Palin’s Playground
You probably know that when Sarah Palin spoke at a recent Tea Party gathering, she had some “crib notes” written on the palm of her hand. Apparently, the words were “Energy,” “Tax Cuts,” and “Lift American Spirit.” Unfortunately for the former governor, she peeked at her helping hand right after she criticized the President for using a teleprompter. Not surprisingly, some Democrats jumped on “palmgate’ almost immediately, and some Republicans leapt to Palin’s defense. I’m not particularly interested in weighing in on whether her writing on her hand was good or bad. What strikes me – and probably everyone else – is that it’s something that it brings to mind school days. This got me thinking. Maybe politicians will follow Palin’s lead and revert to the behavior and words of kids.
You probably know that when Sarah Palin spoke at a recent Tea Party gathering, she had some “crib notes” written on the palm of her hand. Apparently, the words were “Energy,” “Tax Cuts,” and “Lift American Spirit.” Unfortunately for the former governor, she peeked at her helping hand right after she criticized the President for using a teleprompter. Not surprisingly, some Democrats jumped on “palmgate’ almost immediately, and some Republicans leapt to Palin’s defense. I’m not particularly interested in weighing in on whether her writing on her hand was good or bad. What strikes me – and probably everyone else – is that it’s something that it brings to mind school days. This got me thinking. Maybe politicians will follow Palin’s lead and revert to the behavior and words of kids.
One of the people who spoke in Sarah Palin’s defense was former Miss America Kirsten Haglund – or as she would be referred to in school, “the pretty, popular girl.”
Maybe soon we’ll hear Nancy Pelosi exclaim after somebody criticizes her: “I’m rubber, you’re glue. Everything you say about me bounces off me and sticks to you.”
I think it would be fun to watch an exchange like this between Rod Blagojevich and the prosecutor at his trial:
Blago: Am not.
Prosecutor: Are too.
Blago: Am not.
Prosecutor: Are too.
Maybe Defense Secretary Gates will be criticized by someone who will say, “Oh yeah? You and what army.”
Maybe after the President urges Republicans to embrace the spirit of bipartisanship, Minority Leader Mitch McConnel will respond, “You can’t make me. You’re not the boss of me.”
When the chair of a Senate committee asks a witness, “Where’s that report you promised us?” Then the witness might respond, “Uh, my dog ate it.”
During a debate in Congress, after Congressman #1 finishes talking, Congressman #2 says: “I agree with my distinguished colleague.” To which Congressman #1 responds, “Stop copying me.”
During a filibuster, I can imagine a Senator saying, “Why should I stop texting just because you’re talking.”
The parents, spouses, and children could get in on the act, too.
A spouse might say, “I don’t care if you’re supposed to have dinner with the Queen of England. It’s your turn to take the kids to soccer.”
An irate mother could say to her son, “Senator, Shmenator. Before you go to the hill, clean up your room.”
A plea to an Ambassador before going to his assignment could be,” I’m not saying you have to do it right away, but maybe over dessert, could you see if the Prince might want to go out with Katie?”
A strict mother might say, “I don’t care if you are the Congressional Chaplain. I still say it’s wrong for you to get anything pierced.”
While the President is going over his notes for a big speech over breakfast, I can just hear Michelle saying, “You know the rules. No reading at the table.”
At a state dinner where some exotic food is being served, the Secretary General of the United Nations is told, “Come on. Just eat half of it.” He responds in earshot of everyone, “No. It’s yucky. It’ll make me barf. Now let’s talk about nuclear proliferation.”
The wife of the head of the CIA: “Well, I wouldn’t be so suspicious if you weren’t so secretive.”
An unimpressed mother: “Surgeon General, big deal. Now, if you were a general surgeon…”
And then there’s the one you really don’t want to hear: “Come on, kids. I’ve told you a million times: Don’t hide my “football” with all the nuclear war codes. I’ll let you stay up an extra hour if you tell me where it is. Give me a hint. Is it in the dishwasher again? Am I getting warm?”
Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Home Improvement” to “Frasier.” He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at lloydgarver@gmail.com. Check out his website at lloydgarver.com and his podcasts on iTunes.
Mier Mutineers Take Wrong Turn Into Mountains
By Feb. 18, 1843, a week after the Mier mutineers escaped en masse from their Mexican captors, Santa Anna’s soldiers had rounded up most of them. Eight weeks earlier on the banks of the Rio Grande, the officer in charge of the punitive expedition had ordered an about-face. The hit-and-run invaders that temporarily terrorized San Antonio were long gone, and the pursuers were strictly prohibited by President Sam Houston from crossing the border.
By Feb. 18, 1843, a week after the Mier mutineers escaped en masse from their Mexican captors, Santa Anna’s soldiers had rounded up most of them.
Eight weeks earlier on the banks of the Rio Grande, the officer in charge of the punitive expedition had ordered an about-face. The hit-and-run invaders that temporarily terrorized San Antonio were long gone, and the pursuers were strictly prohibited by President Sam Houston from crossing the border.
Egged on by Col. William S. Fisher, 260 volunteers mutinied and continued the chase. The rebels celebrated Christmas by fighting 3,200 Mexican troops to a standstill at the town of Mier, but a clever general bluffed them into laying down their arms.
The first day of the forced march to Mexico City gave the prisoners a bitter taste of the misery in store for them. Covering 25 miles without a drop of water, they were served child-sized portions of barely boiled beef and nothing more.
By the time the Texans reached Rancho Salado 90 miles from Satillo, Capt. Ewen Cameron had been chosen to lead a mass escape. The captives were told during the night by whispered word-of-mouth to plan on skipping breakfast.
All eyes were on Cameron the next morning. Two narrow doors, 400 soldiers and 500 miles of desolate countryside stood between the mutineers and their homeland, yet all but a handful went along with the suicidal scheme. A bullet was better than the slow, agonizing death of captivity.
It seemed like an eternity before the captain finally gave the go-ahead. Waving his weather-beaten hat high above his head and shouting at the top of his lungs, Cameron rushed the heavily defended door.
In the brief battle that followed, the unarmed Texans lost ten comrades before the Mexican resistance melted. Grabbing the guns dropped by the guards as well as a number of horses and mules, the fugitives fled north.
Had they stuck to the main road, the Texans might have made it safely out of Mexico. But over Cameron’s strenuous objections, the majority opted for the mountains and the rest reluctantly took the wrong with them.
Without guides or maps, the mutineers became hopelessly lost in the inhospitable desert. Driven mad by thirst, some drank their own urine – a self-imposed death sentence. Only three ever reached Texas, while 173 survivors were rounded up by Mexican patrols.
One prisoner, who kept a detailed diary of the ordeal, recorded the heartbreaking scene as the escapees were returned at gunpoint to Rancho Salado. “Their eyes were sunken far back in the sockets and seemed to have lost the lustre of human intelligence. Their death-like visages covered with dust gave them the appearance of a congregation of the dead.”
Santa Anna wanted more than just the semblance of death and demanded an instant replay of the Goliad Massacre. Putting his life and career on the line, Gen. Francisco Mexia refused to obey the barbaric order. As the dictator looked for a spineless lackey to do his dirty work, the United States, Great Britain and other foreign powers pressed for clemency.
Convinced that a little compassion would score a point or two with world opinion, Santa Anna devised a fiendish formula for punishing the hated Texans. One out of ten would be shot with the victims chosen by the luck of the draw.
The infamous Black Bean Lottery was held on Mar. 25, 1843. Seventeen black beans and 159 white beans were dumped into a crock, and the blindfolded prisoners were forced to determine who lived and who died. After digging their own graves, the 17 losers were shot.
Postponing the gruesome burial until the next day, the executioners retired for the night. A badly wounded victim played possum until the firing squad departed and then slipped away in the darkness only to be hunted down and finished off.
A month later, the Mexicans suddenly announced that a mathematical error had left them one Texan short. To correct the mistake, Ewen Cameron would be shot. For his role as ringleader of the mass escape, the brave Ranger paid the supreme price.
Several Texans avoided the anguish of prolonged imprisonment at Perote, the notorious Mexico City dungeon. Several vanished while on a road work detail, others tunneled out of Perote and the wounded left behind at Mier bought their freedom by bribing the guards.
The remaining prisoners, minus 22 that succumbed to the inhumane conditions, were not released until September 1844. But in a matter of months there would be the devil to pay.
During the Mexican War, the memory of the Mier atrocity drove Texans to acts of bloody revenge. Toward those who showed no mercy, no mercy was shown.
“Secession & Civil War” – latest “Best of This Week in Texas History” collection available for $10.95 plus $3.25 postage and handling from Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or order on-line at twith.com.
2010 Texas Gubernatorial Prediction: ‘Perry Wins’
As crazy as it may sound, I predict that Gov. Rick “Git-on Down the Road” Perry will be re-elected. Primarily, the reason is that the majority of Texans “don’t know no better” and they want to keep the governor who has kept his wealthy special interest campaign contributors happy “as a pig in crap.”
As crazy as it may sound, I predict that Gov. Rick “Git-on Down the Road” Perry will be re-elected.
Primarily, the reason is that the majority of Texans “don’t know no better” and they want to keep the governor who has kept his wealthy special interest campaign contributors happy “as a pig in crap.”
In addition, Perry presents himself as a home-grown farm boy and is viewed as a real Texas success story. Regardless, it is interesting that the Texas Farmers Union has clashed with the governor regarding his push for the Trans-Texas Corridor that would cut through the heart of Texas and divide many farms from Mexico up through Oklahoma.
While Perry paints a solid view of his performance as governor, the truth is that he has done a great deal for wealthy special interests while doing little for the average majority. There is a growing movement against Perry, but it is doubtful that it will be sufficient to stop him from attaining a 4th term as governor.
Perry has done many things to impede his own re-election, e.g., promoting the Texas Corridor, pushing the financing of public education onto local government, demanding that girls receive mandatory HPV inoculations, increasing business taxes, pushing for further deregulation of various industries, etc. Perry’s priorities are questionable and have been proven as failing the community good.
Despite his political transgressions and often tyrannical attempts at control there seems to be no other candidate for government that can stop Perry from being re-elected.
In reviewing the GOP Primary, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison carries with her the stigma of national government control. Perry waves the Texas flag over the national flag during this campaign and it will be a successful tactic. Washington, D.C. has failed all Americans and Perry points that out to all Texans. Do they want failed politics to run Texas? The answer is no.
Debra Medina is trying to represent average Texans but appears to be a more “liberal” Republican Conservative who has virtually no experience in government. She has no political history and legislative experience and can not beat Perry in the GOP Primary.
Looking at the opposing party alternatives, the Democratic Party no longer has strong roots in Texas. Those roots were eliminated when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While Johnson knew it was the right thing to do, he also acknowledged that signing the document would ensure a Republican stronghold throughout the South for an infinite period of time. He was right.
Former Houston Mayor Bill White has a platform that simply does not “hold water” for the majority of Republican Texas and let’s face it that the GOP maintains a strong base throughout the state.
The other top Democratic contender is Farouk Shami, who appears to be delusional in believing that Texans would vote for him. First off, Shami arrived in the U.S. from the Middle East in 1965. For the most part, native Texas do not like newcomers moving into their state. They want Texas to remain the same as it has for centuries. The fact that Shami is from the Mid-East does not bode well for him in Texas.
Finally, Rick Perry was re-elected in 2006 with only 39 percent of the total votes. Basically, there were too many lesser-quality opponents that divided the people from eliminating Perry as Governor. This year it looks like more of the same. Seems like Texans will be forced to endure another 4 years of deadwood special interest incumbent Perry politics.
(Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.)
Worrying — Useless Human Emotion
I read somewhere that worrying is the most useless human emotion. Worrying does no good in the eventual outcome of things. So why do we do it? (I don’t know!) I try not to, but sometimes I can’t seem to help it. I always wished to be one of those people who never seem to worry at all. Why do we replay sad or bad times in our minds? Same type of thing. What good will it do? At least, with the latter, I suppose there’s the chance of a learning experience, acceptance, processing, coming to terms, closure. There may actually some benefit there. But worrying? What good is it?
I read somewhere that worrying is the most useless human emotion. Worrying does no good in the eventual outcome of things. So why do we do it? (I don’t know!) I try not to, but sometimes I can’t seem to help it. I always wished to be one of those people who never seem to worry at all. Why do we replay sad or bad times in our minds? Same type of thing. What good will it do? At least, with the latter, I suppose there’s the chance of a learning experience, acceptance, processing, coming to terms, closure. There may actually some benefit there. But worrying? What good is it?
It’s been my experience that the things we worry about never come to pass as we imagine. When bad things happen, we must deal with them in whatever fashion we’re able. No matter how much worrying we did before the event; it usually wasn’t effective preparation, not very helpful in the actual instance.
When I was young, I worried about my parents (who were quite a bit older than other kids’ folks). I worried about my dog, my parakeet, schoolwork and grades, getting into college, what paths to take in life, money, things like that. I don’t remember actually worrying about boys or dates. But I suppose I did. Later I worried about the Viet Nam war, the world in general, then my ex-husband, the children, our pets, and always, my aging parents.
As I’ve grown older, I might worry a tiny bit less. I’m not exactly sure when this happened, but now I seem calmer somehow (most of the time). My children are grown and not a concern 24/7 in the same way as before. Of course I love them and want the best for them. But they don’t need or want my constant care and attention now. My parents are sadly gone. So worrying about them has been supplanted with missing and remembering with love and affection. Sometimes I worry about my friends, but not usually with the depth and angst I reserve almost exclusively for my family.
Previously I worried whenever things broke around here. I worried even BEFORE a possible event! What if a pipe froze and burst? What if the cows got out? What if we needed to repair a fence or change leathers on the windmill? As each of these things happened (and more, believe me), I realized that we’d do whatever was necessary to make things right. I learned to count on Zack for help, a novel and wonderful situation for me. I think Zack is one of the main reasons I worry less. I have this wonderful man to share everything, even the worry. He worries right alongside me. And he’s much better at it! This is to say he’s so much worse than I ever was about worrying, I barely need to do it any longer at all! Or at least not so much.
When Zack became ill and I took care of everything from cattle to bills to insurance to pets to the lawn to being his advocate and caregiver in hospitals and later at home, there was no time to worry as much as I might have. It was like any new situation where it’s necessary to settle in and experience a few crises. Then you realize things are going to turn out one way or the other, despite all the worrying in the world. You substitute action for worry, roll with the punches, and try to keep up. This requires much energy, leaving less time for worrying.
I think perhaps we all reach an age at which we’ve experienced enough pain, joy, loss —and LIFE—that we realize we’ll deal, the best we can, with what’s thrown at us, that worrying won’t be that much help.
Gene Ellis, Ed.D is a Bosque County resident who returned to the family farm after years of living in New Orleans, New York, and Florida. She’s an artist who holds a doctoral degree from New York University and is writing a book about the minor catastrophes of life. Check out Genie’s blog at http://rusticramblings.wordpress.com/.
Foreign H-1B Visa Holders Taking U.S. Jobs In Droves
Large corporations in the United States are laying off American workers by the thousands and replacing them with foreigners who have been assigned an H-1B non-immigrant visa. According to authorities, these visas can usually be obtained quicker than a U.S. Green Card since it is the company that must make application.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Large corporations in the United States are laying off American workers by the thousands and replacing them with foreigners who have been assigned an H-1B non-immigrant visa. According to authorities, these visas can usually be obtained quicker than a U.S. Green Card since it is the company that must make application.
A website featuring Donna Conroy, a grassroots lobbyist and executive director of BrightFutureJobs.com, contains details about how companies are dismissing U.S. citizens from their jobs in record numbers to replace them with H-1B foreign workers and how a movement has begun to stop the legislation that allows it:
<http://www.brightfuturejobs.com/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=more_8094>
Conroy reported earlier this week that, for instance, Goldman Sachs increased use of the H-1B program by 12 percent in 2009, just after laying off 3,200 workers in the fourth quarter of 2008.
She notes that America now has an over-abundance of experienced tech professionals and an oversupply of new science and technology graduates whom Americans have paid dearly to educate; but companies are bypassing this U.S. talent — and even displacing Americans from their jobs in favor of foreign citizens.
According to the the Department of Labor’s “Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2006-2011 (pg. 35)”: “…H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker.”
“We even have ‘H-1B Only’ want ads all over the internet!” she notes. “Here’s one outside of Chicago advertising for a SAS programmer that boldly states, ‘H-1b Holders Only.’ Another is advertising for an entry level job. A third advertises ‘Walk-in Interviews’ for a job opening in New Jersey — but you gotta go to Pune, India to interview! They’re even recruiting abroad for K-12 teachers.”
Conroy says that these want ads burst the myth that American companies seek local talent first before going abroad for their top-dollar, white collar job openings.
To stop the bypass and displacement, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have introduced S. 2804, the Employ America Act. It will deny companies the use of corporate visa programs once they have conducted mass layoffs and will require employers to certify that they won’t conduct future layoffs. The proposed bill is aimed at effectively stopping companies from displacing Americans from their jobs in favor of foreign citizens
Likewise Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Grassley have introduced S. 887: America’s Jobs Bill (H-1B & L-1 Reform Act), which is designed to end the legal discrimination against U.S. workers and force the integration of IT companies that have half of their staff on visas.
Said Conroy, “It will stop the outsourcing of American jobs and will stop the humiliating corporate practice of training our foreign replacements. All of S. 887’s provisions are included in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, introduced in the House.”
Conroy says that one reason she suspects that American corporations prefer foreigners over Americans is to “crush our expectation of landing permanent jobs with career mobility.” She says that salaries for these jobs range between $65,000 and $150,000 and that Americans need a chance to compete for them.
She says that Businesweek recently released a list of the top 25 companies receiving initial H-1B visas for foreign citizens, valid for October 2009 to September 2012. Some of those companies, she noted, included Microsoft, Intel, IBM India, Ernst & Young LLP, Deloitte Consulting, Qualcomm, Cisco, KPMG LLP, Rite-Aid, Goldman Sachs, and Google.
As the debate on H-1B workers has heated up, a judge in New Jersey recently ordered the shutdown of three websites whose bloggers voiced opposition to H-1B, including ITgrunt.com, Endh1b.com, and Guestworkerfraud.com. Also ordered disabled was ITgrunt’s page on Facebook, which, according to Conroy, threatens all Americans’ free speech on the Internet.
“The action has labor rights activists, free speech activists, and even some beneficiaries of the H1-B visa program united in voicing opposition to the court decision,” according to an editorial in the Oakland Journal, a local New Jersey paper.
Conroy explained that BrightFutureJobs.com is helping with the solution by supporting S. 2804, Employ America Act, whose important language is: “The Secretary of Homeland Security may not approve a petition by an employer for any visa authorizing employment in the United States unless the employer has provided written certification, under penalty of perjury, to the Secretary of Labor that—(1) the employer has not provided a notice of a mass layoff pursuant to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) during the 12-month period immediately preceding the date on which the alien is scheduled to be hired.”
<http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-2804>
“A firestorm of controversy has erupted over this just-discovered video, <http://programmersguild.blogspot.com/2007/06/youtube-gate-cohen-grigsby-train-how-to.html> that proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, what happens behind the iron job curtain where qualified Americans are constantly dismissed in preference for foreign nationals,” noted Conroy. “We lift the curtain by exposing this YouTube by a national immigration law firm that conducted the training seminar to an eager corporate audience. Listen well. They actually state ‘the goal is NOT to find a qualified American worker.’ They are teaching corporations strategies to go through the motions of EEO (required for green cards) of how to pretend that they’re trying to recruit American workers—while they, in fact, hire cheaper foreign workers. To see this five minute video will anger every patriotic American.”
“An information technology staffing firm based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., posted an advertisement for a technical writer that warned that an “arrogant American” would not flourish in the position,” she said.
“Exelon is looking to provide these proposals to Chinese businesses, so someone who is respectful and understands Chinese culture is preferred. An arrogant American will not work well in this role,” the listing read.
Said Conroy, “This company is insulting jobless Americans at a time when we’re down on our knees. They have contemptously recruited abroad for their U.S. job openings — and we have the want ad to prove it! (see #8) <http://www.brightfuturejobs.com/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=more_8094>.
“While Americans were bleeding jobs, they posted want ads in August of 2008, specifically targeting foreign citizens for their U.S. job openings that wouldn’t ‘go live’ until the 4th quarter 2009,” she said. “Their smugness comes from knowing the secret: these companies can bypass U.S. talent legally. Their arrogance is only overcome by their stupidity. The Senate has to put their big boy pants on and pass S. 887. That’s the only way these companies will go to EEO rehab.”
Psychopaths. Be Prepared. Know What To Look For.
Surviving & Prospering in the New Economy
You encounter them through business, in your social live, within your family. They make up only a tiny fraction of the population but they destroy lives as long as they live. They prey on you. They lie, connive, defraud, steal and enjoy your pain. They are without conscience. They are psychopaths and today we can identify them. See this list of behaviors http://www.aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org/what-is-a-psychopath.html if you have wondered about someone you know.
The only way to deal with a psychopath in your personal life, strongly recommended by experts such as Dr. Robert Hare and others who now understand the totality of the problem, is to confront them with boundaries. End the relationship. You let them know there will be no further contact. Cut them off entirely. But first you need to prepare yourself.
Your assignment starting now, is to make those who know you and the psychopath, aware of the facts and of the nature of psychopathy. For those resources go here. http://hare.org/
By so doing you reduce the damage which the psychopath will do to you and your reputation, which is incalculable.
Getting ready means documenting every act, every interaction. You can get resources online inexpensively. You will need the evidence to prove to third parties what happened. Maintain a journal, keep times and dates. Copy documents. Make recordings of conversations.
You thought it was friendship, romance, or just business. Perhaps for you this was the case – but for them it will be war. Documentation is your life line to escape and to sanity.
Setting boundaries is for your benefit. This can happen through letter or phone call. It is not recommended you try a physical confrontation because psychopaths frequently become violent.
Read this posting from one individual exiting a relationship with a psychopath. On the Forum http://www.aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org/forum/index.php for Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy http://www.aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org/, you will find hundreds of stories. Notice the absolute sameness of the strategy in which the psychopath engages when the victim, you, escapes or he/she is finished with you.
Cutting them off denies them access to you directly but will not entirely solve the problem. It takes time, tenacity and courage to excise them. You will need support. Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathy http://www.aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org/ also provides that support. It is free and waiting for you. You are not alone. You can survive and move on.
Mollie Bailey Brings The Circus To Small Towns
To the delight of children of all ages, Mollie Bailey brought her circus, a Texas institution for four fun-filled decades, to Conroe on Feb. 10, 1913. When Mollie Arline Kirkland sneaked a forbidden peek under the big top in 1858, it was love at first sight on two counts. The lure of the sawdust spectacle was surpassed only by her instant attraction to the redheaded leader of the circus band.
To the delight of children of all ages, Mollie Bailey brought her circus, a Texas institution for four fun-filled decades, to Conroe on Feb. 10, 1913.
When Mollie Arline Kirkland sneaked a forbidden peek under the big top in 1858, it was love at first sight on two counts. The lure of the sawdust spectacle was surpassed only by her instant attraction to the redheaded leader of the circus band.
Mollie’s bombshell announcement of her wedding plans polarized her parents. Her mother, an incurable romantic, secretly gave her blessing, but her father banned Gus Bailey from the family plantation. A gypsy musician was not the husband he had in mind for his debutante daughter, and besides she was barely 13 years old.
After the teenager eloped over his objections, the head of the household closed his door and his heart to his favorite child. Mollie’s attempts at reconciliation were scornfully rebuffed by a father, who refused to have anything to do with her for the rest of his life.
Recruiting Mollie’s half sister and Gus’ brother for a vaudeville act billed as the “Bailey Family Troupe,” the couple toured the South until the outbreak of war in 1861. While Gus fought with Hood’s Texas Brigade, Mollie entertained the troops and occasionally spied for the Confederate cause. Dressed as an elderly woman, she ventured behind Union lines to gather important intelligence.
The Baileys scraped through the lean years of Reconstruction with a stripped-down version of their prewar road show. But thanks to Mollie’s scrimping and saving they had accumulated the cash by 1880 to realize two inseparable dreams – a return to Texas and a circus of their own.
“A Texas Show for Texas People” followed the trail blazed by pioneer predecessors like John Robinson’s “Great Southern Show,” which thrilled citizens of the recently annexed Republic in 1850. “Mabie’s Circus and Menagerie” amazed audiences eight years later with a trio of elephants, including an enormous bull that nearly plunged to his death after breaking through a bridge outside Waco.
Gus Bailey’s death in 1896 put his resourceful widow in a class by herself. Mollie became the only woman before or since to have exclusive ownership and control of a circus.
Her six surviving children composed the early nucleus of entertainers. Eugene put the trained ponies through their paces, and Allie did the same with the dogs when not demonstrating his acrobatic ability. Brad was an accomplished tumbler and high-wire artist, while Willie shared the business headaches with his overworked mother. Minnie and Birdie, the two girls, were gifted singers and dancers.
After a quarter century of battling bad roads and axle-deep mud, Mollie traded her wagons for a Pullman and two freight cars in 1906. Her custom of holding an open house in her home on rails at each and every stop inspired a piece of popular slang. “Just Mollie Baileying around” referred to anyone constantly on the go and having a good time wherever he or she went.
Countless Texans saw their first motion picture in a tent theater in the circus side show. Always in the market for novel attractions to boost attendance, Mollie took primitive one-reelers to small communities that lacked the population to support the nickelodeons that were all the rage in the big cities.
So long as she covered expenses, paid her employees and had enough money left over to meet her simple personal needs, “The Circus Queen of the Southwest” was happy. Acutely aware of the impoverished plight of her rural customers, Mollie refused for nearly 40 years to increase the price of admission. She also made sure that orphans and Confederate veterans, and after the turn of the century their Yankee counterparts as well, got in free.
Instead of the carefree existence imagined by the casual observer, circus life was in reality a grueling grind. The Bailey performers played a different town seven days a week for ten months a year. December and January were reserved for rest, repairs and auditioning aspiring acts at the home base in Dallas during the 1880’s, Blum in the early 1890’s and Houston after 1896.
Although Mollie stayed behind in 1914 to nurse her bedridden daughter Birdie, she did not relinquish the reins to her four sons. The astute businesswoman issued detailed instructions dealing with every aspect of the daily operation in a steady stream of letters, telegrams and telephone calls.
But after Birdie passed away in the fall of 1917, Mollie was never the same. She lost interest in her beloved circus and maybe even in life. Hobbled by a fractured hip, her health steadily declined until her death in October 1918 at age 73.
Her own words would have made a fitting epitaph. “Do some good as you go along and leave a good name with the people you have met,” Mollie Bailey was fond of saying. “I don’t want the earth, and some day I shall get only a small space in it.”
Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549. And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!
Texas GOP Wants More Control Over Our Lives
So, what else is new? The whole point of a Democracy is to permit people to control and determine their own lives, to limit and prevent government from becoming a Dictatorship, in which the people would have no rights and freedom to live as they choose. So, whatever happened to the GOP platform of less government interference into our lives? Instead, every few years the Republican party tries to invade our lives with more government control in the form of what often appears to be oppressive and/or racist ballot proposals to change the Constitution.
Pushes Invasive Constitutional Propositions (Again!)
REVIEW: 2010 GOP Primary
So, what else is new?
The whole point of a Democracy is to permit people to control and determine their own lives, to limit and prevent government from becoming a Dictatorship, in which the people would have no rights and freedom to live as they choose.
A mainstay of the Republican Party from its inception to this present day is to ensure less government in our daily lives. It is one of the main reasons why I became a member of the GOP back in the 1950’s during the Eisenhower administration. President Eisenhower managed our nation with intelligence and promote actions for the well-being of the entire community. Back then, when businesses prospered, so did the majority of Americans. These days, greed overshadows the actions and inactions of our leaders and a significant number of hard-working citizens have become hardly-working Americans, suffering in this leader-imposed economic depression.
So, whatever happened to the GOP platform of less government interference into our lives? Instead, every few years the Republican party tries to invade our lives with more government control in the form of what often appears to be oppressive and/or racist ballot proposals to change the Constitution.
As with previous Republican Primary propositions or ballot initiatives, the five propositions below are non-binding; they are designed to determine how the electorate feels on certain issues. Overwhelming support for a proposition may lead to legislation being introduced in the future. This year the GOP is trying to push 5 propositions that further dissolve or impede our inalienable rights. In brief, they are:
Proposition 1. Each registered voter must present a photo ID to vote
Proposition 2. GOP says we need to control government growth via additional budget restrictions
Proposition 3. Stop government stimulus and instead cut Federal Income Taxes
Proposition 4. The GOP wants to force all of us to acknowledge God at public events
Proposition 5. The party wants to demand sonograms be shown to every woman who elects to have an abortion.
The propositions are NOT on the ballot of the Democrat Primary.
To read the propositions in entirety you may review them on the site of any county election office. The link below is to the Hays County Election Office. The propositions are cited at the end of the sample ballot.
http://www.elections.co.hays.tx.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=DkVp2PWYHj4%3d&tabid=110&mid=438
The problem with all 5 propositions is that once again the GOP is looking to control the public in ways that currently are illegal according the Constitution of the United States of America and the Texas Constitution.
If they were not illegal, there would be no need for the GOP to push for these propositions.
In the U.S. each citizen has the right to determine his/her own lifestyle, religious worship (or not) and medical determinations.
Whether or not members of the GOP believe it or not, the government has no right to demand people to follow directives that do NOT concern government and which actually would impede the rights of all American citizens.
Consequently, even though the propositions are not binding, voters should mark a big “No” on the GOP primary ballot for each one of the five propositions. We need less government intervention, NOT more.
(Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.)
The Rich, The Poor, Sex & Money
What sex fiends and perverts just don’t seem be able to get into their thick heads is this: Just because you’ve gotten a nice tingly feeling down in your private parts doesn’t mean that you have to ACT on it. You can just appreciate it for what it is — a surprise gift. Or you can do what a lot of Taoists do — you can recycle it.
How To Avoid ‘Money Pervs’
http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com
What sex fiends and perverts just don’t seem be able to get into their thick heads is this: Just because you’ve gotten a nice tingly feeling down in your private parts doesn’t mean that you have to ACT on it. You can just appreciate it for what it is — a surprise gift. Or you can do what a lot of Taoists do — you can recycle it.
According to Taoist master Mantak Chia, all of us have a “microcosmic energy orbit” that runs up from the base of our spines, through our brains, down our fronts and then back around through our private parts and up through our spines once again. So. If you are starting to get all nice and tingly Down There, just suck that feeling up through your back bone and into your brain and then put all of that excess energy to work thinking good thoughts. Or something like that. Then you won’t have to waste all your spare time stalking or raping or nothing.
And this same rule about sex also applies to money. Some people think that they can never get enough money. They become addicts. They become “money perverts”. And right now “money pervs” appear to be running our world.
And what about the rest of us normal guys who would not hesitate for a minute to grab a child-molester who has stalked our children’s innocence and to throw him into jail? Yet all too many of us are just sitting back and applauding while a legion of unbalanced perverts stalk our children’s money.
And people like Rush Limbaugh and Benjamin Bernanke and folks in the Bush-Obama administration are actually cheering these money-pervs on — while these perverts reach their hands down into OUR pants.
It really bothers me right now that there are millions of right-wing teabaggers out there who make less than $100,000 a year — yet seem to hate us left-wing idealists who are poor as church-mice so much that they would do us bodily harm if given half a chance. And yet these same teabaggers seem to idolize and adore “money pervs” who cannot control their money addictions, who can never be satisfied and can never get enough dollars. These money-pervs will lie, steal, kill, sell out their families and country or do any other repulsive thing that they can to feed their insatiable habits.
These money-pervs are stealing the rest of us blind — and yet everyone out there seems to love them!
My suggestion?
Anyone who has hoarded up more than one million dollars should have to be registered with a national (or world-wide) “Money Offenders” registry — and shouldn’t be allowed to move into any new neighborhood until all the neighbors are warned first.
PS: You wouldn’t let a drug addict run your bank, your country, your army, your food industry or your health insurance, would you? You wouldn’t fawn over and try to please a junkie or think that glue-sniffers are your social superiors or better than you? Probably not. Yet every single day we turn almost everything we hold dear over to “money perverts”. Now does that really make any sense? Not to me!
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From Bob Patterson: George W. Bush: Existentialist Extraordinaire: In the ranks of those who think that the universe is absurd and meaningless, it is logical to think that they would be the first to second the motion that George W. Bush deserves a place in the Existentialist Hall of Fame.
…Isn’t a part of Existentialism the “to be is to do” school of thought? If George W. Bush instinctively acted in an Existential way, without bothering to put “Being and Nothingness” on his famed reading list, then he was an Existentialist and thus eligible for membership in the Existentialists Hall of Fame.
…On the web site for Princeton University this definition of an existentialist: “a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable.” So Bush and Cheney decide they gonna kick Saddam’s ass, they get a convenient excuse, they replace a Congressional Declaration of War with a clause in the doctrine of Executive Privilege, they replace the Chancellor-for-life title with Commander-in-Chief, and then when the war goes into extra innings, they hide behind a tsunami of “no one could have possibly forseen” bullshit, and if that doesn’t fit the definition of Existentialist, then this columnist had better start singing the song with the line about “gimme three steps towards the door.”…
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/1/133846/2875?new=true.
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Regarding Mantak Chia’s book, “Awakening Healing Energy Through Tao: This book clearly describes two meditation exercises to improve the flow of chi through the energy circuits in the body. The first involves sending positive energy to your internal organs and other structures so that they can function better. The second is the “microcosmic orbit,” a very ancient practice which moves energy in a circular motion up the spine, over the head, down the front of the body, and back up the spine. At the end of this exercise the chi is then focused in the Tan Tien center, right below the navel. http://www.amazon.com/Awaken-Healing-Energy-Through-Tao/dp/0943358078.
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From Steve Fournier: A class war is under way, the people are losing, and the laws are powerless to help. Only a mass movement to radical change can restore our damaged republic. www.currentinvective.com
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From Mohammed: Here’s a short film by Yoni Goodman, entitled “Closed Zone,” that expresses the feeling of frustration and lack of freedom that pervades Gaza (less than two minutes and worth your time).
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Please sign my petition to stop Congressional lobbyists from owning our country:
Constitutional Amendment to Stop Lobbyists: Congress has spent the last few decades avoiding enacting a decent election reform law. Let’s help Congress along by demanding a Constitutional Amendment that will require political candidates to take ONLY $500 or less in campaign contributions from any given person or organization.
It’s time for lobbyists to stop owning our government.
We can do this!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/constitutional-amendment-to-stop-lobbyists
Like Speed Skating, Our Olympic Preview Continues Because We Can’t Stop
Hello and welcome to another exciting installment of our exclusive Winter Olympics preview: Fifteen Reasons to Be a Summer Olympian.
Hello and welcome to another exciting installment of our exclusive Winter Olympics preview:
Fifteen Reasons to Be a Summer Olympian.
It’s a preview so exclusive even the Olympic Committee doesn’t know about it. And, quite frankly, we’d like to keep it that way. That’s because while the larger media outlets routinely get bogged down with boring interviews and analysis of things like the effect of wind trajectory on Bob Costas’ hair, we are able to avoid all that. How? By going nowhere near the actual Olympic games.
Last week, we began our special preview with an in-depth look at the Slalom, Bobsleigh and Biathlon events. For those who missed it, here’s a quick re-cap: Athletes who compete in the Slalom and Bobsleigh are insane, and though Biathlon sounds exciting, we challenge you to watch it without drooling on your arm.
OK, now that we’re all caught up, we can begin this week’s installment of our special Olympic coverage by taking a look at Cross Country Skiing — which is even less exciting than the Biathlon since there’s no shooting involved. (At least in the Biathlon you are occasionally awakened by gunfire.) In cross country skiing the only sound is the commentator, who is trying to keep himself awake by finding exciting words to describe what appears to be several people looking for the nearest ski lift.
Which isn’t to say there isn’t plenty of excitement at the Winter Olympics. In fact, when it comes to Curling, the longer you watch four people moving a large stone across the ice using nothing but brooms, the more exciting cross country skiing gets. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the sport of Curling, this competition became an official Olympic event eight years ago as a replacement for Ice Bowling, which [Pause here for dramatic effect] fell through at the last minute.
In Curling, each team consists of four players: the Lead, who delivers the stone; the Second and Third, who sweep the ice; and the Skip, who calls out important strategy like “Sweep faster!” and “Do you think anyone’s still watching?!” This continues until one team is able to place its stone closest to the center of a special target marked on the ice. Or until Bud Light pulls its corporate sponsorship.
Next we have Figure Skating, which gets its name from the Ukrainian phrase Ukrlegnz Kgronzmof Itzentofl, meaning “Cold ankle twist.” Figure skating combines music with complex skating routines that include a series of required elements, such as the “salchow,” “double axle,” and the dreaded “triple latte.”
This brings us to Freestyle Skiing, in which skiers perform jumps, flips and other thrilling acrobatic maneuvers, just like I do, except that they don’t land on their heads. Continuing along that theme, we will end today’s installment of our three-part Winter Olympic preview with the Nordic Combined, which, as you might expect, combines skiing and large hairy men in horned helmets.
That’s what you’d expect, but you would be wrong.
It actually combines the acrobatics of freestyle skiing (jumping and high speeds ) with the stamina of cross country skiing (yawn), effectively re-creating how Nordic men returned home from pubs some 200 years ago.
Next week we will wrap up our special preview with a look at Luge, Skeleton and other Olympic events whose athletes are routinely denied medical coverage.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at the Siuslaw News at P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439, or at nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com)
Okay, Why A Paladin?
When one lives on what is essentially the frozen tundra, surrounded all around by mounds of snow, there’s not much impetus to venture outside where sub-freezing temperatures reduce the human anatomy into acquiescent numbification. So, I spend a lot of time in front of the televiewscreen. Since weaning myself off the massteria* (fear and loathing heaped upon our psyches disguised as “news” by the 24-hour non-news newschannels), I’ve found hours and hours of fun stuff to watch.
When one lives on what is essentially the frozen tundra, surrounded all around by mounds of snow, there’s not much impetus to venture outside where sub-freezing temperatures reduce the human anatomy into acquiescent numbification.
So, I spend a lot of time in front of the televiewscreen. Since weaning myself off the massteria* (fear and loathing heaped upon our psyches disguised as “news” by the 24-hour non-news newschannels), I’ve found hours and hours of fun stuff to watch.
For instance, on HGTV, there’s “Holmes on Homes,” okay, where a Toronto-based ubercontractor brings his expertise around to put right disastrous aftermaths after charlatan contractors have wreaked havoc on good Canadians’ houses, eh. Mike Holmes makes Bob Vila look like nothing more than a shill for Sears… oh, right, he is.
HGTV also offers several “house flipping” shows, which detail the travails of money-grubbing Americans – possessed of far too much disposable cash and a scarcity of real ambition — who attempt to achieve big payoffs, with minimal time and effort, as they are screwed by money-grubbing contractors – whose goals are also big payoffs with minimal time and effort.
As the houses, typically refurbished way beyond original budgets, remain unsold for months on end, these series serve as video testimony to explain one of the root causes behind the banking meltdown.
Over on BBC America, for several hours each day one can learn the value of antiquities and collectibles (“Cash in the Attic”; “Antiques Roadshow”), or pick up housecleaning tips from Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie as they scour their way through the nastiest homes across Great Britain on “How Clean Is Your House?”
Then, there are the histrionics and hysteria of chef extraordinaire Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” replete with dialogue so blunt it probably keeps an entire team of censors employed full time.
Science and true-life reality series make for interesting time-fillers that provide knowledge as well as entertainment.
Up and down the channel selector there are any number of movies and television series reruns, some old (“Gene Autry”) and others quite recent (“Criminal Minds”), some great (“All in the Family”) and others putrid (“Three’s Company”). What was once a vast wasteland has become a veritable smorgasbord of intellectual victuals.
Too bad so many people skip the fun or thought-provoking fare and keep their tuners locked down on FOXAnythingButNews all day, every day.
Lately, I’ve been revisiting an old friend from San Francisco, one Mr. Paladin (“Have Gun-Will Travel”). Whether that was his first name or last name, no one really knew; nevertheless, he was one exceptionally well-rounded guy with a true sense of what’s properly just, not to mention how to live well.
It doesn’t hurt that he is lightning fast on the draw, with an aim that would have put Annie Oakley to shame.
Most of the adventures Paladin (Richard Boone) involve aiding the downtrodden, or forging a solution by getting people to look inside themselves and act with civility toward one another. He uses his gun only after all erstwhile tactful avenues have been explored, and an adversary forces his hand.
For hiring his talents, whether to right an injustice or stop a festering range war, Paladin is paid quite handsomely; his regular fee is $2,000.00.
Usually concerned with the human condition, “HGWT” boasted a cornucopia of television’s more erudite writers, including Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon, who went on to fame as creator and producer/writer (respectively) of “Star Trek.” Before the end credits roll, the savvy viewer can literally taste either man’s deft wordplay, and recognize the germination of science fiction’s greatest manifestation.
One episode of “HGWT” in particular struck me as uncannily contemporary:
While passing through a town after completing an assignment up the road apiece, our intrepid hero discovered that parents have been frightened into keeping their children away from the local school. Of 18 students, only four still attended classes.
The reason the children were being kept at home was because the biggest rancher (Coley) had decided he didn’t like certain aspects of the curriculum; he had issued the schoolmarm an ultimatum to leave town or he’d subject her to physical harm and burn down the schoolhouse.
Being the mid-1870s, Civil War wounds, physical as well as emotional, remained open and sore for many folks.
A former Confederate officer, Coley took offense that the teacher described Quantrill’s Raiders as thieves and murderers who used the war as an excuse to terrorize innocent folks. It didn’t matter that she had also painted Union Gen. Sherman’s slash-and-burn campaign as an outrage, and described war itself as horrific.
Despite apparently having neither a wife nor children, Coley was determined to eliminate any inconvenient truth, and force his own personal historical “facts” down the throats of impressionable youngsters. Having enough money to assemble his own mishmash of gunslingers and reprobates, he was able to intimidate most of the community in the manner of his hero, William Clarke Quantrill.
While his private army ganged up on Paladin, outnumbered five-to-one, Coley assaulted the schoolmarm and a young girl. He was finally brought to his knees by the least likely of people – the girl’s father (a storekeeper), and one boy’s father and brothers. The latter were scratch farmers, proud Confederate soldiers who had suffered various disabilities in battles against the North.
It’s extremely disappointing to be an American in the 21st Century, to know that this type of insidious mindset was recognized as problematic – and portrayed in a teleplay — as long ago as 1958, yet, we continue to be bullied by self-righteous, unthinking clods, not necessarily parents, who would dismiss truth in lieu of ramming conjecture down the throats of our youth.
Creationism.
Intelligent design.
“Global warming is a hoax.”
Teabaggers.
The negro president ain’t even an American citizen – he’s a socialist Nazi Muslim.
Fanatical religious fundamentalists.
Five Right-wing activist justices controlling every decision that emanates from the Supreme Court.
Whatever happened to that “knight without armor in a savage land?”
Severe winters aside, Canada keeps looking more and more like paradise to me.
Shalom.
For anyone who was paying attention… Last week I referred to a double play involving a right fielder, shortstop and catcher as 7-6-2. Well, it’s mid-Winter and I’m in need of my own Spring Training. I should have described it as 9-6-2. Oops. Pitchers and catchers report this week!
*Coined in the song “Trouble,” from Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man”
(Jerry Tenuto is an erstwhile Philosopher and sometime Educator. A veteran with seven years of service in the U.S. Army, he holds a BS and MA in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Depending upon your taste in political stew, you can either blame or thank Jerry for his weekly “Out Of The Blue” feature in The Lone Star Iconoclast. Visit his blog Blue State View at illinoiscentral.blogspot.com)
Spanish Flu Takes Terrible Toll On Texas
Just when Texans dared to think the Spanish Flu had finally run its course, on Feb. 4, 1920 the State Health Department reported 2,514 new cases in the past 24 hours. The incredibly deadly strain of influenza that resulted in the Great Pandemic or worldwide epidemic at the end of the First World War was called the Spanish Flu because the outbreak that killed eight million in that country in May 1918 received the most media coverage. As a noncombatant, Spain had no wartime censorship. Interestingly enough, the Spaniards themselves named the scourge “the French Flu.”
Just when Texans dared to think the Spanish Flu had finally run its course, on Feb. 4, 1920 the State Health Department reported 2,514 new cases in the past 24 hours.
The incredibly deadly strain of influenza that resulted in the Great Pandemic or worldwide epidemic at the end of the First World War was called the Spanish Flu because the outbreak that killed eight million in that country in May 1918 received the most media coverage. As a noncombatant, Spain had no wartime censorship. Interestingly enough, the Spaniards themselves named the scourge “the French Flu.”
The Great Pandemic was genuinely global in scope. The only place on the planet that escaped the calamity was a small island deep in the Amazon jungle. No one really knows how many lives were lost, but estimates of the worldwide death toll ranged from 40 to 100 million making the twentieth-century pandemic the deadliest in human history.
The Spanish Flu struck healthy individuals, usually the young rather than the old, without warning. In a matter of hours, victims were too weak to walk and had to take to bed. Of those that died, the end often came the very next day, and victims rarely lingered longer than three days after infection.
The symptoms were ghastly. As the lungs failed, victims turned black or blue from lack of oxygen and bled from the nose, ears and eyes. And, as one historian wrote, “Patients would writhe from agonizing pain in their joints.”
Although victims were advised to send for a doctor as soon as they came down with Spanish Flu, there was little a physician could do when he arrived. Penicillin would not be discovered until 1928, it was 1943 before an influenza vaccine was available.
The first documented case in the United States occurred on March 11, 1918 at Fort Riley, Kansas, when army cook showed up at sick call with a temperature of 103. Forty-eight hours later, 522 soldiers were flat on their backs.
Later that summer, a more virulent form of the Spanish Flu, undoubtedly carried by returning doughboys, hit Boston. The sickness spread like wildfire through the crowded cities on the East Coast, killing 800 a day in New York City, before heading west.
In the absence of a scientific explanation for the cause and with no cure, hysteria and ignorance filled the void. One popular theory was that the Spanish Flu was part of a germ-warfare attack by the Germans, while others blamed cat hair and coal dust. The long list of useless home remedies included everything from onions and garlic to goose grease.
The Surgeon General’s antidote for such nonsense was four basic precautions: 1) “Keep out of crowds.” 2) “Cover up each cough and sneeze.” 3) “Do not spit on the floor or sidewalk.” 4) “Shun the common drinking cup and the roller towel in public places.”
Texans could only wait and hope for the best. Maybe by some sort of miracle the Spanish Flu would skip the Lone Star State. It didn’t.
The suspense ended on Sept. 23, 1918 with the first confirmed sightings of the sickness in Williamson, Kaufman and Bosque counties. Eleven days later, 35 counties were under siege, and a week after that the number had grown to 77.
Towns throughout Texas moved quickly to protect the public over the objections of local merchants and skeptics, who pooh-poohed the danger. On Oct. 9 alone the following communities closed schools, theaters and other gathering places: Lewisville, Plano, Marshall, McKinney, Bonham, Wills Point, Clarksville, Cleburne, Temple, Wichita Falls, Waxahachie, Houston and Corsicana.
By late October, the Spanish Flu had reached the Panhandle, where the president of Wayland Baptist College in Plainview died on the 28th, and El Paso, where the number of cases neared 5,000 by the 23rd. On the 29th, the State Health Department reported 106,978 cases and 2,181 deaths and that was just in the cities.
Galveston’s response to the worst public health crisis since the yellow fever epidemics of the 1800’s was typical of most towns. City officials and the daily newspaper saw panic as the greatest enemy and in their efforts to keep everybody calm often painted too rosy a picture of a truly grave situation.
Any decline in the daily death toll was hailed by politicians and The Daily News as a sign that the worst was over. Carried away by encouraging numbers in early November, the health commissioner lifted the ban on public places and reopened the schools.
But this unfounded optimism ignored the fact that the Spanish Flu came in waves and would hang on in Texas well into 1920. When the disease returned with a vengeance killing 65 Galvestonians between Nov. 15 and Dec. 15, the commissioner had to shut the city down again.
The final figures for the United States, nothing more than educated guesses, had one out of every four Americans stricken by the Spanish Flu and at least half a million fatalities in a population of 105 million. As for the four and half million Texans, 30 to 40 percent contracted the disease and five to ten percent of the afflicted perished. That’s 70,000 dead on the low side and upwards of 175,000.
“Secession & Civil War” – latest “Best of This Week in Texas History” collection available for $10.95 plus $3.25 postage and handling from Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or order on-line at twith.com.
Men And Shopping
When my mother and father shopped together (rarely) for anything other than food, it went like this: My father visited the men’s section or tool section or whatever. If (when) my mother ventured toward women’s clothing, shoes or accessories, he’d say, “Let’s go home now, Rose. I’m tired.” Some things never change. Dad was a wonderful man, and Mom and I joked about his little shopping trick. (He thought we fell for it every time). We always knew it was coming —could practically predict the precise moment. It was OK. Mom preferred to shop with her sister.When my mother and father shopped together (rarely) for anything other than food, it went like this: My father visited the men’s section or tool section or whatever. If (when) my mother ventured toward women’s clothing, shoes or accessories, he’d say, “Let’s go home now, Rose. I’m tired.” Some things never change. Dad was a wonderful man, and Mom and I joked about his little shopping trick. (He thought we fell for it every time). We always knew it was coming —could practically predict the precise moment. It was OK. Mom preferred to shop with her sister.
Zack will order from a catalog if possible. He doesn’t worry about the price, because he doesn’t order often. It’s the speed of the transaction that draws him. See it. Want it. Buy it. Done. —All from the comfort of one’s own home. Then the item appears like magic one day with Dwayne (our UPS guy) or Sherry (our mail carrier). I’ve mentioned before that when we drive into “the big city” to shop, we always find time for the tobacconist, stores for tools, home improvement, sporting goods, tractor supplies, men’s clothing , the Army Navy Store, places that sells ammunition, or the men’s section of department stores in malls. Zack almost always has manly stops to make. Then suddenly he’s had enough, and my errands must wait. (See how that works? Just like my father. Rather endearing in a comic sort of way. And it’s OK. I prefer to shop alone or with my daughter. And there’s always eBay).
Whether shopping for a fine wool suit, a brisket, or an auto hammer, Zack can be in and out of a store faster than greased lightning. He usually knows what he wants, finds it, makes the purchase as quickly as possible and leaves. To me, this is anathema to the entire creative shopping experience. It leaves me highly unsatisfied, sort of a retail therapy interruptus. I want to cruise the entire store, discovering things I need (that I didn’t actually realize until I saw them), getting ideas for projects, comparing prices, ingredients and quality. It takes me infinitely longer to shop than it takes Zack. And I tend to spend more money in the long run. Even if Zack must choose a suit, try it on, and stand to have alterations noted, he will still be out in about 20 minutes. This man can look at a wall of suits, pick the only one or two he finds remotely acceptable, and leave with no regrets or remorse, never wondering if he should have looked for another cut or color.
My son Josh may be even worse than Zack. To avoid stores, he shops mainly on the Internet. To be fair, he has little time for shopping. He even looks on eBay (my new best friend). He hates to shop in “real stores.” But when he does, he needs help. He’s like a superhero suddenly rendered helpless and unsure. The fluorescent lights in the malls and stores hit him like kryptonite. He claims it’s something to do with astigmatism. I secretly believe it’s a handy excuse so he can whine until the shopping is finished. When Josh was small, I was the one to take him shopping, and a more excruciating experience I rarely had. As he grew older, his sister helped, and she is infinitely more adept at it than I am, has better fashion sense regarding trends for young folks, and more knowledge. After a certain point, neither of us has much patience with my son, so we move as quickly as possible. In shopping with Josh, as in so many areas of life, timing is truly everything. Now his long-suffering girlfriend Beverly often steps in, bless her heart. What a wonderful, wonderful girl.
I suppose that with shopping, as so many other areas of life, men really ARE different.
America Rages On…Why Can’t We Learn From Previous Mistakes?
America, the Beautiful ain’t so pretty any more. It took decades for us to get this way and it does NOT look like we will get back on-track any time soon. It is time for the American people to take back their nation from irresponsible and lackluster special interest-motivated elected officials. Replacing top members of the Obama administration and most legislative incumbents is in order.
America, the Beautiful ain’t so pretty any more.
It took decades for us to get this way and it does NOT look like we will get back on-track any time soon.
It is time for the American people to take back their nation from irresponsible and lackluster special interest-motivated elected officials. Replacing top members of the Obama administration and most legislative incumbents is in order.
We desperately need time limitations on leadership positions.
The majority of Americans should be unhappy with our nation’s growth and evolution — or, if you believe it — intelligent design.
Why can’t we learn from our previous mistakes?
It doesn’t matter if you are Republican, Democrat or Independent. It is of no importance whether you are wealthy, middle class or poor, religious or atheist. As Bob Dylan sang during the 1960’s, “You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.”
On the national, state and local levels, generations of Americans will have to struggle to change the last several decades of harm generated by wealthy special interests and the elected officials they have placed in their pockets.
Most Americans, individuals and families, are hurting — big time as the American economy still is failing the majority.
Immense greed and power have ensured that the lives of current and future generations have been placed on a back-burner. Our children’s children will continue to pay the price for our folly, which was to permit leaders to squelch or circumvent constitutional laws to gain more power and profits. The American people have been deceived and scammed. Here is a list of some of the ways:
* Starting a needless invasion and war with Iraq
* Determining to install a democratic nation of Iraq, without being requested to do so
* Sending our children soldiers on missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were ill-conceived and absurdly planned with no victory in sight
* Cutting taxes for the rich, while spending more than $3 trillion on war costs
* Determining many U.S. policies and actions behind “closed doors”
* Providing false and/or misleading information and intelligence to the American people
* Eliminating urgently needed social programs for children and poorer citizens
* Doing little to prevent the diminishing quality of public education
* Bailing-Out misguided and opportunistic corporations
* Increasing government intrusion into business affairs
* Permitting health care costs to increase despite curbing “frivolous” medical lawsuits
* Permitting astronomical costs of fossil fuel — gas, oil, electric — while avoiding real investment and progress into alternative fuel possibilities
* Removing oversight and limitations on escalating costs of tuition for higher education without improving learning skills
* Outsourcing millions of American jobs and services without providing new opportunities for American workers at home
* Lying to the people of New Orleans and not providing needed emergency financing and services during the Katrina fiasco in a timely manner
* Selling off American public lands and ports for special interest gains
* Permitting only special interests to bid (or not even having to bid) on lucrative service contracts
* Permitting the “sale” of American government to the highest special-interest contributors
* Privatizing Medicare programs recklessly and irresponsibly for special-interest gains
* Pushing to privatize Social Security for special-interest gains and withholding cost of living adjustments [COLA]
* Allowing the increase of voter fraud and lack of voting machine integrity (machines manufactured by special-interest campaign contributors)
* Cutting financing for public education during the past decade and diverting those tax dollars to other interests
* Permitting our infrastructures to decay and become unsafe
* Promoting toll road plans to generate more profits for foreign and domestic special interests
* Freezing and/or diverting gas taxes, which are supposed to be used to build and maintain roads
* Providing lax or no enforcement of immigration laws and policies
* Permitting the corporate sector to remain under capitalism during good times, while enabling socialism during tougher economic times
* Allowing the large number of layoffs without providing companies with incentives for keeping American employees and/or developing alternative jobs
* Continuing to increase America’s debt via wars, tax increases, aid to other nations and corporate bail-outs while doing little for citizens
* Permitting illegal U.S. government spying and wiretapping on private citizens.
The list goes on. These are criminal, reckless and irresponsible actions perpetrated by U.S. elected officials against the American people.
For eight years there was a Connecticut “cowboy” in the White House who needed to be “lassoed and reined-in.” Currently, the Obama administration also is failing American citizens. It seems to be doing so unabashed and without a conscience.
Why can’t we learn from our previous mistakes?
It is time for the American people to take back their nation from irresponsible and lackluster special interest-motivated elected officials. We must demand change of administration members, policy, objectives and actions.
It is time to create stronger campaign finance laws with enforcement capabilities that tell billion-dollar corporations they no longer can purchase “the best government money can buy.”
The U.S. has become a rogue nation, distrusted by the world and by many of its own citizens.
We should have learned by now that U.S. leaders have run amok and cannot be trusted. They should not be permitted to continue managing our nation as if they are religious zealots and blatant imperialists. The U.S. must return to being the nation of, by and foremost for American citizens.
We need to get our nation back on-track. Why can’t we learn from our previous mistakes?
(Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.)
Join Us For In-Depth Olympic Coverage Live…From Utah?
As many of you know, every two years I try to convince my editor to send me to the Olympics. The closest I’ve come was during the winter Olympics in Utah, when I was offered gas money, thermal underwear, and a set of binoculars for watching the events “from a great spot on the third floor of a car garage not far from the Olympic Pavilion — or thereabouts.”
As many of you know, every two years I try to convince my editor to send me to the Olympics. The closest I’ve come was during the winter Olympics in Utah, when I was offered gas money, thermal underwear, and a set of binoculars for watching the events “from a great spot on the third floor of a car garage not far from the Olympic Pavilion — or thereabouts.”
This year is no different. Especially when you consider the games are taking place in Canada, which means there’s no way I’m going to see anything from any car garage in Utah. However, it doesn’t mean we won’t be offering you the same in-depth coverage as the larger media outlets. It’s just that ours won’t include any photographs, scores, statistics, biographies or interviews with Olympians, unless you count Buddy, our vending machine repair guy, who won the Brickerville High School “Donkey Basketball Olympics” in 1987.
(To be honest, that interview is still sketchy. The last time I asked Buddy about “riding a donkey for the gold” he threw a Diet Sprite at me.)
While it’s true we won’t have anyone at the Olympic Games again this year, it doesn’t mean we weren’t able to come up with something just as exciting and informative, especially when you compare it to, say…
Staring at a grapefruit.
Keeping that in mind, I’m proud to announce an in-depth look at all 15 Winter Olympic events in a special three-part series we’re calling:
Fifteen Reasons to be a Summer Olympian
We will begin with The Slalom: First introduced by Germany in 1936, this event combines the speed and skill of downhill skiing with the bravery one attains from consuming large quantities of German beer. Athletes launch themselves down slopes and attain speeds of up to 120 km per hour (approximately the speed of sound) while navigating around flags, moguls, photographers, journalists, border patrols, assorted swimmers and cabana boys before crossing the finish line somewhere in Peru. Events also include the “Super-G,” which combines the thrill of slalom with the danger of rap artists on skis.
Next, an event dating back to 1932 when a Swedish marksman was driven into a snow bank by a hot-dogging American skier, The Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and long-range target shooting. Endurance is the key factor as competitors race around long loops of varying lengths, stopping only occasionally to shoot at targets until, eventually, firing five shots from a seated position inside of a portable commode.
Since 1924 The Bobsleigh has been thrilling Olympic spectators with its combination of speed, technique and general lack of a steering mechanism. In both the two-man and four-man events, each athlete has a specific purpose. This begins by getting the sleigh off to as fast a start as possible before piling inside the chassis, where athletes contribute individually by grabbing their ankles and saying the Rosary. Once they cross the finish line, the brakeman goes to work by pulling on a handle that, for all intents and purposes, does absolutely nothing.
There you have it, our first installment of pre-Winter Olympic coverage. Join us next week for a look at Curling, Figure Skating, and several other exciting events, none of which can be seen from Utah.
(You can write to Ned Hickson at the Siuslaw News at P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR. 97439, or visit his website at www.nedhickson.net.)
The New World Order: America Need Not Apply
Author’s note: I sort of consider myself to be a worldly and politically aware person, yet here I am just now realizing stuff about the deadly and treacherous men who run our planet — stuff that people like Patrice Lumumba, Che Guevara and Evita Peron were painfully aware of even back in the 1950s, back when I was naively busy reading Nancy Drew and selling Girl Scout cookies. Better late than never?http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com
Author’s note: I sort of consider myself to be a worldly and politically aware person, yet here I am just now realizing stuff about the deadly and treacherous men who run our planet — stuff that people like Patrice Lumumba, Che Guevara and Evita Peron were painfully aware of even back in the 1950s, back when I was naively busy reading Nancy Drew and selling Girl Scout cookies. Better late than never?
I was talking with a friend recently regarding the role of America as the world’s only superpower. “America is rapidly losing its place at the head of the table,” commented my friend, and I immediately agreed — but for a different reason than the one that he had in mind.
“America as a country,” I replied, “is not only being forced to share its superpower status with China, Russia and the European Union at this point in time but, in the near future, things are going to get even worse for the U.S. I’m thinking that even as soon as ten or 20 years from now, America will be pretty much known in the world as a second-rate has-been.”
“Never happen!” exclaimed my friend. “We’ve got the money, the people, the Constitutional government and the natural resources — not to mention the military power — to stay at the top of the heap for the rest of this century and beyond.”
“Ah, but the key word in your argument here is the word ‘we’. It strongly appears, however, that ‘we’ no longer control America’s bounty. ‘THEY’ do.”
Adolph Hitler was an idiot. He chose to take over the world by force — whereas if he had just stayed cool and played his cards right, he could have taken over the world with his superb propaganda machine instead. If he had done that instead of blitz-kreiging London and Poland and France and wherever, I bet you dollars to donuts that he would still be in power to this day. But Hitler was a thug — not a con-man.
And now the con-men are in charge. They have the exact same agenda as Hitler — corporatism — but they are obviously succeeding where Hitler failed. They now own America lock, stock and barrel — something that Hitler could only dream of.
“Jane,” you might say, “You gotta be kidding. Americans own America.” Do we?
Do “we” control the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court? No. Do “we” control Wall Street? No. Do “we” control our natural resources, our food supply, our foreign policy, our treasury, our voting machines, our banking system, our tariffs, our industry? No, no, no, no, no, no, no and no. Do we even control our own media? Absolutely no!
When George H. W. Bush announced his plans for a “New World Order” back in 1984 (or whenever), he let the cat out of the bag regarding what had apparently been in the works for years. “New. World. Order.” We all shoulda just read his lips. But back then we all thought his plan was for AMERICA to rule the world. Yeah right. And it turns out from hindsight that Bush’s New World Order had no place for “We the People” in his plan — except as a source of cheap labor.
You think I’m wrong about this? When you die and get up to heaven, just ask John Kennedy if I’m wrong!
At this point in time, it seems pretty clear that a handful of rich men at the top of the food chain run the world with an iron hand. Not a blade of (genetically engineered) grass grows anywhere on the planet — except perhaps in Outer Mongolia — but that the New World Order doesn’t know about it, approve of it and milk it for all that it’s worth. Hitler would have been so jealous!
“Okay, Jane, these are outrageous charges — but where’s your proof? Prove that you’re right!”
No. You (try to) prove that I’m wrong.
PS: Here’s a video of me and baby Mena taking a trip around South Berkeley, visiting Ashby Nails and the Berkeley Public Library and lamenting the planet’s take-over by the One World Order: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4sPiybYgs0
PPS: I’m currently trying to struggle through all five hours of that 2008 movie “Che” on Netflix, starring Benitio Del Toro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lT-VGqnQmo&fmt=18. You might consider watching it too. Way back in the 1950s, the rich dudes who run America now practiced up their “exploiting the masses” chops by exploiting Cuba. And Iran. And the Congo. And what they did to Cuba, Iran and the Congo back then appears to be exactly what they are doing to America now — creating a peasant underclass whose only job is to provide the above-mentioned rich dudes with cheap labor.
While watching this movie, which is set way back in the day, all I could think of was that, 60 years later, the rich dudes are now doing to Haiti and Afghanistan and Iraq exactly what they did to Cuba back in the days of Baptista, to Argentina after Evita died and Chile after Allende was killed. You’re next, suckers!
But then on the other hand, perhaps America won’t need another Che Guevara in order to save the day here. Perhaps the innate goodness that lies in the hearts of you and me and all of us other average Americans will finally wise up and tell the rich dudes where to go all by ourselves.
I’m waiting….
****
Sterling Greenwood asks an important question: We’ve got Bush guys running the economy, bailing out the big banks and credit card companies. Bush generals are prosecuting a widened war in Afghanistan. A Bush puppet is being propped up in Mexico, the result of a fraudulent presidential election. The health-care reform debate in Congress remains behind closed doors — Bush style. And it seems the Bush Supreme Court is still doings its thing, too. Dubya definitely left a legacy. I wonder when Obama will take office?
****
From Joe Thompson regarding healthcare for retirees: I just received a call from my cardiologist’s office, wanting to know if I wanted to schedule an appointment for a checkup. My wife said we no longer have insurance of any kind and asked how much the visit would be for cash. Now get this, it will blow your minds. EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS, for maybe fifteen minutes. If I still had Medicare it would still cost me over TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. This would be just a stethoscope and Hmm mm, visit. Keep taking the one asprin a day and see me next year, thang. And cash, no insurance paperwork for the doctor.
Medical costs are out of reach for most of us out here. Last year we were paying over six thousand dollars in insurance premiums, plus over three thousand dollars in co-pays with the prescriptions on top of all that. That left us with about ten thousand dollars to live on. Almost half of our yearly income in medical costs. Hell the nurse practitionar we use now charges one hundred and ten dollars a visit.
No, we didn’t get booted off Medicare, we cancelled it. Jane, even with Medicare we could no longer afford to go to a doctor or purchase prescriptions. The charges are outrageous and continue to climb. It leaves a person with no alternative but to sit around waiting for the grim reaper. Were it not for our reverse mortgage we would have already been out on the streets with the rest of the homeless.
Something has to give for all of us. There’s gonna be a whole lot more retirees moving in with their children if the present trend continues. We have to choose between paying the bills or medical care and believe me medical care is one of the largest rip-offs in this country, bar none. The medical profession is ripping off the people big time. To top it off we can’t turn on the TV without being bombarded with health insurance ads or hospitals advertising how much better they are than all the rest.
On top of all that the prescription drug companies are bambarding us with the fear factors and how much better their drugs are than anyone else’s. It’s the largest legal racket in the world. It puts the Mafia to shame.
One of my next door neighbors was just telling me what they pay for health insurance every week out of her husband’s paycheck and this is with company insurance. Five hundred dollars plus a month. They just barely make the mortgage on their home and she buys her groceries with nickels and pennies. Her son’s piggy bank is almost empty.
I say to hell with Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan, we need to be taking care of our own first. People are dying by the thousands all over this country every day for lack of affordable medical care. Children are going to school on empty stomachs. And retirees are caught between a rock and a hard place. They have to choose between food and shelter or medical care.
Lets stop all the politcal stuff and get down to the business of providing affordable healthcare for every man, woman and child in this country.
****
From Robert: The Kidnapping of Haiti, By John Pilger: The theft of Haiti has been swift and crude. On 22 January, the United States secured “formal approval” from the United Nations to take over all air and sea ports in Haiti, and to “secure” roads. No Haitian signed the agreement, which has no basis in law. Power rules in an American naval blockade and the arrival of 13,000 marines, special forces, spooks and mercenaries, none with humanitarian relief training.
The airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is now an American military base and relief flights have been re-routed to the Dominican Republic. All flights stopped for three hours for the arrival of Hillary Clinton. Critically injured Haitians waited unaided as 800 American residents in Haiti were fed, watered and evacuated. Six days passed before the US Air Force dropped bottled water to people suffering thirst and dehydration.
The first TV reports played a critical role, giving the impression of widespread criminal mayhem. Matt Frei, the BBC reporter dispatched from Washington, seemed on the point of hyperventilation as he brayed about the “violence” and need for “security”. In spite of the demonstrable dignity of the earthquake victims, and evidence of citizens’ groups toiling unaided to rescue people, and even an American general’s assessment that the violence in Haiti was considerably less than before the earthquake, Frei claimed that “looting is the only industry” and “the dignity of Haiti’s past is long forgotten.” Thus, a history of unerring US violence and exploitation in Haiti was consigned to the victims. “There’s no doubt,” reported Frei in the aftermath of America’s bloody invasion of Iraq in 2003, “that the desire to bring good, to bring American values to the rest of the world, and especially now to the Middle East … is now increasingly tied up with military power.”
In a sense, he was right. Never before in so-called peacetime have human relations been as militarised by rapacious power. Never before has an American president subordinated his government to the military establishment of his discredited predecessor, as Barack Obama has done. In pursuing George W. Bush’s policy of war and domination, Obama has sought from Congress an unprecedented military budget in excess of $700 billion. He has become, in effect, the spokesman for a military coup.
For the people of Haiti the implications are clear, if grotesque. With US troops in control of their country, Obama has appointed George W. Bush to the “relief effort”: a parody surely lifted from Graham Greene’s The Comedians, set in Papa Doc’s Haiti. As president, Bush’s relief effort following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 amounted to an ethnic cleansing of many of New Orleans’ black population. In 2004, he ordered the kidnapping of the democratically-elected prime minister of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and exiled him in Africa. The popular Aristide had had the temerity to legislate modest reforms, such as a minimum wage for those who toil in Haiti’s sweatshops.
When I was last in Haiti, I watched very young girls stooped in front of whirring, hissing, binding machines at the Port-au-Prince Superior Baseball Plant. Many had swollen eyes and lacerated arms. I produced a camera and was thrown out. Haiti is where America makes the equipment for its hallowed national game, for next to nothing. Haiti is where Walt Disney contractors make Mickey Mouse pajamas, for next to nothing. The US controls Haiti’s sugar, bauxite and sisal. Rice-growing was replaced by imported American rice, driving people into the cities and towns and jerry-built housing. Years after year, Haiti was invaded by US marines, infamous for atrocities that have been their specialty from the Philippines to Afghanistan.
Bill Clinton is another comedian, having got himself appointed the UN’s man in Haiti. Once fawned upon by the BBC as “Mr. Nice Guy … bringing democracy back to a sad and troubled land”, Clinton is Haiti’s most notorious privateer, demanding de-regulation of the economy for the benefit of the sweatshop barons. Lately, he has been promoting a $55m deal to turn the north of Haiti into an American-annexed “tourist playground”.
Not for tourists is the US building its fifth biggest embassy in Port-au-Prince. Oil was found in Haiti’s waters decades ago and the US has kept it in reserve until the Middle East begins to run dry. More urgently, an occupied Haiti has a strategic importance in Washington’s “rollback” plans for Latin America. The goal is the overthrow of the popular democracies in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, control of Venezuela’s abundant oil reserves and sabotage of the growing regional cooperation that has given millions their first taste of an economic and social justice long denied by US-sponsored regimes.
The first rollback success came last year with the coup against President Jose Manuel Zelaya in Honduras who also dared advocate a minimum wage and that the rich pay tax. Obama’s secret support for the illegal regime carries a clear warning to vulnerable governments in central America. Last October, the regime in Colombia, long bankrolled by Washington and supported by death squads, handed the US seven military bases to, according to US air force documents, “combat anti-US governments in the region”.
Media propaganda has laid the ground for what may well be Obama’s next war. On 14 December, researchers at the University of West England published first findings of a ten-year study of the BBC’s reporting of Venezuela. Of 304 BBC reports, only three mentioned any of the historic reforms of the Chavez government, while the majority denigrated Chavez’s extraordinary democratic record, at one point comparing him to Hitler.
Such distortion and its attendant servitude to western power are rife across the Anglo-American corporate media. People who struggle for a better life, or for life itself, from Venezuela to Honduras to Haiti, deserve our support.
Tiger Insurance
I’ve been really proud of myself for not mentioning Tiger Woods or his scandal for all this time. However, now I have to talk about it. The scandal has grown beyond what I had imagined, for it now involves one of the biggest institutions in our country: insurance companies. Because of Tiger, corporations that pay athletes big money to endorse their products are looking into buying insurance in case their athletes misbehave. One estimate is that Tiger’s actions cost the seven corporations that sponsored him $12 billion dollars in the value of their stocks. That was just in the month after he, uh, took time off from golf. I know golf’s an expensive sport, but twelve billion dollars?I’ve been really proud of myself for not mentioning Tiger Woods or his scandal for all this time. However, now I have to talk about it. The scandal has grown beyond what I had imagined, for it now involves one of the biggest institutions in our country: insurance companies. Because of Tiger, corporations that pay athletes big money to endorse their products are looking into buying insurance in case their athletes misbehave. One estimate is that Tiger’s actions cost the seven corporations that sponsored him $12 billion dollars in the value of their stocks. That was just in the month after he, uh, took time off from golf. I know golf’s an expensive sport, but twelve billion dollars?
So that’s why corporations want to get insurance for future deals with athletes. Traditionally, personal service contracts have had a “morals clause.” Believe it or not, all the contracts I signed as a television writer had a clause like that. I’m not sure what awful thing I could have done that would have cost a studio big bucks. Let’s face it, the general public wouldn’t care if a writer snuck off for a romantic drive to a clandestine location with a goat – even if the goat were driving.
But a “morals clause” is a pretty vague term, so when it comes to misbehaving athletes, it’s not a slam-dunk. Therefore, corporations would like to have more specific language in their contracts enumerating unacceptable behavior. But will big time athletes really sign a contract that, let’s say, promises they won’t cheat on their wives, be drunk in public, or shoot a gun in a nightclub? If contracts like that were enforced, there wouldn’t be many athletes left. Companies would end up paying ball boys and cheerleaders to endorse their cars and deodorants.
A big reason that people were shocked by Tiger Woods’ alleged behavior is that he’d always been a squeaky clean guy — at least in the public’s mind. He wasn’t a thug who stole televisions from the time he could lift them to the time he started playing football. He wasn’t an ice skater who was involved in smashing the leg of her competitor. He looked and talked like a nice guy. So, many people felt let down by Tiger. The feeling was, “We believed in you, we rooted for you, and this is how you treat us?”
This reaction by the public got me thinking that the kind of insurance endorsing corporations are talking about shouldn’t just cover athletes. There should be Voters Insurance. Don’t you think that people who supported and donated money to John Edwards’ campaign should have every penny returned to them? Plus interest? Like Tiger, Edwards was thought to be a squeaky clean, nice guy. And as with Tiger, people who supported Edwards understandably feel let down.
I think there should be insurance that would pay us if we believed in, supported, or gave money to a candidate who turned out to be a thief, a liar, or a cheater. Call it
Anti-Sleaze protection. In addition to giving money back to supporters, if the offending politician holds an office, he or she would have to resign.
I don’t think we should have a public option for this kind of insurance. Let the insurance companies compete with each other. You know those Progressive Car Insurance commercials with the woman in white with all the lipstick? They could have a commercial with her saying something like this: “You’re covered if your Senator hides stolen money in the trunk of a car or if he tries to get tricky by registering the car in the name of his mistress’ uncle’s sister-in-law.” I can imagine a commercial from State Farm: “Our Good Neighbor policy gives you double indemnity if your dallying Governor makes a an apology with fake tears.” Or Allstate: “You’re in good hands no matter who your congressman grabbed with his hands.”
Doesn’t it sound like a good system? Liberals, conservatives, and talk show hosts should all support it. It would ensure that elected officials either behave appropriately or they have to return all the money they raised, plus they’ll get kicked out of office. Who could possibly object to this plan? Oh, right – 535 members of the House and Senate.
Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from “Sesame Street” to “Family Ties” to “Home Improvement” to “Frasier.” He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at lloydgarver@gmail.com. Check out his website at lloydgarver.com and his podcasts on iTunes.
Pluto And New Horizons
Feb. 18, 1930, 24-year old Clyde Tombaugh discovered a faint, remote object on photographic plates he had taken Jan. 23 and 29 from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Astronomers credited him with discovering the ninth planet orbiting the Sun, and it was named Pluto. It was so distant — further than Neptune — and so small and faint that for several decades little was learned about Pluto beyond its orbital characteristics. During the explorations of the 1970s and 1980s, knowledge about our planetary neighbors was greatly expanded when space craft landed on or flew by every other planet, except Pluto. And we’ve still not visited Pluto, but that’s about to change.
Feb. 18, 1930, 24-year old Clyde Tombaugh discovered a faint, remote object on photographic plates he had taken Jan. 23 and 29 from Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Astronomers credited him with discovering the ninth planet orbiting the Sun, and it was named Pluto.
It was so distant — further than Neptune — and so small and faint that for several decades little was learned about Pluto beyond its orbital characteristics.
During the explorations of the 1970s and 1980s, knowledge about our planetary neighbors was greatly expanded when space craft landed on or flew by every other planet, except Pluto. And we’ve still not visited Pluto, but that’s about to change.
Jan. 19, 2006, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft began its 9 1/2 year journey to the planet Pluto and beyond. But ironically before the craft even left the inner solar system, planet Pluto ceased to exist.
In July 2006, the International Astronomical Union, in a highly publicized and controversial decision, redefined “planet,” and Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. It is now seen as one of the largest objects in the Kuiper belt, a swarming cluster of small icy objects orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune — similar to asteroid belt, the swarming cluster of small rocky objects orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.
In July 2015 New Horizons will fly past Pluto and its three moons making them the most remote objects to be studied up-close. It won’t land but after zooming within 6,000 miles of Pluto, it should return images to dazzle our imagination and enough data to keep scientists busy for years.
If funding is available, New Horizons will continue its exploratory journey with fly-by visits to one or more other more distant Kuiper Belt objects between 2016 and 2020. To read more about the New Horizons mission, visit www.pluto.jhuapl.edu.
Sky Calendar
* Feb. 7 Sun. morning: The crescent Moon is to the upper right of Scorpius’ brightest star Antares low in the southeast.
* 11 Thu. morning: The crescent Moon is to the upper right of Mercury very low in the east southeast at dawn, and to the planet’s lower left the next morning.
* 13 Sat.: The Moon is new.
* 14 Sun. very early evening: Jupiter is four moonwidths above brighter Venus with an ever-so-thin crescent Moon to their left near the west southwestern horizon; they are visible soon after sunset and set soon thereafter; binoculars will help.
* 16 Tue. early evening: Jupiter is one moonwidth to the right of brighter Venus very low in the west southwest just after sunset.
* 21 Sun.: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
* 25 Thu. evening and all night: Mars is to the left of the bright gibbous Moon; the faint Beehive Cluster is below them but will require binoculars to see.
• Naked-eye Planets. Evening: As twilight ends, Jupiter is setting in the west as Venus begins its stint as the “evening star;” Mars is still prominent in the east. Morning: At dawn Mercury is very low in the southeast, Saturn higher is in the southwest, and Mars is setting in the west northwest.
• Astro Milestones. Feb.15 is the 446th birthday of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Feb. 19 is the 537th birthday of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543).
Stargazer appears every other week. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com.
A Letter To My Publisher
Sometimes it’s hard to reach up to that stirrup, but I believe I’m ready to get back in the saddle. Of course, it helps that pitchers and catchers report Feb. 17! Early this week I came across the Winter League Championships from Margarita Island on MLB-TV. Gawd, I needed to hear the crack of the bat as much as Barry Bonds needed his human growth concoctions. To paraphrase one Count Dracula of Transylvania, “Children of the diamond… what sweet music they make.”
Dear Leon –
Sometimes it’s hard to reach up to that stirrup, but I believe I’m ready to get back in the saddle.
Of course, it helps that pitchers and catchers report Feb. 17!
Early this week I came across the Winter League Championships from Margarita Island on MLB-TV. Gawd, I needed to hear the crack of the bat as much as Barry Bonds needed his human growth concoctions. To paraphrase one Count Dracula of Transylvania, “Children of the diamond… what sweet music they make.”
It was great to watch some live, major league-level baseball. I’ve caught parts of games involving Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico. There have been bona fide pitchers’ duels; prodigious home runs (one to center that I didn’t think was ever going to land); lightning on the base paths; and incredible double plays…
For instance: Bases loaded and one out; Jason Simontacchi on the mound for Venezuela with a 4-0 lead over Puerto Rico. A bloop fly to center could score two, but the center fielder, running in, catches it on one bounce. Without missing a beat, he notices the runner on first hasn’t moved, and tosses to second for a force.
The shortstop takes a quick look around, sees the lead runner only a couple of steps off third, and throws home. The catcher tags the guy out by at least four steps. 7-6-2 DP – inning over, threat ended.
Watching these games has been a great mind-clearing escape; it’s easy to figure why so many players in the Bigs come from this part of the planet.
Aah, baseball, the nectar of life… I hope there’s more on today! (After this, I’ll have to wait until March 6 for live baseball — the first televised Cubs’ spring training game.)
Superbowl… Bah! Humbug! That overblown tribute to the corporate brainwashing of America is nothing but Pavlov’s experiment in hyperdrive!
As for the weather of late, although it got brutally cold for a few days, we hadn’t had any snow in several weeks. Still, even though we had some serious rainfalls, there was so much accumulated snow that not all of it washed away. Overnight we got a dusting of powder, but nothing that would increase my SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
Earlier this week I went to a meet-and-greet for my friend, Dr. David Gill, who’s running for Congress again (you may remember my column about his wife dying of cancer in 2007 at 42). After taking 2008 off to rebuild his life, a grassroots effort is now picking up steam to unseat the incumbent this November and send David to Washington in 2011. It was good to schmooze with like-minded people at a Democratic cabal – kind of restored my faith in the American voter.
Since being on my self-imposed hiatus, I’ve come up with a couple of earth-shaking questions that require asking:
Why does my cat poop on the floor? She started doing so about six months ago.
The vet doesn’t have an answer; he’s as perplexed as I am. One of his suggestions was to add a box, but she regularly misses it (within two feet). We even added a third box, so she now ignores all three. Fortunately, her avoidance of the boxes doesn’t include pee…
What’s up with idiot drivers who refuse to engage their turn signals? Jees, it takes soooo much effort to flip that lever up or down.
Along the same line, why is it people stop in the thru lane to wait for oncoming traffic to clear when on their left there’s a clearly marked turn lane sitting unused!?
(One possible answer is that oncoming traffic will not honor the turn lane. I was in one the other evening when a car came barreling toward me straddling the middle of the street, forcing me to swerve right to avoid a head-on crash.)
Why do the editors of Politico.com allow blatantly racist comments from individuals who continually refer to Barack Obama as “the negro president” to go unchallenged?
Why is it a supermarket chain always begins its sales on Thursdays, yet sends out coupons that don’t take effect until Friday?
In what country did the “Gang of Five” grow up? You know who I mean — those Right-wing Federalist elitist prigs within the Supreme Court whose activist opinions erode our Constitution by trampling the rights of the common man in favor of corporate entities.
Why is English as spoken by many British people mostly unintelligible?
Why won’t Congressional Democrats just tell the Republican minority to sit down and shut up while they take care of the Nation’s business?
Why didn’t my parents leave me at least one heirloom valuable enough to lift (or at least help subsidize) my family out of interminable debt?
Why must I remain mired in Illinois, where the weather sucks and political options are mostly worse?
In the Land of Lincoln, Stevenson, Dirksen, (Paul) Simon, and Obama, how did we cultivate such pathetic politicians?
Did you know that paleontologists now figure that dinosaurs may have been multi-colored, not grayish-green and black, as has always been assumed?
One final thought: President Obama was 100% correct when he suggested to Congressional Democrats that they turn off CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, stop listening to the pundits, and start connecting with the people.
The 24-hour newschannel has become the schmutz that’s poisoning America’s font of reason. It takes no more than five minutes tuned into any of them to realize they offer little in the way of news and far too much opinion and speculation.
For the past six months or so I’ve avoided the mainstream media like the plague it is, and quite frankly I don’t miss the angst that comes from all that bullshit.
Want news? Tune to the BBC.
You can get your opinion fix right here.
O, fercrissake, now the snow is coming down like this is the Northwest Territories. Crap!
Shalom.
(Jerry Tenuto is an erstwhile Philosopher and sometime Educator. A veteran with seven years of service in the U.S. Army, he holds a BS and MA in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Depending upon your taste in political stew, you can either blame or thank Jerry for his weekly “Out Of The Blue” feature in The Lone Star Iconoclast. Visit his blog Blue State View at illinoiscentral.blogspot.com)
The GOP Reviewed
What is wrong with the Republican Party? My last commentary focused on the GOP’s 5 Propositions for its upcoming primary election. I received many comments from angry GOP members who chastised me for the commentary and especially regarding Prop. 4, which proposes: (read more)
“It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.”
What is wrong with the Republican Party?
My last commentary focused on the GOP’s 5 Propositions for its upcoming primary election.
I received many comments from angry GOP members who chastised me for the commentary and especially regarding Prop. 4, which proposes:
Ballot Proposition 4: Public Acknowledgement of God
The use of the word “God”, prayers, and the Ten Commandments should be allowed at public gatherings and public educational institutions, as well as be permitted on government buildings and property.
It is great that so many have responded on this issue. Please continue to do so. It is a pathway for open discourse.
“Walker,” I agree with you. Never said otherwise. I respect all religions including mine. However, being able to bow your head at a baseball game already is your given right under the Constitution of the United States, so…
…why on God’s good Earth do we need to add such a law???
Perhaps you could enlighten us further?
“Ladytex,” I agree with you as well. But, believing in God and acknowledging in public is different from being led by public officials to do so at public events. Perhaps you could respond to my question?
Lastly, “Anonymous,” you also provide honest responses that I agree with, but if the party, your party — MY PARTY, also — wants to know this information, why not send out a questionnaire flyer or an online survey to its members instead of proposing it as part of a ballot, to be considered at a future date to become a law?
All of you seem to take a shot at me as though I have a problem with YOU praying in public, which I do not. That’s your right and my right as well.
I do however have a problem with a political party asking people such questions on a ballot and also in lieu of becoming a specific law in our State Constitution, which could still occur.
Heck, I’ve offered prayers in public myself but that’s my own business and I don’t need a specific law, political party or a public official at an event to “lead me” in prayer to do so. It is NOT a public official’s place or role to lead us in prayer or in a public display of religion, nor should it be. It should be left up to each individual, as the Constitution already allows.
We have churches, mosques, synagogues, etc. so we may be LED into prayer, as we may want it.
I suggest you all think about what I am offering here. I am not against religion or if an individual wants to pray in public. That is NOT what I am saying. NOT at all. Those rights are already established.
Again, what I am saying about Prop. 4 is that we do NOT require such a law and I continue to question why it is so important for a political party to know your religious business as part of the party’s business.
It is NONE of the Republican Party’s business about our religious preferences nor that we should place religious overtures into the Constitution. It is none of its business as it is none of its business who we will vote for. Actually, it is a further intrusion of government into our lives.
Again, such a law is NOT required so why do it?
During the past decade the Republican Party platform has wavered in its sincerity and direction. We as a party have drifted from the Party of Eisenhower, through the Party of Ronald Reagan and into the 21st Century as the Party of George W. Bush. It is a direction that we should reconsider and question the actual goals and objectives of what I believe is a confused and misguided GOP.
I was proud to be a proud member of the GOP during the Eisenhower administration and today I am not so proud of my party.
Instead of focusing on silly and unnecessary questions, as these “propositions,” the GOP should be asking some truly HARD questions to its members, e.g.,
Are you happy with the GOP and its platform?
Are we promoting less or more government over our lives? And why? What do we hope to achieve?
What are the priorities of the GOP? And do we need to change them?
What changes, if any, are needed re: campaign financing?
Do we believe in a Democracy and in Capitalism? Or do we believe in Socialism and Tax-Payer Bail-Outs?
Should we consider specific term limitations of those in political offices?
…and other questions like these.
These more worthwhile questions and others could be asked to make the GOP a stronger and more committed party, a party we could be more proud of and one with more realistic goals and objectives.
You don’t have to agree. If you do not agree, please respond further to explain why the Propositions are needed and/or why you may disagree with my comments on important changes for the GOP.
Thank you.
(Peter Stern, a former director of information services, university professor and public school administrator, is a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Driftwood, Texas.)
