Bøger af Ron Cook

Charles Blue, Bell, and Granny are back in a new adventure that takes them from the comfort of their home to the dangers of time travel. They are determined to solve the mystery of an unusual series of murders. Murders that put them in peril.

Conservatism is a broad term and has been loosely used to describe entire brackets of American life, politics, economics and religion. Much has been scribed by revisionists, socialists and Marxists whom tend to dominate the historiography. One glaring problem arises, which is the post-modernist bias and agenda when analyzing, usually dismissing or attacking this system of conservatism. This study will be nothing of the sort and will in fact be examining the history and historiography of conservatism through a factual and admittedly, conservative perspective. This is necessary for many reasons, none of which are more vital than correcting the academic record as to the foundations, perseverance and true identity of conservatism. The contemporary historical academic consensus is dominated by Marxist intellectuals, who have done their utmost to exclude conservative thought from higher education. This is not diversity of thought or a liberal education, but has indeed, over time created a system of indoctrination. To give American students an honest academic experience, to be confident in their roots and to be able to compete intellectually across the globe, Marxism in the historical record must step aside and allow pragmatism, classically liberal and conservative intellects to converse, publish and debate and let the individual learner think for themselves. This is the ultimate goal of this paper. To accomplish this goal, conservatism will, to some degree, be redefined to correct contemporary inaccuracies in terminology. In doing so, the rise of conservatism politically, economically as well as the fight over resources and regulation, can only be understood by looking to the Western United States, especially California, and must be scrutinized from the mid-nineteenth century through the twentieth century. It is this writer's contention that after the Civil War, conservatism was revamped and reinvented and does not always fall along the Republican and Democratic party lines, though most conservatism has normally fallen to the Republicans, with some anomalies. These incongruities can almost always be seen through the fight in America between the ideologies of progressive Marxism and conservatism. The focus of rhetoric, historical analysis and philosophical lamenting will, in this study, be along this premise and hopefully help to add to the historiography and above all, help to academically define and refine the history of American conservatism and its rise in the West, that inevitably spread across the country. According the father of the American English language, Noah Webster, the term conservative is defined as "preservative; having power to preserve in a safe or entire state, or from loss, waste or injury." This definition has not changed much in two hundred years. Lee Edwards, a prominent historian of American conservatism defined the term in 2018, "Conservatism stands on the solid rock of the American Founding and Western civilization. Its overriding principle is 'ordered liberty, ' which...conservatives everywhere are determined to preserve and protect for this generation and generations to come."Upon this definition, conservatism is to be defined as a political, economic and spiritual conglomerate that seeks to preserve democratic republicanism, strict constitutional constructionism, moral free-market capitalism, Judeo-Christian morals and ethics and prevent these from loss, waste or injury. Conservatism is not fear of the future, fear of change or progress, it is rather the power to preserve those elements of the American political, economic and cultural landscape that are fundamental, necessary and have shown proven success. Edmund Burke puts it beautifully, stating that, "A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation."

In 1977 I entered a period of my life where self doubt and depression were nearly everyday occurrences. Not liking these attitudes, I began self analysis using the Gestalt therapy teachings of Fritz Perls. From 1977 to 1980 I hung out at the Upstart Crow Bookstore ad Coffeehouse at the Pruneyard in Campbell, California. It was in this wonderfully social environment that I began sketching hundred of contour drawings of patrons and writing poetry and stream of consciousness meanderings. This book is a compilation of many of those works.

Included here are eight short stories of drama, comedy, adventure, and a memoir. The two mystery novelettes are The Great Pearl Alley Caper and The Girl Next Door. The short stories include a wannabe beatnik/hippie/punk, a frustrated writer, a lovesick coworker, a remembrance of childhood, and a peace-seeking individual in a not-too-peaceful situation. In the two novelette's, wine bars and bistros are meeting places for heroes and villains, for the working man and bum, for loves won and lost, and for rising body counts.

What happens when an unlikely couple in their 50s answers God's radical call to serve in a foreign land? In the fall of 1992, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ron and Ginny Cook uprooted their lives and headed to Kostroma, Russia. This is the story of God's word and faithfulness at a time when Russian Christians were trying to make sense of a changing culture, inflation, and new government policies. Through Ron and Ginny, these Russians heard the stories of Scripture and what God desired from their lives. But the story doesn't end with Ron and Ginny Cook or even those who serve in Kostroma today. It continues with you. The work in Russia needs more partners in ministry to support and pray for Mission to Russia, the ministry founded by Ron and Ginny. As you read, please ask and pray, "God, how might I be involved in your Mission to Russia?"

Revised 2nd EditionKorea, 1967 and 1968. The Vietnam conflict was escalating. The cold war was raging. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated. In North Korea, the Navy ship USS Pueblo was captured, and over a dozen North Koreans tried to blow up the South Korean president. And at Recreation Compound #1, barely two miles from the DMZ, forty touring Army musicians and singers attempted to keep sane through it all. Boo was a dollar a lid.