Ron's Introduction

Hello out there. Allow me to introduce myself.

I am Ron Simpson, born of a Native-Alaskan father and a second-generation Norwegian mother. I grew up in Ketchikan, Alaska, one of those wonderful small towns that probably no longer exists anywhere in the sense that the society that fostered that atmosphere no longer seems to exist. Thus I took with me into adulthood some very strongly-rooted small town USA values.

Ours was a town of mixed population in that it was the home of Tlingits, Haidas and Tsimpsian Indians who made their livings mainly in the fishing and timber industries that once dominated the area. Dad became the local community college director about 1964 after about ten years teaching in the local schools. He always emphasized the need to develop practical and marketable skills. The community college he oversaw represented his philosophy of making such practical educational opportunities available to all who wanted them at a very reasonable cost with the cirriculum presented in ways that fit in well with the community.

Since I first entered high school I took up an interest in politics, especially cold war politics. The communists running the Soviet Union, East Germany, China, Vietnam and North Korea fascinated me. I never could understand how such atrocious people could get away with enchaining entire nations and then proceed to capture other nations whole, such as Tibet or Hungary or Czechoslovakia. I have always viewed the communists as vicious predators and their fellow traveler supporters as either stupidly naive or, worse, evil. My opinions on far left systems, which I know understand to include the Nazis and their fascist allies, have changed little in all those years. I still regard that far left as the enemy. Even then I knew that many of their supporters existed in positions of influence and authority here in the United States. I always knew this would eventually cost us dearly. We are rapidly arriving at that point.

I graduated from "KayHi" in 1968. I was second in my class out of 77.  It was easy for me. As it turned out, college was not so easy, but that was a good thing. Life itself is not so easy. By then I had already won a full Reserved Officers' Training Corps 4-year college scholarship. I chose to take that up at Oregon State College, not far from where my mother's folks still lived. I wanted to serve my country. The ROTC seemed like the ideal means to do so. After graduation I would become an officer in the US Army. At the time it looked like the beginning of a fine career.

These details are important because they help explain how I view the world. 

More to follow. 

Me during my college years on a beach near Ketchikan. Clothing fashion was never my forte.   In fact, "fitting in" was never even a consideration and still is not. I know how to fit in well thanks to my days as a military officer. I can do it when I choose. But I have never ranked "being popular" as a particularly desirable trait. Guess I found my "karma" there.   (Click image for larger one).