Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available, and works co-operatively against common threats." 
-- Charles Darwin

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

DK,
Are you toasting "Arnold Palmers" this weekend?          
Arnold Palmer is the face of golf and part of your legacy.        
He was a champion and a gentleman who drew spectators to PGA tournaments, and was the force behind the golf channel. 
There will never be another Arnold Palmer. 

When do you head out for your golf season?      
Hit them long and straight.      
Janis

Donald Henry Kuehn

Just saw your post. Actually, I met Mr.Palmer 15 days before he died. I was playing in a tournament in Western PA and realized it was his birthday, so I drove to Latrobe and found a card that was (somewhat) appropriate and took it to Latrobe Country Club thinking I would just drop it off and go on my way. To my surprise, he was just coming into the clubhouse for lunch and we had a short, but memorable, chat before he joined family and friends for lunch. Unforgettable.

I don't think I posted this before, but here is the link to the video of my induction into the KC Golf Hall of Fame (in case you're interested):  https://youtu.be/Mb9wPVZsnPQ

My tournament season doesn't begin until next month and this year's schedule is kinda' screwed up. Because of shifting dates and the obligation to defend seven titles I won last year, I have to skip some events and a couple of others have changed formats and eliminated flights for us older guys. I will still get into 5 or 6 national events and the rest of my time will be focused on Kansas, Kansas City and Missouri tournaments.

DK

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Hi DK!    
You posted on my birthday, but I'll pass on the dying part.      
I continue to share your post #1895 and https://youtu.be/Mb9wPVZsnPQ with friends who golf (and some who don't); you have a growing fan club in awe of your physical and mental prowess on the golf course.    
Please keep us in the loop about your "kinda screwed up" scheduled tournaments adjusted to defend your championships; you too are a champion and a gentleman: Way to go! 
Janis 
P.S. Have you ever played in a Pro-Am?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Millions of brackets busted on Day One of March Madness.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Millions more brackets busted on Day Two.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

No perfect brackets remain after Day Three.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Considering No 15 and 16 seeds won games,

and previously dominant No 1 seeds exited early,

it's probably smart to expect the unexpected

for Sweet 16 teams remaining in the bracket,

just two wins away from reaching the Final Four.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

March Madness 2023 is a year of sheer madness and unpredictability;

for the first time ever,

the NCAA Tournament Year of Upsets

not one No 1 seed will be featured in the Elite 8 round:

all four No 1 seeds  o u t ,   g o n e

                before the Elite 8 begins.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

 And then there were four:  
      the most random Final Four ever.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Thoughts and prayers" ring hollow.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."        
-- Edmund Burke

We are an archaic people sacrificing our children to the gun (our _OD).

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

March madness culminates in amazing April champions (and coaches) of women's and men's teams.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem (we) are unwilling to resolve." 
-- Miroslav Volf

Until we value people more than guns, the rather absurd interpretation of the 2nd Amendment that rules in Congress reinforces the inconvenient truth that mass killings are normative in the U.S.

It doesn't have to be this way; rather than wait for the miraculous, we can VOTE for political leaders who have ears to hear our voices, and confront the violence that engulfs us.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The city on a hill is not shining tonight.

In an unprecedented power play,        
the "undemocratic" Tennessee State House expelled two black lawmakers for participating in a protest on the House floor following the mass shooting at a Nashville school.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

   #🟦

   #🟦 campaign  
    is aimed at raising awareness,      
    and meant to mobilize Americans,      
    especially non-Jews,        
    to stand up against anti-semitism.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"No man is an island,        
 Entire of itself;        
 Every man is a piece of the continent,      
 A part of the main."        
 -- John Donne

The definition of the Swahili word "ubuntu" is "I am because you are."      
The understanding is that when we see one another as having deep value, and that together we contribute toward the common good and welfare of others, everyone wins.

Ubuntu.      
We are not islands.    
We are not meant to be bereft of community.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Our bodies and our minds are not meant to bear the trauma of mass shootings."  -- Kentucky Gov Andy Beshear          

The victims are our family, our friends, our neighbors.      
No place on earth faces the frequency of deadly mass violence as occurs in the U.S.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

There is much I do not understand and must let be.      
What I do not understand and cannot let be is our inability / the lack of will to find common ground about how to stop (slow) the epidemic of gun violence in America.

We are the only industrialized country that chooses guns over common gun sense.    
Simultaneous to slaughter in America there are U.S. states passing legislation that puts more shooters with weapons of war on the street.

Why are we not working together to pass common gun sense legislation?

V O T E  for gun reform.

Robert Earl Olson

We have short memories. Bush let the law against possession of semi automatic weapons expire in about 2004 and we can't seem to get it back. Kids in our era were taught to fear Russia. Remember the civil defense alerts with sirens and hiding under our desks? Now kids practice fear mass murders and practice how to defend themselves. Pity 

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

What a relief, to hear a classmate's voice, Bob.      
We all need to stand up and make our voices heard.        
Support gun reform.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

  If guns aren't the problem,

       people are (the problem);

why do we want the problem to have guns?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

"Fire and explosions are everywhere," said a doctor in a public hospital in Omdurman, sister city of Khartoum, Sudan. "We haven't seen such battles in Khartoum before," said a resident of the Sudanese capital city. Gunfire exploded after days of tension centering around a dispute about a proposed transition to civilian rule.

I lived in Khartoum, Sudan, 1958-59 school year.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

When are guns going to start making us safer?      
If more guns is the answer, the U.S.
(with the highest per capita rate of assault weapon ownership on the planet),
should be the safest country in the world.

Alas! AMERICA IS ARMED & DANGEROUS

Absolutely frightening to see national Republicans, and every Republican who's a 2024 presidential wannabe, court the NRA in the wake of rising mass shootings. Defiant as ever, the GOP pledged their undying loyalty to the NRA and the gun lobby.

Republicans are all about protecting weapons of war on our streets and gloss over the loss of liberty Americans are experiencing at school, and birthday parties, concerts in the park, and everywhere else. Americans are changing their lifestyles and their patterns of behavior.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Traveling in Europe, the Sudan (and what is now South Sudan), and Egypt in 1958-59 as a 12 and 13 year old, I wondered about people's conception of the U.S. Little did I realize how accurate their view of life in America is in 2023.

Doorbell shootings, and wrong turn shooting deaths are part of the landscape. The U.S. is under siege.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Armed & Dangerous
What is wrong in America?      
How is it possible we live in this space where Americans are shooting Americans for honest mistakes?

Is our focus on leaving earth        
- or -             
caring for one another and the earth?

What's happening in Ukraine and Sudan?        
Ukraine 🇺🇦 struggles on with its fight for independence. Ukraine is on a long path to NATO membership.       
Sudan 🇸🇩 is verging on civil war. After failed attempts for a cease fire, the U.S. is positioning "additional capabilities" near Sudan to be in place for possible evacuation of the American Embassy in Khartoum. (A Russian mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group, which has close ties to the Kremlin, has made inroads across Africa in recent years and has been influencing operations in Sudan since 2017.)

We live in a volatile world.