{No photos today… you’ll just have to picture the meeting through the eyes of special guest correspondent, Phil Shore:}
Although the sun was mightily shining as we began our meeting, Joy Menius regaled us with a batch of rainy day songs that bolstered our spirits and upholstered our conversation. The chatter at my table mostly had to do with a bunch of Carolina sports fans declaring it unfair to allow giants to play basketball.
Mini Singh introduced our guests. Jim Biggers, Jackie Biggers, and Ann Grey were guests of Sandy Grey. Carol Matney brought Christie Smith. Emily Ledwell was the guest of Jerry Hill.
We hosted two student guests from Asheboro High School. Brandie Tew is a varsity cheerleader, a member of the National Honor Society and the Key Club. Her hobbies are photography and laying out in the sun. She plans to attend either East Carolina, Western Carolina or Appalachian to major in physical therapy or exercise science. With her was Eric Araj. Eric belongs to the Board Game Club. He enjoys cycling, racing, soccer, and football. He will pursue a major in engineering at a yet undetermined institute of higher education.
President H.R. noted that Carole Gilliam’s two daughters had written a note of thanks to the club for its concern and caring after Carole’s death. They included a $300 donation to the Rotary Foundation with their message. This was much appreciated by the membership.
Russ Williams called an area Rotary event to our attention. There will be a Valentine’s Day dinner and concert offered shortly in Greensboro. Stay tuned for more details.
We will have a vist from the Taiwan GSE team in April. They will be in our area April 16-19. Two host family homes are needed. If you care to open your home to these exciting visitors, please let Rob know.
Our speaker today was Dr. Larry Simpson, a history professor from High Point University. Jamie Stitt asked him to return to bring us up to speed on events and causes in the Middle East. Ladies and gentlemen, your humble scribe did not understand what he heard. This was not the fault of Dr. Simpson whose presentation was brief, factual, and well organized. It is the fault of too much information attempting to enter a much too inferior brain. Dr. Simpson presented a paper to us on the underlying causes of tension between the US and Iran. In his last visit, Dr. Simpson emphasized his opinion that there is a high likelihood of conflict between these two nations.
Today he delved beneath the surface to the economic and political reasons. This has mostly to do with Russian and Chinese (PRC) support for Iran. These three less than democratic entities have aligned their needs to form strengths. China needs oil and is willing to invest in Iran’s production infrastructure. Russia as an oil producer seeks to stabilize prices and keep business flowing. Beneath these subterranean currents, deeper still, there is trade in weapons and equipment to make weapons that may or may not be those of mass destruction, but who can tell? It was a gloomy picture in any case, one of nations playing hegemony cricket, rugby rules.
I have feeling that the powers, thrones and dominions of the world would benefit from a copy of the Four Way Test.
