King's message was peace ... but, we must face reality

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

Monday was a day of peace in America. It was a day of celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Across America there were marches and commemorative events to honor the great Civil Rights leader, who preached of a peaceful coexistence for all.

Since the reminders about King’s message of peace and listening to the remarks by YWCA keynote speaker Jeff Brown, I can’t get the conflict out of my mind.

Sure, King was a man of peace. Certainly, a world devoid of conflict and hatred is an idealist dream.

Unfortunately, I can’t help but believe that King’s dream is just that – a dream.

While messages of peace were ringing across most of America, Barack Obama was taking the oath of office in Washington, D.C. As King’s words and teachings echoed in our ears, the most corrupt and dangerous man in America was beginning his second term as dictator.

Never in the past century and a half has a president so divided America. Peace? How can we become a peaceful nation when we have a president who is intent on taking away our rights?

In another vein, we can dream of peace. But, we must look at reality. We live in a world that is full of individuals, organizations and countries that are evil and care nothing about the value of individual liberty or human life.

The First Amendment provided Martin Luther King the stage on which to deliver his message. The Second Amendment is what gave King the ability to stand on that stage and exercise his First Amendment right.

I find it ironic that our first black president is the one plotting to take away both of those formerly inalienable rights.

Equally ironic is the fact, yes fact, that in order for us to strive for a peaceful existence, we must bear arms and must be ready, willing and able to fight, be it against a tyrannical egomaniac president or a foreign dictator.

I recall the song “One Tin Soldier” by Coven. The Vietnam War-era song was featured in the film “Billy Jack.” In the song, the mountain people were a peace-loving group who wanted nothing but to be left alone. The valley people wanted the secret treasure that belonged to the mountain people, who offered to share with their counterparts in the valley. Greed ruled the day and the valley people slaughtered the mountain people to have the treasure all to themselves. It turned out that the “treasure” was a simple message – “Peace on Earth was all it said.”

The message was peace. But, did that make the mountain people any less dead?

Our forefathers built this country. They set the rules and principals as to what is required to be a part of what was the greatest nation on earth.

Our service men and women take an oath, to defend against all enemies foreign and domestic. The origins of that oath go back to the Revolutionary War. Foreign and domestic.

Those who choose to blindly follow others, even to choosing a peaceful existence under the rule of a tyrannical dictator, are doomed to be nothing more than slaves … if they survive. If they are allowed to live.

To those who would choose that route, I say, you are not really an American. Americans never bowed to tyranny and oppression. Just because this is the 21^st century does not mean that those dangers were left behind in another era.

They still exist and we must be ready to face, and if necessary, take up arms against, anyone who dares to steal what our fathers and grandfathers before them fought, and died, to defend.

Our friends and neighbors need help, please pitch in!

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

One of the things that I hear most often when someone offers an opinion as to what they would like to read in our paper, is a comment to the effect, "I would like to see more good news printed in your paper."

Unfortunately, a majority of news stories seem to be about someone running afoul of the law or a tragedy of some sort.

Most of us who work or live in and around Piqua, have heard directly, or indirectly, about several area residents who are undergoing life-changing health issues. We have run stories related to three of these.

Local resident and highly-talented musician Bob Comstock recently suffered multiple strokes which have left him facing challenges as he fights to regain speech and mobility. Dylan Blair and Mickayla Nelson are two local children who are fighting serious cases of cancer. I am certain there are other area residents who are, or who have family members, facing serious health issues, as well.

These stories would certainly fall into the "bad news" category.

We, as friends, neighbors or relatives of these troubled families have an opportunity to put a good-news label on each of these stories.

There are fund-raising events and benefits on tap and available for Bob, Dylan and  Mickaya — and, of course, their families.

We have all faced a realization from time to time, that when we are feeling sorry for ourselves or our situation, we don't have to look far to find someone whose situation is more dire than our own.

I urge everyone to take some time out of your busy schedule to participate and donate to these people who need not only our support, but also our continued prayers, as they and their families fight to overcome adversity that many of us could never know.

I attended the annual Piqua Area Chamber of Commerce meeting this week. Awards were given to several worthy residents. I was struck by the fact that Piqua is full of people who are not afraid to give back to their community.

If ever there was a time to give back, now is that time. Our community is like family. When one person is in genuine need of support, we can all pitch in a little to help relieve some of the stress.

I don't believe that anyone is asking for a huge sacrifice on anyone's part. All they are asking is that we all pitch in to help some friends who could use a helping hand at this time.

Information on all three of our neighbors-in-need is available on Facebook.

A benefit, Do It for Dylan, is being held today at the Bradford Community Club, 154 1/2 N. Miami Street, in Bradford.

Next Saturday, a event to help offset expenses for Bob Comstock is being held at the Covington Eagles.

For continuing efforts to assist Mickayla Nelson, go to Prayers for Mickayla of Facebook.

We are bombarded with television adds to save everything from dogs to earthworms. I doubt that a nickel out of every dollar donated ever finds its way to actually assist as intended.

Here is a chance to help — locally. Here is an opportunity to do something good for your neighbors.

And no matter if you can attend or donate, I hope that we all take some time each day to pray Bob, for Dyan and for Mickayla ... and for all who could use a little intervention from Above.

Teaching children the difference between fantasy and reality is parents' responsibility

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

What was the best thing that happened to your child in school last week?

Did your child have homework or personal problems that cropped up during the week?

Do you know the answers to these questions, or — do you just think that you know the answers?

As the debate about violence and gun control simmers, I think that it is time to look at the real reason for many of the violent crimes taking place in today's world.

We live in a country where everything is a fantasy. Television programing is filled with so-called "reality" shows. These programs are, in actuality, carefully choreographed programing that incites conflict and strife between friends, co-workers and even family members ... all in the name of entertainment.

I don't know where to begin with the zombie and vampire shows.

Sure, some of you are saying that I am old and out of touch with what people enjoy watching today. The truth is, there were lessons to be learned from television in the bygone era.

Programs such as Lassie, Flipper, My Three Sons and the Brady Bunch were not only entertaining, but had a lesson attached in nearly every episode. Even programs that included gun play had a very simple message — if you break the law, you pay the consequences. I don't recall ever watching Matt Dillon pull the trigger on someone who did not deserve it.

Today, when our kids watch television, they tune into programs filled with walking dead zombies who need to be killed off. The only lesson there is to kill everything in your path, just in case someone might be a zombie.

Then, of course, we have video games. It seems to me that all of them feature nothing but killing and gore. Kids, and a number of adults, say they are fun. I'm sure that they are.

The problem, as I see it, is that that we have succeeded in totally desensitizing entire generations of children, many of whom are now young adults. There is killing, blood, guts and gore everywhere. But, there are never any consequences.

I am not blaming television. I am not blaming video games. The interest in the current trend in both just shows how sick our society has become.

Our children have no sense of value. I see it every day. They do not respect others. They do not respect themselves.

One of the reasons for this is that they spend too much time in front of a computer screen or television set. We have a generation of Americans who has lost nearly all of their social skills. This is evolution?

Oh, the reason that I don't blame television and video games is the same reason that I do not blame guns. That Nintendo set did not reach out, grab your kid, chain him to a chair and say, "No supper for you until you kill 500 people, good guys, bad guys, it doesn't matter, and score a billion points." No!

More than likely, the kid is sitting there while mom and/or dad use the game as a baby sitter to keep the kid out of their hair.

It is a parent's responsibility to know what their child is doing. I know that is difficult. I look back on raising our own children and see things that I could have done, should have done, that would have made me a better parent.

I know that no matter how good a job we attempt to do as parents, nothing can ever guarantee that life will be peaches and cream for our children.

What we can do, what we must do, is balance the time spent killing zombies with family time and explain to our children the difference between fantasy and reality. Talk to your kids!

The first order of responsibility in teaching our children is not our school teachers. They play an important part, certainly. We, as parents, must always be vigilant in teaching our children morals, values and the difference between right and wrong.

The life you save, may be your child's.

We are, and must continue to be - the "well regulated militia" or life as we know it will cease to exist

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

Running neck and neck for the top of news story controversy as we ring out 2012 are the budgetary “fiscal cliff” and gun laws in our country.

Since the only thing that I know for certain about our national budget is that we are getting nowhere on the issue due to the fact that a bunch of egomaniac congressmen and our president are more worried about themselves and their personal projects than about the overall good of America, I will talk about something I do know something about — guns.

There has never been a greater push to violate our Second Amendment rights than is going on right now.

There has always been a faction of citizens who are against the ownership of guns. By and large they are liberals who believe that the government owes a living to every person who would rather sit back and draw welfare than have a job.

I will say that this latest attempt at violating the Constitution of the United States is being done in true American fashion. The American way for the last half-century has been, if a person is guilty of committing a crime, the true blame for their actions must lie somewhere else.

If someone spills hot coffee on themselves at a McDonald’s, it must be the fault of the restaurant that actually had the gall to make the coffee hot.

If someone shoots someone with a gun, it must be the fault of the weapon. I mean, after all, how could a mere human being do something so cruel? It must be the fault of the gun.

Our founding fathers gave us an unalienable right to keep and bear arms. At that point in time, it was deemed necessary for citizens to have access to arms.

This right was not only to protect ones’ family and property, but also considered necessary to citizens to protect themselves from the evils of tyranny.

I do not mean to sound paranoid, but I do not find it inconceivable that Americans should be forced to pick up arms against our government in the future. Our system of government is not only broken, it is corrupt. That corruption runs so deep that I fear it cannot be overcome.

The words used, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” were as relevant then as today.

Those who would choose to allow our government to confiscate firearms are the same people who would roll over for a socialist or communist dictatorship without putting up a fight.

I will be the first to say that many horrific tragedies in recent history have had guns involved. This is truly a shame.

However, one has only to look at suicide bombings across the Middle East or the attacks on September 11, 2001 to know that, if someone is willing to die to accomplish their crime, lack of access to a gun, legally or otherwise, will not stop them. Let me say that again, it Will. Not. Stop. Them.

Taking guns out of the hands of honest Americans is not the answer. It never will be the answer.

Increasingly, a small group of armed Americans — legally armed Americans — have been responsible for stopping armed criminals before he/she could perpetrate their crime in a number of cases. The liberal “mainstream” media likes to keep those instances under wraps. Heaven forbid Americans would know the truth.

Another stereotypical American way is that if we are afraid of, or don’t like something, we want it banned from everyone else. Just because some Americans are afraid of guns, they seem to think that guns are bad and should, therefore, be banned.

We may not like the violence in our world, but it is what we live with today. Our police are outnumbered and, in many cased outgunned.

Legally armed citizens, who are properly trained, let me repeat that with emphasis — who are properly trained — can potentially make a difference in whether the good guys prevail, or whether we someday end up as puppets at the end of strings being pulled a communist dictator, like the one we currently have in Washington.

Christmas - the good, the bad and the ugly

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

Another Christmas holiday season is upon us.

In spite of the recent tragedy in Connecticut and the "fiscal cliff" that our president seems determined to drive us over, we do have much to be thankful for.

This time of year has a way of showcasing the good in our fellow men and women.

Area school children were regular visitors to nursing homes and assisted living centers over this past month. At each stop, the smiling faces of residents reflected the joy brought into their facility by their caroling young visitors.

This past week,  a story was relayed to me from a local resident, a long-time area educator. She was visiting a local laundromat due to water issues at her home, when a gentleman entered and began to pass out envelopes to folks doing their laundry.

The stranger handed each an envelope then, unceremoniously, left the establishment. The baffled customers opened their envelopes to find a $100 bill inside. It seems the anonymous good Samaritan was out spreading Christmas cheer, taking to heart the saying, "Goodwill toward men."

There have been several reported instances from around the area of anonymous folks going into the layaway department of stores and paying off the accounts of people they never met.

I have been using up some vacation days this past week. Since I was not working, I decided to do some Christmas shopping the old fashioned way .... actually going to a store to shop, as opposed to ordering online.

The chaos was amazing.

Most of the employees of the retail establishments that I visited seemed to be taking the purchasing blitz in stride. I must say that I was pleased at the smiles on the faces of most workers. What did not surprise me was the shopping-with-blinders attitude of many out looking for gifts less than a week before Christmas.

People were scurrying about in every store, many oblivious that they were sharing the world with others. I saw people stepping in front of others and cutting people off as if their own shopping mission was far more important.

Driving was an even bigger adventure. Of course, far too many people had their cell phone growing out of their ear, one hand on the steering wheel and a glazed look in their eye as they concentrated on what they believed the most important task at hand ... getting to the next stop on their shopping trip, when they should have been worrying about driving safely.

I have mentioned before that I believe that many of us put far too much emphasis on purchasing gifts for Christmas. Sure, we have good intentions and the thought of giving to others certainly cannot be faulted. But, we have been brainwashed by retailers and given in to peer pressure that we need to buy bigger and better each year.

As we head down the home stretch to Christmas 2012, I hope that you will all take the time to sit back, take a deep breath and relax.

Think about what are really the important things in life.

Let us remember the real reason for Christmas. Also, remember that it is a time to spend with family.

I know of several area families who have family members, a couple of them children, dealing with serious health concerns this Christmas season.

I hope that all of you will take a few minutes to pray for those families in need of some extra help, maybe even a miracle, this Christmas.

Many times, the best things we can give others, aren't things we can actually see and touch.

I wish all of you are very Merry Christmas.

Latest school shootings leave many questions to be answered

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

In the face of another school shooting tragedy, it is hard to find words.

This week's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut leaves most Americans speechless as we attempt to come to terms with the deaths of these innocent victims, many of them children.

I realize as I write these words that, by the time many of you read this column, information regarding the shootings will have changed, added to and altered as more facts become available.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims. I cannot begin to imagine the horror and pain that must be weighing on not only family members but also friends and relatives in and around Newtown.

The city of Newtown is very close in size to Piqua and Troy. A CBS News correspondent described the town yesterday as "a place you go to buy apples and pumpkins."

In other words, Newtown, Connecticut is like so many other small cities across our country ... a town just like ours.

Every time a tragedy of this sort strikes, we like to say, "It won't happen here." Once again, we are seeing that "it" can happen anywhere.

Like every tragedy that occurs, there will undoubtedly be blame and finger-pointing as details come to light.

Of course, one of the most likely culprits in this situation will be the firearms themselves. People will cry long and loud that the availability of guns is to blame.

Those of us who have common sense know that nothing could be further from the truth. A gun is an inanimate object — a tool. Period. But, as was mentioned yesterday, there is a time and place for that 


discussion and this is not the time.

Another of my initial reactions to the shootings is the action taken by law enforcement investigators. I was very impressed at the way that law enforcement officials took control of the scene, worked the scene and kept journalists as up-to-date as was humanly possible, given the circumstances.

All of this was done under what must be the most trying and difficult circumstances a law enforcement officer could ever face. Many people seem to think that police officers are robots, immune from emotion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most law enforcement officers are, themselves, husbands or wives and parents to their own children.

I grieve today, not only for the victims and their families, but also for the law enforcement personnel and their families. I cannot begin to comprehend the magnitude of what they are going through.
My hat is off to all law enforcement officers who are participating in this investigation.

Members of the media are also not immune from the sorrow from a story like this. One cannot be in the vicinity of this type of tragedy without become emotionally effected.

That leaves us with, where do we go from here?

Obviously, there are many things still needing to be done regarding the investigation. There are families that are going to need support from all of us.

People will undoubtedly ask how a repeat of this tragedy can be avoided.

There will be knee-jerk reactions about more restricted access to schools, armed guards and, of course, banning guns.

As with most situations, making instant judgements are never wise.

There is no way to give a 100 percent guarantee for anyone's safety, that includes our children.

We may not want to hear it, but keeping our children behind locked doors and attempting to protect them to the nth degree also prevents them from living life as it was meant to be lived.

All we can really do is to protect them as best we can and remain vigilant to keep danger at bey.

Maybe the most important lesson is to tell those close to you, especially your children, that you love them. Life is short. You never know when you tell someone goodbye, it could be the last time.

Social media posters need to engage their brain before their fingers

By Mike Ullery
Chief Photographer
mullery@dailycall.com

This past week has been a relatively busy one for Piqua police.

A bank robbery and an aggravated assault with a box cutter topped the list of crimes on this week’s police docket.

These situations, along with other news items were covered by our Piqua Daily Call staff, the stories appeared in our newspaper as well as being posted on our website and Facebook page.

One of the advantages — and disadvantages — of posting stories to a social media site is that readers can provide comments and feedback.

I have touched on this topic in previous columns but it seems that the time is right to mention again that some folks just don’t appreciate where they live and seem to live their lives for one reason … to complain about everything they see and hear.

Let me first address the two crimes mentioned above. Several people on Facebook chose our page to make derogatory remarks regarding the Piqua Police Department. One person was even complaining about an allegedly unsolved Piqua robbery — from 1994.

First, let me point out that both of these major crimes that occurred this week have been solved. Arrests were made in both cases. The “bad guys” are off the street.

Too many people just don’t understand reality. Life is not a one-hour cop show. Solving crimes does not happen magically, and rarely in one hour. In reality, it sometimes does not happen at all. In the real world, sometimes the bad guys win.

We are fortunate in our area to be blessed with great officers on dedicated and professional law enforcement agencies.

These men and women work every day to, as the Los Angeles Police Department motto says, “Protect and Serve.”

And let us not forget that their line of work carries with it a set of dangers that most of us never have to face .

The next time that you feel like making disparaging remarks about our local law enforcement officers, think about Suzanne Hopper in nearby Clark County, who died less than two years ago in the line of duty. Or, stop by the Miami County Law Enforcement memorial at the courthouse in Troy, where the names of law enforcement officers from our hometowns are etched in granite after they made the ultimate sacrifice … for you and for me.

Along with those few who were complaining about law enforcement were the number of people who look for excuses to say horrible things about our city. Yes, our city. I live in Troy but have been made to feel welcome working in Piqua and have grown to consider it my home away from home.

I see much good in Piqua. It is there. All one has to do is to open their eyes.

Sure there are criminals in Piqua. Stuff happens everywhere and Piqua is no more, or less, prone to violence than any other local community.

Possibly, it is just human nature, but when we post stories full of good news and progress for our city, few people take notice. Let someone break the law, however; and there are hundreds of people lying in wait to talk about how that person represents the way that Piqua is as a community. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Piqua is a great community with great schools and great people.

My thoughts are that if you live in Piqua and don’t like it … leave. If you live elsewhere, don’t presume to make judgements against our city.

None of us is perfect. No community is perfect. But all one has to do is to open their eyes and look around them to see that the good far outweighs the bad in our little neck of the woods.

I don’t know about you, but I think that I will stick around.