetic skills. The local teacher summed it up this way, "it's all about how much our school system gets to adopt these programs." Those who cannot read and are math impaired are almost assured a place on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder which is an awful indictment of the state's ruling elite, but, then again, perhaps this is the way they want it so they can retain their positions.
The local area continues to have a mild winter with jonquils up about two inches. However, the area has now received some snow.
The Roane road crew put some #3s in the potholes in the surface treated road at the head of Beaver Dam between the Wirt County line and the road going down Lower Barnes Run.
Charles Russell was calling on Ray Gumm, Paris Parsons and bother Euell at the Miletree Center.
The Methodist Church national biggies took another action against Israel by saying they'll do no business with Jewish banks that help settlements in the so-called Palestinian territories. Apparently they didn't read where all that land was given to Abraham and his descendants and likely now part of prophesy is being fulfilled. Perhaps they should read this week's Sunday school lesson about Hosea and Gomer but they likely will act just like the unrepentant northern kingdom rulers did back then.
The big eared one said the economy is "peachy" even though even Wall Street is in retreat. A recent study noted that 93% of the nation's counties have never recovered from the "recession". After the big nuclear bomb deal Iran is set to "flood" the world with oil which caused even the Arab stock markets to crash. Some of the big banks say that crude oil may fall to $10/bbl. and many small companies as well as the new folks in the shale fields will do well to stay away from bankruptcy court. Those who understand "high finance" note that there is a deflationary period and that, coupled with the Chinese currency manipulations has added to the fall of local crude oil although costs, etc. have not dropped and the state wants to increase taxes and last year added more "fees". Local Pennsylvania grade crude (the best as it is paraffin based) fetched just $28.42/bbl. with condensate worth only $9.43, Marcellus & Utica light $22.42 and medium $28.42/bbl. The oil business started at Burning Springs and now W. Va. is in the middle of the biggest oil & gas field in the world. With the war on coal going full bore the state's coalfields will likely soon all look like Richwood & Welch and the hit on the oil & gas business has impacted many local families with many men [and women] now out of work.
Walter Boise was calling in the Creston area over the weekend.
Anna Yates was skiing at Showshoe.
Madame Hillary who is one of the 0.01% income wise has said that she is for the common folks and called for the "decarbonization of homes & businesses". When Secretary of State she promoted hydrofracking of oil & gas wells in other parts of the world that benefited Chevron & Exxon/Mobil, Rockefeller companies that donated generously [tens of millions] to the family "foundations". Recently she attended a fundraiser by a lobbyist for the Keystone pipeline after she came out opposed to the pipeline which would have cut into Warren Buffet's railroad oil hauling business. Before that Slick Willie, her hubby, was paid $1.6 million by Canadian banks that wanted the pipeline so Canadian crude could go to Texas refineries for processing.
Consol, sometimes known as Mother Hope, announced that the firm was going to drill Utica wells on their Marcellus pads at the Pittsburgh airport. The airport got $46 million in signing bonuses.
The legislature is meeting down at the Mouth of the Elk be prepared for whatever the big boys want. SB 179 was introduced about horizontal wells and there is talk that EQT wants a bill passed that would give them whatever they wanted in forced pooling and, just like in Pennsylvania, royalties are "whatever the company says they are!" Citizens should keep in contact with their legislators and go down and visit them under the golden dome. By the way, there is still time to file for office -- there are several who could be replaced by better men and women.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hur Herald. | 
