Jerald DeGraw

Is EVERYONE ready for a drastic rise in gasoline prices? Don't blame THIS Clown, blame the OTHER one :-(

Paul Michelsen

Got a two-wheel Put-Put. all set.

Jim Priskos

Dale, you truely are a product of the media that was a part of your life for so long. With a label for these people and another label those people and and another for everyone that is not like you. As far as offending me, good luck, I grew up on 4th East and 6th south and attended Sumner Elementary where I was that minority you speak of all the time. I learned then, 60 plus years ago, not to see color and difference, instead, see the person. I encourage you to continue to fight for your causes, however, I think today is a great day to step away from all labels and all of the million things that make us different. Find strength in what makes us alike. We have all faced injustice. We all see the signs and slogans that enrage us, it's just that some of us work through it and some of us allow those things to consume us. Think long, which kind of person will you be, the labeler or the true difference maker?

Jerald DeGraw

I'm liking all this (who cares, Clown Boy:-) Actually, I AM still a boy...can't seem to grow up...DON'T like being called a Man...something wrong in My head, I guess ( besides severe daily migraines, many concussions and 4 Transient Ischemic Attacks...Ya' Think?) but I'm gonna just go with that, if it's OK with everyone :-). So...I'm worried about the rest of You...Where's Fontana, Hampshire, Schow, Ledbetter, Smith, Alvera, Burns (not Frank), Weed, Wheatley, Wong, Westerkamp, Wall, Wallace, Ward, Woodrome, Wilson, Whiting...Wait...What?..............EVERYONE???!!!

Gerd Eysser

Remember for decades we were encouraged to be 'color blind'.   Good or bad advice then?  Now?  

Dale Charlie Salazar

Yes Jim labels are bad.  I thought we were past that as well until three young men accosted me one evening three year ago outside a 7-11 telling me I didn't belong in this country that I should go back to Mexico. I had not known fear like that in many years.

As for my label of the new Superintendent in the City District, I feel this is historic. Excuse me. This would've been unheard of 10 or 15 years ago.  It brought back the cause we crusaded for 50 years ago in a quest for equality and acceptance.  

I will say this about South.  I felt less racism here than any othere school I ever attended except Sumner or the school in El Paso I attended in Junior High.  People at South were much less judgemental than East.

I'm enclosing our 4th grade picture from Sumner and I'm puzzled how you determined you were a minority.

Jerald DeGraw

Love it...keep 'em coming...PLEASE :-)

Richard Smith

Hi Jerry, I have a small advantage because of a decade of research and public speaking which began with Zacharia Sitichin a Russian born Jew who dedicated his life to exposing one of the world's first cosmologies with advanced medicine, culture, libraries, education, and interpreting ancient Sumarian language. He is considered to be responsible for bringing the ancient Sumerian culture and their gods, the Anunnaki, the Epic of Gilgamesh and a picture of the everyday Sumarian lives to our modern purview. Here is a world timeline he created from his decades of research. Definitely outside the 6,000 year timeline that was imposed so we wouldn't learn about who we are and where we came from.

Charlotte Warr (Andersen)

When I was a child my oldest brother was sent on a mission to West Texas/Nothern Mexico for 2 years. I remember being with my family when we greeted him at his homecoming and getting off the bus. One of the first things he told my parents when he got off the bus was that he had met a girl and he was going to turn right back around and return to her and marry her. She turned out to be hispanic. My parents were appalled. They immediately put the pressure on him saying it was unacceptable and what kind of life could he have with a mixed marriage. (I was eavesdropping because I'm sure it was not a conversation I was supposed to hear.) After some coercion my brother relented. I don't know if he ever wrote to the girl or apologized but I do remember feeling quite disappointed in my parents and I think I lost a bit of respect for them. My brother met a very nice girl at BYU and they are still married to this day.

My second oldest brother was sent on a mission to Alaska/Bristish Columbia. He returned and shortly after a girl followed him home, uninvited. My mother managed to put her up somewhere. I can't quite remember if had had to share a bed with my sister because of Shirley. But, boy, did I hate her. She was mean and bossy and I was abhorred at the thought she might become family. She was determined to marry my brother. But he finally sucked up the strength to tell her to go home. He married my sister's best friend instead.

My third brother was sent on a mission to England. He came home an atheist. He and I think very alike.

Charlotte Warr (Andersen)

Charlotte Warr (Andersen)

Richard Smith

Charlotte, thank you for sharing what is obviously a personal and potentially hurtful experience. Short of doing my family laundry in public, I too experienced a profound shock upon learning about prejudice in my own family. I was born in Salt Lake City, in a house a stone throw east of the Coachman restaurant on State and 1300 South. My mother, a devout Mormon; was too prejudiced. Her mother, my grandmother, with her mother, my great grandmother, had left Denmark in the dead of night to come to America after being converted by Mormon missionaries. My great grandfather and another daughter learned the next morning of my great grandmother's decision. I'm not sure why but they ended up in Preston, Idaho.

My mother, after a divorce because her husband wandered with more than his eyes, met and became attracted to what my grandmother said was a man who was too good looking to be allowed to live and that he could sell "shi#" to a farmer. I have no idea what possessed my mother but my father was a polygamist and although his first wife said no way, and divorced him, my mother became his 3rd wife. It didn't last long and when I was 2 1/2 years old my mother "got out".

It was during, what was to become the State of Utah's last polygamist witch hunt, and although too young to remember a lot of it, we lived minute to minute always waiting for the "warning" phone call to come. When it did, and it came several times during my young life, the bags were always packed and ready to go to avoid the Sheriff. The Mormon church which had made a secret agreement with the State of Utah to pay for the additional costs related to tracking down and arresting the polygamist father's throughout Utah, but found that all it really accomplished was to break up families, and send the state's welfare costs over the top. Although my mother never took a dime from state coffers, nor did the other "sisterwives", the State of Utah and the Mormon church decimated thousands of families. Today there are over 30,000 polygamists in Utah.

One time we found ourselves in Albuquerque, New Mexico, another time in Porcatello, Idaho. Pretty tough on school schedules for my older 2 sisters and a brother. My dad spent a couple years in prison along with many other polygamists.

The reason for the long story is because regardless of what life threw at my mother, she took it head first and single handedly raise 5 kids. She scrubbed other people's floors, and rented out 3 of the 4 bedrooms in our home, one of them her own (she slept on the couch and kept her clothes in a box behind the couch) to disabled military men. My mother, even after being excommunicated from the Mormon church, and then having to fight the church to allow me and my younger brother to be baptised, she remained faithful and dedicated to the Mormon church. Inspite of what I consider to be an incredible difficult road to travel, we always had food for every meal and a safe, and dry place to sleep, my mother was prejudice. I think this is what's called "white privilege" today.

How do you explain being prejudiced? I had no clue that my mother felt the way she did toward other races until I was in my 40's and her in her 80's. One time we were at Chuck A Rama, and as a large female waitress walked by, talking about how much her feet hurt, I was shocked to hear my mother say, "well, if you would miss a meal or two, they wouldn't hurt as much!" Wow, I really didn't know how to feel, that was just one of her prejudices.

My mother had been raised on a farm in Idaho, her and her husband's wedding gift was a small piece of land and enough gunny sacks that, after filled with dirt, became the foundation for their first home. Her dad didn't believe a woman needed an education so the 6th grade was the highest grade she completed in school.

I've learned in recent years that both my older sisters and older brother also carry prejudices but my younger brother and I don't, that I'm consciously aware, of but I'm still young.

I think being prejudiced can come from being discriminated against and/or seeing it demonstrated by a peer or someone significant in your life. I probably don't handle it well because I don't want to be around my older brother, whom I love very much, because his attitude towards others, simply because of race, is sickening. There are good, bad and contrary people in every race, religion, in both the seen and unseen worlds, but except for the suit we wear, everyone of us comes from the same spirit or intelligence source. Incidently, that spirit or intelligence doesn't need your acceptance or recognition to be.

There is a cure for it and I totally agree with Jim that if you dwell with or in it then it will consume and define you, but if you accept that we are all independantly, at different levels of understanding and that it is an individual problem, not an ethnic or other group problem, by forgiving and loving it will naturally go away.

Dale Charlie Salazar

Charlotte and Richard thank you for shaging.  Things about eiether of you i never knew.  In my world I was too afraid to get to know many people upclose because of my early history in Salt Lake and the negativity.

In my business the first lesson I learned was to "seek to understand."  I wish I had learned that lesson in high school and may have gotten to know some of you better.

Richard Smith

Thank you Dale,

Except for our families, it seems that those we grow up with, especially our high school buddies, are a constant in our lives. We all experience so many of the same "learning" experiences that, at the time we are going through them, we feel alone, isolated, and often victimized. We are just brothers and sisters with different mothers and fathers. We have so much in common and we can still learn from each other and be a source of support.

When my family moved back to Salt Lake from living in Malad Idaho for 5 years, 6th grade to 10th, I was so excited about going to South High. We lived at 10th East and 1300 South and I should have gone to East but I wanted to go to South. The student body at South High was larger than the entire population of Malad. I was so impressed with my Greek friends, Pete, and a dozen Jim's, Dino and so many others. There were so many of them and they were such a tight complimentary group, I was jealous, I had often wished that I had been Greek, lol. I so loved being at South.

Jim Priskos

Richard,thanks for the kind words about people with my ethnic roots. Also, Thanks to you Dale for the awesome picture of the 4th grade class at Sumner Elementary. If you really look at all of the students you see the diversity of the American experiment. And if you could  track each of them, again, you'd see the way each used there experiences in there later life, some for excellence some, not so much. That's also the reason South was the such a wonderful school, we had so many different cultural backgrounds. What a great opportunity to see and understand so many people. 

Charlotte Warr (Andersen)

Oh, Dale, the things our wayward typing fingers do to us! One more "g" and you would have been in big trouble! Thanks for my laugh for the morning.

Richard, I have to say my story was not painful to tell. But yours was truly sorrowful and I wish you had not had to go through such angst.

My husband still hears from from George Souvall 2 or 3 times a year. He and his wife, Mary are still hanging in there. He introduced us to the Greek Garden restaurant that used to be on 4800 S and State. I have a funny story about that restaurant if anyone wants to hear it. But I'm off to work this morning and don't have time for it right now.

Richard Smith

Dale, this is in your honor. Looks like this is how the secrets are going to become public. They cover Roswell and other alien crafts and body retrievals and even the alien autopcy. Very interesting and worth the watch.

Very graphic so be warned!

Richard Smith

Thank you Jim and Charlotte for your comments!

I appologize for not warning all of you that watched the alien video, I hadn't watched it completely until later and it is rather graphic and revealing. If you haven't watched it yet, it is awful what the aliens do to other species. They are scientists and don't appear to have a conscience. As our commander reported, he has seen the dark side of this species.

Paul Michelsen

The good ol days

Jerald DeGraw

Richard, I have been studying Your post concerning Zecharia - before I can go much further, I noticed He didn't reference chapter and verse in Genesis. I did a thorough computer search for 'Nephilim' and 'Daughters of Men', but they're not there, as stated. Do You have those references? I will continue the research, but I'm wondering If He is/was aware that the Earth was formed from existing materials that were MANY years older than 6,000...? Does He explain what evidence He has for that Timeline? The time, expressed in Thousands - are those Years before Christ or does He even acknowledge The Savior of The World? Thanks:-)

Charlotte Warr (Andersen)

It’s time to lighten up. No one seemed to want to hear my Grecian Garden story but I’m going to tell it anyway.

Some of you may know that I am a well-known quilt instructor as is my best friend, Jeana. Many years ago Jeana made the acquaintance of a quilter in Australia. I think they made a connection because this woman was also Mormon. This woman (I can’t remember her name) was going to come on a several weeks tour with other Australian quilters for several weeks and was going to be passing through Salt Lake City; she wanted to have dinner and told Jeana to ask me along. Jeana asked her what kind of meal she wanted. She said she hadn’t had any lamb since leaving home. Neither Jeana  or I were much of restaurant patrons at the time and I knew that George Souvall knew a lot about lamb. So I called him and he recommended the Grecian Garden. We made our plans and headed there.

We arrived at the restaurant to find it almost empty. There was one other couple seated way off in a dark corner. I had no idea there was going to be live entertainment. I used to be easily embarrassed – not so much now. All three of us were on the zaftig (plus) side. This gorgeous, well-stacked belly dancer emerged and proceeded to do the dance of the seven veils with the hips swaying, the jingling and the boobs shaking. Since we seemed to be her only audience she spent a lot of time hovering around our table. She seemed to like to thrust her cleavage at us as if to say, “look what I have and you don’t” to 3 frumpy women. It was not the sort of entertainment you arrange for a good Mormon woman. Jeana and I were somewhat humiliated by it and our guest offered no thoughts. After we dropped her off at her hotel we were laughing off our shock and giggled about it all the way home.

Jerald DeGraw

Ha, Au Contraire, I found Your story VERY interesting, Char! Partly, I guess, because I served My Mission in Australia and it was good hearing the name 'Souval' again...with permission, We were allowed to go to a few Pubs, in the Outback, since food was hard to come by and the Pubs always had GREAT tasting Lamb...Oddly enough, My Companion's name was Elder Lamb, from Canada:-) Would love to know the name of quilter Aussie :-)

     --- Crocodile DeGraw

Charlotte Warr (Andersen)

I will have to ask Jeana if she remembers the quilter's name, Jerry.

Paul Michelsen

Richard Smith

Charlotte, I'm sorry, I just assumed you would tell the story when you had time. Thanks for posting, I loved it. I think when Jim Georgelas was younger, as we all were once, was in a band that played for the dancers.

Jerry, Sitchin published 8, 9 or more books before his death a couple years ago. He is generally credited with the discovery or recovery of the ancient Sumarian civilization and the translation of their records and history as they lived and what they were taught by the Annunaki, those who from heaven to earth came. I'm surprised you came up empty on your search as the Sons of God, and the Daughters of men, or man, is biblical. The Nephilim were the children of the Sons of God, giants, that took of the Daughters of man as they pleased. God was upset because it destroyed the purity of the DNA, bloodline of man, thereby making him ineligible for Christ's atonement. Thus God brought on the flood, after finding the only family, Noah's, that still had a pure bloodline,  but as the bible says, there were giants in the land afterwards too. The giants are everywhere in the bible and they were the ones the Israelites were told to go destroy as they went into the promised land. Best advice I can offer, because there is so much material, is his Genesis Revisited. It turned my world upside down and pointed me in what I consider to be a better orientation. I'm not necessarily a bible scholar and just quickly posted from memory here, so I could have some unintended errors.