And the truth is ... about illegal immigration

Author’s Note: In the foreseeable future, all blog entries penned by Chuck Bloom will fall under the title of “And the Truth Is … ” to explain to the readers what is, and is NOT, the truth and what is utter nonsense (as opposed to common sense, which will be employed in all future blog submissions).
Many past submissions could be reworked into a future book, “And the Truth Is …”
“And the Truth Is …:” Illegal immigration is complicated and won’t go away anytime soon
They will bury Dallas police officer Brian Jackson today in Rhode Island. A memorial service was the lead story on almost all Dallas-Fort Worth newscasts and it has been the topic of water cooler conversation since the tragic incident happened last Sunday morning.
Jackson, a five-year member of the DPD, was shot and killed while answering a domestic dispute, giving chase to the suspect, an illegal immigrant from Mexico.
Jackson leaves behind a tearful wife of two months and thousands of angry Dallasites, clamoring for immediate action to toss out any and all illegal immigrants from the city, from the state, from the nation. To hear from many of them, every illegal is a criminal – armed and dangerous and waiting to kill every cop or every civilian on two feet.
God, I wish it were THAT simple. If it were, it would have been done already on all three governmental levels. But it can’t happen that fast, if it can happen at all.
And the truth is … I’m not sure everyone wants such a pipeline of cheap-ass labor to stop flowing across our southern border. It would … complicate things on many, MANY levels – all of which revolve around the almighty dollar.
The REAL problem is our societal paradox concerning everyday things - like food and retail prices, the cost of labor and which consumer group gets what. Illegal immigration is ALL about money - the workers coming across the border supply labor for a much cheaper price than U.S. workers. They do the jobs that North American workers tend NOT to want (stoop field labor for agriculture, manual construction work, landscape, cleaning, restaurant) - and for a much cheaper rate.
Consumers, while complaining about the presence of that type of labor force, do not want to pay MORE for goods - especially food. They like the cheaper prices they pay for the “fruits” of the illegal immigrants’ labor. Check that; they demand that such prices be kept artificially low. It cannot be done without it; again, that’s the truth.
If you travel through the vegetable belt of this land, in central California, you see the bounty of the land in full bloom. And you see who is doing the brutal, backbreaking work – immigrants, mostly from Mexico. Most of this work cannot be done through machines – it is hand to hand, basket by basket, bushel by bushel.
In cities like Soledad, they live in decent homes and go to decent schools, in the shadow, of course, of a large state prison. Prices are higher than other areas (notably the price of gasoline over the fall was far higher than the national average and higher than the big California cities) because companies can get away with doing it. There is no economic resistance available.
Then you have corporations, while fending off efforts to see themselves penalized for employing illegal immigrants, enjoy the heftier bottom line profit margins because of the cheaper rates paid to illegals. Wal-Mart has admitted to employing illegal immigrants, often to do their store cleaning, and has gotten away with murder (not literally) by avoiding prosecution and heavy fines.
Others have done the same or worse, if the truth be told.
And there is also Mexico, which needs to be a player in any immigration game. It thoroughly enjoys thinning out its potential labor force by NOT doing a damn thing to stop the cheaper labor from crossing the Rio Grande. That means a significant percentage of workers IT doesn’t have to worry about and can work (however slowly that might be) toward its own economic reformation.
No thickness of wall (along the 2,000-mile border), no threats of deportation and no American action is going to change the fact that it is in Mexico’s economic interest to keep the labor flow going. Frankly, there is just too close and cozy of a relationship between the Bush Administration and the Vicente Fox government in Mexico City. The White House talks a strong game but offers nothing but the “same old, same old” in this area and what has been put forth has angered conservatives AND liberals – a true rarity in today’s political atmosphere.
But in Dallas, that matters little today. A good office is dead and there would be a lynch mob gathered at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center if allowed.
To be clear: Not all illegals shoot police officers or commit crimes; that behavior is done by people of all nationalities and color. You’ve got crime everywhere and that is a parallel discussion to that of immigration. Most immigrants try to do what they intended to do all along – work hard and send money back to Mexico (yeah, like the Mexican government is going to refuse this influx of revenue).
Until serious action is taken on multiple fronts - not just a knee-jerk “kick ‘em all out” attitude - there will be more anger, more tragedy and more illegals.
And that’s the truth …

More from Senator Hypocrite ... I mean Senator Santorum

A good rule of thumb is this old world is to beware of ANYONE steadfastly rigid in their moral and/or ethical beliefs as to pronounce them as the only way for others to live. Ye not judge lest ye BE judged.
So here we have the case of Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, one of THE most conservative Republicans in the nation and seen, by a few, as possible presidential timber in 2008. Damn few, if you ask me.
You remember, Mr. Santorum during the distinguished Terri Schiavo debate held last year. He wore the “holier than thou” mantle proudly to keep this poor woman artificially alive despite what every court in the nation and Florida pronounced.
Well, one of the old reliable issues used by Republicans on ANY governmental level is to complain about frivolous malpractice lawsuits and disproportionate jury awards – all of which they claim need major reformation and ALWAYS at the expense of the people initiating the action (regardless of the harm done to them).
However, it seems that the folks at ABC News’ “Primetime” did some snoop-dogging and it seems as if SOME unnamed critics whose initials might be Rick Santorum CLAIM to be in favor of massive tort reform, BUT … have been the beneficiary themselves from the very laws they bitch about the loudest.
And the benefit is money, baby. Long green. Cold, hard cash.
In prior years, Santorum has lobbied and tried to legislate what he has called medical lawsuit abuse, calling for a $250,000 cap on non-economic damage awards or awards for pain and suffering. He has said is the top health issue crisis in Pennsylvania, as has almost every other GOP card carrying member.
“We need to do something now to fix the medical liability problem in this country,” he declared at a Washington D.C rally this past spring.
How noble … except for the FACT that Santorum’s wife, Karen, once (in 1999) sued a doctor for $500,000 on a claim that a screwed-up spinal manipulation by a chiropractor led to back surgery, pain and suffering. She sued for TWICE the cap amount dear old hubby supported.
So the producers at “nightline” hunted Senator Santorum down as a book signing in the Keystone State last August after the junior senator refused on-camera interviews on this subject.
When asked if he believed his stance and history were “conflicted,” he told them, “I guess I could answer that in two ways. Number one is that I’ve supported caps. I’ve been very clear that I am not wedded at all to a $250,000 cap and I’ve said publicly repeatedly, and I think probably that is somewhat low, and that we need to look at what I think is a cap that is a little bit higher than that.”
However … Santorum HAS sponsored or co-sponsored a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages … TWICE … and even testified in his wife’s case against the doctor. Santorum told the jury that he had to carry the laundry upstairs for his wife. Because she suffered humiliation from weight gain, she no longer had the confidence to help him on the campaign trail.
“Of course I’m going to support my wife in her endeavors,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that I agree with everything that she does.”
Coward! Blame your wife for your hypocrisy.
The tale was SO moving; the jury awarded Karen Santorum the princely sum of $350,000 – more than allowed under his proposed cap.
“That’s where again you’re misled is that a lot of, there was cumulative damages,” he said. “The medical bills, lost income, all those other things that were out there.”
Oops, Senator Rick, those medical bills actually totaled … $18,800, yet your wife sued for $500,000.
And that crap about lost income? The good ole judge never mentioned THAT when he took his judicial ginsu and sliced the jury’s award in half, stating that it was “excessive.”
The judge also stated that the remaining damages “awarded amounted to something in the neighborhood of $330,000 or so for injuries sustained and the effect upon Mrs. Santorum’s health, her past and future pain and suffering and inconvenience.”
Shouldn’t the principle hold that what is good for the Senatorial goose be good for the rest of us ganders?
Not when you’re Rick Santorum. You live in your own special world and we aren’t part of it. But what do you expect? Integrity? Puh-leeze (rhymes with sleaze).

When you read a story about someone you might have known a long time ago ...

I go through a regular routine each morning, surfing various newspaper websites to see what's what in other cities (starting with the Washington Post and including the Houston Chronicle because I've got Dallas Morning News on my lap at the same time).
On the Chronicle website is a story about two Texas marines killed in an Iraqi offensive on Monday, somwhere near the western border, in one of those supposedly inspiringly named actions, "Operation Steel Curtain." As an aside, the Pentagon loves to use these colorful names and monikers to label military movements, but to me, it's just combat and battle all the same. I don't know why they do it, the bullets fly just the same. Is it to lessen the impact and make it more of a ... game?
One solider was from Liverpool, Texas and I Mapquested (yes, it is a verb) to see where it was (the answer: between Angleton and Alvin in Brazoria County, not much more than a blink-and-you'll-miss-it speck on a county road).
The other soldier - Cpl. John M. Longoria - was from the South Texas city of Nixon, 50 miles east of San Antonio and 30 miles from Seguin, Gonzales, Karnes City and Cuero. I don't need Mapquest to tell me where that city is. I lived there for 14 years. It's not much bigger, less than 2,000 people and might finally have gotten a traffic stoplight after years of asking.
The young man was only 21 years old, which meant he would have been 8 or 9 when I left. I probably saw him in an first or second grade class at Nixon Elementary during my tour as owner of the local newspaper. I might have shot his photo during a function and for sure, I probably ran his birth announcement, around 1984.
The family name (Longoria) is somewhat familiar to me; there were several with that last name in a town that was 65% Hispanic.
There is no newspaper in Nixon today that I know of. The closest one is 30 miles away and really doesn't serve that small poultry-processing community. The big daily in San Antonio hasn't posted the story on its website and in a community so dominanted by ITS military bases, this sad death might go unnoticed.
Except in Nixon. I'm sure the news has spread and the tears have already flowed. The local funeral home will probably be swamped; the small local Catholic church will see too many people wanting to attend the funeral.
My heart hangs heavy for this small community because this young man is the first (that I know of) person from Nixon to die in this current action. And in a small town, where you KNOW most of the people who live in it (as I did as the newspaperman), each loss hits much harder than in other places.
I have yet to see (or yet to be convinced) why such young men - productive citizens who could help this country grow in the future - have to die ... when I'm just not sure the people they are trying to help really, REALLY want us there. I set aside the politics and the lying (by both parties and all factions) and try to understand the sacrifice. I just don't think the loss of young American life is going to produce the final product that our leaders conceived.
These people are tribal in nature and have centuries' worth of patience. When our involvement ends, the Iraqi people, divided into Shi'a, Sunni and Kurd - will simply revert to old hatreds, as was the case in Yuogslavia between the Croats and Serbs.
Unless we stay there forever,which doesn't sound anymore enticing to me. Congratulations, Iraq is the new South Korea.
In this one case, however, it has produced heartbreaking grief in one small rural community in South Texas. In my mind, that is a very, very sad waste of humanity.

Why do evangelical Christians insist on preaching to us?

One day last week, my wife and I were at an attorney’s office in West Plano for a consultation visit. We parked, as usual, in a handicapped space because we have one of those little blue placards which says we can.
Sadly, I forgot to hang it on the windshield because we were in a hurry and following the session, we were confronted with a note on out windshield.
“Excuse me, just how handicapped are you?” the note began. With back and knee problems forcing usage of a cane, and triple bypass heart surgery, the answer would be, “Enough.”
Still it was a fair criticism because he had forgotten to hang the “blue thingy.”
However … the note did not end there.
We drove in my wife’s Ford Escape and there are two bumper stickers at the rear concerning her church and domination – Unitarian Universalist. She belongs to a Plano church of that liberal faith; I am Jewish. So we are both outside of the mainstream.
Along with a sticker stating that the vehicle belongs to a “Collin County Democrat,” we often draw reactions, are ire, from other drivers, although I suspect the politics catch the eye first. I have one of my truck and I have even been bumped (or given derogatory hand gestures) by those who object to my mere breathing of the term, “Democrat.”
I can take that. What bothered me about the note was the other reference.
“Then I would ask How liberal is the bible?” the notewriter continued. “There is only one God. Therefore only One truth. It’s not Liberal.”
What possesses people, especially so-called “evangelical” Christians in white affluent areas, to insist on pressing their singular version of morality, truth and faith upon strangers? As a Jew, I’ve never understood it and never, EVER appreciated it. I find it offensive and my wife finds it equally offensive.
I have no quarrel with those who hold to the belief that the Bible is the living word of God or the bumper sticker mentality of “God said it; I believe it and that’s it!” I disagree strongly, but if works for them, I’m fine with it. Just don’t force it on me.
I’ve always believed that the strength of this nation lies in its ability to allow each person to make their own decisions. As a journalist, I always approached news stories from the perspective that if you present all the facts, people will be free to make their choices and conclusions. If I wrote an opinion piece (column or editorial), there would be no need to make it balanced … by definition it’s YOUR opinion (such a common misconception by the public about the media).
Sadly, too many Americans don’t want that to matter. They WANT one rule, one set of beliefs, one religion (despite all the hand-wringing to the contrary) to be the single factor of life.
Did I derive too much from a single note? Perhaps, but I see it almost daily, as does my wife. Snickering, sneering and snide comments and looks. One supervisor, a Catholic, once called my wife’s faith “a bunch of chrunchy granola eaters,” but I refrained from denouncing all Catholics as “followers of pedophile priests.” Because neither would be true.
Never argue sex, politics or religion at a party, we have all been warned. Lately, that cocktail has been mixed too often. And since I don’t drink (doctors orders), I’m left to argue whether the Longhorns will win a national championship (nope!), whether Terrell Owens is a bad guy (nope, just not a role model) and why I can’t get people from soliciting at my front door (don’t you just hate that?!?)
And one more thing, keepa you hands off my car! Or may a gaggle of crackles permanently yack all over your Simoniz finish.

Another day, another idiot statement

This is like shooting fish in a barrel. It REALLY is getting too easy; smoking out all the idiot statements made by Republicans and conservatives against political opponents. Statements simply to dumb to have been uttered by so-called educated people.
Today’s posting comes from last Thursday’s Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention luncheon in Washington, D.C. where Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, a devout Mormon and pretender who thinks he can be the GOP nominee for President in 2008 because he ran the Salt Lake Winter Olympics) was introduced by Gerald Walpin, some New Yorker schmuck who is also a board member at the conservative law group.
Quote Mister Walpin:

“Today when most of the country thinks of who controls Massachusetts, I think the modern-day KKK comes to mind - the Kennedy-Kerry Klan.”

It seems that everyone laughed, but then again, they had Karl Rove speaking to them as well so you KNOW it was a joke.
Later, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Romney, trying to be a better broken field runner than anyone on Boston College’s football team, said the remarks “ill-advised.”
No shit, Sherlock.
The Boston Globe, in its Friday edition, said Romney laughed along with the audience and thanked Walpin for “a very generous introduction.” But Romney, when pressed about it all, said he wasn’t “really paying attention.”
“I was looking at my notes and preparing for my speech at the time,” he said. “There’s not much I can do about speakers who introduce me.”
Massachusetts State party chairman Phil Johnston was outraged that Romney could laugh at those remarks.
“It is embarrassing that Gov. Mitt Romney would laugh at any joke that disparages Catholics, African-Americans and Jews,” he said.
Now … here comes the good part. On Friday, Mister Walpin had NO regrets. “Certain people in Massachusetts have no sense of humor,” he told Boston radio station WBZ-AM.
The Federalist Society is one of those influential conservative legal organizations, and would be an important constituency for Romney if he wants to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2008. As you can guess, several senior members of the Bush administration are members.
In his speech, Romney produced an “unusually personal attack,” according to the Globe, at the Supreme Judicial Court for legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, adding that the justices issued the ruling to promote their values and those of “their like-minded friends in the communities they socialize in.”
Romney, along with members of the audience, laughed at the joke and later thanked Walpin for the introduction. But upon further review, Romney decided it was a bad move to be seen laughing at such a tasteless remark.
“It is ill-advised and inappropriate to raise the KKK even in a joke, and I think it was unfortunate,” Romney said is the highest level of playing “cover your ass.”
And to demonstrate what a hypocrite Romney, and ALL other politicians are, he met with Senators Kennedy and Kerry and the Coast Guard to discuss the future of the Otis Air National Guard Base, which lost missions under the Defense Department’s recent round of base-closings. That was just less than four hours after laughing at a KKK joke at their expense.
“There’s nothing funny about equating two devout Catholics with anti-Catholic bigots infamous for violence against African-Americans and Jews … days after America buried Rosa Parks,” said Kerry spokesman David Wade. “Apparently it’s still standard fare at right-wing gatherings to make and accept intolerant remarks.”
A little background. In 1967, on live Detroit television, his old man, George, former president of American Motors who was elected as Michigan governor, went on a news interview show hosted by the legendary Lou Gordon, a very tough and combative interviewer. It was then and there that the elder Romney said he was opposing the war in Vietnam because he had been “brainwashed” by government officials about intelligence. Sound familiar, folks? Can you say Bush Administration?
At the time, Romney was considered to be a major front-runner but that interview, when replayed across the country, stopped the campaign in its track. Dead. Cold, Over and out. Romney’s name was not really heard on the national level again.
Isn’t it interesting that conservatives (and the Federalist are as right of right as you can get) easily dismiss tacky and tasteless and offensive as mere humor but go absolutely nuclear when they are lumped in with terms like “Nazi,” “facist,” and other equally offensive connotations.
What is good for the cooked goose should be just fine for the yacking gander.

Grey Goose for the moose on the loose

I offer this story as it reads from the Nov. 8 Associated Press lineup”
“STOCKHOLM, Sweden - They rarely have problems with drunks or rowdy animals, but resi¬dents of an elderly home in southern Sweden had to deal with both when a pair of intoxicated moose invaded the premises.
“The moose - a cow and her calf - had become drunk over the weekend by eating fermented apples they found outside the home in Sibbhult, southern Sweden, said Anna Karlsson, who works there.”
A little cider here, a little cider there and the first thing you know, you can’t see your nose from your antlers.“Police managed to scare them off once, but the large mammals returned to get more of the tempting fruits. This time, the moose were drunk and aggressive, forcing police to send for a hunter with a dog to make them leave.
“Police did not pursue the culprits, but made sure all apples were picked up from the area, local police chief Bengt Hallberg said. No one was hurt.”No word if Madame Bullwinkle has gone for her 12-step program.
However, an apple a day won’t keep the moose away.
Or is it … meese or mooses?!? I’ve always been confused about that.

Pat Robertson is a raving idiot!

Alright, let’s just say this upfront! Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson is an idiot, a schmuck in Yiddish and a total fool! If there IS a God, may HE strike this manic down with throat cancer to silence a voice that simply does NOT need to be heard in this nation, or any other jihadist assembly.
In the latest of what is becoming a traveling circus routine, Robertson, on Thursday night’s “700 Club” (which should equal the total number of viewers) said the following:
"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover (Pennsylvania): if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there.”
This came after the voters, all of whom are Americans at last check, voted their entire school out of office for supporting the creationism under cover concept known as "intelligent design." Eight school board members up for re-election lost their seats after trying to introduce a statement on "intelligent design" to high school biology students.
Proponents of intelligent design argue that certain forms in nature are too “complex” to have evolved through natural selection and must have been created by some sort of supernatural "designer." Opponents, also known as scientists, state that this is the latest attempt by conservatives to introduce religion into the school science curriculum.
The Dover case led to a trial in federal court that gained nationwide attention after the school board was sued by parents backed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The board had ordered its schools to read a short statement to students in biology classes telling them that the theory of evolution was not established fact and that gaps existed in it.
The statement then mentioned intelligent design as an “alternate theory” and recommended students read a book that explained the theory further. That book is actually the Bible, which holds no scientific basis to it; it’s all about religion and specifically ONE religion.
A decision in the case is expected before the end of this year.
The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and Christian Coalition has done this before and cannot hear the entire country laughing at him. Must be that any publicity is good publicity so long as you spell the name correctly.
This past summer, Robertson openly called for the assassination of leftist Venezuelan Present Hugo Chavez, one of President George W. Bush’s harshest international critics.
In 1998, Robertson warned Orlando, Fla. that it risked “hurricanes, earthquakes and terrorist bombs” after permitting homosexual organizations to place rainbow flags in support of sexual diversity.
As I said, a raving idiot. He needs to shut up and let the rest of us heathens live in peace from the sounds of his hot air escaping through his mouth.
As I said, a raving idiot. He needs to shut up and let the rest of us heathens live in peace from the sounds of his hot air escaping through his mouth.
Actually, the right Reverend PROVES the theory of evolution. Some humans haven’t evolved enough!

Texas gay marriage ban vote not what it seems

On Tuesday in Texas, the infamous Proposition 2, that places in the Texas Constitution the already-enacted ban on gay marriage, passes overwhelmingly (75%-25%) in what had to be the least surprising outcome in the last 25 years.
If people think this was merely a vote to keep marriage "sacred" and "purified," they have failed miserably to comprehend what happened Tuesday. It was a dry run for the Rick Perry campaign to be re-elected as governor, which has, as its backbone, the same evangelicals that went to the polls to offer overwhelming support to Prop 2.
Sorry, but that IS the truth. He needed to show potential challengers, including that tough Grandma in Austin (state treasurer Carole Keeton Strayhorn), that he cracks the GOP whip in Texas. That was HIS constituency that voted and it was an impressive display of political power, I must admit (as a Texas Democrat which cannot field a candidate of any strength on any level).
I haven't seen anyone talk out of the side of their mouth since Buddy Hackett as does Perry. He may profess love for all, but he stands in the mud with those who want to control others - through the legislature, through religion, through their limited view of morals.
Folks, this is the one-party machine in Texas steamrolling who and what it wants. Ain't pretty, is it?

Time to seriously re-think they way we vote

The obscene amount of money spent by various candidates to attempt to obtain elective office should convince even the biggest partisan die-hards that a different method is needed in the United States to choose public officials.
If anyone truly thinks the primary and general election process makes financial or participatory sense, when it takes almost a full year to complete – from the first date to file (in December here in Texas) until to final general election (the following November) – then I’ve got some newly-discovered Enron stock to sell you.
First, ALL elective offices below the state legislative and executive level should be non-partisan. I don’t understand why the county sheriff, county clerk, county auditor, tax assessor-collector, constable or whatever necessarily HAS to be a Democrat or Republican.
And wouldn’t judges appear more impartial if they were non-partisan? Just look at the debacle to find a judge to try Tom DeLay. This Democrat dropped a dollar toward this candidate but this Republican is also no good because he said someone’s name in his sleep.
You would then be voting for personal standards and performance and not along party lines (too many of them are solely chosen because of affiliation, not education). All judgeships should be non-partisan choices.
More importantly, it would save thousands of dollars in duplicate expenditure. Today, a man or woman must wage two expensive campaigns to gain such offices as county or district clerk, county treasurer, justice of the peace, etc. Hold one general election (and one runoff if needed) and let it be done. Winner needs 50 percent plus one vote and if the first round doesn’t produce a clear-cut victor, have a runoff 30 days from that first vote.
Second, in presidential years, hold a nationwide primary, allow as many candidates in each party to vie for the presidency and give ALL Americans the same opportunity to make their feelings known.
The first primary could take place in August and then the November general election would pit the winners of each major party (or alternative parties if you want to be benevolent).
At the present time, a handful of small northern states get all the say-so in who becomes the next president. In 2000, if Bill Bradley or John McCain had an equal opportunity to go before ALL the voters in their respective parties, instead of getting slowly chopped piecemeal state-by-state, perhaps the outcome “might” have been different.
When each candidate reached Texas in early March, the nomination process was effectively a forgone conclusion. Many voters were simply turned away because they felt their vote for those candidates were wasted. Neither man had ANY legitimate chance of winning.
Why should Iowa and New Hampshire voters get so much power to pre-determine what Texans decide? A national primary would allow any candidate a fair shot at the electorate – which is always a better way to do things.
A 90-day campaign period would then begin – plenty of time to get one’s message to the nation. No one needs months of monotonous campaign advertising bombarding our senses ad nauseum (literally).
It would also end the nonsense for holding national party conventions – good only for dull speeches, a lot of partying and staged photo opps and balloon drops. Nothing is ever mysterious about these trumped-up, bloated campaign rallies. No real news is ever made, which is why the networks stopped coverage in favor of anything available to broadcast.
Perhaps NBC could put the candidates through a real version of “Fear Factor?” Winner, bugs swallowed and all, gets the nomination.
Third, make early voting national and move Election Day to a Sunday. Many other democratic nations do that. Our archaic system retains the first Tuesday in November for the general election because … that was the best day when the U.S. was an agrarian society.
But does it fit a very busy 21st century America? How many people simply shun the chance to vote because of a limited (in their mind) time factor? It should be a customer-friendly process, not akin to paying one’s taxes.
I know this will never come to be because … in your heart you know it makes sense. Hence, it’s doomed.
Rats! Can I get on “Fear Factor?”

Don't screw with middle-class mortgage deduction

In many ways, I am just like the most common of men – not all that bright about several issues that others master through osmosis. Economics/finance is one such area. I know so little about how the stock market works, it is pitiful. I know more about women’s apparel (and that ain’t saying much).
I was (and still am) a horrible businessman; my past practices prove exactly that. It was far from my area of domain.
But I know this: When government officials or panels stop jacking with things like the U.S. Tax Code, the common guy like me is going to get screwed, blued and tattooed.
That is exactly how I view Tuesday’s recommendations by the president’s tax-reform advisory panel to the Treasury Department. Their ideas spell disaster for millions of middle-class workers and retirees and hard-working families.
It’s one of those warning signals you often hear, like “The check is in the mail,” or “I’ll be right there to help you, honey.” You know it’s not a happening thing.
Tax simplification doesn’t make things simpler; it will make things harder on the pocketbook and is merely one step closer to the vaunted flat tax that some conservatives see as the panacea to all ills.
While elimination of the alternative minimum tax might be a good thing, the gutting of the home mortgage deduction is NOT. Since the panel is seeking to replace $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years, somebody is going to have to pay that piper.
The panel is recommending lowering the mortgage interest cap (the amount of a loan that home owners would receive a tax break for interest paid) from $1 million to the average regional housing price in the range of $227,000 to $412,000. In Texas, that price equals a nicer than normal home compared to other states.
The deduction would change to a credit, equaling 15 percent of interest paid on mortgages up to the interest cap. A credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the taxes you owe, while a deduction only reduces your taxable income by a percentage equal to your top tax rate.
Let’s admit this: Deductions help high-income taxpayers the most and only affect those taxpayers who itemize on their federal tax returns. The higher your mortgage loan, the higher your tax bracket.
But for many middle-income families, this deduction (not credit) is the backbone of their tax return. And there is no talk of grandfathering this change into the system. You don’t change rules in the middle of the game.
More changes that would adversely affect middle class people include disallowing deductions for state and local taxes paid on wage income, investment income and property; and capping the amount of tax-free money that may be used to pay for health insurance to $5,000 for single coverage or $11,500 for family coverage.
The panel also proposes creating two new credits - one for family, to replace the standard deduction, the personal exemption, the child tax credit and the head of household filing status and tax bracket; and one for work - to consolidate the earned income tax credit and refundable child tax credit.
In a complicated world, with families coming in all sorts of configurations, simplifications such as this seem too … simple! Frankly, the trust factor in Washington, and with this administration, is nil.
The tax code is far too involved to reduce to a simple 4x6 index card, as proposed. The threat is throwing out all these middle-class babies with the bathwater and thinking you’ve accomplished something.
All that is going to happen is to hurt MORE people who don’t need additional pain in their lives.

More Wal-Mart shenanigans

Another day, another story involving improper business practices involving Wal-Mart. This broken record, playing over Andover and over and over, is becoming obnoxious. Someone needs to knock these bastards down a major peg.
The latest involves violations of the Child Labor Laws of this nation by 25 Wal-Mart stores in Arkansas, Connecticut and New Hampshire between 1998 and 2002. The cases center on usage of workers between 16-17 using hazardous equipment (chain saws, paper balers, forklifts).
Child labor laws forbid anyone under 18 from operating hazardous equipment, but that doesn’t matter to Wal-Mart. It apparently controls the government’s penalties.
You see, according to a report from an inspector general with the U.S. Department of Labor (released Monday according to the Associated Press), Wal-Mart’s LAWYERS were allowed to write key parts of the punitive deal with the feds. As a result, the world’s largest retailer was socked with a whopping fine of …$135,540, which is less than what it spends on toilet paper (one-ply, I’m sure) for its stores in a day.
The inspector general said Wal-Mart received “significant concessions” in the settlement that was originally made public last February. What, pray tell did Wal-Mart cook up for itself?
1) The Labor Department is required to notify Wal-Mart 15 days in advance before opening an audit or investigation (that would be totally something inconsistent with guidelines for the department’s Wage and Hour Division, according to the report).
2) Wal-Mart can avoid formal citations or penalties if it brings the offending stores into compliance within 10 days of being notified about a violation.
To Wal-Mart’s good, the report found no evidence of violations of federal laws or regulations. Nor did inspectors find evidence of pressure from internal or external sources during development of the agreement.
The inspector general attributed the problems to “inadequate management controls and guidelines.” You think?!?!?
“These breakdowns resulted in (the Wage and Hour Division) entering into an agreement that gave significant concessions to Wal-Mart ... in exchange for little commitment from the employer beyond what it was already doing or required to do by law,” the report stated.
In that most ridiculous of non-denial denials, Wal-Mart (of course) denied the allegations, but agreed to pay the penalty. Funny, how those “innocent” corporations constantly pay for non-mistakes and non-violations of law. Anyone with a functioning brain knows payment equals guilt. Period.
Labor Department officials disputed some of the charges of favoritism, thinking that chump change is a good punishment for such illegal behavior. Their weakness and incompetence is testament to how little the current government in power cares about the consumer and average person. Pro-business now means anti-regulation and less stringent enforcement of reasonable laws.
Legislation is expected to be introduced that would bar the Labor Department from agreeing to provide notice to companies before investigating any wage-and-hour law complaints. However, it is coming from Democrats and such a bill probably has little opportunity for passage since Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retail company, had sales of $285 billion in its last fiscal year, ending last January. It can afford to train its staff and managers properly. It can afford to hire experienced workers able to handle hazardous equipment that are NOT 16 or 17 or 18 and get paid the most minimum of wage.
Wal-Mart can afford to stop breaking laws all over the place and still sit on top of the retail mountain. But with each action, it shows less and less desire to do so. And when you write your own rules and your own laws for your singular benefit, you cheat everybody.
And, ladies and gentlemen, that’s the kind of company you’re dealing with. It won’t stop until people insist.
When will people insist on doing the right thing over buying the cheapest thing?

The Halloween rules!

In Plano, the upper middle class uber-suburb outside of Dallas where I live, the following story is quite true. It shows the kind of arrogance about its children that should not be permitted.
Last night (Sunday), at dinnertime, the doorbell rang.
Three children stood in front and yelled "Trick or treat?"
"What are you doing here tonight?" I asked. "It's not Halloween!"
"Well, we decided to go tonight because it MIGHT rain tomorrow and we didn't want to get our candy wet," they answered.
My wife gave them each a piece of Tootsie Roll (one of my former favorites since I am a diabetic and cannot even sniff the bag) and I sulked away, upset that the RULES had been broken for candy greed.
Here are those rules in my mind:
Rule No. 1 - Trick or treating ONLY on Halloween night - regardless of what night it falls.
Rule No. 2 - No porch light means no one home (ours was off by the way). Don't go to that house and bother people. Not everyone wants to participate.
Rule No. 3 - No one over 12 should get a darn thing. You're old enough; leave the stuff for the little ones.
Rule No. 4 - No harem costumes for girls who are ... shall we say ... more mature for their age than others. Sex does NOT sell at Halloween.
Rule No. 5 - No candy for children who don't have teeth!!! If they cannot walk on their own, why are parents SO insistent of dragging 1 or 2 year olds in hot costumes when they should be sleeping? It's as bad as giving birthday parties for toddlers who have no idea what is happening!
Rule No. 6 - Stop giving children the equivalent of Godiva bars! It's bad enough that they will consume so much sugar as to get sick, have a mouthful of cavities and simply make a mess with melted chocolate smeared all over the house. Showing much YOU can spend on them is not the right thing to do.
Rule No. 7 - Trick or treating time should NOT begin before 6 p.m. and not go past 9 p.m. Period.
Rule No. 8 - The weather is the weather - deal with it. I did it in the freezing cold and early Michigan snow.
Rule No. 9 - No repeats. Once you've been to a house, you can't repeat. Once you're gone, you can't come back (out of the blue and into the black).
Rule No. 10 - Parents should have to walk with their children as protectors and supervisors. You don't let them loose on neighborhoods and you still with a Starbucks or enjoy a smoke.
Anyone want to disagree or add anything?

Houston, we have an indictment!

Enough has already been said and written about today’s five-count indictment of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff, so I’m not going to add my two-cents on the eventual outcome.
But I WILL say this: everyone seems to be “sad” over all of this.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson (his wife was the name and he was the target) the indictment marked “a sad day for America.”
President George W. Bush: “we’re all saddened by today’s news.”
Libby himself in a written statement: “Today is a sad day for me.”
So when is someone going to get mad? When is someone going to get upset that people at the highest levels of government thought so stupidly that it was OK to lie to the FBI and the grand jury about all of this?
Sad, my ass! It’s sad to think that people continue to act this way when all evidence points to one thing: You don’t tell the truth, you get bit in said ass!
Hey, Scooter, do watch where you sit.

You’ve been GOPeed On!

If anyone EVER wanted to clearly define what end of society that a particular political party favors, simply look at the latest efforts by the U.S. House Republican leadership to cut the federal budget in order to pay for hurricane relief efforts.
The GOP version of Edward Scissorhands is trying to slice away $50 billion (with a B) and almost ALL of them come at the expense of the very people who need them the most – those who are poor, disadvantaged and voiceless in the system. They don’t contribute heavily to the like of Tom DeLay or Dennis Hastert (the Speaker of the House, but does anyone know his name?).
And there is speculation that the committee vote, along party lines but totally controlled by Republicans, is just a set-up for failure in the overall House chamber when individual Congressmen will be forced to explain their budget cutting vote in their own hometowns.
Here’s what has been proposed (according to the Associated Press on Oct. 28):
* raising premiums to employers for government insurance of their employees’ and retirees’ pension benefits;
* new fees on students who default on loans or consolidate them;
* higher fees on parents who borrow on behalf of their college-age children;
* $3.8 billion in cuts to child support enforcement;
* tightening of eligibility standards for foster care assistance in nine states and
* delaying some lump-sum payments to very poor and elderly beneficiaries of Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program.
* elimination of payments to industries harmed by unfair foreign trade practices.
* raising $2.4 billion in lease revenues by permitting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
And nowhere is there any talk of revisiting that giant Transportation Bill so loaded with pork and wasteful spending in the billions that no rabbi could bless it as kosher. All the proposed savings could be easily found in that piece of lopsided spending, but it involves pet projects and we’d rather cater to pets than human beings.
Suggest such a thing and legislators get downright grumpy and ornery. It’s like stealing candy on Halloween.
Meanwhile, President Bush is reported to have met with House and Senate Republican leaders and said he was “pleased with the progress.” I’ll bet he is pleased. I wonder, though, if the average voter is pleased.
People need to remember all of this in November, 2006 and make a change. You can’t complain about how evil and horrid Congress acts and then vote to retain your congressional representative because he “brings home the bacon.”
That HAS been the problem all along and the facts speak for themselves – the Republican-controlled Congress has rolled up deficits SO high, you can’t over it.
Time for America to wake its ass UP! You’ve been GOPeed On!

More reasons to hate Wal-Mart

One doesn’t really need additional reasons to hate Wal-Mart, but the corporate giant keeps providing them all the time,
Here’s a new one: In Fort Worth, Texas, a newly-constructed Wal-Mart, has announced its intention to sell wine and beer at its store – a fairly radical departure from its stock items.
And it will break the law, with the city of Fort Worth’s blessing, to do so.
As many of you already know, Wal-Mart already controls three of the nation’s biggest retail factions. It sells 19 percent of all groceries in the United Stated, 16 percent of all pharmacy drugs and 30 percent of household staples. Any more of an increase and one would have to seriously consider anti-trust status.
Wal-Mart sought, and received, a variance from the city of Fort Worth to sell alcohol. Why a variance … for something out of the ordinary? Seems as thought to the new store is quite close to an elementary school - Ridglea Hills Elementary.
As in right next door.
Which, by state law, is prohibited from selling alcohol within 150 feet of a school. Wal-Mart property is adjacent to it apparently.
A dilemma? A conundrum?
Well, in typical jurisdictional fashion, the Fort Worth school district was never informed by the city of this “variance” and is going to court to protest the license … although the horse is already out of the barn because the city’s formal proceedings have been approved.
So what did the city do, since it KNEW of the conflict and school location? It insisted that Wal-Mart construct a 16-foot wall to keep the little children from the booze. A Wal-Mart spokesperson said in addition to the wall, they have also put in “additional safeguards” to make sure minors wouldn't be able to buy the alcohol.
Shame on the city of Fort Worth for sneaking around the law and kow-towing to Wal-Mart’s improper request. And shame on Wal-Mart (a redundant statement, sorry!) for knowing that a school was next door and that it would openly sell alcohol to its clientele – less than brilliant patrons who might “slightly” abuse that product within shouting and striking distance (as in cars) to young schoolchildren.
Again, stop shopping there, people! This company is no good and now threatens the well-being of innocent children.
Sadly, some of the neighbors don’t see a problem and don’t see the danger, wall or no wall. They shop at Wal-Mart and they vote. And you wonder why the country is ALL screwed up????

More reasons to absolutely HATE Wal-Mart!

I make it a personal policy never to walk into any store owned, operated or named Wal-Mart. I believe them to be as close as anything is to the devil incarnate on this planet.
Before you claim that such a statement is too harsh, too reactionary or too ridiculous, I will testify to having seen Wal-Mart in action as a predatory-pricing business, not at all interested in free enterprise and seeking to be the one and only retailer in the United States.
Wal-Mart’s ultimate goal is to be the last entity standing, regardless of its overall effect on the economy, people’s lives and the world trade situation. The firm that once proudly announced its American ties and American product is almost single-handedly responsible for making China a major world manufacturing power.
So now it is disclosed in the October 26 issue of the New York Times that an internal memo sent to board members of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. proposes several ways to reduce health care and benefits costs without doing any further harm to the company’s slightly tarnished reputation, outside of NASCAR families and the lower middle class.
Among the suggestions? Hire more part-time workers and “discourage unhealthy people from seeking jobs.”
The Times said the draft memo to Wal-Mart’s board was obtained from Wal-Mart Watch, a pressure group allied with labor unions that says Wal-Mart’s pay and benefits are too low.
Wait, there’s more! According to the Times, Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart’s executive vice president for benefits, is also recommending reducing 401(k) pension contributions and wooing younger, and presumably healthier, workers by offering education benefits.
To discourage “unhealthy” job applicants, Chambers is suggesting that Wal-Mart arrange for “all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering).” Interesting since no one does that job now and you cannot find a check-out line without 5-6 people waiting.
Another brilliant idea is to put health clinics in Wal-Mart stores, to reduce expensive employee visits to emergency rooms.
Chambers expressed concern that workers with seven years’ seniority make more than those workers with one year’s experience, but aren’t any more productive.
It has been already established that Wal-Mart is one of the lowest paying companies and is horribly tight about offering health care benefits, with employees forced to wait for TWO year’s worth of service before being offered anything.
And here’s the REAL kicker – in the memo, Chambers admits that 46 percent of the children of Wal-Mart’s 1.33 million United States employees are uninsured OR on Medicaid. Less than 45 percent of Wal-Mart’s workforce has health care coverage. That’s a wonderful testimony, isn’t it?
While Wal-Mart is getting squeezed, along with every other American business AND worker, it is still making a fortune. While it cost Wal-Mart $4.2 billion last year in benefit costs, up from $2.8 billion three years earlier, in that same time period, Wal-Mart earned $10.5 billion on sales of $285 billion.
In an interview, Chambers said she was not focusing on cutting costs, but on “serving employees better by giving them more choices on their benefits.” Yeah, take it or leave it, you scum!
The memo, by the way, is on the NYT Web site.
We have long since stopped being a nation that engaged in free enterprise. The better mouse trap theory doesn’t work in the U.S. anymore. The Republican-controlled government spends money like a drunken sailor at a strip club, it allows fraud to run rampant and encourages massive campaign donations, from folks like Wal-Mart, to protect them from us, the average citizen who is struggling to make ends meet.
Screw Wal-Mart! Stop shopping there! And let those people know why! Go without instead of feeding this monster.
Bring back competition to American retail business.

These people should be strung up by their thumbs

I post this link to last Friday's article in the Washington Post. It's on the same topic I blogged last week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102000858.html
If anyone believes that FEMA was just a victim of media overplay or it was ALL the fault of local and state officials, read this and ask yourself, "Why haven't these people been arrested?"
Starting with Michael Brown.

Why the Astros finally won

Aside from the Detroit Tigers, my favorite sports team is the Houston Astros, since I stepped off a Trailways bus in 1987 in suburban Houston. I was in the far left-field corner for the 1980 National League playoffs against Philadelphia for the ill-fated Game 5 and suffered with each pitch in 1986 against the New York Mets.
Houston is not a Johnny-Come-Lately; it has been one of the best teams in baseball over the past 10 years (fifth among teams in victories). It has had enough talent to go to the World Series, but it has always been one of those things – mainly the inability of its offense (usually potent) to overcome the single most important commodity – pitching. Atlanta has had it; St. Louis has had it; Florida has had it; Houston has had it; last year’s Boston Red Sox had it. Strong pitching (quality starters, solid middle relief, lights-out closer) can put a cork into any offense. Just ask the 2005 Cardinals or ask last year’s playoff version of the Astros.
Both teams in this year’s World Series had similar paths to this championship. The Chicago White Sox used to be an offensive juggernaut but lacked enough pitching to make that important leap.
So what happened? They traded OF Carlos Lee, a 30 home run, 100 RBI player, for little Scott Podsednik of West, Texas (best kolaches in America) and altered the offense. Podsednik became a new kind of weapon – a dangerous leadoff hitter who could steal bases and score runs.
Chicago then strengthened its bullpen and traded for two important pitchers – Cubans Jose Contreras and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, each exiles from Castro and Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. Chiacgo already had a potential ace in Mark Buerhle plus solid arms in Jon Garland and Freddy Garcia (former Astro farmhand that Houston sacrificed in the Randy Johnson deal with Seattle).
Midway in the season, after a sensational start, Contreras became the pitcher everyone hoped, and feared, he would be – unhittable. Hernandez was the best fifth starter in baseball and suddenly, the offense didn’t need to bash people to death.
And what is this lineup? Paul Konerko slammed 40 home runs but hits around .240, the cleanup hitter is former Astro and Ranger Carl Everett and the remaining lineup sports a bunch of no-names. Looks just like Houston. Morgan Ensberg came into his own this season with 38 home runs and more than 100 RBI after a horrid 2004 season. But after him are a bunch of no-names.
The Astros overcame plenty of injuries and a 15-30 start to the season. Look what they changed. They dealt the hardest-throwing reliever in baseball, Billy Wagner, for a bag of old shoes, lost a two-time MVP (Jeff Kent) and potential MVP (Carlos Beltran) to free agency, moved a grizzled 39-year-old back to middle infield (Craig Biggio), played without their captain and eventual Hall of Famer (Jeff Bagwell) and suffered at the start without All-Star Lance Berkman, mending a damaged knee collected in a flag football game off-season.
They did not have a decent fourth starter with Brandon Backe on the disabled list for much of the time and three rookies – Willy Tavares, Chris Burke, Jason Lane – were forced into service. What happened? Tavares’ speed, legendary in the Houston minor league system, gave the Astros a legitimate leadoff hitter who could score runs ahead of known run-producers like Biggio and Berkman (multiple 100 runs season apiece). Biggio responded, at 39, with his best offensive numbers in years.
And the promise of the Astro pitching – the Big Three of Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte – came through with flying colors. They were strong, they were healthy and they were feared. And slowly, the offense discovered how to win 2-1, 1-0 and 3-2 games.
This will be a series of small ball, pitching, defense and little things (mistakes, executed plays and decisions) that decides the outcome. Chicago isn’t sweeping anyone. Its bullpen was not used against Anaheim/Los Angeles/California (pick a name) but it has had closer issues all season. It is not a battle-tested group, something that cannot be said for the Astros.
In fact, Clemens, Oswalt and Pettitte should pitch six of the seven games (including the three in Houston) and each has more playoff and World Series experience than Chicago (other than Hernandez). Clemens and Pettitte have won in the Series and that counts for something.
For the first time in Texas history, the World Series is being played on Lone Star soil, with the team that has earned the right to be there. Texas Rangers fans can only sit and contemplate what their front office needs to do to join that club (now the franchise with the longest absence from the World Series).
As I mentioned above, the clues are all there.

How to NOT win friends and influence enemies

Let’s see. What should NOT be done in the time of a disaster recovery to endear yourself to the people most affected and those constantly watching.
Let me count the ways.
First, be asleep at the governmental wheel, go play air guitar 2,000 miles away while people are shell-shocked and looking for someone to help.
Second, have idiots running important agencies that are charged with the relief effort. Have these idiots sit on their collective hands while people go without food, water and shelter.
Next, give no-bid contracts to the usual suspects (Halliburton, Brown and Root, etc.), suspend the immigration rules so these people can hire illegal aliens instead of displaced U.S. citizens, pay these people lower-than-legal minimum wage (because the rules have been suspended) and let them operate without any kind of environmental rules (also suspended).
Then, have you lead agency, FEMA, promise the moon but deliver nothing, as long as two months AFTER the disaster passed. Promise $2,000 checks to everyone affected and then don’t give them out.
Order 91,000 TONS of ice to cool food, medicine and those storm victims, sitting and sweltering in near 100-degree heat, at a price of … $100 million, and constantly divert those truck drivers with the goods to places unaffected by the storms.
Have the Small Business Administration accept more than 7,000 applications for loans, and only process 20 of them!
Ignore local and state businesses and order items from as far away as Alaska when the same things could have been purchased locally.
Initiate no contract to collect the remains of those who died in the storms and flooding because of stupid rulings.
Ignore all fraud or calls for local intervention. Make sure your pals pocket million upon billions of government taxpayer dollars.
And in the end, what do you have?
The George W. Bush Administration.
All above are facts! Hence, the conclusion is factual. And shameful.

Who died and left James Dobson as God?

If anyone wanted the correct reason to keep Harriet Miers, or any OTHER choice made by President George W. Bush, to the Supreme Court, the case has been made by … President Bush.
From Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005, the Associated Press reports:
“WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday his advisers were telling conservatives about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ religious beliefs because they are interested in her background and “part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.”
“People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “They want to know Harriet Miers’ background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.”
Bush, speaking at the conclusion of an Oval Office meeting with visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, said that his advisers were reaching out to conservatives who oppose her nomination “just to explain the facts.”
He spoke on a day in which conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on Family, said he had discussed the nominee’s religious views with presidential aide Karl Rove.”Ladies and gentlemen, you can’t have it both ways. John Roberts’ religious views were NOT to be taken into consideration, just his judicial record and conduct. But a nominee with as much judicial experience as Woody Woodpecker has to be explained in a different light.
If anyone thinks that conservatives like James Dobson are NOT interested in establishing a theocracy in the United States, matching their own narrow religious viewpoints to the detriment and exclusion of other minority religious faiths, better think twice. They have found the perfect patsy in Bush and are exploiting him to the hilt. He is permitting this in order to score some sort of political victory and leave a favorable legacy.
And who in the hell is James Dobson that HE gets to have confidential information about a potential Supreme Court justice while the U.S. Senate sits and waits to discover who and what she is? Shows you who the real power brokers are in this country and it isn’t good news for the average American.

Remember that first ‘black hole?’

Writer's Note: This column appeared in the Oct. 12 edition of the Dallas Morning News' Collin County Opinions Page.
My youngest child, a 16-year-old high school junior, is about to enter the biggest black hole of life – she’s getting her own car. Her mother’s brother-in-law is in the final stages of preparing a car he purchased sat a police auction (a 1996 Grand Am). It needs a new engine and other “minor” things, but she has these wonderful visions of freedom and romping to the mall in a car not dependant upon her mother’s ownership.
She dreams of that; I have nightmares about constant addition of oil, radiator fluid and flat tires as numerous as IHOP has pancakes. But it is her milestone in life and she is ready to roll.
Do any of you older than 50 remember that very first car/vehicle you actually “owned?” You know, the one you spent your hard-earned money to purchase? Mine was a 1962 Mercury Comet and I bought it while in college merely to avoid walking everywhere. The first car certainly was not an SUV, Lexus or hot-rodding sports car that too many Plano teens seem to believe are owed to them as a rite of passage.
The Comet cost all of $25 and had a rusted-out hole under the gas pedal, which offered a delightful view of the passing pavement at any speed. It was white and was never washed (a proud tradition I continue today). It served its purpose well and when the heater actually functioned, it was a fairly comfortable ride.
Then … one summer night, returning from a 30-mile trip from Tiger Stadium to Ann Arbor (the University of Michigan), a sudden thunk was followed by a stream of sparks from the back. I stopped on the shoulder of Interstate-94 and discovered that the Comet had broken its axle.
Since Michigan law did not permit shooting cars like broken horses, we snipped off the license plates and stuck out our thumbs. I knew the Michigan State Police would retrieve the Comet after 72 hours and that agency could provide a decent burial for the car better than any poor college student could.
My son, Robert, got his vehicle when he was 18 - a 1991 red Chevrolet pickup. It didn’t take long for it to sit ... idle ... not functioning ... dead. The truck became true testament to a favorite saying of mine, “Never buy a used car (or anything used) from a relative.” Robert learned the hard way.
In less than seven months, it became that black hole where his money kept disappearing. If it wasn’t an errant water pump, it was something else, culminating with an engine fire (the electrical wiring went haywire) on a trip to his old hometown over Spring Break. He was understandably downcast about the whole thing. He spent good money, working long hours to earn, and he still owed his cousin a considerable amount for the piece of junk that sat in the front yard for the longest time – a memorial to what might have been.
Unfortunately, wise words from fathers are seldom heeded.
“How many miles does it have?” his father asked upon purchase.
“At 100,000, but they aren’t ‘hard’ miles, only driven on highways,” was the response.
“Robert, miles are miles because it’s all the same in terms of engine wear,” the father retorted. “Are you sure about this?”
“I know what I’m doing,” was Robert’s final thought on the matter.
My other daughter, Lisa, bought a huge pickup truck to move to Oklahoma City right after high school, but we did not realize the length and difficulty of the trip. The truck’s engine literally blew up and with it went her first automotive ownership experience, as well as most of her money. Lisa learned the hard way.
When I stepped off the Trailways bus in 1976 in Conroe, I knew immediately that four-wheel transportation (not a bicycle or walking) would be essential. But at $140 a week starting pay, the Bentley I desired was kinda out of the question. So another $25 was plunked down on a powder blue 1964 Ford Fairlaine that could not be started in park (the transmission needed to be in neutral and I had to jiggle the lever with one hand while turning the ignition with the other), got less than 8 miles to the gallon and had a footprint for a gas pedal.
It belched smoke and sounded like a sick bovine in heat. When you stepped on the foot pedal, the front end lurched up and forward and took off like a bandit. It was ugly, but what did you expect for $25?
Since that time, I’ve gone through minivans, SUVs, station wagons, small Japanese pickup trucks and four-door sedans for family use. But nothing can replace the feeling and memories of that very first car, whose existence in your life came directly out of your own pocket.
Perhaps Kelsey won’t have to learn the hard way. Hers (hopefully) will actually work.
Then again, it’s a used car. Her first. And the odds say otherwise.

DARTing in and out of facts

You disappear for a month, view some of America’s greatest parks and natural sites and return home to Plano and the usual whining and complaining about the “same old same old.” People, such as former councilman Steve Stovall, continue to cry about how other communities choose to spend their money and why everyone isn’t on board with expansion of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).
It would be helpful if some history and perspective were added to the conversation about how we got here and why. In 1977, I worked for a daily paper outside of Houston and was asked to write a news story (I was the sports guy) about introducing rapid transit and light rail to Texas, notably Houston. To recall, Texas was labeled as “Super state” and was flush with oil money, overflowing in the state coffers. The Legislature could have spent that surplus on anything – teacher pay, infrastructure improvement or rapid transit throughout Texas.
But as a local state representative grumbled to me, “In Texas, son, people want to get around only with rubber to concrete. They don’t want them fancy systems back East.” So nothing was done and Austin stuffed the money in its version of a mattress.
Almost 30 years later, that statement is as stupid as not paying for better teachers, not improving our highways until they start to crumble and failing to start building light rail systems in every major Texas city when the money was there. It wasn’t the first act of ignorance and it won’t be the last.
The Legislature offered no help to cities faced with this Sophie’s Choice. You tack on additional sales tax, up to 1 percent within a city, for two of three options – economic development, cultural/facility development (such as libraries, etc.) or support of a regional transit system. Two, but not all three. Of course, the tax system in Texas has been part of the problem since sales of goods and property ownership are the main means to fund everything in this huge state.
DART failed, in its mission, to sell itself 20-25 years ago. No city had a true idea of what was planned or what would be. Instead of beginning work within Dallas, and then going to the suburbs with what was happening on the ground, DART went with a concept - a “spec ad” in advertising lingo – but only a few ‘burbs bought it. Most voters, on a city-by-city basis, rejected plans to join DART.
It wasn’t just Allen and McKinney that said “no.” None of the southern suburbs joined DART, except for tiny Glenn Heights and it will never have light rail until Duncanville, Cedar Hill and DeSoto say “yes.” It will never happen because DART has always wanted retroactive payments for the missing years. It doesn’t believe in the philosophy that “here is where the ball lies; play on from here.” DART seeks taxing mulligans.
Not every city made this choice and convinced the Lege to alter the system to benefit some special project. The Ballpark in Arlington (a.k.a. Ameriquest Field) is a taxpayer-funded facility for a private entity, using a transit system tax. In San Antonio, the Alamodome is, for lack of a better description, the world’s largest bus terminal, built with the transit system tax. There is an evacuee football team as occupant but little else. And there is no public parking around it because part of the construction provision had fans using VIA (the city bus system) to get to-and-from the facility.
DART is the best light rail system in Texas and it is totally inadequate for the needs of this region. You can’t take the rail to Fair Park, Six Flags, Ameriquest Field, the Kimbell, the Dallas Arboretum, Deep Ellum, Knox-Henderson, the Galleria, North Park, Stonebriar Centre or 90 percent of what consists of the Metroplex. And that’s better than Houston (with a line from downtown to the Reliant Stadium) and San Antonio (with nothing). How sad is that?
If DART wants to solve its revenue shortfall, the answer is almost too simple to comprehend. All that is needed is for DART to 1) charge for parking and 2) stop the honor system for rider tickets. If you charge $3-5 to park all day in a DART lot, it would still be far cheaper to do that than drive downtown (or wherever) and pay to pay in a more expensive lot.
If you insure that everyone who rides on DART pays for that privilege, it will generate hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars into DART accounts. It would mean hiring people to work as cashiers and ticket dispensers, but it’s how it is done in all other light rail cities. Gee whiz, DART becomes a job producing machine AND pays for it by collecting more revenue. Duh, and I could have had a V-8!
Each community makes up its own mind and then deals with consequences. To try to interfere in this argument is as bad as early this year when forces outside Plano tried to influence the vote on Plano’s monetary participation in the proposed Arts Hall. Officials from other cities wanted to pipe up, but when the shoe was on the other foot, and Planoites tried to voice support for referendum in Frisco about housing construction, they were told by those officials to “butt out!”
It will take billions and half a century to build a system to satisfy the needs of this region. We pay today for mistakes made two or three decades ago. But we can’t whine about it now when the same voices were silent back then.

The perfect chicken fried steakout

When you grow up in a different region of the nation, you are exposed to a different kind of cuisine. What you take for granted in Texas is not very common in other places, and vice versa.
I never ate Tex-Mex food until I crossed the Red River 30 years ago. What Texans call “barbecue” was a meal I never ate. My barbecue world was solely beef ribs; we were never offered sausage or pork ribs (or even beef brisket) because of the high concentration of Jewish people in the Midwest and the Kosher rule against the consumption of pig.
My father requested the same meal a majority of nights - a large sirloin steak cooked on a charcoal grill (Kingsford, thank you) with a large baked potato and a vegetable (mostly asparagus or broccoli). What he ate, we ate.
If you “blackened” a piece of meat, it meant the cook burned it. The only thing fried was chicken, not a quality beef of cowhide.
When the Trailways bus finally opened its door to drop me in Conroe, Texas. I partook of Tex-Mex cuisine (except for menudo or jalapenos) and South Texas Catholic Church Sunday barbecue (da best).
But my favorite meal was a chicken fried steak (until my cardiologist said otherwise). I will admit to slipping once in a blue moon. I had a fine example in Flagstaff, Arizona at the Grand Canyon Café on Route 66 on my recent trip. Out of five stars, this rated 3 ½ with a light crusting and the brown (not cream) gravy nestled under the steak, not on top.
But the best that ever was (in Texas or elsewhere) no longer exists. Even though I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (allegedly one of the steak capitals of the nation), I still try to find the kind of chicken fried steak to which I was introduced one Friday night on a road trip to Austin.
Between Austin and Brenham sits the oil boom-or-bust town of Giddings, a community symbolized the roller coaster dependency that Texas had on big oil in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a quiet town of 5,000 people in the early ‘70s until the state’s largest pocket of oil was discovered along the geological formation called the Austin Chalk. Soon the population and income level rose dramatically. Mercedes dealers and hotels began to populate the sleepy Washington County city. In five years, the bottom dropped out, only to see a mirage of hope in the late 1980s. Alas, oil still cost less than $20 per barrel for the longest time and most of Giddings died.
Among the casualties was Schubert’s Restaurant, a old quaint establishment on the eastern outskirts of town, next to the older Sands Motel. It had the kind of peeling linoleum floor that only small-town eateries possess (bless them).
It also served the finest chicken fried steak of them all. It was a real round steak, often with the bone embedded, hand-dipped in a perfect batter (not too thick) and fried to the right tone. When you took a bite, you tasted the meat more than the covering. It was not a bogus chicken fried steak, meaning a fried hamburger patty inundated with so much batter you can’t tell which is which. Nor was the meat so pounded (or laughingly tenderized) out of existence that the texture was gone.
Included was true milk gravy, with the proper amount of lumps, fresh-made rolls and a steaming baked potato or Texas fries from fresh cut spuds. A salad was offered in those perfectly cheap walnut bowls from a small salad bar; drinks came in the classic diner-type glasses.
A small steak covered a regular plate, the large saw its edges spill past the lip of a large platter. It was the best bargain in the Lone Star State, and customers ventured from all points to sup at their tables. Football teams, college and high school, went out of their way to stop at Schubert’s for a pre-game or post-game meal.
When oil went boom for the last time in 1990, Schubert’s silently closed its doors, and Texas was not a better place to live. No one in the Metroplex has been able to duplicate the quality, taste, value and atmosphere that caught my imagination and love as an imported Texan.
I continue my search, but places with claims of having the best chicken fried steak around are only pretenders to the throne. If you have a suggestion to help me complete my journey, contact me immediately.
I’d like to smile just one time after a meal. Quick, while the doctor’s not looking.

A hack used to be a taxicab

So President Bush nominated his personal attorney as the next Supreme Court justice of the U.S. How fine and dandy; it keeps in his tradition that experience and qualification matters little when it comes to filling government posts. This nomination is from the man who brought you John Bolton as U.N. ambassador, Michael Brown as FEMA director, Michael Chertoff as Secretary of Homeland Security and a dozen other jobs for his political and fundraising hacks.
Hell, he even found Tom Schieffer, president of the Texas (baseball) Rangers while W. was part-owner, an ambassadorship ... because we know dealing with professional athletes is like being in a foreign country.
Two things - should anyone who has served on Dallas City Council in the last 25 years REALLY be on the Supreme Court? That owuld be an automatic DQ in my book, given the council's reputation.
Second, do you think she has BEEN in the Supreme Court building as anything other than "Visitor?"
If only the Democrats had decent candidates to run in 2006, power in Washington could change hands. Miers is just another sympton of a White (frat) House run amok.

One final, final thought

One final, final thought.
I awoke this morning, actually, in the middle of the night, with an urge to say something to someone. And as I glance out the motel window, it is still oddly pitch black for this time of morning, so I’m not ready to depart.
Neither is a friend of mine, although she and her family will be departing tomorrow (Saturday) for a new adventure in their lives. It is the kind of journey that most of us only dream of making – going to a new job, in which you are totally in charge and well-compensated for it; with a beautiful daughter and handsome husband (or vice versa for us males); and in a community of mystery and beauty.
And this friend is only 28! How I wish for that to be the case for me, given my back pain and health issues. I envy her to no end.
But this change is coming at the expense of sacrifice. She is leaving the hometown she absolutely adores, and with good reason. It is quaint, vibrant, small enough to know every inch of it, safe enough to leave your home unlocked, trusting enough to utilize a neighbor for day care and interesting enough to mesmerize outsiders like me.
That would describe this person in most ways. I am old enough to be her father and would be as proud as can be if that would have been the case. She is gorgeous enough for me to know that such thoughts are verboten papa! And she is talented enough for me to know that I’m glad I’m NOT in competition with her.
As a father, I would tell her this: trust your instinct and rely on your abilities. The knot in your stomach is not regret; it is anticipation (not that Carly Simon song used for Heinz ketchup either). The tears you might shed could be for memories remembered and friends to be missed. Then again, the same path can lead back to them for visits and God bless the cellphone to remain in touch.
I hope she gets this at her next e-mail address and is one of the first things she reads. I’d also tell her how special it is to be 28. That was how old I was when my son, Robert, was born almost 25 years ago. Now, a quarter-century later, at almost the same anticipated date, Robert will become a father and I will morph into a grandfather. I am already got the gray fuzzy beard part down.
What is it that is repeated through time? The more things change, the more they stay the same? Damn, I hate it when truisms are always true.
I wish my friend the best of luck and the best of new times. As I would for anyone I know and that I call “friend.”

Day 25 - Final thoughts

Day 25 – the final day – from Amarillo, where this Best Western is located in one of less-than-desirable parts of town. Come to think of it, when speaking of Amarillo, isn’t that redundant?
So why did I do this in the first place? One word sums it up: hatred. Well, gosh that’s harsh, so let’s go with extreme dislike. And the focus of such feelings? Airlines, airports and air travel. I can’t stand any of them, so I drove.
There was a time in this nation when it was exciting to fly on an airplane and those who worked for the airlines made it extra special. They made you feel special – from curb to seat. You were more than a customer; you were an invited guest and made to feel welcome. Meals were free and edible, personal needs were accommodated and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Today, you are just a number on a seat and nothing more. Personal service? That went out the window like Goldfinger in the finale of his fight with James Bond.
Airports are collectors of all things bad in society from oppressive security measures to being forced to congregate with idiot people (many of whom walk around talking to themselves wearing stupid Star Trek-like ear devices fit only for Vulcans). Delays are so common that ought to be the norm. God forbid that a plane should depart and land on time or that it should actually taxi directly to the gate instead of sitting for hours waiting for a parking space. Perhaps they all need those blue handicap placards.
Nothing is worth wasting precious time of life to be in an airport for any length of time or to be subject to the ill treatment of airlines. I especially hold plenty of wrath for American Airlines because the biggest carrier is also the worst. My prime example (aside from fares that are too high and AA’s role in the Wright Amendment) is that AFTER advertising how they retrofitted their planes to provide more legroom (it was small for pygmies), the company rescinded that directive and squeezed out the extra room for another row.
At 6-6 and more than 350 pounds, I simply don’t fit – no matter what. Buying the coach seat next to me does nothing if you can’t put your knees down from your chest.
Besides, as an old guy from a union town, American avoided bankruptcy on the backs of their employees while their executives continued to garner large bonuses. I don’t like it; I don’t like them: and I won’t do business with them … or any other airline. So I drove.
You might wonder if the added cost because of the ridiculous skyrocketing price of gas made driving unaffordable. I calculated the cost for the trip to Los Angeles and it was $214, which included (conservatively) two tanks in exploring the countryside. With one more fillup to go, I’m at $195 for the return trip, having done a little less exploring. The cost of a round-trip plane ticket might have been equivalent and there was always the chance that I would have had to pay double since I am so much bigger than the average bear. The cost of a first class ticket would not even come close to the gas costs.
I am comfortable with the decision and the whole trip. I just wore out at the end.
In the spirit of commenting about different eating experiences, I must mention a Southern California legend - Tommy’s Hamburgers – another one of Los Angeles’ unique fast food places that cannot be found outside the state’s borders. Although the menu is not as limited as In and Out, it does not carry many more items than our other new favorite joint.
And at Tommy’s, everything, unless told otherwise, comes with … chili. The standard one patty burger has chili, as does the double meat and triple meat, and the French fries and hot dogs.
The fries (sans chili) were disappointing, but the burgers offered a different eating experience. They were topped with lettuce (not shredded), slice of fresh tomato and pickle slices, not the jarred Vlasic kind.
Imagine if Whataburgers were chili burgers instead of mustard burgers. Perhaps they would be more worthy of their over-praise.
In New Mexico, the state franchise is Blake’s Lotaburger and, frankly, it was a whole lotta nothing, especially without a drive-through window. Fries were frozen and burgers lacked any kind of unique taste. However, when driving in the middle of nowhere, beggars cannot be choosers.
As I have written extensively, there is nothing wrong about driving out in the middle of nowhere. You get to experience the kind of magical moments that words can’t describe; yet the images are burned forever into your mind.
Along I-40, you get to see the unique mountain formation known as the Continental Divide. In New Mexico, it looks like a long series of squared-off mountains, magnificently painted in purples, browns and golds. On this morning, clouds topped the mountains like Reddi-Whip on a chocolate sundae and within them was a needed rain, hitting the ground like winning coins from a slot machine.
On my CD player was a song by Bruce Springsteen, a live version of “Human Touch,” one of my favorites by one of my favorites. To me, it was perfect.
Most of the trip had been a continuing series of such moments, sharing them with my wonderful wife and, in turn, sharing them through this blog. I hope it has been interesting reading and slightly insightful. I have been known to make some lucid statements from time to time in the same manner that a blind squirrel finds acorns from time to time.
But once upon a time, I used to be very, very good at this thing called writing. It earned me a less-than-modest existence (living would be a stretch) and I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with readers.
I hope you appreciated receiving it. I hope to share more thoughts in the future. Pass the blog to other people; it won’t be boring.
In the future, I’ll do it from my office, not the front seat.

Day 24 - The Old, the Tired and the Ford

Day 24, remembering the Robert Earl Keen song, “The Road Goes On Forever,” and enjoying the discount offered as a member of the American Association of Retired Persons. Flash you card, admit your THAT old and it’s 10-20 percent off almost every major hotel-motel chain in America.
And to quote the great Chico Marx, eventually “that runs into money.” So here in Gallup, N.M., I save even more at the Comfort Inn in West Gallup (it doesn’t that that long to get to east Gallup) over my AAA discount. Ah, the joys of seniority.
It also means I’m getting old and today, I really feel it. For the first time, I was forced to exit the interstate, head to a McDonald’s parking lot in Winslow, Ariz. (made famous in John Carpenter’s “Spaceman” with a fine performance from Jeff Bridges) and take a nap. The Flagstaff altitude and constant whistle-blowing from the nearby trains kept me from gaining any credible sleep.
So here’s my confession: I’m ready for this to be over. Four weeks is more than long enough to spend driving across the USA. I am ready to sink deep into my Laz-Y-Boy and about a week without being disturbed. Just me, my remote, an Igloo of sugar-free lemonade and an alarm clock to remind me when it will be time to watch “Rome,” “Alias,” “Lost,” “Medium” and “ER.”
I am tired. I am tired of driving. I am tried of sleeping in a different non-Posturepedic bed night after night. I am tired of using Brillo pads disguised as bath towels.
I am tired of driving my Ford Escape; I can smell each inch of it and know that there are fries under the seats that could be 2-3 weeks old. I am tired of feeling each stitch in the driver’s seat and tired of stepping on the brakes for miles at a time while going through the kind of windy mountain roads that can best be described as spaghetti in a colander.
In the morning, I will head straight down I-40, past Albuquerque to Amarillo, flying past the Big Texan and its 72 oz. steak challenge and plop on a bed for the night. Then I will make my final choice of the trip – to go all interstate through Oklahoma City to Denton and Dallas, or go down U.S. 287 through Childress, Vernon, Wichita Falls, Decatur and Fort Worth before hitting Plano.
My eyes and heart were much bigger than my brain. I thought this would be a breeze and I could do everything I planned without becoming exhausted. However, I have discovered a major flaw in my planning. My computer software, by Rand McNally, cannot possibly calculate that a state highway, normally flowing at 55 or 65 mph, is really one of those mountain roads and you’ll be good to do 30. That changes time calculations and alters plans. But I had no way of knowing. Such information is not given on maps provided by AAA.
And it’s just been nerve-wracking. I don’t do roller coasters and I still get queasy watching the chase scene in “Bullitt” through the streets of San Francisco. Imagine, how much Alka-Seltzer I needed after actually driving on them. I do not do well when I can imagine falling over the edge. I got weird when I saw a yellow caution sign with a guy fallen off a cliff when people not to walk along the edges of Crater Lake in Oregon. Why? Because they’d fall off and no one would come get them … EVER!
For the record, we also saw signs for deer and elk crossings, duck crossings and senior citizen crossing, which was a figure walking with a bad back. Seriously.
So I guess it was appropriate that I made my last national park visit to be Petrified Forest National Park. I discovered it really isn’t a forest, but mostly the spectacular panorama of the Painted Desert. As an addendum to my last piece about Arizona, here are the figures on states by national parks – California (24), New York, Arizona (20), and Alaska, Washington, D.C. (16).
I also got to hear something that I will never experience again. A radio station in far eastern Arizona tossed off uber-conservative Sean Hannity and the language of Native America (perhaps Navajo) replaced it. Obviously, I had no clue as to what was being said, except when the name “Alan Jackson” came up, but it was still interesting.
I also heard the kind of commercial that indicates Christmas is nearing. Star Registry is back with its “sale” of stars for loved ones at $54 per pop … or per star. I have never understood how people can sell something that doesn’t belong to them. And, is there a star outlet store somewhere … out there? And can you return your star for a different one? And what if it is defective and blows up en route to your sweetheart?
Does love really mean never having to say you’re starry?

Day 23 - All hail Arizona!

Day 23 from Flagstaff, Ariz., one of the most famous stops along Route 66, except there is no signage along Interstate-40 to indicate which exit to take to get to the “Mother Road.” I sit in a rather inexpensive (modesty prevents from calling this place “cheap”) Best Western on Route 66 itself. The westbound Santa Fe has announced its presence twice in a half-hour so the prospects of a quiet night seem remote (I was right).
Oh, well, you get what you pay for and I’m not paying much. I need the bucks for more gasoline, which is getting cheaper as the days go by. In Flagstaff, some 7,000 feet of elevation (and I feel each and every foot), unleaded prices sit at $2.85 – a hopeful sign.
Dinner was spent at a classic restaurant I stumbled upon in a book about Route 66 and each city’s eateries. The authors recommended the Grand Canyon Café and said that one had to order the chicken fried steak. True to their word, it was a superb effort, with fresh-cut fries, excellent brown gravy (served under the steak, not on top), and soup, salad and veggies for less than eight bucks.
The interior looked like it hadn’t changed since the 1950s, complete with half-moon booths with one of those table-top juke boxes at each station. I doubt if they work, but it was fun to read the playlist.
The sign was pure old school neon, with the classic “Chop Suey” distinguishing this restaurant. Yes, they have a large Chinese menu to go with the chicken fried steaks and hamburgers.
Flagstaff also has a quaint historic downtown district with shops, restaurants and other things that attract tourists.
Before this trip, “Arizona” was an old 1960s Mark Lindsay song about a Native American girl (he of the old Paul Revere and the Raiders). Now I know it as a state of vast nothingness – and I say that in the most complimentary way. In fact, I pin it on Arizonans as a medal of achievement.
Most of the state is completely un-civilized in the best possible manner. You see what Nature has provided for scenery and it’s spectacular. Mountains to the left, mountains to the right (Democrats scrambling to the middle? Oops …) and desert in between. Population centers are few and far between. You have the Phoenix-Tucson corridor, which houses most of the Grand Canyon State’s people. There are other smaller cities (Flagstaff, Sedona, Kingman, Winslow, Lake Havasu City, Yuma), but Phoenix and its suburbs (Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler and Glendale being the largest) dominate. That leaves vast stretches of nothing as you drive (at 75 mph mind you) on I-10 or I-40 and you couldn’t ask for more.
Without actually counting the number of national parks sites in Arizona, compared to other states (obviously places like Virginia and California are rich in history and have lots of national parks), this state is loaded – north to south, east to west. There are five within close proximity of Flagstaff, not counting the Grand Canyon, and this day was spent visiting most of them.
Tuzigoot (Apache for “crooked water”) is the remnant of a Sinagua village built between 1125-1400. It is located near the small town of Clarkdale and 15 minutes from Montezuma Castle National Monument, near Camp Verde – a five-story, 20-room dwelling built in the early 12th century. Combined with Casa Grande Ruins, in Coolidge, between Tucson and Phoenix, it offers those interested in archaeology and geology a window into ancient civilizations and just how advanced these people were. And just like that, they disappeared from the face of the earth. Hence, the name HoHoKam (“those who have gone”).
North of Flagstaff sits the Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki parks, with a distant vision of the Painted Desert as a bonus. Wupatki has several pueblo ruins, quite intricate in their construction and use of materials. Sunset Crater has thousands of acres of old lava flow beds, similar to the lava beds on the Big Island in Hawaii (tomorrow will be a stop at Walnut Canyon, Petrified Forest and Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site).
Except it’s all in Arizona. When you add the grandeur of the Grand Canyon and the Saguaro National Park and much, much more, you can forgive that parts of the state are hotter than the radiator in a Yugo.
Of all the towns I have driven through, the most unusual was 5,000 feet in the air. After the umpteenth excursion on a twisty-winding mountain road (Mingus Mountain in this case and I’ve about had my fill of going a nervous 20 mph for fear of falling over the edge), I came upon Jerome, Ariz., an old mining town of cooper, silver and gold that once held 15,000 residents. It appears to be a mix of those Italian towns with ridiculously narrow streets, homes built into the side of Mingus Mountain and literally on five levels. You go 15 mph past antique shops, restaurants and other interesting places for those with the stomach for such heights (not me). It is not a ghost town as suggested on a public access station, but it ain’t San Francisco.
How they can live up there in beyond me, but much of Arizona possesses that kind of fascination. Which is why I toast them. On to Gallup, New Mexico.

Day 22 - Gee, what's the problem with casino gambling?

Day 22 from the Mojave Desert, specifically, Kingman, Ariz., in a Comfort Inn that finally has a strong, working air conditioner. It is located on Route 66, also named Andy Devine Blvd., for the late actor that is this community’s most notable celebrity. In fact, I showed up just a little too late for the 36th annual Andy Devine Days, proclaimed a state treasure by the governor (they made her parade marshal for that), which drew its biggest crowds ever.
All this honors an overweight actor with a squeaky, high-pitched voice, but who starred with stars like John Wayne in numerous westerns. If you cannot place Andy Devine, one of his most famous roles was the cowardly sheriff in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” with Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin.
But again, I’m old enough to know who Andy Devine was and actually remember seeing him act on television and the movies. Bet you didn’t know that?
Oh, I’m sorry, you can’t “bet” in Texas. You can’t spend your money on anything involving gambling in Texas … except for horse and dog racing, lotto, scratch-off lottery games and other state sanctioned gaming. We’ve crossed the line to the point where it is obliterated but still we raise this flag of morality and pretend to be self-righteous about the methods we employ to raise state revenues. Certain religious factions condone taxes, especially on anyone but themselves, yet bark quite loudly about “hurting the poor” while agreeing with conservatives who think increasing the sales tax is a good idea for poor people.
Who are they kidding and whom are we kidding? Texas is surrounded by states that allow casino gambling – Oklahoma has it; New Mexico has it; Arizona has it; California has it (lots of it in lots of places); Louisiana has it; and Mississippi has it (used to if they don’t rebuild in Biloxi). With the exception of Louisiana, these are casinos operated by Native American tribes and bringing jobs and needed money to a group that has been left FAR behind in any ebullient economy.
Call it what you will, it is still a voluntary form of revenue enhancement. Notice that word “voluntary” because it has depth and meaning. It isn’t automatic; you must enter a casino on your own free will and you play whatever game you play.
And it adds jobs, which means more money in the pockets of people to spend on essentials, which are taxed by the state and could help support menial things … like public school education. Workers might also own homes, which would help with the property tax base. Gee, what’s the problem?
I know, I know. Gambling is addictive and people just can’t help themselves. Well, so are Big Macs and we talked about taxing the hell of them, but not banning the two all-meat patties on a sesame seed bun with that special sauce. To the talk of obesity, people say “It’s a personal choice.” So is casino gambling. Gee, what’s the problem?
Texas is going to get over itself as some sort of moral barrier, standing between Sodom and Gomorrah and a game of blackjack. Casinos have targeted the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth market for extensive advertising because they know they are mining for gold. Why can’t we do things that will keep that gold closer to home?
To all those who object to casino gambling as a way to enhance revenues, offer ONE thing that does that same job WITHOUT raising any current tax, or instituting a new tax.
“We can do better” doesn’t make the grade. I say let’s roll the dice and see how it pays off.

Day 21 - Media watching from the car

Day 21 from Los Angeles as I bid the wife goodbye at LAX and head east (anyone remember THAT other 1970s group from Champaign, Ill.?) on Route 66. I’m not really Tod, Buzz or Lincoln Case in a Corvette convertible, but does anyone remember Martin Milner, George Maharis or Glenn Corbett?
In truth, very little of “Route 66” was filmed on Route 66 itself. But it was one of those anthology series highlighted many of the better character actors in Hollywood, was well-written and involved places most people never even knew – along Route 66. I hope to see some of those places in the coming days.
I would have a great deal of difficulty relocating to the West Coast, except for Oregon, which is quite different than California. If I had one place in California to choose, it would be San Diego … except I don’t sail … and sunburn easily … and don’t like sushi … and don’t surf.
But I’d move there. However, the adjustment will be difficult. I’d have to wear shorts and flip-flops all the time, my glasses would have to hang by those strings, eat California cuisine, retain my balance during earthquakes and breathe the dirtiest air this side of Houston.
And I’d have to watch shows an hour later than I do now in the Central Time Zone – Daylight or otherwise. That means the news at 11 and Leno or Letterman on past midnight when the first guest arrives on stage. Sorry, but that is WAY past my bedtime. I’m at the age where I can’t even keep my eyes open for the late night Cinemax Skinemax soft core porn movie.
I’ve had the chance to see some of the work in other Southwest and Pacific Northwest cities. Television newscasts continue to prove that Dallas-Fort Worth is blessed with some of the better teams and operations in the country.
Los Angeles is particularly disappointing. The men looked either old and tired, mannequin-like and stilted or like male models and actors seeking a different vocation. The women did not appear to be Hollywood beauties, except for the UPN anchor who displayed far too much cleavage for any city’s newscast, and looked to be older than in other markets.
The reporters inspired no confidence in their reports, especially reporting from the Gulf Coast during the two hurricanes. The weathercasts were operable, but what would they pay for a Troy Dungan or Kristine Kahanek? And there is no one like Dale Hansen in any city that I have visited (LA, SF, Phoenix, etc.).
On the radio, I wish there was a sports talk station as entertaining as 1310The Ticket. Most hosts either scream or focus on a single issue, repeating the same calls and same answers all day long. Granted, in Dallas, the Cowboys dominate, but not like this.
Also, there is no one like Norm Hitzges, loaded with more information and anecdotes than any computer.
The best radio newscast was found in San Francisco on KCBS with its all-news format. It was crisp, informative, quick and covered many items each half-hour. The traffic reports were understandable, even for a foreigner like me.
Listening to AM radio in the daytime means having to deal with the big three national talk show shows (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly) on almost every station in every market. Unless you can obtain the odd station carrying the liberal Air America radio, or sports talk, everything on AM talk is basically “Pete and Repeat.” Dennis Prager has the same thoughts as Lars Larson as Laura Ingraham as Michael Reagan. No one is as vile as Michael Savage and he should not be on anyone’s radio waves, but in radio, as in life, there is no accounting for taste.
As I wrote before, many places on the road have no access to strong signals so the CD player is red hot from usage.
Being a retired newspaperman, I love a good newspaper and thus far, the best overall package is the San Francisco Chronicle and the Arizona Republic. The Los Angeles Times looks stuffy and gray and other papers were thinner than the excuses from philandering husbands.
I’d adjust to the weather and food; not sure about the media. But these days, who is?