John Wayne's Thoughts about the Scout Law

I received a brochure that had the twelve words from the Scout Law, and John Wayne's comments for each term. I had never read those comments before, and I thought they were worth looking at.
Trustworthy. The badge of honesty. Having it lets you look at any man in the eye. Lacking it, he won't look back. Keep this one at the top of your list.
Loyal. They very word is life itself; for without loyalty we have no love of person or country.
Helpful. Part sharing, part caring. By helping each other, we help ourselves; not to mention mankind. Be always full of help—the dying man's last words.
Friendly. Brotherhood is part of that word. You can take it in a lot of directions—and do—but make sure and start with brotherhood.
Courteous. Allow each person his human dignity; which means a lot more than saying, "Yes, ma'am" and "Thank you, sir." It reflects an attitude that later in life you wish you had honored more . . . earlier in life. Save yourself that problem. Do it now.
Kind. This one word would stop wars and erase hatreds. But it's like your bicycle, it's just no good unless you get out and use it.
Obedient. Starts at home. Practice it in your family. Enlarge it in your friends. Share it with humanity.
Cheerful. Anyone can put on a happy face when the going is good. The secret is to wear it as a mask for your problems. It might surprise you how many others do the same thing.
Thrifty. Means a lot more than putting pennies away; and it is the opposite of cheap. Common sense covers it just about as well as anything.
Brave. You don't have to fight to be brave. Millions of good, fine decent folks show more bravery than heavyweight champs just by getting out of bed every morning, going out to do a good day's work, and living the best life they know how against the law of odds. Keep the word handy every day of your life.
Clean. Soap and water helps a lot on the outside. But it is the inside that counts, and don't ever forget it.
Reverent. Believe in anything that you want to believe in, but keep God at the top of it. With Him, life can be a beautiful experience. Without Him, you are just biding time.

Public Education—Two Charts

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how about charts showing the increase in spending on education compared to results. (From Cato.)

Cartoons a Day Late

As I was thinking about the Everyone Draw Mohammed Day, I thought about what would qualify as an image of Mohammed. Would it be a drawing of his face. What if he were unrecognizably far away or just part of his body was illustrated. Would that count as blasphemy? What if he was in an image, but hidden? What if there were no image, but I just said he was there. That got me thinking about my first drawing, which I call “Mohammed in a Blizzard.”


Going down this path led me to some of those little drawings that are kind of optical illusion doodles—they look like one thing, but can be seen in another way. Is it blasphemy to draw Mohammed as a geometrical shape? I call this “Mohammed Frying an Egg.”


In a like vein, I can draw just his hands and feet in “Looking Out a Window at Mohammed Climbing a Tree.”


None of my illustrations are meant to picture Mohammed in a negative light. In fact, my last illustration is a triumphant image of conquest. This is a stick man image of Mohammed in a drawing I call, “Mohammed at the Top of Mount Everest.”