Rants and Raves

What a waste!

2011-10-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

I just watched Diane Sawyer's report on the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota and the poverty running rampant there. Fifteen people living in a trailer, high unemployment, alcoholism uncontrolled, half the population is diabetic, there are no businesses: no banks, no shops, nothing!

Now, just think. Over the next several months the Republican candidates for president and the president himself will raise more than $100 million vying for a $200,000 a year job. They will piss that money away on radio and television time and travel to places near and far to tell us why they're the best person to lead this country.

That money can be better spent!

It will build 1,000 homes priced at $100,000 each. It will provide over one million,eight hundred thousand meals, three-a-day. It will build five new schools or educate 5,000 kids for four years.

I hope one of these days we'll get our priorities straight!

Age is but a number

2011-09-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

Having been unemployed for more than a year I'm becoming more disgusted than discouraged.

I've applied for over 150 jobs and haven't gotten the first interview. I've removed all the dates from my resume as well as historical references because they immediately tell an employer I'm older than 50 and that seems to be a liability these days.

Unfortunately, when you're required to fill out an employment application it demands you fill in the dates of employment which obviously sends up a "red flag" to the employer that you're "over the hill."

So, as you climb the ladder of life you suddenly become incompetent, inept, incapable and, regretfully, inconsequential, and that is so inaccurate.

Firms looking for public relations people will hire a pretty face from the television news even though the anchor or reporter has absolutely no experience in that field. They don't take into account you've been doing the job voluntarily and successfully for more than 30 years, the latest just a week ago.

Retail managers see your receding hairline and assume you can't relate to the younger crowd, their prime customer even though you've been working and relating with teenagers and young adults for 35 years.

The fact that I've been writing editorials, magazine articles, the latest appearing in the October issue of Metropolitan Magazine, newspaper columns, letters to the editor and even my memoirs seems to be overlooked by those needing a writer.

Radio and television stations disregard the years as a nightly anchor and reporter, as an interviewer on the morning program, as a producer and host of a weekly public service program and, as recently as 2003, the writer, producer, director and host of a Civil War documentary. I guess it doesn't matter that I wrote and hosted an "old time radio" program on WOIC-AM and the internet in 2009.

I've been substitute teaching since February interacting with kids from elementary through high school and it's probably the most rewarding job I've ever had. Getting up early in the morning isn't my cup of tea but working with these kids, remembering my high school Math, English and Science and calling upon my experiences to pass that information on to the next generation is exhilarating. The school district obviously doesn't think I'm too old to do this.

However, when reality bites and I've come back down to Earth, I realize I need a higher paying job because I still have outstanding debts from the business I had to close in 2010.

From the looks of it I may never have a full-time job again and that's a shame. I'm not quite ready to "cash in my chips." It's just hard to convince an employer of that.

Where have the jobs gone?

2011-09-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

All the potential presidential candidates are unanimous about one thing. They want to create jobs.

I want them to create jobs too because I need one.

However, they haven't heeded history, which is not unusual.

In the 1700's America was an agricultural nation growing food not only for our population but for those abroad who needed it.

Between 1820 and 1870 the Industrial Revolution brought manufacturing to the nation. We built things. We created things to build. We sold those items abroad.

In the 1980's the textile manufacturers sent their looms overseas so we no longer manufactured clothing.

With the advent of computers we started building them here at home. Now the parts are built in other countries and might be assembled in Mexico or the Philippines.

Then we became a service country, coming up with solutions to problems with the computers we used to build.

Now we're a country solely of consumers, manufacturing little, using much, demanding more and cheaper goods.

So we've gone from a country which could take care of itself to one dependent upon others.

Where are the jobs? We've outsourced them to China, Thailand, India, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam (I guess the war is officially over).

Which means we've contributed to the growth of the economies of the above countries while adding high paying jobs for them. Since we don't make anything here anymore the only growth in the economy comes from government jobs which has inflated the government bureaucracy and created jobs we don't need, many of which overlap those which already existed.

These presidential candidates wonder where the jobs went? They left the country because we didn't care enough to save them by giving manufacturers some incentive to stay in the U.S. or penalties if they left.

And, we as a people, are equally at fault for refusing to spend a few dollars more for products that are now made overseas.

So to the politicians who claim they will create jobs here at home and give no plan on how to do it I say, "save the taxpayer time and money. Drop out of the race now because you're all full of crap!

Labor Day

2011-09-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

How come, the one day set aside to honor work, nobody works? Federal and state offices are closed. The only thing that's open entices us to spend money. Somehow, there's something screwy here!

A Day at the Fair

2011-07-31T06:10:00.000-07:00

I just auditioned for a commercial for the South Carolina State Fair, and it got me thinking about the annual 10-day event.

Retail people hate it. Fairgoers save their money for a week before the fair so there's no business. Everyone is spending their money at the fair for 10 days so there's no business. Then everyone has spent all their money at the fair and there's no money for anything else so there's no business. That means almost the entire month of October is shot.

However, for those who attend the fair it's a happy event.

The family drives to the fairgrounds anticipating an exciting day of activities. Two and a half miles from their destination traffic forces them to a complete stop. Unfortunately, they're on the wrong side of the railroad tracks and the 250 car, 9:45 freight train from Orlando has just crossed the highway travelling at a meteoric 15 miles an hour.

Thirty minutes later, the railroad gate goes up and the traffic is still backed up because other people who knew the train was coming used a detour under the tracks to get in the traffic line for the fair.

An hour and a half later you finally arrive at gate "A", the gate closest to the fair entrance and you're excited about your good luck. Unfortunately you're in row 345 which is in the next county. The shuttle bus takes 30 minutes to get you to the box office where you pay your $5 per person.

Two and a half hours have passed and you just got to the front gate!

You look around at the rides, the midway and the games, the food kiosks and the exhibits and farm animals and your excitement peaks.

However, anyone over 40 does not ride the rides. They get sick going around in circles, and besides, they get the same treatment at work five days a week so why should they pay for the same thing they get for free?

The happy family walks past the midway. The games are enticing however, why would you throw dull darts at underinflated balloons which bounce off the rubber and increase your anxiety and blood pressure? Now, if you could throw darts at your congressman, that might be fun.

Toss a ring around a coke bottle. Bounce a ball into a numbered slot. Fill the clown's mouth with water and pop the balloon. Have the prognostigator guess your age (or stress level?). Are we having fun yet?

Meanwhile, the kids you brought with you are having a blast. At least you think they are because you haven't seen them since you paid to get in. They're on the roller coaster or the thing that goes upside down. Maybe they're on the ride that takes them vertically into the statosphere and drops them to within a foot of the ground leaving their stomachs, heart and mind somewhere "up there!"

You and your partner continue walking around the fairgrounds looking for excitement and something to do. Entering the Animal Husbandry exhibit you try your hand at milking a cow just in case you get lost somewhere on the Isle of Guernsey and need a quick meal.

Entering one of the buildings you view the artwork and crafts.

"Look, Henrietta, isn't that interesting?" which is code for "my three-year old niece could do better blindfolded."

Returning outdoors, you smell it. The aromas mixing together to get the juices flowing. It's fair food!

Fried mushrooms, fried elephant ears, fried Oreos, fried butter. (My cholesterol just shot up 20 points as i wrote this.) Italian and Polish sausage that wouldn't be recognized by any respectable resident of Warsaw or Rome, but who cares? It's "dirty food," fair food and it has a taste all its own. Besides, your wife already told you she wasn't cooking tonite which is why you're at the fair to begin with.

An hour later you round up the kids and head for the exit vowing, "never again" but knowing you'll be back next year because it's the "State Fair" and it's just something everyone does.

Potter and Percy

2011-07-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

I saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II" this morning and while I know it received five stars and great reviews I'm not ready to say I liked it.

That's not unusual. Some of these films I've had to see a number of times to really appreciate them. "Hallows, Part I" I saw last night to bring myself up to date and I realize it was a really s l o w film.

I've enjoyed both the books and the movies and most of the films were great, it's just taken me a little longer to appreciate them.

Now that the franchise is over I'd like to see the Rick Riordon books come to the screen. Only one was made, "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief." It's time to make the rest of them. Hey, Rick, Logan Lerman, are you listening?

To the Moon and Back

2011-07-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

"Atlantis" blasted into the sky from Cape Canaveral on the final flight of the space shuttle program. How sad!

I remember President John Kennedy appearing on national television challenging us to go to the moon.

October 12, 1957. The United States was stunned to learn the Soviet Union, our adversaries in what presidential advisor Bernard Baruch of S. C. called "the cold war," had sent a small satellite into Earth orbit. The constant beeping of "Sputnick" from outer space sent a chilling reminder to President Kennedy and others that the Russians had a viable program underway to explore space.

To add to America's woes, the Soviets put a man into space, Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961.

A few weeks later, the 35th president challenged the nation to, "Commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."

Eight years, 1 month and 26 days later, Neil Armstrong put his bootprints in the surface dust of the moon.

Now, after 50 years of dominance in space, the United States is abandoning its preeminence and leaving future challenges to the very nation President Kennedy exhorted us to defeat, Russia.

Other nations have also sent satellites into space but America was the pioneer, the country with the resources to succeed.

What is the future mission of NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? Many former astronauts want to go to Mars. Others want to return to the moon. On what spacecraft? Under whose national flag?

When Atlantis lands for the final time any further space flight will originate from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Russian spacecraft will be supplying and servicing the International Space Station. How sad.

The Mercury Program featured seven astronauts, former test pilots and other heroes with "the right stuff," who rode a rocket into the air housed in a container with enough room for only one person. I remember seeing Alan Shepard ride "Friendship 7" on a suborbital flight, our first man in space. Then John Glenn taking a ride in orbit around the Earth in Friendship 7.

I remember Donald "Deke" Slayton, Gus Grissom, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper Jr., Wally Schirra Jr., Shepard and Glenn.

Then came the Gemini Program. Two men at a time leaving Earth's gravity. It took a different space capsule and a different rocket to get them into space. More American ingenuity. More American genius.

Then the crowning achievement. The Apollo Program. Three men riding a flaming cylinder into history. The tragedy of Apollo One. The beauty of an Earthrise on Christmas Eve from Apollo 8. The triumph of Apollo 11. The anxiety of Apollo 13. The last Apollo mission, Apollo 17.

The Mutual Broadcasting System was the pool feed for all radio networks. Every network: NBC, CBS, ABC and independents, were fed the reports of the spacecraft recoveries from one reporter on board an aircraft carrier. I remember, as an audio engineer, looking through the glass into the studio where Mutual's chief engineer was coordinating everything with the satellite, land lines and member networks. We watched it all on television and it was the most exciting thing we ever witnessed, and it never grew old.

The shuttle missions became so routine we rarely noticed them unless something went horribly wrong. We lost more than a few heroes during our age of space exploration. They knew the risks and all of them looked to the heavens with anticipation and excitement because they, astronauts or civilians, saw the importance of taking that leap forward, of going where no man, or woman, has gone before.

But now it's over! Will we ever return to space? Will "Captain Midnight," "Buck Rogers," "Lost in Space," "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and the rest of that genre be the only way we leave our atmosphere?

On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade...because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills...."

Have we, like turtles, tucked our heads and hands into our shells and shut out the drive, innovation, curiosity and sense of pride which took us to the moon?

Congress can find money to fund bridges to nowhere, unnecessary highways, studies in stupidity and earmarks galore but they can't find the funds necessary to send men and women with vision and daring to places we only dream about.

How sad!

A New Direction

2011-06-21T18:01:00.000-07:00

After looking for work and finding none (see the previous blog) I've been substitute teaching. It's the most rewarding job I've ever had.

I've been subbing in a South Carolina school district teaching classes from kindergarten through high school. They all have one thing in common: the kids can't stop talking!

I'm not one of those subs who sits behind a desk reading the newspaper while the kids take over the classroom. I'm constantly walking the room making sure everyone is doing what the absent teacher has told me (s)he wants done. There are times when the teacher leaves a broad lesson plan or one that is supposed to last the entire class period but doesn't. That's when I get a chance to teach...with a capital "T."

I've taught Government, Investing, English, Social Studies, Math, Art, Science, English as a Second Language and Physical Education. I've taught special ed kids and Autistic children and I can't get enough.

I was subbing for a teacher who knew she was going to be absent for a few days and she asked me if I wanted to teach anything in particular. I gave her my lesson plans. The following Monday we discussed Americas wars from the Revolution through the Gulf War. What surprised and thrilled me most was many of the answers to my questions were coming from one of the kids who was the classic goof-off, the one who disrupted every class he was in.

The following day I taught the history of music from Beethoven through Run DMC. I asked the kids to write down whether they liked the type of music they were listening to or not, and why. Thanks to "You Tube" they heard Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the Big Band sounds, Blues, Jazz, Country and finally Hip Hop. I'm sure some of them had never heard some of these genres.

Some of the kids have asked me how I know all this stuff. The answer is simple. Experience and I read everything.

Subbing has also brought back some of the stuff I learned in high school, especially math. It's nice to know I still remember.

One might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but it's nice to know this old dog still has a trick or two up his sleeve and can teach tomorrow's leaders.

Hey, I need a job!

2011-06-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

I closed the family clothing store in July 2010 and, since I have experience in a number of fields, I thought getting a new job wouldn't be too difficult. How naive!

After exhausting all my personal contact resources I started searching the internet, which seems to be the preferred way to advertise and apply for a job these days.

After applying for over 100 jobs in radio or television (in front of the camera / microphone or behind it), public relations, media relations, executive director, marketing, public information, writer, manager, assistant manager, communications coordinator, sales and media buyer, I haven't had the first interview.

After almost 10 months looking for work I figured out age descrimination may be blocking my chances of ever having a job again. So I revised my resume. I removed all dates and all historical references. Unfortunately, most applications ask for dates of employment, which, in a word means "you're screwed!"

It's a damn shame that company's even care about your age when you're the most qualified candidate for the job. I guess they think you'll only stick around for a few years or perhaps die on the job. The flaw in that reasoning is because of the recession and the high unemployment rate in the country and especially in South Carolina, people who were retired are returning to work out of necessity. Those who had jobs and aren't ready to retire, whatever that means, find themselves having to work to put food on the table. Of course, there are many who just like to work, to have something to do each day, to have a reason to get up in the morning, to be productive.

I hope something positive happens soon and I land a job. If not, Spiderman and I will have something in common...we'll both be climbing walls.

Words have a meaning

2011-01-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

I recently received an email copy of the Keshet Newsletter (Keshet being an organization working for the full inclusion of GLBT Jews) and the BBYO Advisor, "e-connect." In both they talked about bullying as it affects Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender youth. They included the letter "Q" (GLBTQ) and defined that letter as "queer" instead of "questioning", which, I understand, has been the accepted definition.

The word Queer offends me just like I'm offended by the "N" word and other words like them. They have, historically, been used to inflict pain, embarrassment and fear.

It seems some in the African-American community, primarily younger people, have taken the "N" word as an empowering tool. It's certainly not empowering to those like former Ambassador Andrew Young, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and other leaders of the African-American community. Martin Luther King never used it. Neither did Whitney Young, Thurgood Marshall, Bayard Rustin nor anyone else of character.

I've heard it said Jews are the biggest anti-Semites, denigrading their religion, traditions and people. But just like the African-American community we're a member of our group. We're Jews. We can use those words.

However, those outside those groups can't. If a white person used the "N" word they'd be accused of being racist. If any Gentile used a Jewish slur they'd be jumped on as being anti-Semitic.

Just like the GLBT community, we can't use the word Queer even though they do.

The word Queer might be empowering to some, probably those already "out." However, to a youngster who is questioning their sexuality, the "Q" word is something they've heard only in a negative context. Perhaps not to them directly, but a glance held too long and the admonition, "What are you, queer?" Then the bullying begins because of a "possibility" the youngster might be different. And the kid goes deeper into the closet, but the bullying continues unabated.

At the very least, just like the "N" word, just like "kike" and "yid" and the rest of those words, it's insensitive and that's the opposite of what BBYO (the world's largest Jewish youth organization) tries to teach. It's the antithesis of what I've been teaching my BBYO kids for the past 35 years.

I know what it's like to be bullied. For four miserable high school years my dental overbite got me equated to "Bucky Beaver," the mascot of Pepsodent toothpaste. My tormentors saw me as weak and vulnerable and embarrassed and took full advantage of it.

BBYO and Keshet should be promoting diversity, inclusion and brotherhood, like every other youth organization, instead of using "buzz" words that are insensitive, abusive and painful for even one member of a group. Using those words are totally unnecessary despite the fact some in that group may be using them for whatever purpose, good or ill.

They, and everyone else, should refrain from using those words that only incite and invite divisiveness.

Going "Postal"

2011-01-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

No one condones it, certainly not I, but it's understandable how normal, rational everyday citizens can become violent and act upon their frustrations.

Frustrations there are a-plenty but usually the average individual gets over it quickly and nothing advances further.

There are, however, galling incidents when a person feels totally insignificant, completely ignored - where the rules of common decency are discarded.

CASE IN POINT: I requested a meeting on her voicemail. Two days went by without a return phone call. On day three, I stopped at her place of work and one of her aides told me she was in meetings all day and could I come back next week? Sure, no problem! However, common courtesy would dictate that same aide could have returned my call and given me that information days earlier.

CASE IN POINT: National news reported a change in airport security policy involving flight crews. What I saw was a huge breach in airport security because of the policy change. Going on line to the Department of Homeland Security webpage I found no "contact us" link. Unthinkable!! Instead I entered my concerns on the website of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). I still haven't heard from them. Did they get the message? Are they closing the loophole? Nothing! Nada! Gornisht! Not one word.

I sent a letter, snail mail, to Janet Napolitano, Director of the Department of Homeland Security expressing my concerns. If you heard from her, tell her I'm still waiting for a response. This is national security we're talking about. Airport security and not one word. Did they get the letter? Was it thrown in the trash by some minimum wage secretary who thought it wasn't important, something so trivial they shouldn't bother the director?

CASE IN POINT: When Barack Obama unveiled his health care plan last year it was more than 1,000 pages long. No one in the administration took the time to explain what was in the bill to the American public. Because they didn't explain it, the talk show pundits decided to explain the bill and they put their own spin on it and excoriated it. They used the bill to bash the administration every way they could and because none of us, and some members of Congress too, didn't know what was in the bill, we couldn't rationally defend the measure.

Fast forward to 2010. The Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives and the first order of business was the repeal of the Health Care Law. However, we, the people, still don't know what's in the law. We do know parts of it...dependents can remain on a parent's health care until age 26, pre-existing conditions no longer apply, etc., but what's in the rest of the law, the rest of the thousand pages?

I wrote to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services asking her to buy some television time and tell us what's in the law. I even sent it certified mail, return receipt. I got the return receipt. I know it was delivered. But did the secretary see the letter? I haven't a clue. Someone in the office could have emailed me, but I haven't heard a word. So the House and the pundits will continue to bash the law and the president because no one in authority is talking to US.

The American people can solve the problems of the state, nation and the world during halftime watching the Superbowl, at a bridge game, at a night out with friends. But when we attempt to pass our solutions to those in authority we're ignored, pushed aside or made to wait.

And when someone, someone who's mentally unstable, goes "postal," we shake our collective heads in sadness, we wonder what "set him off" and we go about our lives telling our friends and family, "That's the way it is, we can't change things." How sad!

The wasted power of the Tea Party

2010-12-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

The disorganized, organized organization known as the Tea Party threw a monkey wrench into midterm elections this year. Former Alaska governor,Sarah Palin and our own, South Carolina freshman "Senator No," Jim DeMint campaigned for and gave money to candidates who supported their views. Some of their choices won, some lost but they and the rest of the country missed a golden opportunity.

President Abraham Lincoln told us at Gettysburg we have government of the people, by the people and for the people. Will someone please tell members of Congress?

We, the people, no longer have any power to effect change, even at election time. Individually, we're impotent. In small groups we're invisible. Even in larger groups, we're ignored. Money, for the most part, has proven the magic elixir that gets incumbents re-elected whether they're good or bad.

The Tea Party really could have made a major impact on future elections by demanding that everyone elected or re-elected sign a pledge to serve only two terms; twelve years in the senate, four years in the house of representatives. Nine out of ten Americans want term limits yet we, the people, can't effect that change. A movement like the Tea Party could have...and they still can.

They could have also demanded that Congressmen and women be eligible for social security instead of the sweetheart deal they now have and their health care would come under medicare when they were eligible. Until then, they had to buy health care from an insurer just like we do. Overnight, any problems with medicare and social security would have been fixed.

I want to write to the leadership of the Tea Party and ask them to effect these changes to the way Congress does business. Unfortunately, unlike Michael Steele and Howard Dean, there is no chairman of the Tea Party to contact.

We need multiple political parties in this country to give us a true choice. Out of 300 million citizens we winnow the field so at election time we have to choose between two candidates, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. That's insane!

Please, if anyone hears of someone emerging as the "leader" of the Tea Party, let me know. This person and I need to get together and have a heart to heart talk.

Changes in government

2010-09-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

It's the magicians of the Republican Party at it again. Now they've come up with a new plan to take some of the fire out of any Democratic plan.

They want to cut taxes for small business, make cuts to their own budget, put caps on federal spending and a whole lot more including repealing the recently passed health care package.

Gee, that sounds great EXCEPT:

Giving tax breaks to small business sounds wonderful. As a former small business owner what the GOP is offering is claptrap. Where are they going to cut taxes? Cutting medicare taxes only saves less then $10 per paycheck per worker for most businesses. Cutting federal income tax withholding? Where is the government going to get the money to provide needed services? And what about the business itself? Businesses only pay taxes on profits. If the business is losing money the government gets nothing, nada. Unfortunately, the Obama team doesn't understand small business either. Instead of bailing out Bear Stearnes and the big companies, if they had given TARP money to small businesses around the country, we would have immediately bought merchandise, advertised the new merchandise and hired more people which would have stimulated the economy better than the TARP give-a-way did.

It's nice they want to cut their own budget but I have a better plan for them. Have Congressmen and women go on medicare and social security. If those programs were ailing before, with members of Congress aboard those problems would be fixed overnight. Also, no more franking privileges. When is the last time you received anything from your congressman in the mail?

Caps on federal spending.... Why hasn't Congress been doing that for years? Because this is an election year, that's why!

Why does the GOP want to rescind the health care reform when some of the best segments of the law just took effect? No pre-existing conditions, children covered through age 26. These are good so why do the Republicans want to throw them out?

If members of Congress really wanted to do something constructive they would propose term limits on themselves. Where are the tea party rabble-rousers? Why aren't they demanding term limits? We could even ease into it, having anyone elected from November on locked into a finite term of office...two terms for senator, three terms for house members.

If the 535 elitists in the nations capital want to be on the same page as their constituents they'll do as we tell them to do. After all, they're supposed to work for us.

South Carolina's gubernatorial race

2010-09-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's really sad when polls show an incompetent candidate (Nikki Haley) leading one who is highly qualified (Sen. Vincent Sheheen) but that seems to be the case in South Carolina.

Nikki Haley, the Republican candidate for governor is a former member of the S.C. House of Representatives who didn't do much legislating while in office. She's been consistently late in filing her taxes, sometimes even missing the extension deadlines. It's cost her fines and penalties yet she tells anyone who will listen she's an accountant and able to manage money.

During the primary campaign not one, but two men accused her of having an affair with them.

According the "The State" newspaper in Columbia she reported "an income of $40,269 on her 2006 income tax return, including her husband's money-losing business."

Then in 2009, according to "The State," the Lexington Medical Center foundation created a job for her at a salary of more than $100,000 to work on their fundraising projects. As a legislator she had supported the hospital's fight to create a heart surgery center.

While this isn't illegal it does send up some red flags since her salary is way above what the position calls for in other agencies.

It's also an accepted fact she's a clone of our current embarrassment, Governor Marc Sanford. She thinks like him, is contentious like him and will continue the status quo in this state's political mediocrity.

Since the Bush administration's incompetence, megalomania, exaggerations and deceptions, I wouldn't vote for a Republican again if they walked on water...Jesus being at their right hand and Moses at their left.

But this isn't about political party, it's about qualifications. I have never voted for someone because of their political affiliation. It's always about the individual and the individual who will bring this state into the 21st century is Vince Sheheen. You can Google him to learn more about him and his platform.

The polls "The State" quotes most often is a Rasmussen poll which favors Republican candidates. If you've read some of my earliest blogs you'll learn what I think of polls.

Another embarrassment, Joe "you lie" Wilson is running against Rob Miller for Congress. Is Wilson criticizing Miller in his ads? Nope, he's challenging Miller's campaign donors.

Senator Jim "just say no" DeMint only has one viable challenger, the Green Party's Tom Clements. He's got the credentials and could be elected if he had the money to get his message out.

I just don't understand the American public and South Carolina voters. How can you vote for Republicans who got us into the mess we're in nationally and how can you overlook the embarrassments, ignorance, incompetence and immorality of candidates just because they're a member of your favorite political party?

We, the people

2010-09-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Many people I've spoken to are upset that we have an elite group of citizens in this country who write the laws, formulate their own retirement plan, give themselves medical care unavailble to the average Joe, legally appropriate money from the Social Security Trust Fund to use for pet projects back home, give themselves pay raises with a majority vote of the members and turn what was supposed to be public service into a career.

And members of Congress do this with impunity.

I always thought, and I guess I'm wrong, that Congressmen and women worked for us, the people. That we, the people, decided their salaries and benefits.

If an employee dictated his salary and benefits he'd be summarily fired and rightfully so.

So why aren't we, the people, making a fuss when our employees on Capital Hill do what we wouldn't tolerate in the real world?

Martin Luther King marched on Washington in the 1960's. Minister Louis Farrakhan led, not one but two marches on Washington. Just recently Glenn Beck held a rally in the nation's capital. Why didn't any of these leaders march on the Capitol and demand that Congress institute term limits? Why didn't the masses demand that our elected officials be eligible for Medicare and Social Security instead of the perks they now enjoy? Why didn't anyone demand a logical, practical and fair retirement package?

We bitch and moan about the inequities between Congress and everyone else and yet we do nothing to change it. We, the people, must demand of our elected elite that they enjoy the same benefits as we do.

So when will the leaders or wannabe leaders...Glenn Beck, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rush Limbough and the rest of the talk show hosts...step to the front of the line and say, "follow me?" When will they exhort their listeners and followers to demand an equal society for everyone?

Hey guys, I'm waiting!

Instant Change

2010-09-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's absolutely unbelievable!

It took the Republican Party and George W. Bush eight years to get us into the mess we're in. How does anyone expect the Democrats to fix things in one, two or even four years?

How does dumping the Democrats, whether incumbent or hopeful, solve the problem? How do voters expect a different outcome by sending the same Republicans back to Congress who created the problem in the first place?

In an age of instant gratification are we that impatient for change that we can't let those we elected to lead do the job we hired them to do? Obviously not!

Where is America's vision?

2010-07-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

On May 29 I took my grandson, Stanley, to Myrtle Beach to see, and possibly meet, "Buzz" Aldrin, second man to walk on the surface of the moon. Aldrin was there as Grand Marshall in the Memorial Day parade.

We didn't get a chance to meet Aldrin, who I had spoken to in 1989 when I was trying to produce a 20th anniversary radio program on the moon landing.

Stanley was aware of who this hero was and what he had done which, for an eight-year old, was pretty impressive.

A few days ago I was in one of the dollar stores and found a book, "Destination Moon, the Apollo Missions in the Astronauts Own Words" by Rod Pyle. I bought it and will give it to Stanley when next I see him.

However, it got me reminiscing about what it took to achieve what many thought was impossible. I remember president Kennedy challenging us to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

I remember the exhilaration when Alan Shepard, strapped into a capsule named Freedom 7, rode a Redstone Rocket 116 miles high and 302 miles downrange to become America's first "spaceman." The date: May 5, 1961.

Nine months later, Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. In a capsule named Friendship 7 he went three times around the globe in 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds.

Mercury then Gemini and then Apollo. Solo flights, two man, then three man missions.

I was working at the Mutual Broadcasting System in New York during the Apollo program. Mutual was the pool network - all communications between the spacecraft and NASA came through our facility and every other network "tapped" in to our audio feed.

If we didn't have an air show to anchor, engineer or produce we were watching the developments of the missions on television. It was an exciting time. "Flash Gordon" was now a reality!

Three missions stand out.

December 21, 1968 saw Apollo 8 soar into the blackness of space on top of the new Saturn Five rocket. It was the first flight designed to leave Earth's gravitational pull. The first flight to the moon. On board were Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman. Who will ever forget Christmas Eve 1968 as the crew read from the book of Genesis as they orbited the moon? And the photo of "Earthrise" as the spacecraft rounded the dark side of the moon. Breath-taking.

July 16, 1969 found Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and the almost forgotten third man, Michael Collins heading towards a moon landing. The eyes of the world were glued to television sets as the Lunar Module eased onto the surface.

April 11, 1970. Apollo 13. It was supposed to be the third moon landing mission but an explosion on an outboard oxygen tank in the Service Module made a "routine" moon mission a life-threatening challenge. The crew was able to survive by climbing into the Lunar Module and using the oxygen therein as the spacecraft was diverted from a lunar landing trajectory to one which used gravity to swing the spacecraft around the moon and sling it towards the Earth. It was nail-biting all the way home. Finally the three parachutes were seen above the spacecraft and the astronauts within contacted mission control.

Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 and the program was completed.

Next came the space shuttles and the International Space Station and then...what?

There has been talk of going back to the moon. Others want to go to Mars. But after the space shuttle program ends soon America is going...nowhere! The country that prided itself on innovation, daring, science and vision is putting it all on hold and letting others, the Chinese, the Russians take over. America, once the leader in space technology, the winner in the race with the Soviet Union to put a man on the moon, is quitting the race and will sit on the sidelines watching others go for the glory.

I wonder what the astronaut corps thinks about that? "Buzz" Aldrin made his wishes known in Myrtle Beach. America's next space adventure, he said, should be a mission to Mars.

I hope someone in authority is listening.

The relevance of the Grand Old Party

2010-07-31T18:47:00.000-07:00

Eight years of the Bush administration - eight years of incompetence, fear and paranoia. Eight years of the Sanford administration in South Carolina - eight years of contention, incompetence and embarrassment.

With political embarrassments like Rep. Joe Wilson who publicly calls the president of the United States a liar; to Senator Jim DeMint who votes against anything proposed by the Democrats, good or bad, just because they're the opposition party; to Republican party chairman, Michael Steele who tries to rewrite history by blaming the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on the current administration; to Lexington County Senator Jake Knotts who calls the president and the Republican gubernatorial nominee "ragheads;" to all Republican legislators in Congress who vote to deny extended unemployment insurance benefits to millions of out-of-work citizens; to Nikki Haley, GOP gubernatorial candidate who has received more than 20 percent of campaign contributions from carpetbaggers from out of state; to Rep. Joe Barton, R.Texas, who apologizes to BP chairman Tony Hayward and sees, not the local fishermen, but the oil giant as the aggrieved party in the Gulf oil spill disaster and to Rand Paul, Republican senate candidate from Kentucky, who calls the president's criticism of BP, "un-American."

With this disgusting display of arrogance, indifference and callousness, why would anyone ever again vote for a candidate representing the Republican party?

Lookin' for work

2010-06-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

After 76 years in Columbia and 35 years after our family acquired it, we're closing Mayo's Suit City at the end of June. Just as the economy and other factors sealed the fate of three of my suppliers and S & K Menswear, a national chain, those factors have conspired to make it impossible to continue in business.

Needless to say I still need gainful employment. Check the link to the left for my resume.

Thanks for your help.

Mass transit

2010-06-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

According to an article in "The State" newspaper the Department of Transportation is spending $500,000 for a statewide study on rail transportation.

I've been a proponent of monorails for most of my life having written a letter to the editor of "Newsday" when a third airport was being proposed in Connecticut in the 1960's.

I had also proposed a monorail system for the city of Columbia 30 years ago to Sid Thomas, then head of the Central Midlands Regional Planning Council. Thomas took notes as I was talking and I gave him the proposal which is probably still languishing in the mayor's office.

I had spoken to the Budd Company, makers of the BART system in California and to the Disney folks who know a little bit about the subject and to an acquaintance, Anthony Wedgewood-Benn, former head of transportation in Great Britain. I had interviewed Tony for my radio documentary on the supersonic airliners, the Concorde and others.

I met with Roy Tolson and Doug Frate at the S. C. Department of Transportation today to suggest monorails for the state and I got an earful.

"In order to have an effective statewide transportation system," Frate told me, "You have to have an established and viable city-wide transportation system."

He said once you arrive at your destination in a city you had to get to your final destination and that can only be done by local transportation such as buses, and as Shakespeare said, "there's the rub."

South Carolina Electric and Gas Company was running the bus system in Columbia for decades, an obligation they undertook to secure an energy monopoly throughout the city. They were losing money annually on the bus system but by law had to continue to provide the service to keep their monopoly. They really wanted to get this bus system monkey off their back.

I don't remember the particulars but for some reason the city let them off the hook and took over running the buses. SCE&G kept their energy monopoly however.

Because the system was losing money and the city was having trouble coming up with the bucks to support it, routes were cut and layoffs ensued to save money. In Lexington County, which also uses the same bus system, the financial troubles were even worse. Needless to say, Columbia does not have a viable local transportation system to supplement a statewide rail system. Lexington County is in worse shape.

One hundred twelve miles to the east, in Charleston, Mayor Joseph Riley has already begun an agressive local mass transportation effort.

What's the difference between the port city and the capital city? Charleston has a strong mayor style of government where the mayor is head of government, formulates policy and is responsible for his actions. Columbia uses a council-mayor form of government where no one is directly in charge and to get anything accomplished takes a majority vote of city council, of which the mayor is a part but who only has one vote.

It was also explained to me that Columbia has to compete for federal funds with larger cities like New York and Los Angeles. As you might expect in this economy dollars are tight so the millions of dollars, some say billions, are unavailable to pursue projects like this.

It seems to me a number of things must be done before a statewide system is begun: Columbia must change to a strong mayor form of government; money must be found to save and improve the current bus system (Richland County Council is eyeing another increase in the sales tax) and Lexington County must become an integral part of any mass transit plan which includes full funding.

I'd still like to see a monorail system in place, not only statewide using existing highways (I-20, I-77 & I-26) but local streets throughout the city of Columbia and, perhaps, other cities like Greenville and Spartanburg. However, to get anything accomplished in this city and state takes an act of Congress and an edict from God. I'm not looking forward to any progress any time soon.

Health care

2010-03-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone is shouting these days. The Republicans say the health care bill the president is proposing is terrible. The Democrats say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Who's right?

I don't know because I haven't a clue what's in the bill. No one has explained it to me. Remember the town hall meetings? Our congressman told us what's in the bill...or did he? Chances are, depending on the political party he represents, he told us what he thinks the bill contains which may or may not be accurate.

Some members of Congress haven't read the bill. Many are relying on their staffs to tell them what's in the bill because the staff member may have read it.

And yet, these same politicians are telling us the "polls" say we Americans don't like the bill, that we want the president to start over, that we don't want the public option, we're afraid of the "death panels," and the cost is too high.

There's only one major flaw in this. The majority of Americans don't know what's in the bill, what's really in the bill, without the spin provided by our elected officials. So how can we provide a rational opinion about something we know nothing about?

I want someone from the administration, perhaps the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to tell me in plain English what the proposed bill says. Then I can make a decision whether to support it or not.

It's obvious health care reform is needed. I've learned that if someone goes to a doctor with an ailment the doctor's office will bill the insurance company, say for $1000. If the person doesn't have insurance the bill will be lower, say $300. Why isn't the procedure $300 for everyone? That's a sure-fire way to lower insurance costs but no one is pursuing it. The administration and Congress are haggling over millions and billions of dollars saved when a $700 savings will eventually add up to those millions and billions if multiplied by millions of Americans.

It's way past time to eliminate the rhetoric, tone down the shouting, remove the spin and jointly pass a comprehensive health bill that's fair to the insurance industry and provides for the top quality care Americans expect to come from the negotiations.

Let's Count!

2010-03-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

I received a letter the other day from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau.

"Hey," I told my wife, "the census us here."

Wrong! It wasn't the census but a letter from the government telling me the census questionaire would be coming soon.

Now wait a minute. The government was going to spend a fortune, I read somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 billion, to count every American and they just spent how many millions of dollars telling me I'm going to get the questionaire soon? Talk about government waste!

It reminded me of the practices at the NBC Radio Network where I worked as an audio engineer in the mid 1970's.

A foreign correspondent would phone in stories about happenings world-wide and NBC would send him a letter telling him the network used his report and he's going to get paid. Why didn't they tell him that when they sent him a check?

We're still in a recession, money is still tight, gas prices are climbing, banks still are not lending and they're changing the rules daily and my tax dollars just paid to notify every household in the country the Census is coming.

We've seen the ads on television. We've seen the ads in the newspaper. We've heard it on the radio. The Census is coming. Jump for joy. Start the parade. Bring out the brass band. We get it!

What I don't get is why the Department of Commerce had to send out advance notification, costing millions of dollars of taxpayer money, to announce, THE CENSUS IS COMING!

Anyone care to explain?

Keeping promises

2010-02-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

Technology today is pretty amazing. Besides the obvious: the computer, the internet, medical advances and the lot, one of the most amazing advances is present in the voice of a lady everyone hears when they travel...if they have a GPS, a Global Positioning Satellite unit.

Plug this baby up and push a button and follow the directions of a disconnected voice with the trust you'd give your spouse.

Probably the most amazing thing for me is the lady's speech, her English. Her extensive vocabulary is beyond measure and never ceases to amaze. Just like the slight of hand of a magician, I've stopped trying to figure out how it's done and I just revel in its execution.

As magical as the GPS is, I'm reminded of what we were promised at the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadow, New York. I think it was the General Electric pavilion. As we sat in chairs upon a revolving platform we were shown scenes of what the world would look like in decades to come and the progress in technology we would have at our fingertips.

Sit in your automobile, we were told, program your destination on a keypad, sit back and relax or go to sleep and sensors in the highway would take you safely to your destination.

With satellite technology why can't this dream come true? We already have cars that beep when another vehicle comes too close, or technology that automatically slows our car when following to close to another. We have cameras helping to see behind us and "On Star" watching over us every minute we're driving.

Why can't the satellites take us from point A to point B automatically without involving the driver? Just program your destination as you do with a GPS, push a button and let technology do the rest. Considering the proficiency of some drivers this system could even save lives and certainly money from accidents which should lower insurance premiums.

Hey, you guys at GE. How about keeping your promise?

Negativity

2009-12-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

My wife says I'm too negative these days. I wonder why?

Perhaps it's because the economy still hasn't rebounded, at least not here in South Carolina; the banks are still not lending; the banks are finding ways to get around pending legislation due to take effect in February; the banks are changing interest rates, eliminating fixed rates in favor of adjustable rates based upon the prime rate; Congress continues to pass laws based, not upon logic, reason, credibility or the best interests of the citizens, but solely on which side of the aisle you're on; the Democrats seem to want to get things done quickly regardless of the cost or wording of the bill, the Republicans want to derail any legislation supported by the majority party irregardless of its value; the media is feeding the frenzy by emphasizing the negativity, whether it's logical or not, just to sell newspapers or have the best opening lead on the 11 o'clock news.

Nah, no reason to be negative.

My philosophy these days is a pox on both their houses!

It took the Bush administration eight years to get us into this mess and we the people expect Barack Obama to fix the problem overnight. His ratings have plummeted and he's being criticized by the left and the right.

He's the president of the United States and as such he can only propose legislation, talk about ideas and get on the bully pulpit and cajole, threaten and plead with CONGRESS to get his ideas into law.

Congress is the law writing body of this government so why is everyone taking the president to task? Any president for that matter. When Bill Clinton was elected his first order of business was to improve health care in the country. Congress had other plans. The Republicans were the majority party at the time and they did everything possible to block anything coming from the White House thinking it was their moral duty to do so. Not because it was bad legislation but because they could.

You think you have a problem with the president? You may not like him personally. You may have something against his family. You may be racist. I don't care! To criticize this person for the ills of the country is misplaced energy.

When have you complained to your Congressman? When was the last time you called your Senator? You haven't? Then stop bitching.

Mr. Obama ran on a platform of change. Let's continue that policy and change the job description of 535 members of Congress from moocher, blood sucker, do-nothing worthless individual milking the taxpayer for everything he can get...let's change that job description to unemployed! Send them home next year to get a real job.

I recently received a correspondence from my congressman, Joe Wilson. Yeah, Joe "You Lie" Wilson asking me to place in order some of the problems he sees that affect me. I took a permanent marker and over his suggestions I wrote: "Put Congress on Medicare. Put Congress on Social Security. Take away Congress's right to use Walter Reed Army Hospital for every little cough or stubbed toe. The problems would be fixed overnight."

This country has been hijacked by special interests, powerful lobbies and on-the- dole politicians. It's time we took our country back. The entire House of Representatives is up for re-election in November 2010. It's our chance to send them home. If we miss this opportunity they'll have two more years to screw things up. Don't let them.

You also must let them know you're unhappy with the way they're conducting our business. Email is fine if the address is a true one. Heck, Jim Clyburn doesn't even have a direct email. You've got to go through his chief of staff, Yelbertin Watkins.

On the left side of this page you'll find a link to all members of Congress. Are you pissed off? Tell them why. If they still vote for their own interests, vote them out of office.

Oh, about the president? Leave him alone. He's trying to do the best he can, as anyone would, with the crap left behind by a gang of incompetent, paranoid thugs who took eight years of steady growth and prosperity and turned it into a manure pile.

A little quiet, please

2009-12-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

Everyone has received, at one time or another, a privacy notice from one company or another explaining how they're protecting your identity and personal information. Sure, we all know it's a bunch of crap and we toss the letter in "file 13," the trash can. There is no privacy anymore, anywhere!

But we're concerned about other people knowing more about us than they're supposed to, right? Well, maybe not.

How many of us have been privy to other people's problems while standing on line at the bank or sitting on the bus or while walking around a store thanks to a cell phone?

She was walking around my store cell phone glued to her ear. Her daughter was in jail, her husband left her with the three kids one of whom was in the Juvenile Justice system, the other two living with foster parents and she was pissed off they weren't living with her. However, she had lost her job and was collecting unemployment insurance which was about to expire. Her father had a lot of land in the country and she was trying to talk him into selling some of it so she could get back on her feet and yada yada yada!

Why can't we be out of touch for a few minutes each day? How about turning off the phone when you enter an establishment. I don't want to hear your problems, I've got enough of my own. I also don't want you talking on the phone as you drift into my lane while you're behind the wheel of that Escalade or Hummer.

From the time school let out for the day until she came home from work, my mom didn't know where I was, and she wasn't concerned either. I probably stopped at the local elementary school for a pickup game of softball or I missed the last school bus because of intramural sports and I was walking the seven miles home from school. I probably stopped for a slice of pizza, twenty five cents, in Great Neck (NY) and took the public bus home.

Today no one is without a cell phone it seems. It doesn't matter your socio-economic status: rich or poor, everyone has a cell phone.

Ya know, the Tremeloes were right. Silence is Golden. Quiet time is wonderful.

Hey everyone, do the world a favor and turn off those blasted phones once-in-a-while.

Rudolph should be banned

2009-12-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

With apologies to Gene Autry, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" should be banned.

Have you ever listened to the words? I mean really listened?

It's about this reindeer who has been bullied all his life by the other reindeer because he's different...he has a red nose.

His employer, Santa Claus, has ignored the taunts of the other reindeer and, in effect, has turned his back on the abuse, thus condoning it.

Then, when Santa gets his ass in a sling and needs some help delivering packages he calls upon this outcast, this abused entity, this maligned hoofer to save his own keister.

To add insult to injury, the other reindeer follow Santa's lead and befriend Rudolph and encourage him to save the day. Why this sudden turn of events? Simple. So they get a paycheck on Christmas morning. What a bunch of hypocrites!

And, we're teaching this song to our kids! And we wonder why there are bullies in school. We wonder why those who are different are tormented. We excuse hypocrisy in the name of expediency. And we wonder why our children are materialistic, egocentric young twits.

Send the song to Tin Pan Alley's morgue. Ban its play on the airways.

And to those of you who say, "it's only a Christmas song" and doesn't hurt anyone, my response to you is a loud, "BAH HUMBUG!"

A letter to the White House

2009-12-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

October 30, 2009

Dear Mr. President:

I thought "The Amazing Race" on CBS was the only entity putting up roadblocks these days. How wrong can I be?

My wife and I own a men's clothing store and for the past years making a living has been challenging.

I know you meant well when you proposed restrictions on credit card companies but you gave them too much time to implement the regulations. They are totally sticking it to the cardholders.

I received a notice from Visa/Mastercard which told me I had to affirm the credit card receipts from my customers were secure to protect them from identity theft. To do this I had to become PCI compliant by filling out an on-line form. They made it clear if I didn't become compliant I would no longer be able to accept their credit card for purchases.

I filled out the form, was "rewarded" with a nice certificate of compliance and I thought that was the end of it. On my monthly bank statement I was notified that because I was compliant I was going to be charged a $7 monthly fee.

I called my credit card company to complain and was told by my representative, "the credit card companies control everything," and there was nothing they could do.

My personal credit card, which I also use for business, increased my annual percentage rate from 5% to 10% even though I have excellent credit with them.

Obviously, I'm not alone and I'm sure you've heard other, more horrifying stories. These credit card companies, in reality, banks, are adding annual fees, increasing APR's, making all APR's variable and doing everything they can to increase the "bottom line" before new regulations take effect next year.

These credit cards are issued by banks. My tax dollars bailed out many of them and since then they still refuse to issue loans, some are buying smaller banks and the CEO's are still getting huge salaries and bigger bonuses.

I understand, I think, why the government had to bail out the banks and insurance companies first. The lives of millions of Americans were affected. Unfortunately, when they once again became solvent they slapped us all in the face and upper management continued to pocket outrageous bonuses.

You have called small business, "The engine of the economy." I call us the "backbone of the nation." Small business employs more workers and adds more to the economy than do any large corporation and yet we're threatened with extinction daily. Three of my suppliers have already gone out of business.

If the government used the money in the stimulus package to give every small business nationwide $100,000 in cash we would have immediately spent it to restock our shelves, hire more workers, upgrade our stores: in essence putting that cash back into the economy. My customers would benefit as would my suppliers. I understand you might be looking to help us with a tax incentive. For those of us who have lost money, a tax incentive is worthless since taxes are collected on profits. For the past few years the only prophets I've seen are Moses and Jesus.

October has been the deadliest in Afghanistan for American troops. Why are we there alone?

Terrorism and extremism are a world-wide problem, not just an American one. There are 192 member states in the United Nations. At least 58 of them owe their freedom or their very existence to the United States. It's encouraging that you have overcome the intransigence and stupidity of the Bush administration in dealing with our allies abroad. It's now time for them to step to the plate and help us defeat radicalism and extremism.

Many European countries have felt terrorism first hand. Others have been blackmailed into sitting on the sidelines. Terrorism isn't going away. As long as there are religious fantics and criminals who blow up women and children in the name of their misguided beliefs no one is safe. It's time for the rest of the world to see what's happening in Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan as the third world war and they've got to do their part to stop the mayhem.

Mr. President, you have an obligation to form a true coalition of countries willing to send their troops into harms way to stamp out world-wide terrorism. General McCrystal wants 40,000 more troops. How about sending him 100,000 soldiers from Spain, France, Germany, Bosnia, Japan, Korea and 52 other countries and finally stamp out the world-wide extremist movements? Doing so will benefit every country on Earth.

We've also got to take renewable sources of energy seriously. There's no reason every automobile on the road shouldn't have a solar panel on the roof providing power to the vehicle. In South Carolina we're exploring hydrogen technology. In the west, they're looking at wind energy. If Congress had listened to Jimmy Carter in the 1970's we wouldn't still be held hostage by oil producing nations.

In the 1700's America was an agrarian society. We grew our own food and even exported some. Then came the industrial revolution and we built factories and constructed buildings and bridges and methods of transportation. The textile industry dominated the south. In the 1980's we outsourced the textile industry and developed computers and became a technological nation. When we outsourced the technology we became a service nation providing the answers to computer problems. Now we've outsourced even that and America is nothing more than a consuming nation, producing little and dependent upon others for our very survival.

We import products assembled in Taiwan and finished in China. I thought those two nations were at odds with each other? What about Quimoy and Matsu? We're importing shirts from Vietnam. I guess the war I fought in is finally over. Even tiny Bangladesh is producing more than we are.

I remember a few years ago when the government went after Microsoft accusing it of becoming a monopoly. Where was the Federal Trade Commission when companies began merging with each other or buying up competitors? The cry then was, "we have to be bigger in order to compete." Hogwash! As we've seen, the old saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" is true. When these giants fall they take everyone along for the ride, like a meteor falling into a lake. If they remained smaller and failed the ripple effect would be like a pebble thrown into the ocean.

The "bigness" is continuing unabated. Look at AT&T. In the 1980's they were forced to divest itself of much of their assets. In the past ten years they have been buying up smaller companies and are probably as big today as they were in 1984. Are the Sherman Anti-Trust laws still on the books? Why aren't they being enforced? As companies eat up their competition, the consumer suffers with higher prices, questionable practices, hidden and not-so-hidden fees and nowhere to turn for relief or justice. Just look at how Chase Bank is exploiting its credit card companies.

It's way past time to restore government of the people, by the people and for the people before we as a people perish from this Earth.

I hope you and your administration can successfully address the concerns expressed in this letter.

Thank you.

I certainly didn't expect a reply but I got one.

It came in a @%$&#(* form letter addressed to me with the salutory line saying, "Dear Friend," followed by the usual political claptrap I'd expect, and have received, from my local politicians. I would have preferred no response to what I got.

They could have forwarded parts of the letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Hillary Clinton at the State Department and Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy. Instead I got a lousy form letter.

For you Republicans out there who are gloating about this administration's response, the Bush administration and Reagan administration weren't any better. They favored form letters also.

Perhaps one of these days our leadership in their ivory towers will listen to the people they represent. After all, it's you and me who can solve every problem facing this country and our state. We do it every day at the card game, during halftime at the football game or just talking about it between courses at the restaurant. The major problem is that more of you aren't writing your congressman, senator or president. And our major failing is that we return the incompetents to Congress to fix the problems they created and we expect a different result. I've addressed that issue in an older blog.

Black Friday

2009-11-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

Are we all fools or are we just easily manipulated?

Black Friday, supposedly the biggest retail day comes along and we collectively salivate at the "fantastic bargains" the chain retailers are offering.

We get up at 4 a.m. or we spend all night camped in front of the store waiting to burst through the doors to claim the television set or the computer, the jewelry or designer dress.

It doesn't matter there are only five or 10 of those items in stock, nor does it matter you're the sixth or 11th person on line, it's all in the hype.

And when you're disappointed and upset because you didn't get that "bargain," you blame the store for not having enough inventory...and you make plans to get there earlier next year only to be flimflammed again and again.

Why not get some sleep in your own bed, ease the stress, lower your blood pressure, reduce the risk of getting trampled or of getting into a fight over a blouse or MP3 player and shop at your leisure at the multitude of family-owned and smaller retailers in town who have some true bargains, adequate inventory and attentive and helpful salespeople?

Think you've stopped working?

2009-10-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've got a couple of friends and some customers who have retired. They mean they've stopped working in their chosen profession.

Thanks to the English language, I really don't know what they're doing.

When you buy a tire that's a retread you're buying one that has had more rubber added to an existing tire. When you retire you obviously...you obviously...hmmmm,I wonder what you do?

How can you re-tire if you haven't already "tired?" According to the dictionary the letters, "re" means "go back to an original or former state." Therefore if you haven't tired, how can you re-tire?

That's not the only word which poses a problem. If you haven't already "acted," how can you re-act? How many of you have "bated?" You haven't? Then return your re-bate. How many of you are about to "buttal" in court? The opposing side then can't stage a "re-buttal," can they?

Ahh, the English language. Not the easiest to understand.

For all of you who think you're retired...go back to work...you haven't "tired" yet!

Ironclads in the harbor

2009-09-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I took a cameraman from WACH-TV in Columbia to Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina to finally film a television documentary I've been procrastinating over for at least six years.

April 7, 1863 a fleet of nine Union ironclads sailed into Charleston harbor with the intention of demanding the surrender of the city. What followed during the battle was utter chaos.

Admiral Samuel DuPont didn't think he could sail into the harbor without first eliminating any resistance from Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie so he attacked the forts first.

One of the ships in DuPont's fleet was the "Keokuk," an experimental ironclad which was launched from the Dry Dock Iron Works at the foot of 11th Street in New York City in early December 1862. On board the "Keokuk" was my great-grandfather, Lt. Jonathan Manly Emanuel, an engineer.

I had written a script based upon research done at the South Carolina Archives where I found letters from and to DuPont from many of the ships captains and others.

Coincidentally, author Clive Cussler published the novel, "Sahara" in 1992 which told the story of a Confederate ironclad, the "Texas," which snuck past the Union blockade and wound up in the Sahara desert. In the book he mentioned two ships, the "Nahant" and the "New Ironsides." Those two ships were in the fleet of nine which sailed into Charleston that fateful day. The "New Ironsides" was Admiral DuPont's flagship.

I wrote to Cussler telling him the story of my great-grandfather. He wrote back telling me the "Keokuk," which sank a day after the 1863 battle, was still in the harbor, 1,400 yards off Morris Island under four feet of silt. He further said he'd excavated the ship a few years earlier.

With script in hand, and a boat ride to Fort Sumter by the National Park Service rangers, we filmed in different areas of the fort and took some video while on board the boat.

Before the program was completed the cameraman moved out of state and it was a couple of months later I asked one of the cameramen at WLTX-TV to finish the project with me. Not wanting to return to Fort Sumter, we completed the filming at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island across the harbor from Fort Sumter.

The finished product was just shy of 10 minutes long and gave a detailed account of the events of April 7, 1863.

I originally did this program for my own pleasure but wound up giving copies to my family and friends.

Each year students at the elementary school where my wife worked visited Charleston and each year I was asked to tell the story of Jonathan and his exploits. I figured if I videotaped my talk for times I might be unavailable to do the presentation in person the students would at least be able to learn some history prior to their visit to the Port City.

If one school could use the program to teach, perhaps many others could as well. To date there are schools in Chester, S. C. and others in the upstate who have bought the program.

It's available on DVD or VHS for $29.95. If your school or district could use a copy, let me know.

2009-07-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a buying trip to Atlanta. I am close to re-evaluating my criticism of New Jersey drivers as the worst in the world.

Don't get me wrong. If a Jersey driver signals a left turn there's still a 90% chance he'll turn right. They're still lousy drivers, although as a resident of South Carolina, I shouldn't be too critical.

Yeah, I know...I was on the floor of the taxicab in Tokyo more than once and I still don't know how anyone exits the Etoile, the circle around the Arch de Triumph in Paris, but these guys and gals heading east and west on I-20 take their NASCAR much too seriously.

You really don't want to check your rear-view mirror too often because you might see a vehicle traveling 20 mph faster than you zip into the left lane squeezing between that tractor-trailer truck and the Volkswagon Beetle and then zipping in front of you missing your front bumper by mere inches. Then he does it again and again as you watch the car disappear in the distance.

Maybe we're all in a movie and these crazies are really stunt drivers and we're just a prop. If that's the case, I expect at least scale wages.

Hey! Who's producing the chase scene in this movie anyhow?

On Death

2009-07-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

"The newspaper said the entertainer, so and so, died today," she said.
"Oh, really?" he said, "that's sad. Pass the peas, please."

That's how many of us react upon hearing about the death of a celebrity. Michael Jackson's passing, however, is having a more profound effect on me than usual and I'm not sure why.

Maybe it's because I remember the 10-year old lead singer of the Jackson Five or because Michael has been a presence on center stage for 40 years or that his music is so good, the lyrics and melodies so sharp and meaningful, that I already miss what would have been more chartbusters. For whatever reason, I'm sorry he's gone.

I've never been very good with death. My first experience was the death of my great-grandmother, at 102. I was watching a Charlie Chan movie when my grandmother called my mother with the news. When my uncle Stan died I was watching a Charlie Chan movie. Needless to say, I have never since watched a Charlie Chan movie.

My grandmother died at 92 twenty days after my wedding. Hers was my first funeral.

Here I am 67 years old, feeling like 40 but realizing there are many more years behind me than ahead of me. I just can't picture myself not being here. I wanted to ask my father, "are you afraid of dying?" but how do you ask that question of a parent? When we looked into his "little black book,"...no, not that one, this one listed the contents of his safety deposit box, his disposition of personal property and other "final" information, he wrote he wasn't afraid of death. For me, I try not to think about it. Despite some hardships, disappointments and problems, overall life has been good and, quite frankly, I don't want it to end.

I've had some regrets in my life but most of them have been things I didn't do through naivete, ignorance or missed opportunity. Except for one instance, one insane moment in time when my brain shut down but allowed my mouth to continue to jabber, the end result being the loss of a treasured friendship, I don't regret anything I ever did.

It's really a miracle I reached 67 years. As a teen Alex Walker and I switched bicycles for a ride down a hill. We met at the bottom after reaching speeds exceeding 40 miles an hour. When I took a close look at Alex's bike I saw the front tire had a huge bubble which, had it burst, would have sent me hurtling down the hill and on to the hospital or morgue. Of course we weren't wearing helmets. No one wore them then.

I was stopped at a traffic light leaving college one afternoon. When the light turned green I started to make a left turn only to get hit by a car running the red light. His car slammed into my right headlight and took out the fender. Had I entered the intersection two seconds later he would have hit me broadside on the driver's side.

Then there's the incident at Mount Washington where our car almost went off a cliff and another incident in Vietnam, all discussed in my book.

My mother died at 72. That's just five years away. To think I might have but five more years is depressing. Dad died at 80. As I age, the concept of "old" becomes older.

My youth group kids know not to use that three-letter word when refering to me and as long as I can keep up with them, playing full court basketball with these 15 and 16 year old kids, I can only hope my demise is decades away.

Does any of this make sense?

2009-05-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

A blurb in "The State" newspaper headquartered in Columbia, S. C., said, "A bill giving employers a tax credit for hiring the unemployed will head to the S. C. Senate floor. The bill would grant a $100 tax credit per month for those who hire someone receiving unemployment benefits."

The major flaw in this bill is when an employer hires that person he's no longer eligible for unemployment benefits so the employer will no longer benefit from the tax credit. Friday, the Senate passed the measure. It now goes to the house.

That's our state legislature. Before you pass judgment, check your own general assembly. You'll find they make these stupid laws in your state too.

However, stupidity isn't reserved solely for state legislatures. Let's talk about Congress.

The federal stimulus package will allow homeowners up to $6,500 to make their homes more energy efficient. I want to install new windows and perhaps, a solar water heater. I'm not eligible for this program. It's only available for those earning less than $44,000 a year for a family of four.

Since everyone is talking about alternative fuels and reducing our dependence upon foreign oil, why has Congress allowed the $3,000 tax credit for buying a hybrid vehicle to expire?

You want more? A married couple wants to buy a house. The wife, when she was single, bought a house. Her husband never owned a home. When the husband applied for the $8.000 tax credit for first-time homeowners he was denied based upon the fact they file a joint tax return.

Jeff Foxworthy hosts a television program, "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Perhaps we should send these kids to Congress and our state legislatures and send those fools we keep re-electing back to the 5th grade!

Back on the radio

2009-01-31T20:25:00.000-08:00

Looks like we're back on the radio.

Every Saturday night I'm hosting, "Theatre of the Mind," a one-hour program of all the old time radio shows of the '30's, '40's and '50's.

You'll find it on WOIC radio, 1230 on the AM dial in Columbia, S. C. and surrounding areas and you can hear it on the web at www.strnetwork.com at 11:05 p.m.

Check it out. If you want to advertise and reach a select audience of seniors who grew up with radio and the younger generation who are just discovering it, send me an email at jemassoc@juno.com.

We're on hiatus for the moment (June 2009). We've run out of money and I really dislike media sales. I've avoided it for years which is why I went into on-air or production in radio and television. I haven't the temperament to run around the city looking for sponsors or partners going back to the same people six and seven times to be put off and then on the last visit being told, "no thanks." There are some people who thrive on this but it's not me. If you are one of those wonderful people who enjoy media sales and want to get us back on the air, contact Dr. Charles Campbell at drcampbell@strnetwork.com and let him know. We've still got some shows in the can and I've written about five more so we're ready to continue. Thanks.

We're getting bilked!

2009-01-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

It's time to contact your congressman to scream and shout about this $700 billion bailout we're paying for. Check the link on the left to take a short-cut to your irresponsible member of Congress.

This money is being used in ways never intended. Some examples, according to MSN Money:

* Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase each spent around $5 million lobbying the federal government during the first nine months of 2008. Citigroup is getting $45 billion in bailout money, while the two others are getting $25 billion each. You can expect millions of dollars of that money to be spent on wining and dining Washington lawmakers. None of the banks has indicated it plans to cut back on lobbying.

* U.S. taxpayers were told the $700 billion financial-system bailout would create jobs by helping the economy. Instead, one of the banks getting the most bailout money is plowing tens of billions of dollars into foreign companies. Bank of America, which will get $25 billion in bailout loans, recently spent about $7 billion to double its stake in state-owned China Construction Bank. B of A, whose CEO is Kenneth Lewis, says it would've spent the money even without the cash infusion from the feds.

*Peter Kraus joined Merrill Lynch in early September to head up its strategy team. But Bank of America, bolstered by that $25 billion bailout money, won shareholder approval to take over Merrill Lynch. The deal will trigger a golden-parachute clause in Kraus' contract, allowing him to pocket as much as $25 million for his TWO MONTHS on the job, according to the Wall Street Journal.

* While taxpayers were still absorbing the shock of having to foot an $85 billion tab (a tab that later grew to $144 billion) to bail out American International Group, executives at the insurer headed straight for the exclusive St. Regis resort in Southern California just days after their company got the money. The $440,000 tab for their eight-day stay at the Tuscan-style resort included $150,000 for meals, $23,000 in spa charges and $7,000 for golf outings. AIG says the event was held mainly to reward performance of independent insurance agents and brokers who were not company employees.

*Should taxpayers pay to keep executives who steered AIG into a ditch? They think so. It recently agreed to pay retention bonuses for 130 executives, including $3 million for Jay Wintrob, who heads the division that sells annuities. Last year he earned $2.5 million in salary, bonus, stock and options. Other AIG execs will get more than $500,000, or about 200% of their salaries, to stay through 2009, according to Bloomberg. The insurer had previously promised to forego bonus payouts as part of the bailout plan.

* Cleveland's National City Bank was run so badly it was virtually ruined, mainly by imprudent exposure to subprime mortgages. Management's reward for creating this colossal disaster: $200 million in golden parachutes. Taxpayers will get fleeced a second time. Because of a last-minute change in tax rules, PNC Financial Services, which bought National City, will get about $725 million in income-tax credits. Those credits stem from the $19.9 billion PNC expects to lose on bad loans made by National City.

* Speaking of PNC: Shortly after PNC Financial Services got a $7.7 billion cash injection, it announced a buyout of National City. BB&T and Zions Bancorporation have said they have the urge to merge - now that they've collectively pocketed $4.5 billion in bailout funds. Bigger banks mean less competition and higher fees for the taxpayer who helped fund these deals. The mergers have also created more banks that are "too big to fail" - so when they come back for more money, it'll be even harder to say no. BB&T says it would buy only "problem" banks, in the spirit of the bailout program.

* As millions of Americans learn what it's like to make ends meet on unemployment insurance, executives at banks getting taxpayer bailouts will continue to live the high life. Capital One Financial CEO Richard Fairbanks got $73.1 million in pay last year, according to The Corporate Library. That's 1,456 times the median household income of $50,233 earned by taxpayers footing the bill for Capital One's $3.55 billion federal bailout. Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis last year took home $23million. Neither bank has indicated it plans to cut CEO pay.

* Millionaire players on the New York Mets and the Manchester United soccer team should be slapping high-fives over the government bailouts. The money is helping to pay their salaries. Without $45 billion in government help and a $306 billion backstop on its portfolio of rotten mortgage-backed securities, Citigroup would likely have disappeared. If so, the bank would have reneged on a $400 million, 20 year deal to name the new Mets stadium "Citi Field." Thanks to the bailout AIG can make good on the $47 million it agreed to pay for the right to plaster its logo on Manchester United soccer jerseys for the next 18 months.

* John Mack, who heads Morgan Stanley, which has taken $10 billion in bailout money so far, enjoyed $356,000 worth of personal use of a corporate jet last year. JPMorgan Chase has gotten $25 billion in bailout money. Its chief, James Dimon, took $211 million worth of use of a company jet last year. He used company cars at an estimated cost of $68,000. So far, neither company has indicated it will cut back on CEO's personal use of corporate jets as part of it's acceptance of bailout money.

This is the money that is mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren. It's money borrowed from other countries. It's money being printed by the government which is backed by...nothing but air. In Zimbabwe the inflation rate is so high wheelbarrows full of money will barely buy a loaf of bread. It could happen here also. Get on the horn and demand that money being misused by these mega-companies be rescinded and returned to the federal treasury. By thumbing their nose at Congress and the American people these CEO's and others have lost their chance to remain in business. Let them sink or swim without our help. Contact your senator and congressman today.

Say NO to Walker's change of mind

2008-12-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

In June 2008, principal Eddie Walker denied an application from students at Irmo High School in Columbia, S. C. to create a Gay/Straight Alliance student club on campus saying the club conflicted with his professional beliefs.

The club's stated purpose was to promote understanding and tolerance among gay and straight students.

Walker then resigned as principal effective at the end of the current school year.

Today, six months later, Walker says he's changed his mind and wants to remain as principal.

I'm hoping the Lexington-Richland 5 school board denies Walker's petition to remain. There is no room on this planet for intolerance and discrimination. As the leader of the high school Walker becomes the role model for all students and his homophobic views are not consistent with a positive role model.

His contract is up for renewal in the spring. He should be given his walking papers.

When will the fear, misunderstanding, violence, bullying and hate stop?

According to a CNN report, public school officials in Chicago are recommending approval of a "gay-friendly" high school because harassment and violence are causing gay students to skip class and drop out at alarming rates.

The School for Social Justice Pride Campus, which officials say will not be exclusive to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students, is aimed at being safe and welcoming for any student looking for another school option.

Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw were one of many donors in the fight against California's ballot initiative which tried to protect the state's same-sex marriage provision. It was defeated by California voters.

In 2006 I wrote a letter to the editor of "The State" newspaper asking, "Why is 'marriage' so sacrosanct, when statistically 50 percent of them end in divorce?

"Marriage," I wrote, "should be embraced because of love and respect, not the gender of the partners. What are Americans afraid of when it comes to gay and lesbians wanting to pursue the American dream of commitment with another human being? Scientists have affirmed homosexuality is genetic. No one would choose voluntarily to suffer the abuses foisted upon them by an intolerant public."

"What if it were blond, blue-eyed people who were considered 'different?'"

People have discriminated against Catholics, African-Americans and the Jews. Now homosexuals. When will they come for you?"

Ten years after the murder of Matthew Shepard, South Carolina still doesn't have a hate crimes law, one of only five states in the country.

On September 20 I went to Finley Park ready to walk down Main Street in the Gay Pride Parade with one of my former youth group kids who's pretty vocal on gay rights. There were floats from the University of South Carolina and Francis Marion College and about 200 people waiting to march. My friend didn't show up. I guess school work took precedence this time.

Standing on the sidewalk as the marchers went by, my eyes scanning the crowd looking for him, the voices of the preachers and their followers almost drowned out the marchers. Holding signs saying, "Sodomy is a sin" or quoting chapter and verse of the Bible these intolerant fools were ignored by the crowd as they began a peaceful and orderly march.

It's sad that one verse in the Bible, Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 22 is the cornerstone of intolerance among these "men of G-d."

They base their prejudice on 12 words of the "holy book."

"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: It is abomination."

"Love the sinner, hate the sin," they cry. I thought G-d made all of us in His image or do they conveniently forget that passage? They preach from their pulpits that G-d is merciful, G-d is just, G-d is forgiving, G-d is loving. It's a shame
G-d's messengers on Earth can't be as all encompassing as the Devine Being.

As for my young gay rights advocate, I hope to see him soon again.

A Christmas poem - Can you relate?

2008-11-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

I'll still be in this store at Christmas.
You can count on that.
I came to eye and not to buy,
got caught in retail's trap.

Thought we needed one small item
then home again we'd fly.
Was not to be. My wife you see
had come in here to buy!

The discount stores, the multi-floors
of malls throughout my town
have captured me because you see
it's Christmas time around.

My wife I love and treasure
like gold in old Fort Knox.
But pass a shop, and not shop to drop?
She ought to be in detox.

So here I sit in Santa's lap
asking him where I went wrong.
My wife's out there in the great somewhere
her credit card going strong.

Just carry on without us.
Open gifts and drink some cheer.
As Christmas ends my wife still spends
and will until the new year.

So we'll celebrate the holidays
not like we did before.
We'll sing and dance and open gifts
in our new home...the discount store!

Our government doesn't work anymore!

2008-11-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Our government doesn't work anymore. At least for us.

Government "of the people, by the people and for the people" was great for 'honest Abe,' but we haven't had a voice in what's going on in this country for decades.

Sure, we vote, however, who are we voting for? After the primaries we're left with two basic choices, Tweedledee and Tweedledum and we've got to choose the best of those two. There are over 200 million people in this country and the election process boils it all down to two people?

What if those two people are an incompetent and a wuss like we had in 2004? Now we're not voting for the 'best' individual but the least worst and, unfortunately, I've had to choose the least worst since I cast my first ballot in 1964.

Being a Vietnam veteran I felt comfortable voting for Lyndon Johnson and his social programs justified my choice. His foreign policy, though, was flawed.

Richard Nixon's foreign policy was brilliant but this paranoid president saw conspiracy and danger behind every bush (small b).

The only job Jerry Ford wanted was to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. I spoke with him as a journalist when, as president, he dedicated the University of South Carolina Law Center in the 1970's. He was concerned about the lack of privacy in America and he was going to try to address the problem. How many of us actually read the privacy statements we get in our monthly bills? Privacy today is a joke. Even the President couldn't find a solution.

Jimmy Carter had his heart in the right place but he just couldn't get the job done.

The icon of the Republican party, Ronald Reagan, talked about a "star wars" defense against nuclear missiles, deregulation of everything and a plea to Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" in Berlin. He also toppled Manuel Noriega, Panama's dictator and was responsible for the Iran-Contra affair. Were we better off with him than we were four or eight years ago? I actually voted for him - the first time. I met him at Seawell's Restaurant in Columbia when he was running for president and I asked him if the programs he instituted in California could work nationally. He answered in the affirmative. I guess they couldn't!

George H. W. Bush countered Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait with American troops and a true coalition of other countries. Even he didn't try to overthrow Hussein.

We had eight years of a prosperous economy under Bill Clinton but his private life and character left much to be desired.

George W. Bush surrounded himself with other incompetents and power hungry despots and led this country into one crisis after another while taking no responsibility for anything.

Forty-four years of "leadership."

Then, there's Congress who's approval rating has been in the toilet for years. That hasn't stopped us from re-electing them. "It's not my congressman," you say? Guess what? IT IS!

In South Carolina and, I'm sure, across America, we sent the same fools who created the problems we're facing back to Congress expecting them to find the answers to the problems they created. In computer language it's Garbage in, Garbage out!

This is no longer government of the people, by the people or for the people. Public service has become a career for incompetents who throw money we don't have into projects we don't need to placate the electorate back home into thinking they're actually doing something to benefit their constituents when all they want to do is get re-elected and continue to dip into the public trough.

Why can we, you and I, solve all the problems facing this country during half-time at the football game or while dining out with friends or in the church parking lot and our elected officials can't or won't? To reward them for their lack of vision, their ineptitude, ignorance and indecision we send them back to the hallowed halls of Congress.

It's time for another American Revolution, a rising of the masses to demand that Congressmen and women come under the auspices of social security and medicare, which would fix those problems overnight, and to demand our "public servants" serve a determinate number of years and then they must return home to get a real job.

Fall Colors

2008-11-11T18:55:00.000-08:00

The leaves are turning, the colors are bright.
The annual transformation, a natural delight.
The migration to the north as people drive to see
The Elms and Oaks and others in Tar Heel country.

This year the Palmetto State is picking up the slack.
The reds and golds and oranges will really take you back.
No need to go to North Carolina to get your color fix.
Get in the car and just head West on interstate 26!

America is broken

2008-11-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

Instead of bailing out Bear Stearnes, AIG and the rest, if the government gave that $700 billion to all the small businesses in the country many things would have happened.

First and foremost, we wouldn't have spent $500,000 on a junket for our board members. If I were a member of Congress I would have demanded the return of the $85 billion they gave AIG.

What would have happened is that small businesses would have spent that money buying new merchandise and hiring new employees which would have stimulated the economy better than the $1,200 to every American "stimulus package" did. It would also have kept in business three of my suppliers who have recently gone under because I and others like me didn't have the money to buy more goods or didn't have the money to pay for what we already bought.

Congress still hasn't learned that small business is the backbone of this country. What good is it to help the banks so they can lend money to small businesses if we haven't the means to pay it back?

Why throw good money after bad? And the banks are still not lending the way Congress expected them to. So our grandchildren's grandchildren will be paying the price for bailing out institutions who were greedy, unscrupulous and mismanaged while the backbone of the nation, small businesses, get screwed...again.

Your congressman and my congressman are kowtowing to the institutions that paid for their re-election at the expense of everyone else. For more than 30 years they've ignored alternative fuels even after the long lines of the 1970's because they've been bought by the oil companies.

The problem begins and ends with Congress. They need term limits so after two terms they can no longer screw things up. I don't care how good someone does at Foggy Bottom, they need to go home and get a real job and let someone else try to gum up the works.

You want social security and medicare to work properly? Put members of Congress on those programs instead of the perks they now enjoy and the problem would be solved overnight.

In South Carolina the legislature has more power than the governor. That's insane!

At least we could overthrow a king. We have absolutely no power to change things in Washington because there's always some fool who thinks, "it's not my congressperson," who's at fault and who votes to re-elect.

There is no "We the People." There is no government "Of the People or For the People." We, the people are impotent, too disjointed and unorganized to resist the tax cuts and earmarks government throws our way to placate us.

It's only we few who voice our outrage. Unfortunately we do so to an empty hall. No one listens and the few who do and agree find themselves in a minority because they are willing to sacrifice a little to gain a lot where others want it all now...and government gives it to them to keep them quiet.

Until we can change the mindset we'll never regain the stature this country had in years past and we'll always be behind the eight ball, economically, politically and socially.

Need only ONE shoe?

2008-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

There are some people out there who, because of amputation, deformity or other malady, really only need one shoe but are forced to buy a pair. Some others have feet of different sizes so they have to buy two pair every time.

There is a solution. It's called the National Odd Shoe Exchange. It's a non-profit organization that has been providing shoes to its members for more than 57 years. It's mission is to distribute shoes to amputees and people with two different size feet. It provides new and unused shoes to members, adults as well as children.

For more information and/or to become a member, send a self-addressed stamped legal size envelope to: National Odd Shoe Exchange, Attn: Information request, P.O. Box 1120, Chandler, AZ 85244-1120 or go to www.oddshoe.org.

The new 9-11

2008-09-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

To quote the god, small "G", of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, "There he goes again."

The president of the United States says, "Our entire economy is in danger," so we, the American people have to bail out private companies to the tune of $700 billion or more.

I don't think so!

I don't want one dollar of my money used to bail out these private firms. For the past eight years this administration has been using fear tactics to govern. First WMD, then nuclear weapons in North Korea, then Iran, then the fuel shortage and high gas prices, then the mortgage crisis, now the financial crisis.

It's all a ploy to gain more power and further subvert the constitution. I don't want my money bailing out anyone especially when it gives Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unprecedented power over the purse.

George W. Bush, like the little shepherd boy of literature, has cried "wolf" for the last time. I'm not buying it. If the threat is real and this country goes into a depression rivalling 1929, so be it. Like the legendary Phoenix, America will rise again under new and responsible leadership.

For the past eight years the federal government has abandoned its role as a government of the people, by the people and for the people to one of favors for some of the people.

If the president has Munchausen-by-proxy, getting the country sick so he can take credit for "saving" it, then he needs medical attention.

Ten years at a treatment facility at Leavenworth Prison in Kansas should cure him. The four others who also need treatment, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft, should join him.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in a time of war said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." It's time we Americans remembered that!

Mergers & Acquisitions

2008-09-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

It seems that everything in America has gone to Hell in a handbasket.

We're way past the incompetence of the Bush administration.

For years I've been questioning the constant mergers and acquisitions of businesses - banks, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, media.

The companies say they must grow bigger in order to compete in a global market. My complaint is as they grow and swallow smaller, and sometimes larger, competitors there's less competition and more chance for shenanigans, like price fixing and a reduction of services.

In 1984 the federal government forced AT&T to break into four separate companies because it was thought they were a monopoly and controlling the majority of phone services.

This spawned a host of smaller telecommunications companies and, supposedly, increased competition while lowering prices.

Then the inevitable happened. Cingular bought AT&T wireless. Then AT&T bought Cingular to create the largest wireless service provider in America. Then AT&T bought Bellsouth. Then SBC Communications merged with AT&T. So today, AT&T is close to being a monopoly again.

Is this an isolated incident? Absolutely not!

In 2005 alone, Verizon bought MCI; Sprint bought Nextel; Hewlett Packard bought Peregrine Systems; Adobe bought Macromedia; Symantec joined with Veritas; Computer Associates joined with iLumin; IBM Tivoli bought Collation; Oracle acquired Siebel Systems then took over Peoplesoft then Oracle and Thor Oracle bought Octet Strings.

Not to be outdone, Disney bought Pixar; Rite Aid purchased Eckerd Drug; Bank of New York acquired Mellon Bank; GlaxoSmithKline took over Pfizer who had bought CovX; Liberty Media Corp bought DirectTV and the list goes on.

These companies grew to mega-companies and when some of them crashed it shook up the financial world. Had they stayed small and manageable their collapse would have seemed like a pebble in the ocean instead of like a meteor in a lake.

What usually happens when one company takes over another? Layoffs! Lots of layoffs. Thousands of workers without jobs.

Why hasn't the federal government stopped these mergers and acquisitions? That's the job of the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC was created in 1914 by president Woodrow Wilson and charged with protecting consumers against anti-competitive practices.

They've actually got a Bureau of Competition charged with elimination or prevention of "anti-competitive" business practices. They review all merger proposals. If that's really true and they approved some of the above mergers and takeovers then it's another example of how incompetent this government is.

When there's only two banks, two insurance companies, two media giants and so on, competition will end, prices will skyrocket, workers will be laid off and the economy will deteriorate further and the United States government will look at what's happening and exclaim, "how sad, but there's nothing we can do."

However, there's something we as citizens can do. Check the link at the left and write your congressperson. Scream, shout, make some noise. If enough of these fools we send to Washington listen perhaps something will be done to curb the abuses in government and provide more oversight. If they do nothing, then vote them out of office. It's as simple as that and we, the people, have the power to do it.

Another banking crisis?

2008-09-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

I went to the bank today and at the drive-through window (I turned the car engine off, by the way)was a sticker from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)which read, "Wachovia bank is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government."

Somehow that statement still doesn't put my mind at ease.

High gas prices

2008-09-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed? The price of gas soared today (Sept. 12) almost 20 cents a gallon in some places overnight. Hurricane Ike hasn't even reached the Texas coast and already the gas companies or local gas stations have raised prices IN ANTICIPATION of the texas refineries being put out of action by the high winds.

The cry goes out across America, "There's nothing I can do about it!"

HOGWASH!

There's a link to your congressman and senator on this page. Use it and give your elected official a piece of your mind, a big piece.

Extra drilling isn't going to solve our addiction to oil. At best, it's a short term solution. Congress must pressure the auto manufacturers to make more fuel efficient vehicles. The TV commercials praise the 24 or 29 miles per gallon their new vehicles get. What's so good about that? It's time every vehicle manufactured had a solar panel on the roof or a series of batteries under the hood.

And we've got to permanently park those Hummers and Escalades and get serious about energy efficiency.

Our legislators blew it in 1973 when President Jimmy Carter pleaded with Congress to free us from Middle Eastern oil. Lines at the gas stations went around the block. Gas rationing was in effect and our elected officials did nothing.

Every dollar we spend at the pump goes to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Russia or Venezuela. None of these countries and their leaders are friends of the United States.

We've got to stop sending our money to them. It's in our national interest.

Another 4 years of the GOP?

2008-09-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

If "The State" newspaper doesn't publish my latest letter to the editor, you can read all about it here.

Looking back over the last, almost eight years of the Bush administration we find incompetence on a grand scale, a declining stock market, hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, huge deficits, borrowing money from China and other countries, high gas prices, a failed foreign policy, domestic uncertainty, the most secretive administration ever, dirty political tricks that make Richard Nixon look like a boy scout, outright lies, a war of choice, corrupt politicians, the housing crisis, the mortgage crisis, large and small businesses going out of business, tainted goods from China, global warming, our world-wide reputation ruined, our diseased food supply, WMD, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Abu Graib and a whole host of other ills.

Who, in their right mind, would vote for another four years of a Republican administration?

Labor Day

2008-09-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

How come the one day of the year dedicated to work, federal, state and local governments and many retail establishments are closed? Just thought I'd ask!

Why government doesn't work

2008-08-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email of an article by Charlie Reese, purportedly a former columnist for the Orlando Sentinal newspaper. What he has to say about Congress and our governmental agencies is truly amazing. Why do we keep re-electing these fools?

"Politicians are the only people in the world," writes Reese, "who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and Republicans are against deficits, why do we have deficits?

"Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, why do we have inflation and high taxes?

"You and I don't propose a federal budget: the president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

"You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

"One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices; 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

"I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

"I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing.

"I don't care if they offer a politician a million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

"Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

"What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

"The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party, Nancy Pelosi. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted - by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

"When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

"If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army and Marines are in Iraq, it's because they want them in Iraq.

"If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way!

"There are no insoluble governmental problems.

"Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

"Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like 'the economy,' 'inflation,' or 'politics'that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

"Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

"They, and they alone, have the power.

"They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

"We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess."

So why don't we get rid of them? Because of INMC! It's Not My Congressman!

Guess what? It IS your congressman and it IS your senator and despite what they may do for constituent services they're looking out for number one...themselves.

It used to be one served as a "public servant," for little or no pay because it was an honor and duty to do so. Politicians today expect it to be a lifetime job with perks unavailable to the average man in the street.

Want to solve the problem with social security? Put Congress on social security.

Want to shore up medicare? Put Congress on medicare.

They've got a retirement system second to none, free medical care at Walter Reed Hospital and franking privileges, they don't pay postage on anything. Don't forget about those "fact-finding" trips.

And, how about instituting term limits? Give someone else a chance to screw things up. Two terms in the Senate and three in the House. Then go back home and find a real job.

Until we realize Abe Lincoln was right, it should be government of the people, by the people and for the people, we're only getting what we deserve.

So on November 4 we have a chance to retake our government. Just remember TTIO, Throw the Incumbent Out!

Government in-action

2008-08-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how impotent, useless and inefficient our government really is.

Like every other business in America I'm inundated daily by fax spam, junk from companies unknown trying to sell me everything from cruises to life insurance to penny stocks. Some even want to buy my business.

Early in 2006, in an attempt to stop this waste of paper, ink and time, I sent 40 pages of fax spam I had accumulated over a period of a few days, to Kevin Martin, head of the Federal Communications Commission and asked him to find a way to stop this misuse of the nation's phone system. I never received a reply.

The phone number of my fax machine has been on the national do-not-call directory from the beginning.

Hearing nothing from Martin, I continued to send him all the fax junk I received and urged him to crack down on those who were sending it.

A major problem with receiving these faxes is that my credit card scanner is hooked up to the fax line so when a fax is incoming I can't use my scanner. The customer must either wait until the fax is completed or the customer, with better things to do with their time, just leaves the store empty-handed. This restraint of trade can't be tolerated too often, not in these lousy economic times.

The fax spammer never puts their correct phone number on each page or identifies their primary company, a violation of FCC rules. Each fax has an "opt out" phone number which, if one calls it, verifies the number as being active which guarantees more junk faxes. Spammers now add words to imply the fax recipient has an ongoing relationship with the sender which bypasses an FCC rule.

After almost a year of getting nowhere with Kevin Martin I wrote to Senators Daniel Inouye, Lindsey Graham and Ted Stevens, Congressmen John Dingell, Jim Clyburn and Edward Markey. I never heard from any of them.

Late in 2007 I started receiving responses from the FCC asking for more information. I had already supplied that information in my original correspondence but they wanted the same information on their forms. One major problem: For every page of fax spam I sent the FCC, four to eight pages were generated by the FCC in response including photo copies of my original complaint and all enclosures. These responses came from Jeffrey Tignor, acting chief of the complaints department of the FCC.

By this time I had had enough. I waved the white flag of surrender on Dec. 21, 2007 and told Tignor, Martin, Senators Graham and Inouye they would never again hear from me.

In my naivete I expected no more correspondence from the FCC. Silly me!

I started receiving envelopes filled with reports and inquiries for every piece of fax spam I had ever sent the FCC. Sometimes they came in manila envelopes, 40 pages in all, or in individual envelopes. A couple of envelopes contained more than 150 pages. Unlike congressmen who have franking privileges, each response cost postage. Forty-nine cents. Five dollars and change.

On May 10, 2008 I wrote to Kevin Martin again and sent a copy to Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce asking for relief. I heard from neither.

On May 21 a letter went "To Whom it May Concern" at the FCC offices in Gettysburg, Va. where these responses were being generated asking them to stop. No response.

The last correspondence: On July 10 I received seven number 10 envelopes and two manila envelopes from the FCC each containing three pages, double sided, responding to one page of fax spam. Three days later I received eight more number 10 envelopes with the same junk inside. To date I have received 22 number 10 envelopes from the FCC each of them costing between 42 and 59 cents in postage.

Pandora's box has been opened and I can't close it. The government has wasted hundreds of dollars responding to my complaints and has done nothing to correct the problem.

On July 28 I sent all this information to the television networks asking them to see if they can get some answers.

So, Stone Phillips, Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams, Chris Cuomo, Katie Couric and Morley Safer, how about you calling Kevin Martin and the rest of the insensitive incompetents and try to resolve this thing?

I don't know why I'm surprised nothing has been done. It's just another example of our government inaction.

A question of leadership

2008-07-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

According to The State newspaper (July 30) suspended quarterback Stephen Garcia may be back in a Gamecock uniform soon.

"Garcia has been suspended since March following his third arrest or citation in a 15-month span," according to the newspaper.

Garcia isn't the first University of South Carolina athlete to get into trouble.

Quarterback Blake Mitchell had charges dropped by a Five Points bouncer who accused him of punching him in the head for refusing to admit two underage girls into Pavlov's bar; basketball's Tre Kelley was charged with driving with a suspended license and unpaid speeding tickets; footballer David Smith pled guilty to third degree burglary; baseball players Nick Fuller and Lonnie Chisenhall were dismissed from the team in March charged with six counts of felony theft...and the list goes on.

Where were the adult supervisors, the coaches, when these guys were getting into trouble? One would think the head coach would hold a meeting when new players joined the team and read them the "riot act" on how to behave and what the consequences are for misbehaving.

When these athletes get into trouble it makes national headlines and it reflects poorly on the state and the institutes of higher learning, be they U.S.C., Clemson or any other college or university.

Let's leave the adverse publicity in the hands of those who do it best, the state legislature, and let's rein in these kids who may think they're above the law just because they're athletes.

Public transportation: It's about time!

2008-07-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

Somewhere deep within the bowels of the mayor's office is a transportation plan I gave then Mayor Patton Adams almost 30 years ago.

It called for a monorail system canvassing the city, somewhat like an octopus, with a transfer hub located at Finley, sorry, Sydney Park, you know, where the fountain is.

The monorail would have used existing roads and would have been erected on the side of the roadway. There were routes from the airport to downtown and from downtown along Gervais Street into West Columbia and Cayce, down Blossom Street, along Two Notch Road to Camden and other routes to St. Andrews Road and the Irmo and Chapin areas.

The monorail would travel high above the roads and come to ground level at scheduled stops along the route.

Taking it one step further I envisioned another monorail traveling down the median strip of I-20, I-26 and, these days I-77, taking passengers to other cities within South Carolina.

I showed the plan to Sid Thomas, then head of the Central Midlands Regional Planning Council. As I was explaining things to him he was taking notes. I told him to take the whole plan and implement it...and that's where things stand today.

I had sought the advice of engineers at Disney World, a couple of manufacturers of monorails and Anthony Wedgewood-Benn, former Minister of Transportation in the British government who I had interviewed for a network radio documentary about the building of the Supersonic Airliner, the Concorde.

At the time Wedgewood-Benn suggested buses would be more practical in Columbia, a city he had visited a few years earlier. Given the state of transportation, today's high fuel prices and the dim prospects that Congress will do anything meaningful to alleviate the situation, public transportation should be given another look.

Warren Bolton, in a recent column for "The State" newspaper wrote that "Readers say Midlands transit system needs more than buses."

We need to be driving hybrids and high mileage cars. It would be wonderful if every vehicle had a solar panel on the roof providing electricity to power the vehicle.

America, the land of ingenuity, the land of ideas whose people have provided the answers and solutions to many of the world's problems can't solve this one?

In the 1970's President Jimmy Carter warned us we had to seek alternative fuels. There were lines daily at gas stations as motorists attempted to buy gas as Saudi Arabia and the other nations with petroleum showed us just how vulnerable we were to the whims of despots and lunatics who had the oil.

And, what did Congress do? Did they listen to the president? Hell NO! It was business as usual and for the past 30 years or so we've done nothing as a nation to wean ourselves off foreign oil.

Columbia is trying so hard to entice businesses to the city with development of the Vista, Hydrogen technology and a host of other extraordinary and exciting programs. Why can't we all get on board and provide a viable transportation system that is efficient, goes where people want to go at a reasonable cost and give incentives for parking the car and using mass transit?

It's about time the city, county and state leadership provided the initiative to get the job done.

The next Strom Thurmond?

2008-07-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Is S.C. Representative Jim Clyburn trying to be the next Strom Thurmond?

No, I'm not talking about getting things done in Congress or constituent services. I'm talking about having monuments named for him!

In a commentary in the July 2 edition of "The State" newspaper Clyburn defends his earmarks as serving the public good.

"The State editor's position on earmarking is based on erroneous reporting," he writes, "a lack of knowledge of the facts and a disregard for the constitutional authority granted to Congress to have power over the purse.

"I have always said," he continued, "and will reiterate here that my personal agenda is to improve the quality of life for the residents of the 6th congressional district."

That's a high plateau to aspire to, Jim, and I have no problem with most of them but do they all have to be named for you?

I have a major problem in having my tax dollars used to build monuments and memorials to people I elect to be public servants not professional politicians.

Clyburn isn't alone, not by a long shot! There are highways named for this senator or a bridge named for this congressman or a hospital wing named for that congresswoman. Since public tax dollars built it why isn't my name on it? Or your name?

Jim, you write that you helped the Drew Wellness Center in Columbia with a youth obesity program, that you earmarked $36 million to the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency to provide clean drinking water to a six-county region, that you helped Santee-Cooper in dedicating a water treatment plant in Santee, that an earmark helped extend the runway at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport and other projects which seemed to help a lot of people.

I don't know if your name is on any of these projects but there are some questionable ones that don't make a particle of sense.

About 10 years ago an eight year old girl was struck and killed by a car on I-277. Why she was near the highway alone and not at home is a question I don't think was ever answered. The city of Columbia, in an effort to stop people from crossing the highway installed a mile-long chain link fence and when it looked bad planted shrubs to hide the fence. It didn't stop people from crossing the highway, they just cut the fence and crawled through.

Your answer was to build a $4 million pedestrian overpass fully landscaped and lighted at night. Ask anyone who regularly travels I-277 and you'll get the same response: "In ten years I've seen six people use the overpass and I've seen a like number cross the highway at ground level." It's not just a useless overpass between two communities built after I-277 was created, it's the James Clyburn Pedestrian Overpass.

I stopped at the Jim Clyburn Golf Center today. There's a bronze statue of yourself at the front door. This center was supposed to provide African-American kids the opportunity to learn golf? At the driving range were three white guys trying and failing to hit a golf ball.

Then, of course, there's the bridge to nowhere. No, not the one Senator Ted Stevens wants to build in Alaska, the one you want to build from Rimini to Lone Star, South Carolina. You want to spend $200 million or more to build this bridge across a pristine swamp which would be an ecological disaster just to save residents of those small communities 15 minutes travel time. Is your name going to be on that one too?

Perhaps I wouldn't be so critical in better economic times. Unfortunately there isn't any extra money anywhere to fund anything. The president's folly in Afghanistan and Iraq has drained the treasury of a two trillion dollar surplus left by the last administration. In order to fund the "wars" Mr. Bush is printing more money and borrowing from China and others, thereby mortgaging this country to friend and foe alike so there's no extra money for any earmarks.

Any money used for earmarks takes critical money from social service programs for those less fortunate or continues to rob medicare and social security.

With an economy tanking, a stock market in bear territory, high gas prices making everything more expensive, airlines squeezing us for every nickle and dime this is certainly not the time to divert needed funds to some local projects even if they've got merit.

When the economy improves and you and the other senators and representatives build something with public funds, I want my name on it not yours!

Did I miss something on Father's Day?

2008-06-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Father's Day. The one day of the year devoted to dear old dad. The chance for the "old man" to relax, surrounded by friends and family with his feet on the ottoman being served mint juleps, chocolate covered strawberrys and a feast of hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage all cooked by...HIM!

How come, on dad's special day, he was sweating in the summer heat possibly wearing an apron which might have read, "Head Chef," toiling over a superheated grill which added to his discomfort while his family and invited guests were in the house enjoying the airconditioning and Hors d'oeuvres, not to mention the grandchildren?

The only intelligent conversation he was engaged in was talking to the dog or the squirrels both of which romped in the backyard while the thunder booming above foretold an impending downpour which threatened to destroy the ambiance of the day.

Let's remember last month. Mother's Day to be exact. Dear old mom was surrounded by her children, grandkids and friends...at the local restaurant. "I'm not cooking on Mother's Day," she exclaimed. Who picked up the tab? Dear old dad!

Now this may sound like a complaint, and perhaps it is, but it seems to be the norm these days. I still remember Father's Day of years past, way past, when dad was feted and showered with gifts from his children, gifts bought with their small weekly allowance they saved for the occasion. I've got the pictures to prove it.

Here's one showing dad surrounded by family and friends opening his gifts and here's another one showing dad in the backyard hovering over...a charcoal grill.

That's got to be a mistake! The magnifying glass shows dad in an apron with an oven mitt on his hand manhandling a spatula flipping burgers.

Oops!

Oh well, at least this year after the food was brought to the table and everyone was eating, good old dad was able to sneak away and play with the grandkids who had already had their dinner.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all.

What do the critics know?

2008-05-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

"The movie was exciting in the beginning then became boring..."

"The way Spielberg set up the shot could have been..."

I have no idea what movie the reviewers and critics were watching but it sure wasn't Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

When I took a class in college in movie appreciation we used Louis D. Giannetti's book, "Understanding Movies." He discussed every aspect of movie-making from the view of the producer, director, cinematographer and others involved in the process. That was then, this is now. I couldn't give a rat's patoot about how Spielberg framed the shot or how the music accented the action or any of that stuff. Leave that for the critics!

When I go to the movies these days I want to be entertained for a couple of hours and let me tell you, from the opening scene to the closing credits this movie delivered.

The six of us who went to see it opening day left the theatre drained and exhausted as if we had performed those stunts Harrison Ford pulled off. I don't care if Ford used one or 20 stunt doubles, for me and my guests the movie was pure joy.

Sure, Harrison Ford has aged (haven't we all?) but the critics made it sound like a 65 year-old guy was ready for a wheelchair and cane. Hell, every two weeks I'm playing full-court basketball with a group of 15 and 16 year-olds. And they know they're not to use that three letter word (old) around me.

I'm still amazed at the sets. They're so elaborate, involved and detailed. Who dreams up stuff like this?

I wonder how long it took Shia LaBeouf to learn how to handle a motorcycle? His attention to his coif reminded me of Edd Byrnes character, Kookie, on the TV series, "77 Sunset Strip."

All-in-all the movie was two hours, four minutes of fun, excitement and pure entertainment. Damn the reviewers...full speed ahead!

Some thoughts by people smarter than me

2008-05-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

"The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back".
(Abigail Van Buren - "Dear Abby")

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
(Herman Goering, head of the German Luftwaffe during WWII)

"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
(Astronomer Carl Sagan)

"There is no distinctly native American criminal class...except Congress."

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
(both by writer Mark Twain)

"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle."
(Abraham Lincoln)

And on a similar theme:

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
(Humorist Will Rogers)

Guys, did she say, "Don't bother?"

2008-05-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

If the "little woman" suggests you don't have to buy her a gift for Mother's Day, her Birthday, your Anniversary or any special occasion...don't go to Hallmark, write your own card like I did for my bride for Mother's Day. Feel free to use this verse, then buy her a gift.

There comes a time in each man's life
where he's got to face the facts,
That when he weds and takes a wife,
it has a great impact.

And through the years, through thick and thin,
Through children and the like,
Some things she says may be "no win,"
some others pure delight.

But when she says, "Don't give me things, a present
or a gift,"
If you've been married long enough
you know how to avoid a tiff.

And so my dear, it's abundantly clear,
that although you don't want me to spend,
I'll ignore your request, 'cause you're still the best,
and I'll do what I intend.

The Middle East, a history

2008-05-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

The continuing turmoil in the Middle East does a lot to spotlight the bias of the world's media or perhaps it's just good public relations on the part of Hezbollah, Hamas and the other Arab factions.

Remember when news reports decried the destruction of homes and villages, the deaths of innocent civilians and children in Beirut, Gaza and the West Bank, that chaos being foisted upon these areas by the Israeli military.

Very few reports mentioned that members of Hezbollah and Hamas located their headquarters and military stockpiles of rockets and other weapons in apartment buildings, stores and other civilian establishments. Fewer reports told of the pinpoint, precision bombing the Israeli airforce practiced in order to keep civilian casualties to a minimum while destroying the infrastructure of Israel's enemies.

Rockets fired from the roofs of apartment buildings in southern Lebanon wreaked havoc on Israeli towns and cities close to the border and not much was said in the media about the destruction in Israel. Israelis were forced to live in underground shelters during the shelling and lives were disrupted but you didn't hear about this on television or radio.

Many letters to the editor, editorials and other articles put the blame for the Arab-Israeli conflict on the relationship between Israel and the United States or because Britain recognized the only democracy in the region or because the world hated the accomplishments of the Jews or because of a hundred different and equally ridiculous reasons. World governments talked about how the Palestinians have been displaced, which in itself is suspect since there is no Palestine, therefore there are no Palestinians.

There should have been a Palestine.

On Dec. 9, 1917, as World War I neared its end, Jerusalem surrendered to British forces. Britain was given a mandate by the League of Nations which incorporated the language of the Balfour Declaration. Named for Arthur James Balfour, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, it promised British assistance in the building of a Jewish National Home in Palestine. In March 1921, Winston Churchill, then British colonial secretary, convened a high-level conference in Cairo to consider Middle East policy. As a result of these deliberations, Britain subdivided the Palestinian Mandate along the Jordan River-Gulf of Aqaba line. The eastern portion, called Transjordan, was to have a separate Arab administration with Abdullah appointed as emir. In 1946, Britain unilaterally granted Transjordan (Jordan today) its independence completing the action taken in 1922 when all land within the Mandate east of the Jordan River was set aside for the Arabs.

With Transjordan's independence, the British had partitioned Palestine and created an independent Palestine-Arab state with 77 percent of the original territory. On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly, by a two-thirds vote, passed Resolution 181 partitioning Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab.

The Jewish community of Palestine accepted partition. The Arab national movement in Palestine, as well as all the Arab states, angrily rejected partition wanting the entire country for themselves and threatened to resist partition by force. Had they accepted the U.N. proposal in 1947, the independent Palestinian Arab state, covering an area much larger than the West Bank and Gaza, would have been created along with Israel.

Instead they launched a war to destroy the new Jewish state. On May 15, 1948, the day after the creation of the state of Israel, the Arab armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon invaded the new state. When the fighting ended in January 1949, Israel held the 5,600 square miles allotted to it by the U.N. partition plan plus an additional 2,500 square miles. Jordan held the eastern sector of Jerusalem and the West Bank and Egypt held the Gaza Strip.

During the war as many as 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes. Many who left did so voluntarily to avoid the ongoing war or at the urging of Arab leaders who promised that all who left would return after a quick Arab victory. After the war ended the Arab nations refused to absorb these Palestinians into their population and they were instead settled into refugee camps. Only Jordan's King Abdullah agreed to confer citizenship on the 200,000 Palestinians living in Jordan and the Jordan-controlled West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A Jewish refugee problem was also created with the establishment of Israel. From 1948-1951 as many as 800,000 Jews were expelled from their native Arab nations and forced to flee as a result of state-sponsored anti-Zionist violence. As many as 500,000 of these refugees fled to Israel from Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco and were immediately and fully absorbed into the new nation of Israel.

In 1964 the Palestinian Liberation Organization was formed with the intent to "Liberate Paletine." In 1969 Yasir Arafat was elected chairman. The guiding ideology of the PLO was the destruction of the State of Israel. In 1967 Israel gained control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the Six Day War. With at least one million Arabs now under Israeli jurisdiction, Israel immediately made clear it would be ready to redeploy from territories in return for a peace agreement with its Arab neighbors. Israel's offer was rebuffed. In December 1973, Abba Eban, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations summed up his frustration by saying, "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

In August 1993 secret negotiations were held in Oslo, Norway between high level Israelis and Palestinians which led to an agreement. On Sept. 9, Israel and the PLO exchanged letters of mutual recognition. In his letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Arafat recognized Israel's right to exist "in peace and security." The PLO renounced "the use of terrorism and other acts of violence." Arafat also pledged to revoke articles in the Palestinian National Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist. In his letter Rabin confirmed Israel's recognition of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people.

In 1999 at Camp David, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered an Israeli redeployment from as much as 95 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip, the creation of a Palestinian state in that area, the uprooting of isolated Jewish settlements in the areas to be transferred to Palestinian control, Palestinian control over parts of Jerusalem and "religious sovereignty" over the Temple Mount area.

In return, Barak wanted the final status agreement to include an "end to conflict" clause under which the parties would pledge that all issues between them were now resolved and further claims would not be made at a future date. Arafat reportedly insisted he would only accept 100 percent of the West Bank, a complete withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines. Arafat walked away from the Camp David peace talks and began making plans for the armed struggle to continue.

When Likud party chairman Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sept. 28, 2000 the Arabs used that as a pretext for instigating large scale demonstrations, the start of the al-Aqsa intifada.

Had Arafat been the diplomat he wanted the world to think he was the Arab-Israeli conflict would have ended decades ago. However, in order to solidify his position as leader of the Arabs he called Palestinians he had to constantly fan the fires of dissent and hatred so those living in squalor in the refugee camps wouldn't have time to reflect on their lives and take out their frustrations on Arafat and his Fatah party.

When news organizations sent reporters to the Middle East the Arabs showed them what they wanted the media to see, a carefully orchestrated showcase which made the "Palestinians" victims and the Israelis murderers. Many in the media believed what they saw because they didn't search for a balanced view. News organizations and reporters are supposed to be non-biased and objective in their reporting. Many were not. Words chosen by reporters presented a biased view thereby giving listeners and viewers a warped idea of the truth. Words calling Palestinian terrorists "activists" or "militants." Israeli operations called "invasions" or "incursions." Using the words, "occupied territories" when describing the West Bank and Gaza.

And so the conflict continues and the hatred and mistrust grows. The world shakes its collective head in dismay and does nothing. Governments continue to arm the radical Arab elements and are alarmed when those weapons are used against defenseless civilians.

Egypt and Jordan were able to put aside their differences and make peace with Israel. It's a shame the other Arab states can't take the diplomatic route and do the same.

Have we all gone mad?

2008-05-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's absolutely unbelievable!

Joe Andrew, former Democratic Party chairman, who had endorsed Hillary Clinton but on Thursday shifted his support to Barack Obama to "reject the old negative politics" and unify the party said, "A vote to continue this (primary) process is a vote that assists John McCain."

This idiot wants the presidential selection process ended because the longer it continues, the more it may benefit the Republican candidate.

So this fool would rather substitute expediency for a qualified candidate.

Before the presidential contests began I would suspect Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were friends as well as colleagues. By the time a candidate is selected I doubt they'd even be on speaking terms.

For years I have been a critic of the primary system to select a candidate.

Prior to 1976, candidates for president and vice president were chosen at the national convention of each political party. There was discussion, verbal feuding, sometimes fisticuffs - but the convention usually chose the most qualified individual to run for the most powerful job in the world. There was also excitement, drama and, at times, surprises.

Think about it. Candidates must raise millions of dollars to bad-mouth their friends who are running against them, dig up incriminating evidence of potential immorality or corruption and be put through the wringer by a media intent upon exploiting the smallest indiscretion of each candidate, whether that indiscretion was recent or decades old.

Then, when the candidate is chosen, more millions must be raised to challenge the candidate of the opposing party.

One can only guess why the primary system was established. Perhaps the leadership of both political parties, wishing to avoid responsibility for choosing a candidate, sought to give the American public that responsibility. If the wrong candidate was selected they were blameless. "The public has spoken."

Say what you will about the California gubernatorial race a few years ago when more than 50 people wanted the job. Sure there were silly candidates like Arianna Huffington and Gary Coleman but the right person was elected and, from what I've seen and heard, he's doing a decent job.

Yet for the most powerful job on the planet we have to choose between two candidates, tweedle-dee or tweedle-dum and these are the best, the most qualified people we can find?

Where's the leadership today?

The true leaders may be afraid to come forward because somewhere in their past they may have done something less than honorable which will certainly come to light with the media frenzy associated with every candidate.

Prior to the mid 1970's no reporter delved heavily into the personal life of a candidate. Then came Watergate! Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein won a Pulitzer Prize for their investigation of president Nixon.

Soon after, many journalists, like sharks in a sea of blood, started looking into a candidate's past with a passion. Everyone wanted a Pulitzer. Remember the insanity when they searched Henry Kissinger's garbage looking for incriminating evidence.

So when the leaders refuse to lead we get what's left, the mediocre candidate, the wannabees. And because we accept these less than fully qualified people we elevate mediocrity to the highest level of desirability, a plateau to be achieved, something to strive for. And all we get is incompetence, insensitivity, intolerance and disappointment. And, when these incompetents surround themselves with other fools and incompetents it leads to disaster and we wonder why.

Cartoonist Walt Kelly was right when he had his character, Pogo, exclaim, "We have met the enemy and he is us." We're the ones who continue to send these nuts back to Congress. We're the ones who say, "it's not my congressman who's screwing things up."

And yet, these are the people, these elitists, who vote themselves raises while cutting budgets, who rape the social security trust fund to build monuments to themselves back home in the form of unnecessary bridges or highways, who give themselves a pension for life which some corporate CEO's would envy and who get the highest quality medical care while 42 million Americans have no health insurance. Yet we still re-elect them.

Abraham Lincoln gave an eloquent speech on Nov. 19, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pa and spoke of government of the people, by the people and for the people.

It's past time we the people took back our government from these imposters and restored our nation to the greatness it experienced before it was hijacked by wannabees.

A respite from the news

2008-04-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

It's time to warm up and practice "groaning." Ready? Here goes!

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in the craft it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much. The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.

This guy goes into a restaurant for a Christmas breakfast while in his home town for the holidays. After looking over the menu he says, "I'll just have the eggs Benedict." His order comes a while later and it's served on a big, shiny hubcap. He asks the waiter, "What's with the hubcap?" The waiter says, "Well there's no plate like chrome for the hollandaise."

A guy goes to a psychiatrist. "Doc, I keep having these alternating recurring dreams. First I'm a teepee; then I'm a wigwam; then I'm a teepee; then I'm a wigwam. It's driving me crazy. What's wrong with me?" The doctor replies,"It's very simple. You're two tents."

And finally, an Emanuel original:

When Rene Descartes (he of "I think, therefore I am" fame)was born his parents brought him home from the hospital in a horse-drawn carriage. Along the way the horse picked up a stone in its hoof and Msr. Descartes dismounted from the carriage and removed the stone.

Because the horse's hoof was still tender, Msr. Descartes took the reins and led the horse back to their home.

And this was the very first time (are you ready for this?), anyone had ever put Descartes before the horse!

All together now, Grroooaaaannn!!!!!

The Pressure on Teens

2008-04-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

I recently staffed a convention of 63 teenagers from Augusta and Savannah, Georgia and Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.

Friday night the boys and girls went to separate rooms for programs. The council president, a senior from Columbia, had everyone sit in a circle and then he told the 30 boys, "whatever is said in this room, stays in this room." You could hear a pin drop.

"We've all got problems," he said, "so let's talk about them."

(ed. note: Each teen whose story appears here gave permission to publish it.)

One-by-one each teen let their guard down and talked freely about their fears, their aspirations, their disappointments.

I sat there listening, at times shaking my head in disbelief, sometimes quietly weeping, other times smiling at their resiliance.

Everyone who wanted to share their story was given the opportunity and the rest of us just listened.

Three boys told of a friend or classmate's suicide. Two were disappointed they didn't get into the college of their choice. One wanted more time to spend with his divorced father. Most of them talked about taking advanced courses in high school because they wanted to get into a good college. Some of them were having problems keeping up in those classes.

After everyone had poured their heart out I asked for a few minutes to respond.

"First off," I said, "lighten up! Most of you are putting too much pressure on yourselves, or your parents are, or your classmates are. Lighten up!"

In South Carolina some brilliant bureaucrat in state government has decreed that students in middle school have to declare a major, to tell what career they want to pursue. There are college sophomores who haven't a clue about a career, so is it any wonder high school kids are stressed out?

Since high school, I've had 14 different jobs and I've changed careers five times. Your first job will probably not be the last one you'll have, so lighten up!

If you have to attend your second choice school or your fifth choice or your
25th, don't sweat it. You're going to school for an education, not to party as many of these schools specialize in. After a year or so at "that" school you might be able to transfer to the school of your choice. Just do your best at "that" school.

Kids today are involved in everything. Model United Nations. Soccer, baseball, football. Clubs at school, the school newspaper, the prom committee, student government, tutoring.

When do they have fun? When is there time for fun? Some of these kids work harder in a week than a college professor or physician.

Many kids are pressured to do well so they won't fail. Failure is a good teacher.

Lee Iococca, former chairman of Chrysler Corp. talked to a lot of college presidents and professors and he asked them what college kids want most today.

"They usually answer," he said, "security - a nice, safe, secure, prosperous future - and there's nothing wrong with that. That's exactly what I wanted years ago.

"But then I ask, 'What's their biggest hangup?' and they tell me its the fear of screwing up, the fear of failure. Apparently, a lot of young people aren't too crazy about the idea of taking risks.

"Well, you're never going to get what you want out of life without taking some risks. Everything worthwhile carries the risk of failure. I had to take risks every day."

If the pressures are building and you feel you can no longer cope talk to someone! Your parents, an advisor, your guidance counselor, a member of the clergy...anyone. Get help!

Growing up today is much more difficult but if life is taken one day-at-a-time with support from family and friends the teen years can be a time of growth and discovery and fun. Just remember two words. Lighten up!

What could have been.

2008-04-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

My G-d, it's been 40 years.

As one ages time seems to travel faster but 40 years!

It's been 40 years since, "I have a dream." Forty years since the California primary. Forty years since, what could have been.

I still tear up when I hear "Abraham, Martin and John," Dion's musical tribute to Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. It was released in 1968, that terrible year when America lost its future, when America lost its hope.

I was sitting at the console at the Mutual Broadcasting System studios in Manhattan April 4, 1968 playing a pre-recorded show when reporter John Luther stormed in and shouted, "Martin Luther King has been shot."

Up to date information from Memphis was coming in agonizingly slow on the Associated Press teletype. John Luther asked me, the only engineer in the studio at the time, to pull some actualities from the files to use in an obituary he was writing.

An hour or so later we went into another studio and recorded a solemn tribute to this civil rights icon.

While rioting consumed those in grief across the nation John and I just shook our heads and asked ourselves, "why?"

In Indianapolis presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy told of King's assassination to his supporters at a campaign stop. A cry went up from the crowd as Kennedy broke the news. He then proceeded to talk about King's life and hopes and dreams extemporaneously, the crowd hushed to catch every word.

His voice cracking at times, he called for calm while nervously caressing a program in his hands.

And then came June 5.

Bobby Kennedy had just won the California primary, his biggest success to date. As he was making his way from the ballroom through the food service pantry a Palestinian Arab, Sirhan Sirhan, fired a weapon and all the dreams and anticipated hopes of a generation died with the Senator from New York.

Mutual Reporter Andy West was covering Kennedy's victory speech and when the shots were fired he turned his tape recorder back on to capture one of the most compelling and frightening exchanges caught on tape. Olympic athlete Rafer Johnson must have been holding Sirhan's gun hand trying to wrench it from the assassin's grasp. Someone was screaming, "break his thumb, Rafer." Then you heard Andy West breathlessly exclaim, "the gun is pointing at me." The tape was riveting.

Jack Kennedy cut down at 46. Martin Luther King assassinated at 39. Bobby Kennedy's life ended at 42.

One wonders what this country would look like today if this trio, with their exceptional vision and courage, had lived to a ripe old age.

President Kennedy encouraged Americans to ask what they could do for their country. King had a dream, "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but on the content of their character." And Bobby, seeing the injustice and needs of many in this country, wondered aloud that, "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream of things that never were and say, why not?"

I miss all three of them and the country is poorer because they left us too soon.

Israel Update

2008-04-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

I went to a briefing today sponsored by AIPAC, the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee. Keynote speaker was Herb Keinon, diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Post.

He said the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is difficult to solve because the Arabs aren't interested in a solution.

He admitted that Israelis have felt insecure since 2000, the start of the second intifada, the rioting , strikes and suicide bombings by the palestinians against Israel. It was precipitated by the visit of then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Al-aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

In spite of that insecurity, he said, Israelis are filled with optomism and are resiliant as a people, carrying on their daily lives in spite of the terrorism.

He said terrorism is shaping young thought and actions. "It's difficult to raise kids who don't hate," he said.

He said over the short term the problem of terrorism is solved by quick and decisive military action which has reduced the incidents of terrorism.

He added, "Israel has the internal strength to deal with the situation."

There are other issues concerning the middle east. "Nuclear weapons in Iran aren't only an Israeli problem, but a world problem," he said. "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemns Israel to gain support from other Arab nations," he said.

He added that a nuclear armed Iran would make Israel feel very vulnerable, and when Israel feels vulnerable, it acts.

Since Hisballah, Hamas and other factions have been sending missles into Israeli cities and villages, the main military focus is on an umbrella sheild to protect Israel from incoming missles. He added that even Syria is relying more on missles than conventional tanks. Israel is trying to squeeze Hamas, who control most of the Gaza Strip, politically and militarily to curtail their missle attacks.

Politically in Israel there's a dearth of leadership, he said. There have been six prime ministers during the Clinton/Bush years.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is holding on to power for three reasons, according to Keinon. He's an experienced politician having been in politics for 35 years and he has friends in high places who protect him. There's also an animosity against former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as the peace process continues, in one form or another, Israel's elite keep him in power.

When asked which of the presidential candidates Israelis would like to see in the White House he cited a poll in which more than 60 percent of Israelis favored Hillary Clinton and 12 percent hope Barak Obama would succeed. "However," he said, "that's primarily because Israelis know the Clintons, both Bill and Hillary and, for that matter, John McCain. They don't know Obama."

Thirty years ago, he said, United Nations resolution 242 called for Israel to give up land for peace with the Arabs. Today it's not so simple. Today it's become a religious issue and it's much harder to solve.

He said we in America can do much to support Israel. "Make your voices heard," he said. "Write articles in the newspapers and magazines and let your Congressmen know how you feel about issues involving Israel. When your Congressman votes correctly, let him know you support him."

Let's really downsize state government

2008-03-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful state legislators want the power to regulate lawyers and take that function from the Supreme Court. Thanks to our elected officials, the governor doesn't even have the power to fire the head of the Highway patrol or many other department chiefs. Our senators and house members have more power than the governor.

Since our legislators want to micromanage the everyday business of state government and because they want total control, I propose we eliminate the office of governor and all other constitutional officers and their departments.

Let's do away with the judicial system. Let the legislators decide court cases. They already appoint judges so let them run the show. Look at the money we'd save.

Or, since our elected state officials abrogate their leadership responsibilities when a controversial decision must be made (they offer it as a referendum the public must vote on), let's abolish the state legislature and give total control to the city and county governments.

Then we would have true government of the people, by the people and for the people. No doubt we'd do a better job, too.

Why can't U.S.C. get it right?

2008-03-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

Why is it, the University of South Carolina can't field a winning team?

The two money sports, football and basketball, always come up short in the win column. Neither team, it seems, can win the big game. They lose by one or two points or a field goal, this in spite of the big "name" coaches the school hires.

Why can small basketball schools like Davidson, Gonzaga, Coppin State or Winthrop consistently make it into the NCAA tournament, most of them staying in past the first round? Why can't USC recruit players like Davidson's Stephen Curry?

In the 1970's USC was a basketball powerhouse with players like Kevin Joyce, John Roche, Tom Owens and Mike Dunleavy bringing glory to the school. Coach Frank McGuire recruited players primarily from the New York area and brought them south. I'm told the Empire State is no longer a prime recruiting area but someone must have located Curry and North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and convinced them to play ball for their respective schools.

Why can't we?

I'm an old Brooklyn Dodgers fan and I'm used to "wait 'til next year," but even the bums reached the top spot in 1955. After that they and the Yankees regularly vied for the World Series crown.

Heck, even the Chicago White Sox won a world series after an 88 year drought so anything is possible...except, it seems, an exceptional USC team.

Who are our recruiters looking at? Where are they looking? Why can't they convince outstanding prospects to play for us?

We've had high profile football coaches: Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz, Jim Carlen, Paul Dietzel, and they all fell short of excellence. Only Joe Morrison had an exceptional year in 1984, going 10-1.

Sure, we've gone to bowl games but considering the "talented" coaches and the money the school has poured into the program we should be consistently going to bowl games...and winning.

On the basketball side, USC is looking for a new coach. Alex English lives in Columbia. He has said he would like the job so why is Athletic Director Eric Hyman looking elsewhere?

English holds records at USC and in the pros. In 111 games for USC he scored 1,972 points. In his pro career his point total is 25,613. He played in eight all-star games. He spent 17 years with Milwaukee, Indianapolis and finally the Denver Nuggets and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.

If you've got the talent in your own backyard why go looking elsewhere?

Thank goodness for the baseball team. It wouldn't surprise me if Coach Ray Tanner buys airline tickets to Omaha for the team before the first ball is pitched at the start of the season. His team regularly plays in the College World Series.

I've been a frustrated fan for years with the Dodgers. For the past 30 or so years as a South Carolina resident I've had heartburn from our USC teams. I could use some Tums but maybe it would help if someone gave a bottle of them to the USC football and basketball coaches.

Ya never know, it might help!

Another downtown plan?

2008-03-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

A front-page story in "The State" newspaper March 18 told of $215,000 spent on a study to increase retail shopping in downtown Columbia.

Thirty years ago the study only cost $10,000 for Wilbur-Smith and Associates to come to the same conclusion any downtown merchant could have told the city council for free.

Thirty years ago the downtown retail sector stretched from the statehouse to Jefferson Square on the 1800 block of Main Street. There were retail stores on each of those seven city blocks of Assembly, Main and Sumter Streets.

In 1975 there were 219 businesses in the downtown corridor. "In downtown Columbia," I wrote in a letter to the editor, "there are 91 retail stores. you can have your portrait painted, eat at one of 36 restaurants, shop at one of seven jewelry stores, buy a magazine from Brazil, shop for clothes at one of 21 retailers, buy or sell stocks, do business at three investment firms, shop at nine printers or copying centers, get money at one of 30 financial institutions, buy furniture, rare books, souvenirs, flowers, auto parts, shoes, records or comic books. There are also 16 hair stylists, barbers or beauty shops, four tailors, three dry cleaners, two hotels, a motel and three florists."

It was the considered opinion of most retailers in the 1970's that parking was a problem. One retailer said, "my customers tell me they sometimes circle the block four or five times before finding a space, but they stick with it because they really want to shop here." The parking problem still exists today, the meters just cost more.

Another problem facing downtown then was the perception it was an unsafe area. I wrote, "We've had such bad publicity over the years, with everything from complaints about not enough parking to Main Street as a high crime area and it just isn't true. Sure, we've had our share of panhandlers, vagrants and drunks, but they're more annoyances than crime."
Charles Austin, then police chief is quoted as saying, "downtown is one of the safest areas for shoppers and workers."

The same problems then are the same problems now. Downtown has always had a negative perception.

When Macy's left downtown, Jack Kienzie from WIS television brought his cameras to the street to lament the closing of this giant retailer. Our store, Mayo's, was across the street from Macy's and after Kienzie did his report I took him on a tour of the area pointing out the new businesses which had moved into the area. To his credit, he used both reports on the evening newscast.
Merchants suggested to city officials that the spaces above their retail stores be renovated into apartments and condos to encourage citizens to live and work downtown. Those pleas fell on deaf ears.

And then came Kirkman Finley! The Columbia mayor had plans for downtown and those plans didn't include retail. Finley wanted a downtown comprised of nothing but insurance companies, banks and office buildings. The end result: Six blocks of retail space disappeared on Main, Assembly and Sumter Streets and today, only the 1600 block of Main Street, the 1300 block of Assembly Street and the 1400 block of Sumter Street has viable retail stores.
I was among 27 people named to the Main Street Task Force to determine how best to revitalize downtown. We met monthly for breakfast, talked a lot and did absolutely nothing. Frustrated, I created "The Downtown Shopper", a tabloid newspaper filled with coupons from downtown merchants and distributed to areas outside the Main Street corridor in an effort to bring business downtown.

Former Senator Ernest F. Hollings pulled strings in Washington to move a center for training lawyers to Columbia. He wanted the school on the site of the empty Macy's building on the 1400 block of Main Street.

Had the school been placed there as he envisioned it would have meant law professionals coming to Columbia every two weeks for training. It would also have meant instant revitalization for Main Street. To service those students would require super markets, drug stores and a host of retail establishments catering to them.

Instead, John Palms, U.S.C. president, lobbied and twisted arms to get the school built on the U.S.C. campus where it is today.

Say what you want about his predecessor, James Holderman. For Holderman, what was good for the capital city was good for U.S.C. He would have supported building the school on Main Street. To Palms, the University was paramount and the rest of the city didn't matter. Had the city fathers stood their ground Main Street and the downtown corridor would look vastly different today.

Then the city fathers concentrated solely on the Vista and totally ignored the Main Street corridor.

"The State" gives the following assessment of the problem:
(a) The best locations for downtown retail are on Lady Street from Main Street to Huger Street and on Main Street from Gervais (the capital) to Laurel Streets. (b) The city needs more sites suited for retail. Only 28 percent of the building spaces on Main street house retail.
Some of the solutions suggested?

(a) The city should provide forgivable loans and other incentives to entice retailers downtown and building owners to improve properties. (b) Downtown needs more retailers that appeal to middle and upper income shoppers, such as bistros, delis and shops that sell prepared foods, books, stationery, apparel and home furnishings. (c) Downtown must attract shoppers from the suburbs until there are enough downtown residents, employees and travelers to support strong retail.

Thirty years ago there was a viable retail base from Gervais to Laurel Streets. At that time there was a 93 percent occupancy rate in the downtown corridor. Thirty years ago we asked city council for loans to upgrade our stores. Instead they tore up the streets, put in ultra-wide sidewalks, eliminated two lanes of traffic, installed 80 foot tall lights in the middle of Main Street in an effort to "beautify" the area. As mentioned above, those 219 businesses catered to every taste and fashion sense, every income level and every ethnic group. There were even four movie theatres downtown.

There's been some progress. More people are living downtown in apartments and condos. Publix has a super market in the Vista. However, parking is still an issue, the closest drug store is near Richland Memorial Hospital and there are other major challenges facing any revitalization of the area.

Instead of spending thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars on studies, perhaps the city council should do what they should have done thirty years ago. Ask the merchants! Besides, their advice is free.