The Mid-South Philosopher

After a hiatus of several weeks (months, actually), the old Philosopher has taken up his pen once more to elucidate about the idiocies and idiosyncrasies of modern day life.  I do not expect most of my readers to agree with me.  I only hope that my thoughts and ideas, expressed in this little column, may cause my readers to contemplate their own respective situations.

Mine is a personal perspective that is fashioned after over six decades of living.  In my youth, I lived free and less than honorable.  In middle age, I mellowed and became civilized.  Now as I wander into the realm of the senior regions, I realize that life has played the "ultimate joke" on me...that joke that it plays upon most men and women, except those very few who learn very early the futility of existence on the earthly plane.  The joke is that now that I know how to live life, I no longer have the time nor the energy to realize the full extent of my potential.  

Would I be happier had I not come to the realization of the "ultimate joke" of life?  Would I be better off to exercise the processes of my thinking on the great issues of "who will win out on American Idol" or "how will Tiger Woods overcome his latest escapades? Would I be more content to allow my mind to dwell on the economic issues as illustrated at Walmart, and the political questions as debated at the City Cafe?

I think not!

To be shallow is terrible to say the least, but to be bored is catastrophic.  To fail to use one's mind simply through laziness or apathy is, very near, an unpardonable sin.

Consequently, I choose to allow my brain to work.  I choose to allow my thoughts to wander beyond the box...beyond the pale of due bounds... to the nether regions where creativity is born.  I choose to ponder those questions of existence that I certainly have little, if any, control over.  Finally, I choose to control fully those things over which I do have dominion with a vengeance. 

To take this stand assumes an inordinate load of responsibility.  To cut out of the vast herd of humanity and exert individual initiative places one in a precarious and frightening position. But to do less, when one has come to realize that, in the utter weakness of humankind, men and women, in many situations, can exert tremendous power and affect the ultimate outcomes of a myriad assortment of life's incidences, is blasphemous.

So, you are welcome to come on this journey with me, as I roam these regions of thought and speculation, by reading these weekly columns.  You are equally welcome to depart the trip at anytime.
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THE TRUE MEANING OF
THE SCOTT BROWN ELECTION

Sunday, January 31, 2010
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The pundits have really given a lot of consideration to the election of Republican Scott Brown to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward M. "Teddy" Kennedy of Massachusetts.  Coupled with the Republican wins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections (Bob McConnell and Chris Christie, respectively) last fall, many are assured that the electorate is embracing Republican policies and values.  Moreover, a number of conservative groups are expecting the Republicans to take back one or both of the houses of Congress in the November 2010 elections.

I don't see it quite that way.


While I believe the victories enjoyed by the Republicans thus far have been as a result of rejections by the voters of the left-leaning trends of the Obama Administration, I think the real motive of the electorate has been a broad rejection of "incumbency".  I believe the American people, Republican, Democratic, and especially "independent" voters are coming to the conclusion that “the more things change, the more they stay the same”! 

In large measure, the Congress is made up of people who have been in office for several terms.  It is common knowledge that in any congressional race the "incumbent" is favored provided that:


1. there has not been a scandal,


2. the candidate has not been on the wrong side of some issue uniquely relative to the constituency.


I agree with President Obama when he asserts that the same "voter anger" that propelled him into office in 2008 worked to propel Scott Brown into office in this most recent election.  The Senate seat that Brown will now fill was held by Senator Kennedy for 46 years.  To make the time frame more meaningful...I was 13 years old when Senator Kennedy was first elected to office.  If he had lived, I would have been old enough to draw Social Security before his current term ended!


I believe that over and above all other things the voters of Massachusetts...especially "independent"voters...determined in this most recent election to seize the Senate seat back from a "dynastic" family...in this case the Kennedys...and from a "dynastic party"...in this case the Democrats.


Whether or not this unhappiness with "incumbency" will continue will depend upon the next 8-10 months.  If the economy improves and, most importantly, if the "jobs" market rebounds, perhaps the ire of the voters will wane.  Otherwise, I expect a lot of folks, who are currently officeholders, will be out of jobs come next January.


Among both the Democrats and Republicans, a number have already announced their retirements or decisions not to seek reelection.  Additionally, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority leader is in a tight race for his seat from Nevada.  Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Biden has announced that he will not seek election to his father's old Senate seat from Delaware.  


Lest we think it is all on the Democratic side, none other than the 2008 Republican standard bearer for President, John McCain, is in a tight race to hold on to his Senate seat from Arizona.


While the move to the left by the Obama Administration may account for a lot of unhappy folks, the real revolt may well be against the "life-long officeholder syndrome."  If that be true, it will be a good thing.
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I Remember...
 "Life in Flowertown"


Sunday, January 31, 2010

I remember..."life in Flowertown."
 
I grew up in the “Flowertown” community, just north of Tullahoma, Tennessee, about 140 miles north of where I live today.  Flowertown is just a memory now.  The City of Tullahoma has swallowed it up.  It has largely been covered-up by asphalt and concrete.  The little elementary school that was once the hub of the community was consolidated in the early 1950s.  Calvary Baptist Church, which acquired the old school building and property, built a new sanctuary and flourished there for a decade or so, but it too relocated.  The area surrounding the old school site is covered with strip malls, convenience stores, a plethora of restaurants, a Kroger’s grocery, and a Walmart Super Center.

As a boy, my friend, David, and I explored every nook and cranny of the Flowertown community.  Often, we would carry firearms to shoot the occasional squirrel or the itinerant ground-hog who unluckily wandered across our path.   My Momma would clean and fry squirrel.  She made a sort of gravy that my Daddy and she enjoyed immensely.
 
I didn’t eat squirrel.  Although I was a good Baptist and didn’t believe in “Evolution”, or as the brethren in the Church referred to it…”Evilution”, I felt that those squirrels were just a little too close to the “rats” to suit my taste.

Before any of my “progressively liberal” friends start in on criticizing my Momma and Daddy for their dietary choices, let me tell you something. Both my parents came from “economically challenged” environments.  In other words, their families were “poor as hell”!  Both knew at a very early age that, if they were to survive, they were going to have to work and work hard.  Both were deprived of an education that would have allowed them to have achieved far more than I will ever be able to accomplish. Both of them had experienced the Great Depression up close and personally.  My Daddy had fought in World War II, a light machine-gunner in Company E, 377 Regiment, 95th Infantry Division (the Iron Men of Metz), 3rd Army.  My Momma had waited patiently for him during the war years.  Following the war, both of them became Christians and developed a strong love of GOD, family, country, and community…in that order…, and both of them had great requirements, expectations and hopes for their two boys.

I haven’t killed anything since 1968, save fire ants, snakes, and flies, but if I could do it today, I would knock off a couple of squirrels for my Momma to fry-up.  I wouldn’t eat any of them, but I would do it for her.

My Momma and Daddy were good people, but they were NOT uncommon.  David's parents were the same, so were the parents of Archie, Peggy, Larry, Jimmy, Mike, Doug,  Dale, Stevie, Linda, Chuck, Ronnie, Ann, Johnny, Jimmy Wayne, Spike, Frankie, Freddie, Thomas, Donnie, Eddie, Wayne, Robbie, Gene, and Leonard, and countless other friends and relatives that I could name would time, space, and memory permit.
But back to me and my friend, David...
 
In those years of the early and middle ‘60s, we had a great time wandering around Flowertown.  Often times we would end up on the L & N Railroad track.  Occasionally, trains would come by, and guess what…we would get off the track!  We would stand there holding our rifles or shotguns and wave at the engineers and others in the lead engine of the train.  They would wave back.  We had no notion of pointing one of our weapons at the train.  Our daddies had taught us that firearms were dangerous and that if we wanted to be allowed to carry one, we had to be responsible! We never dreamed of pointing a weapon at one another or at anyone else.

It seems to me that winters were colder back then, and we had more snow.  I can recall that it was not unusual to get good snows as early as November in those days.  Usually school was out no more than a day or two, but it was an exciting time.  David and I would bundle up.  We would wrap plastic bags over our construction boots and go off to explore an entirely new environment under a mantle of white.

Oh, well, so much for the reminiscences of an old man upon his childhood and youth.  

Was it a better time than today?  

Not for my children or grandchildren; for it was not their time!  

Each of us has our own moment, our own unique period when life is new, exciting, and enchanting.  For me it was those magical and glorious days exploring Flowertown with my good friend, David.

I remember..."life in Flowertown."


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"THERE YOU GO AGAIN!": The Latest Attack on Teachers in Georgia's Public Schools
   February 14, 2010 
           
In the waning months of his lackluster administration, one fraught with less than successful “weight loss” initiatives yet ample “austerity reductions” for schools and other public service institutions, our esteemed governor, Sonny Perdue, has focused his attention on leaving a legacy of “pay for performance”  or “merit pay” for Georgia teachers.  

Senate Bill 386, introduced on February 8, 2010, by the following State Senators [Don Balford (R-9), Dan Moody (R-56), Dan Weber (R-40), Bill Heath (R-31), and Bill Cowsert (R-46)] is “Sonny’s” creation and carries his total support.

Among the provisions of this bill is the notion that 50% of a teacher’s annual evaluation will be based upon the “academic gains” of that teacher’s students.  That sounds reasonable until one thinks about it a little.

What if a teacher has an academically challenged class?  What if, despite the “best practices” of good teaching, the class does not make gains…through no fault of the teacher?  Is that teacher’s work going to be punished or, at best, discounted?

On the other hand, what if a teacher has an extremely advanced class…say at the 99th percentile?  Is that teacher going to be punished if that class remains only at the 99th percentile?  After all, it may be argued that there have been no “academic gains." 

In Senate Bill 386, the other 50% of the teacher’s evaluation will be measured on “other things.”  These “other things” along with the “student gains” component are to be developed by the State Board of Education, with the Professional Standards Commission’s concurrence, into a Teacher Effectiveness Measure that will be used for teacher evaluations statewide.  Additionally, a similar instrument, called the Leadership Effectiveness Measure will be used in the evaluation of all assistant principals and principals.  Both of these instruments will have to be developed by July 1, 2011.

Another provision of this bill is to eliminate any pay differential for teachers acquiring advanced degrees, who were not enrolled in an advanced degree program on or before January 27, 2010.  While I am not sure whether or not that this is an ex post facto provision of the law, I am certain that to back date its application is a “lousy” way to draft legislation.

In contemplating this latest assault on the teaching profession and public schools by politicians, I am reminded of the words of President Ronald Reagan, which I would enjoy sharing with Governor Perdue and other folks who have used schools as the “whipping boy” for decades to further their political ends:

“There you go again!” 

Then I would say: 

"You are going to enact legislation that puts into place a system that “sounds good”, has a genuinely “meritorious purpose”, and yet has “controversial elements” that have NOT been thought out.  Additionally, you have given no consideration to the effect this will have on teacher preparation programs for people entering the profession or of the challenges it will create for improvement and enhancement of the veteran teachers.  In fact your legislation encourages future teachers NOT to seek additional or advanced degrees.

Moreover, you are going to allow a "bunch of bureaucrats" (with "token teacher" involvement, of course) to make the final determination as to what the "instruments" and "processes" of the Teacher Effectiveness Measure and the Leadership Effectiveness Measure will be.  

Are you going to fund this program or will it suffer “austerity reductions” from the start?" 

I, of course, will not get the opportunity to tell Governor Perdue what I think or to ask him the hard questions, but I do have the opportunity to share my perceptions with you in this column.  I urge you to contact your local Senators and urge them to oppose this legislation. Later, if it (pardon the pun) “leaks” out of the Senate, contact your member of the Georgia House of Representatives and, again, urge a “NO” vote.

There is no argument that schools can always be improved.  The current CLASS Keys system of teacher evaluation being tested in pilot schools has received very positive reviews from teachers and administrators, but Senate Bill 386 seems to indicate that still something different than the CLASS Keys must be invented.   

Finally, the politicians have been working on “straightening schools out” since I first came to Georgia.  From the Minimum Foundations, to the Adequate Program for Education in Georgia, to the Teacher Performance Assessment Program, to the CRTs, to the Performance Standards with the CRCTs, to No Child Left Behind, government has meddled and meddled and meddled, and, while each time, teachers and administrators have risen to the task and done what was asked of them, the Sonny Perdues and others of the political world have had the audacity to say, “It is not enough."

Well, I have had enough of the politicians.  I will oppose with my time, my effort, my influence, my money, and my VOTE any of my elected representatives supporting this absurdity in its present form.  I urge you to do the same.
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The CRCT Scandal

February 21, 2010

Over the past several weeks we have heard much in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and in the local media concerning the suspicion that 191 schools across the State of Georgia may have been guilty of tampering with and falsifying test documents on the Criterion Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT), the high stakes, standardized test that is used by the Georgia Department of Education to determine whether or not schools have made the infamous “AYP” (i.e., adequate yearly progress) on the academic expectations of the students for the school year as are found in the state curriculum known as the Georgia Performance Standards 

 
The CRCT is a paper and pencil exam consisting of a questions booklet and a separate answer sheet upon which correct answers are bubbled into little round circles or little square boxes.  It is administered to students in grades 1-8.  There are at least two different parts of the CRCT.  All students are tested on English/language arts and math.  Students in grades 3-8 are tested in science and social studies as well. 

 
The CRCT is administered during a window of opportunity established by the state.  This year (2010) the window of opportunity will be from April 5 until May 7.  Generally, school systems set aside several days within that window to administer the test.

Chief among the evidence that something may have been fishy with the test results from some schools last year (2009) has been the revelation that in the suspect schools the number of test papers, containing “excessive” erasures of and changes to answers, have been found also to be “excessive.” It varies from grade to grade, but, as an example, according to the Georgia Department of Education, an average third grader should have only 1.8 erasures (don’t you just love statistics) on her or his test sheet.  A test sheet with four or more erasures would become suspect.

As we all know Governor Sonny Perdue and State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox have called for investigations, both internal and external in the suspected wrong-doing schools.  Other politicians and bureaucrats have called for legislation that would make altering a test answer document a criminal offense.

 
Even our national Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, a man who has NEVER taught a class of children, has weighed in on our dilemma.  He has complimented our state leaders for grasping the problem and moving to achieve a successful resolution.

So in an effort to be of assistance to Sonny and Kathy, I would like to offer some suggestions as to how we might create a more “test secure” environment for our youngsters to demonstrate their proficiency.

1.       If testing is important, then it is important and it is the ONLY thing that should go on during the time allotted for its administration.  The window of opportunity should be reduced to a week and ALL school systems in the state should be required to test during that time.

 
2.       No teacher should ever be responsible for administering the CRCT to his or her own students.  In fact, it might be well for teachers from School A and School B to swap classrooms for the testing, or, best case scenario, teachers from School A in District A swap with Teachers from School A in District B, and vice versa.

3.       State monitors should be trained and be located in all schools to move throughout the building during the testing time to view that no “hanky-panky” is taking place.  They would especially be needed when tests are collected and prepared for submission to the state for grading.

This last suggestion has been discounted by some of my friends because of the cost, but I suggest the following:

A.       Use all appropriate personnel of the Georgia Department of Education.  (They are already on the payroll)

B.       Use all elected or appointed local school board members, but not in their own systems of course. (Make it a responsibility of holding office)

C.       Use all the members of the Georgia General Assembly who are able to read. (A member could opt out by passing the 8th Grade CRCT!)

D.       Use upper-level, undergraduate teacher education majors from colleges and universities. (Make it a part of a teacher education course.)

Given the crisis that everyone feels exists in schools, I am sure that it could be done if our leaders would use a small portion of brain to think creatively!

In conclusion, I am angered that there are teachers and administrators in my chosen profession who would stoop to cheating.  Regardless of how stupid or idiotic the expectations of “lousy” politicians and “inept” bureaucrats, including many who have never taught a day in their lives, are, it is cheating the kids to alter or change answers on tests.  We should be better than the “guano” with which we contend!
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The “Brutal” Truth About Taxes
 
 February 28, 2010
Looming before us all is the specter of that horrendous, yet unavoidable, brutal “truth”…there are tax increases in our future!
This “truth” is evidenced in the fact that in the 2010 fiscal budget (the budget we are now in) 48 of the 50 states have found themselves having to address shortfalls in their tax revenue in the total amount of 196 billion dollars.  If legislative action is not taken there is a projected shortfall in some 42 states of another 103 billion dollars in the fiscal 2011 budgets.
 

Here in Georgia, the gap for fiscal 2010 is 1.4 billion dollars or about 8% of our budget.  The projected gap for fiscal 2011 is…get ready….are you ready, yet… 4 billion dollars or about 23% of the budget!

So, what to do?

Well, the solution is so simple that even an intellect as challenged as that of a “Georgia politician”, especially a governor, ought to be able to understand it.  When you spend more money than you take in, you have two choices.  You REDUCE the amount of money you are spending, or you take in MORE money!

Now, to be fair, the Governor and other state leaders have tried some strategies to reduce spending.  The Governor has mandated “furlough” days for teachers and other state employees, and that has helped to some extent.  He has required state agencies to enact budget cuts, and that has helped out a little bit.  Most of the members of the General ASSembly have taken “furlough” days and that has helped the morale of the working public a little and made the mandated furlough days for state employees and teachers a bit more palatable.

However, there is a point of “diminishing returns”, and we have arrived at the point where there is little left for government to cut and still to be able to provide a modicum of the services that our citizenry has come to expect. 
 

That being true, we come to the realization that we must consider how to generate new or additional sources of revenue.  The question becomes, what taxes are we going to raise and what new taxes are we going to put into effect?

The Governor and many of the members of the General ASSembly, good men and women that they are, always turn to “sin” when taxes are at issue.  In other words, tax increases on liquor, beer, cigarettes, and other tobacco products always leap to mind.

Now, I am not opposed to the “sin” tax.  I have paid it all my life.  I think that “vice” ought to be the object of generating revenue, first for the purpose of acquiring the tax money, and, second, to discourage the “sinful” behavior.  However, maybe we should enlarge the scope.  Perhaps, we should expand the arena of “sin” in order to benefit from its potential filling of the governmental coffers.

For example, one of the major “sins” in the modern day world is “fornication.”  My televangelist friends tell me it is rampant throughout the country.  In particular, “prostitution” is said to be quite a big business.  Is it time to legalize, regulate, and tax this, the world’s oldest profession?!?

Another “sin” that we might consider embracing is drug use.  Just think of the revenue we could generate if we legalized marijuana, cocaine, and heroin.  We could resurrect the old “opium dens”, joints could be sold in modern day liquor stores, and we could have motels specializing in a “fix” and a “female”…cashing in on two sins!  Think of the tax dollars coming in.

This drug thing could have a positive effect on the economy in other ways.  We could reassign all our narcotics officers at all levels of police work to other tasks, saving tremendous amounts of money.  Perhaps, we could assign them to protecting the newly legalized prostitutes from getting beaten up!


We could also create a new industry with new jobs called … “drug drivers.”   In other words, cabbies who drive drug users around from den to den, dive to dive, and then home.  Anyone buying drugs would have to hire a “drug driver”.  These guys could line up at the “opium dens” just like regular cabbies do at the airport now.  Just think of all the money that would be made and how the governmental coffers would overflow.
Another great “sin” is gluttony.  I know a lot about this one, as I have favored the “gut” most of my life.

Perhaps, we need to establish a “Fat” tax.  We could all report to the tax office on our birthday each year and weigh.  Anyone weighing over the established range for a healthy person for our height and age would be assessed a tax. Anyone weighing excessively “less” than the expected range could be taxed as well.  We could call the latter assessment…the “Skinny” tax.

 
“Idleness” and “frivolity” are perceived by some to be “sinful” behaviors.  I am not quite sure how we might tax idleness, but the frivolity should be an easy mark.  We tax theater tickets, sporting event tickets, green fees at golf courses, all video games sales, NASCAR race admission fees, and an assortment of other entertainment venues.

Now, you see, in just the short space of this column, I have solved the financial woes of the State of Georgia.  I have done “Silly” Sonny’s work, not to mention the work of the General ASSembly.  Of course, nothing that I have suggested is going to happen, and I have offered items, largely, that I know are ridiculous.  But here is the “brutal” truth…

…taxes are going to be raised.  It is just a question of what and when!
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Powder for the Persian Flea
March 7, 2010


There are few people in this world who really bother me.  As a general rule, I can endure almost any amount of idiocy, as my toleration of many politicians and most bureaucrats will evidence.  However, occasionally there will come along someone who burrows into my nervous system and irritates me as much as a flea flitting on the skin behind the ear of an old dog.  Such a person is the Persian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.



Ahmadinejad, who is a Shi'a Muslim, has governed largely as a conservative during his political career on the national scene in Iran.  While projecting a "Moe Howard" character, he has actually been quite successful in dealing with a number of Iranian domestic problems. He has been successful in dealing with Iranian inflation and has navigated some social issues to a consensus conclusion.  He has worked with some differing interest groups and has achieved some compromise.  At the same time, with other differing interest groups, he has been brutal and oppressive.



What irritates me about him is erratic pronouncements.  For example, he has said that the Nazi Holocaust never occurred. He has alleged that the story of the extermination camps in Nazi Germany and the areas the Nazis controlled during World War II were fabrications thought up by "Zionists" and their Jewish backers in the west.  In other statements, he has blatantly asserted that the nation Israel should be "wiped off the map."



His most recent pronouncement is that the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States were a "big lie."  Now, this "big fool" does not explain just how the deaths of some 3000 people in New York, at the Pentagon, and in a farm field in Pennsylvania make-up a "big lie", but he glibly makes the assertion.



Our government clearly understands that Iran, under the direction of President Ahmadinejad, is racing to complete a nuclear weapon and to develop the capability to use such a weapon via missile.  While our leaders have talked a good game, I honestly do not know whether there is anything, short of a full thermonuclear attack on Iran, that we can do to stop them.  I fear that through the ineptness of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barrack Obama, we have waited too late.



There is one other thing that irks me about this "Persian nuisance."  Try as he might to hide it, he was one of the student radicals in Iran who was responsible for the seizure of the American Embassy in 1979 and the holding of American hostages for 444 days.  Some folks have forgotten that insult to America, but Dr. Ahmadinejad, I have not forgotten.



Somewhere and sometime soon, I hope someone finds some powder for this Persian flea!


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A Word Concerning Freemasonry


March 14, 2010

It is a fact that the Mid-South Philosopher is a Freemason. For nearly 40 years, I have practiced in the “brotherhood of craftsmen”, employed upon that sincere effort of self-improvement and social development.  It is a never ending task, and one that merits much study and application.

Occasionally, I am asked questions concerning my involvement with this venerable institution and often it is inquired as to how I, an individual professing a faith in our LORD JESUS CHRIST, can be a part of a Satanic or, at best, a pagan rite.  While I often tire of answering such inquiries, I continue to do so out of the knowledge that the vast majority of these inquirers are good individuals, who are just ignorant of the history and purpose of the fraternity.

Another friend having broached the subject with me privately as a result of my posting concerning the DeMolay on my Facebook page, I have decided to answer him publically.  So here goes…

Almost always, the first question is…Freemasonry is a religion, isn’t it?

The allegation that Freemasonry is a religion is grossly false.  Beyond the initial requirements that a petitioner believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, in some revelation of that Supreme Being’s will, and in the immortality of the soul, Freemasonry has NO religious dogma.  Rather, it welcomes men of all religions…Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhists, Hindu, etc.  As Freemasons we are taught to practice our own chosen faith outside of the Lodge.  Within the Lodge, we are to respect the choices of others in that regard.

Generally the second question is…What about those horrible penalties you recite while taking the degrees?

The penalties of the obligations of Freemasonry are symbolic and never intended to be physically inflicted by any person upon another.  Rather, they are designed to impress upon the mind of the Freemason the importance of fidelity to one’s word and the preservation of one’s trustworthiness.


Usually the third question will center on something like this…If Freemasonry is not a religion, why do you have that Holy Altar in the Lodge?

Freemasonry does not teach a plan of salvation.  Indeed, its “altar” is not an “altar of salvation.”  No one “gets saved” at a Masonic altar.  Rather, it is an “altar of fellowship” around which brethren of different faiths can meet and associate with one another, while respecting the right of each other to worship the ALMIGHTY, as each determines by his conscience, in the correct manner.

A fourth question that often arises is…What about that title “worshipful” that you give to your presiding officer; do you “worship” him?

The answer is a resounding no.  This title goes back to the old English of the 15th, 16, and 17th centuries.  Its literal meaning is “worthy of respect.”  It is equivalent of calling a judge…”your honor.”

Question number five is often…Isn’t Freemasonry a secret society plotting to take over the world?

The age old complaint that Freemasonry is a secret society is almost laughable.  With the signs on buildings, the lapel pins, the car emblems, etc., it is ridiculous to assert that our society is secret.  While it is true that the forms and ceremonies of our order are private, most anyone can acquire some version of all the degrees of Freemasonry from the Internet.

While Freemasons are taught to execute all the duties of citizenship, especially the franchise, the Masonic fraternity does not endorse political candidates and no brother is instructed how or for whom he should cast his vote.

In conclusion, as all brethren know, Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbol.  The design of the Masonic institution is to make men wiser, better, and, consequently, happier, and this is accomplished by a series of lessons taught through signs, forms, allegorical figures and lectures.

A lady in south Georgia once asked my wife…“So, is your husband perfect because he is a Freemason?”

Miss Debbie replied, “No, he is by no means perfect. In fact, he has much work to do upon his deportment and character, but I just can’t stop thinking about how far worse he would be if he were not a Freemason!”

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Election Time Is Underway

 March 28, 2010

The 2010 Election season is well underway.

Here in Georgia, we will be electing a new governor, as Sonny Perdue , under the Georgia Constitution, cannot succeed himself…like he had a “snowball’s chance in Hell” of being reelected anyway!

Here in Gordon County, at least a part of us will be electing a new representative to the Georgia House of Representatives, as Tom Graves has resigned to run for Congress.

Those of us in the 9th Congressional District of Georgia will be electing a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as Congressman Nathan Deal has resigned to run for governor.

Change is good!

For legislative offices (i.e., school board, county commission, state legislature, and the Congress), I, RARELY, support a candidate for more than two terms…and, in a lot of cases, only one.  I don’t go as far as my late friend, Rufus, use to say, “If they can’t steal enough in one term, they are too stupid to be in there!” but I just don’t think it is good for “legislative” (i.e. lawmaking or policymaking) body members to make a life’s work of it.

When it comes to executive offices (i.e., sheriff, clerk of the superior court, tax commissioner, etc.), as long as the officeholders are doing a good job, I have no problem with their reelections.

Over the next few months, I am going to be studying the candidates in detail for all the offices that apply to me and to some that may be beyond the influence of my vote.  For example, I intend to make some generous contributions to the opponents of the signers of Georgia State Senate Bill 386.  I, also, plan to contribute to Harry Reid’s coming defeat in Nevada. I would give some to Nancy Pelosi’s opponent, but California’s 8th Congressional District is a lost cause.  It could be rightly renamed...“Liberalland and Progressive Plantations.”

Prior to the primaries and the general election, I plan on issuing endorsements.  I have never done this before, but I have had a number (in excess of 700) requests for this over the last year. So I am going to do it.

My conservative friends, largely reactionary Republicans, keep telling me they are going to “repeal” the Health Reform Act just passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President.  OK, I have a number of differences with that act, and I think it should be drastically changed.  However, I want to know what the Republican alternative is going to be.  And it d*mn sure has to be more than buying expensive health insurance policies from the health insurance companies across state lines and ending frivolous malpractice suits.  What else, boys and girls, what else?!?

My progressive friends, largely liberal Democrats, keep telling me that all this spending is somehow going to reduce the deficit and that all these decisions that they are making for me are for my own good.  How come I don’t feel as though they are for my own good?  And, after you lay on me “cap and trade”, am I ever going to be able to afford air conditioning in the summer anymore?

Yes, I am going to be watching both sides carefully.  The only thing I trust less than a Democrat is a Republican and vice versa!

 ===================================================================================================================


The 2010 Census

April 4, 2010


A number of my conservative friends have taken the position that they should only answer one of the questions on the 2010 U.S. Census form. They feel that the information sought in the other nine questions is too intrusive.  Many have just answered the first question:  “How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?” and sent the form back in.

I answered the first question and eight of the other nine, and I will tell you why.

Question No. 2 asked if there were others living in the domicile not accounted for in Question No. 1.  This is a legitimate question.  One could have a “widowed aunt” or an “itinerant uncle” who might be visiting and who would not be counted any other way.

Question No. 3 asked how the residence was being paid for (i.e. owned out right, being purchased by the resident, being rented, or being provided as a gift).  I can see the national government needing this information for statistical purposes, and the level of specificity in this instance being so general, I can’t see how the feds could misuse it too badly.
 
Question No. 4 asked for the telephone number.  This is the one I did NOT answer!  If the U.S. Census Bureau wants to talk to me they can look me up in the telephone book or, better yet, send me an email!

Questions No. 5, 6, and 7 requested the occupants’ names, genders, and ages, respectively.  This information has been collected by census takers, at least since the 1880 Census, and, as this information is in multiple data bases on all of us already, I don’t see any harm in sharing it again.

I answered Question No. 8, but it struck me as peculiar.  Question No. 8 applied only to the Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish ethnic group.  As an Irish-Welsh-Italian American, shouldn’t I feel discriminated against?

Question No. 9 asked what race I was.  I put down white, but, then in parenthesis, I noted (with brown freckles).

Finally, Question 10, wanted to know if I ever “lived or stayed somewhere else.”  I think I know what the census was trying to get at, but this question must have been drafted by someone with a little more than a sixth grade education!

Of course, I sometimes “live and stay somewhere else.”  Debbie and I visit her mother in Tennessee often…we are “alive and staying” up there when we make our visits.  I go to Grand Lodge every year in Macon.  On those occasions, I am “living and staying” in Macon!  I am even “living and staying” when I make trips to Washington, DC from time to time.


The decennial census (once every ten years) is authorized by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States.  Its primary purpose is to determine the population of the various states of the United States in order to determine how the representation of the citizens of the various states shall be apportioned in the House of Representatives of the Congress. Just as a side note, this is not needed in the Senate as all states have two members in that house.

Since the founding of our nation, there have been various laws passed concerning the census.  In 1954, these laws were codified into Title 13 of the U.S. Code.

Under Title 13, the U.S. Census Bureau must submit the subject of the census questions to the Congress three (3) years before the actual census, and they must submit the actual questions two (2) years before the census. So, if we don’t like the questions, we need to bombard our representatives and senators in the Congress.

Methinks, my conservative friends complain too much.  Of course, my liberal friends want to give more information to the government…right down to color of underwear!

All in all, I don’t think this census form was too intrusive.
=================================================================================================================

Going Anal!


April 11, 2010

I had my “five year” colonoscopy this past Tuesday. Thankfully, I only had one polyp, and my doctor said he did not feel that there was anything to worry about at all, but, to be on the safe side, it would be sent to pathology.  I will get the results in a few days. Unlikely that it is, if there is a problem, I will be able to deal with it, because it will have been caught extremely “early”.  That is good.


The worst thing about a colonoscopy is the preparation.  I have always had to drink the laxative mixture.  It tastes like the bottom of a bird cage!

When Miss Debbie had her colonoscopy a couple of years ago, she got to take the pills!  No drinking the foul tasting liquid.  But when I went to the doctor this time, he told me that it had been discovered that the pills posed a risk to the kidneys.  So, he wasn’t going to take the chance with mine.  As if all that whiskey over the years had not done any damage!

I don’t worry too much about colon cancer, but I do worry a great deal about prostate cancer!

My paternal grandfather died of prostate cancer in 1973 at the age of 77.  My father died of prostate cancer in 1997, also of prostate cancer just short of the age of 77!

I have made myself a promise.  Prostate cancer may get me, but by the ETERNAL, it is going to have to fight like never before to do so!

Both colon cancer and prostate cancer are the two easiest cancers to defeat…if caught EARLY!

But, both colon cancer and prostate cancer have to be gotten at through the “anal” cavity. 
 
While the PSA test is good, the “bony finger” prostate exam will go a long way in diagnosing prostate cancer early!
Let me encourage all my buddies, ages 50 and above, to have the “bony finger” once per year and the PSA once per year.  


Prostate cancer DISCRIMINATES!  It starts earlier in my African-American friends.  Please get those tests starting at age 40 and do it every year!

Now, for you ladies, please get those Pap smears and mammograms every year starting at age 40.
For everyone, get that initial colonoscopy at age 50.

It goes without saying that if your family has a history of any of these kinds of cancer, start earlier with the tests!  Talk to your family doctor to make the correct decisions!

I need all the friends I can get, so, I don’t need to lose any of you!
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Election Reform Needed
April 18, 2010

It is clear that until there is significant election reform in the United States, there will be little chance of restoring any semblance of ethics to either the Congress or to the several state legislatures.  The Georgia General Assembly is a prima facie example of what is wrong with our current system of elections.

As reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution <http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/lobbyist-lawmakers-hobnob-days-469285.html>, in the days just prior to the start of the 2010 legislative session, no less a personage than Georgia House Speaker, David Ralston participated in fundraising events that gleaned $131,000 from House lobbyists.  His counterpart in the Georgia State Senate, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, out did him by raising $145,000 from the same pool of special interest specialists.

Now, neither Ralston’s nor Cagle’s behavior was illegal or even unethical, but I wonder how many of you…the common citizens of Georgia…were visited by these two politicians to see what your legislative concerns were?!?

It all comes down to the “Golden Rule”:  “Those, who have the gold, make the rules!”

Two things need to happen, relative to the Congress and the Georgia General Assembly.  

In the first instance, the U.S. Constitution needs to be amended to provide that the term for a member of the House of Representatives shall be four years, the term for a Senator shall be six years, and that no person may be elected to more than two terms to either house of the Congress.

In the second instance, the Georgia State Constitution should be amended to provide that terms for state senators and representatives shall be four years in length and that no person may be elected to the General Assembly more than two terms.

Such action would greatly reduce the influence of lobbyists and the money interests both in Washington and Atlanta.  More attention would be paid by politicians to their “legacies” as opposed to their “length of service.”

Failing to achieve these two initiatives, the next best thing would be to provide public financing for all political races and ban private monies for campaigning.

Likely neither of my solutions will be enacted and we will keep wondering why we can’t seem to get our legislators to embrace ethical behavior.
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How to Save the Georgia CRCT
April 25, 2010


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that another 17 public school systems in Georgia have turned in reports indicating possible cheating on last year’s Criterion Referenced Competency Tests…the high stakes, standardized tests that are used to measure students' academic gains and teacher accountability in Georgia Public Schools.
 

The CRCT, as it is commonly known, which, to my knowledge, has NEVER been passed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue or any member of the Georgia General ASSembly, is tied to the Georgia Performance Standards, except in those areas where the test-makers screwed-up and didn’t tie the test to the curriculum.  The Georgia Performance Standards, in simple terms, is the curriculum in English/language arts, math, science, and social studies that the state says all public school students should master in Grades 1-12. Pre-k and kindergarten students have their own curriculums and assessment instruments and processes.
 

I have been arguing for some time that if “Silly Sonny and the Gold Dome Dunces” really wanted to “fix” testing, they would take the following steps:

 
1.      The tests should be administered of a cadre of “test administrators.”  The teachers, who are being evaluated on the basis of the tests, should not be involved and, consequently, not provided the temptation to cheat.  

 
Where would the money come from to hire and train the “test administrators”?

 
That is really “Silly Sonny and the Gold Dome Dunces” problem.  They ought to do something to earn the salaries we pay them. However, in the interest of fairness, I will offer the following suggestions:


I think every “certificated” employee of the Georgia Department of Education should serve in the capacity of a “test administrator”. “Classy” Kathy, herself, could pull a stint in some class.  Every member of the Georgia General ASSembly, who can “read”, ought to serve.  

 
All board of education members throughout the state should be mandated to help (though NOT in their own school systems). 

Finally, additional “test administrators” could be gleaned from the undergraduate teacher education students enrolled in the many state colleges and universities, both public and private.
 

All test administrators should work for free, except the undergraduate teacher education students, who should receive academic credit for their service.  The colleges, universities, and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission could work out the details.
 

I wouldn’t ask Governor Perdue to administer tests to a class.  We really need to shield our kids from less than desirable influences!  
  

2.      The tests should be administered in all school systems during the same two week period in April of each year. Student absences should NOT be permitted without a medical doctor’s verification!  No other excuses would be accepted and parents/child care givers would be fined $1000 per day if the child was absent.
 

I am sorry if dear Aunt Mitilda died!  This is testing week and NO, you can’t go to the funeral in Maine.  It was clearly rude of her to die at such a time!

 
3.      Teachers would be “furloughed” (we have to find some way to insult them) on the tests days. Furthermore, they would be banned from the school campuses during this period.  We don’t need potential “test felons” around!


Some of these suggestions are in jest, of course, as a result of my frustration with government and bureaucracy.  Being retired, I have the ability to be a bit harsher with politicians, bureaucrats, and other totally unnecessary examples of human waste than practicing teachers do.

 
But the fact remains that if we are serious about continuing the use of high stakes, standardized testing as a part of teacher accountability, we need to find a better way of doing it.  The first step in that process is to find a better class of politician and bureaucrat!

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An Ecologically Friendly Solution to Border Security

May 2, 2010

The Arizona Immigration; Law enforcement; Safe neighborhoods Act of 2010has beenthe object of much discussion over the past few days.  Allegations have been made that the legislation is designed to allow Arizona law enforcement to use, at the very least, some quasi-profiling tactics in their effort to identify illegal aliens. Others have declared the law an act of outright racism.

I watched Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, as she made her remarks before and after signing the controversial act into law.  I saw clearly that she was struggling to justify, what is at its best, a questionable effort to deal with the growing problem for local governmental officials along the 1969 mile border between the United States and Mexico. 

I have read the law, and I can see how it could be perverted into a form of profiling. Simply put, the legislation provides that any “officer” of the government of the state or local authority in Arizona having “lawful contact” with a person who the officer might think to be an illegal alien should endeavor, “if possible”, to determine the status of such an individual.

Now, if a carload of individuals goes up the highway at 85 mph out of Tucson toward Phoenix and a law enforcement officer stops the vehicle and find that there are 12 people in the car, we understand that said law enforcement officer is “having lawful contact” with those folks and, under the law, would be correct to inquire about the citizenship.

 
But, consider this scenario.  Suppose a Hispanic couple appears before a justice of the peace.  That is “lawful contact.” Should the justice of the peace demand to see their papers before marrying them?

There are many scenarios in which the law could be abused.

What galls me is the fact that Arizona has had to revert to this.

Immigration is a national concern.  The protection of our nation and the security of our borders is the responsibility of the national government.  President Billy Clinton, Georgie W. Bush, and Barry Obama have ALL “violated” their oaths of office by FAILING to protect the southern border of the United States from massive illegal entries.

The social Democratic Party favors more immigration and amnesty so that they can gain vote from the newly admitted aliens.  The corporatist Republican Party favors immigration and, while they give lip service to border security, they do little to stop the flow of illegal immigrants because they want that large pool of low wage workers.

What to do?

I suggest that we take an “ecologically friendly” approach to border security.  Along the 1969 miles from Brownsville, Texas to Tijuana, Mexico, on the U.S. side of the border, there are 22 counties. The vast majority of this area is wilderness and it is through this wilderness that many illegal aliens make their pilgrimage to the United States.  

Why don’t we create a national park in these areas and stock the landscape with “lions and tigers and bears”, snakes and other poisonous reptiles and spiders of all kinds, and allergy stimulating plants of all species.  I don’t know whether or not wolves would flourish there, but it might be worth a try.

Such an action would provide a large safe area (1000 miles) for many wild creatures to roam and “hunt” and “eat” off the land, so to speak.  PETA should be delighted with this idea!

In the cities and towns along this area, the border patrol and the local law enforcement could concentrate their efforts, leaving the wilderness to the wild.  

Now, I am sure that many of you can think of many reasons why my suggestion will not work.  Some of the predatory animals I have mentioned may not be able to live in this area.  But I ask you…is my suggestion any less valid that the total and complete incompetence of the American government (through the administrations of at least three Presidents) to deal with this problem!
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Mothers Day 2010

May 9, 2010 

Once again it is Mother’s Day, and we pause to honor or to memorialize the “first” woman who impacted our lives.  No doubt millions of words have been written about mothers, and I suppose it is conceited of me to expect to be able to contribute anything new to the volume of perspectives on that subject. However, perhaps it is necessary that we repeat what has been previously written from time to time so that it will not escape the collective psyche of humankind.

As a male, when thinking about mothers and motherhood, I can only write from the perspective of one who has been “mothered.”  There is no way for me to truly understand the feelings and emotions that mothers experience.  I can only report the manner in which I have witnessed those feelings and emotions expressed first toward me by my mother and toward others by mothers that I have witnessed in my life.

My mother was a strong and loving woman.  Born the eldest of 10 children in northeast Alabama, she lost her own mother when she was 13 and, in effect, had to assume the role of “mother” over her, then, six younger brothers and sisters until her father (my grandfather) remarried a couple of years later and expanded the family by four additional kids.  

Throughout my Momma’s early childhood, my grandfather moved around a great deal seeking work as a carpenter and in other assorted labor jobs.  As best she could remember, the third grade was about the extent of my mother’s formal schooling.

As the oldest child, my mother had to go to work when she was 16.  My grandfather “got her a job” in nearby hosiery mill and he took charge of her wages each pay period.  The bulk of her earnings were contributed to the maintenance of the family.  She enjoyed little personal reward for her own labor.

My Momma married the first time at the age of 21.  She never said, but I suspect she was looking for a way out from the drab and oppressive existence that she was enduring.  She had a little girl, Harriet Ann, who was a joy to her, but a year later the childhood disease of “whooping cough”, coupled with double pneumonia, claimed the life of my sister.

In time my grandfather sent his two youngest daughters to live with my mother.  Suddenly, in her mid-twenties, Momma was mothering teenagers!  Still, she persevered and in time my two aunts married, albeit at a young age, the two men with whom they would spend their adult lives.  It was not to be the same with Momma.  Her first marriage was to end in the mid-1940s.

Momma and my Dad married in 1947.

Dad was an interesting character.  A combat infantry veteran of the European Theater of Operations in World War II, he would later become a Baptist evangelist.  He was a man of sound principles, and nothing was more important to him on the earthly plane than serving his GOD and loving and caring for his wife and family.

Momma thrived with Daddy, and the two of them produced my brother and me.

Although her formal education had been meager at best, somewhere along the line, my Momma had learned to read and read well.  She enjoyed crossword puzzles and was ever expanding her vocabulary.  When I was a child, Momma would read to me, and, by so doing, she instilled in me a love for reading.  Momma’s math skills in basic arithmetic were second to none, but she was lost when it came to algebra, geometry, and higher math.

Both my mother and father stressed education.  It was a given that my brother and I were going to finish high school.  Beyond that, we were assured that, whatever course we chose, we would have our parents’ encouragement and support.

Just as I suspect each reader could do the same for his or her mother, I could enumerate instance after instance when my Momma impacted and influenced my life for the good.   But what I would like to note on “Mothers Day 2010” is this.  Due to the events in my mother’s childhood and young adulthood, due to the stresses and challenges she faced, due to the unfairness she endured, my Momma could have been an angry and miserable woman, prone to revenge and continually seeking to “one-up” those around her.  She chose, instead, to live her life in the positive effort of loving and nurturing not only her children but all those who came in contact with her.  When we laid her to rest in 2005, just days short of her 91st birthday, we could honestly celebrate a life well-spent.

On this “Mothers Day”, if your Momma is alive, go visit her or call her.  Tell her you love and appreciate her.  I sure wish I could tell mine!
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It Changed the World!
May 16, 2010

On the Facebook last week, I posed the question... “What product, technical advance, social upheaval, or life reform do you believe has brought about the most "change" in our lives during the past 50 years?”  

I received a number of answers, some of which are listed here:

Kenn Ussery – the speed of information

 
Ralph Owen Dennis and Randell Hendrix – the personal computer


Michael Chandler, Anne Judah, and Lew Puckett – the two income family (women having to work outside the home)

 
Caleb Chitwood – Nixon ending Bretton Woods in 1971
   

Jennifer Greeson – the decline of reliance on GOD
   

Lavonda Gentry – people’s attitudes, morals, ways of thinking, and ways of living
   

Bill Byrd – liberally biased press


Peggy Bennett – technology (computers and cell phones)


Jim Bard – space program (innovations)


Colin William – mobile phone

 
David Herman – the mental shift, whereby, people do work they are not proud of that is accepted and expected


Archie Bennett -- the cell phone, viagra, McDonald's and the pill
 

Margie Weddington Powell – the Vietnam War…if it feels good, do it…other considerations.

Robert Martin – the thermos
 

Calvin Watts – the Interstate Highway System

 
My good friend and Masonic brother, E. Ray Knittel turned out to be the only one to choose the thing that I had chosen, but I must confess that it had not been original with me.  My sweet lady, Miss Debbie, actually brought it to my attention, so it was really her thought that caused me to propound the question in the beginning.


The thing that Debbie, Ray, and I feel has changed our lives the most over the past 50 years, especially in the south, has been the widespread use of home air conditioning!

I toyed all week with how I might argue that position, but I think that Ray’s response to my question on the Facebook is about as rational and candid answer as could be developed to address the assertion.  Consequently, I am reprinting it here.

Said, Brother Ray… 

I would sure hate to do without it (air conditioning) now that I am used to it but growing up in a much more simple time, we sat on the porch, waved at the neighbors, invited them to come sit "a spell", chased lightning bugs, enjoyed the comfort of a shade tree on a hot day. We now come home, shut the doors and windows tight and there we stay until it is time to get in our air conditioned cars or trucks. We roll the windows on these up tight and if we wave to the folks passing by, it is unlikely that they see us through the windows - they more than likely wave because they recognize the vehicle rather than see the wave. I have fond memories of those "porch settings", listening to the "old folks" telling stories. Good times and good memories of times gone by.
 

While I, like Ray, would not want to do without it nowadays, there is no doubt that the great benefit to our comfort provided by the massive implementation of home air conditioning has been mitigated by the loss of community and alienation from neighbors and friends that the necessary closed-in environment has mandated.

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Don’t Elect a Liar

By GARY D. LEMMONS
Published: May 23, 2010

 
There are just some things that one does not forget. Your first kiss, your first job, your first car, your wedding day, the day when your children were born, whether or not you fought in a war…all of these are incidents that leave an indelible stain on the recesses of the mind that can only be erased by the ravages of Alzheimer’s, dementia, or some other brain injury or disease.

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut attorney-general, forgot…or, rather, he “misspoke”, as he would like to rationalize it, in 2003 and, again, in 2008, when, in separate speeches, he characterized himself as having served in the Vietnam War.

Now, if Blumenthal was “Joe Q. Public” down at the bar somewhere, his false assertion of service in the war would be bad enough and disrespectful of the men who sacrificed, sweated, slogged, and survived the ordeal, not to mention a dishonor to the 58,261 Americans who gave their lives in that endeavor.  But Blumenthal is the chief law enforcement officer of the State of Connecticut and would like to be the next United States Senator from the “Constitution State.” 

I guess one can argue that most people, at sometime in their lives, tell lies.  In fact, many of us do it every day.  There is no telling how many times someone has asked me, “How are you, today?”  And, my reply was, “Fine, oh, just fine.” When the truth of the matter was that I felt as though the entire North Korean Army had been marching across my head.  If my wife asks me if a particular dress looks good or if she has gained weight, depending upon the circumstances surrounding the question, there is a good chance that my response may be a lie.

Most of us believe that politicians, especially officeholders, lie. We have classic examples just in my own lifetime:

“…the United States intends no military intervention in Cuba.”…John F. Kennedy.

"As President and Commander in Chief it is my duty to the American people to report that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas in the Gulf of Tonkin have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply."…Lyndon Baines Johnson.

“I am not a crook!”…Richard Nixon.

 “Read my lips…no new taxes.”…George Herbert Walker Bush.

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”…Bill Clinton.

“We know where they are. (Talking about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction) They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.”…Donald Rumsfeld (former Sec. of Defense)

“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”…Nancy Pelosi.

 
It is a reasonable assumption to make that most officeholders lie to us.  Those very few who do not often do not tell us the whole truth.  That just may be the nature of the “office holding beast.”  But we should not, knowingly, elect a liar.

To allow candidates for office to blatantly lie about something as important as military service and then to elect them to regulate that service on the part of others is distasteful.  

I trust that the voters in Connecticut will do what is right and retire Richard Blumenthal to private life come November.
==============================================================

Memorial Day -- 2010

By Dr. GARY D. LEMMONS
Published: May 30, 2010

Another Memorial Day… and another year that American soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen/air-women are far from home in the defense of liberty and freedom.

Numerous ceremonies will be held in many cities and towns across America.  There will be parades and pomp and circumstance, although the boisterousness of the celebrations will not be quite as rambunctious as the Fourth of July or, even, Veterans’ Day. 

That is as it should be, for Memorial Day ought to be a time of quiet reflection and meditation about the sacrifices given by so many Americans throughout our history in the defense of our liberty and freedom.

In recent years, it has become a tradition that the President of the United States be present at and lay a wreath at the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” in Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington, DC.  President Obama will not observe that tradition this year, opting instead to attend ceremonies at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois.  Vice President Biden will attend the ceremonies at Arlington.

I have no problem with the President not being at Arlington.  Indeed, I applaud his choosing to attend ceremonies at a lesser known cemetery.  Wherever an American veteran, especially a combat veteran, sleeps, in my humble opinion, is “sacred ground.”  Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery was dedicated on October 3, 1999.  When fully developed, it will be able to serve 400,000 interments.

Throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, we have 131 national cemeteries.  It is altogether fitting and proper that the service people buried in those resting places have the opportunity to be honored by having a President come and spend time with them on any given Memorial Day.  While that would take a long time (almost a century and a half) to accomplish, it might not be a bad project for the current Commander-in-Chief and future Presidents to implement for decades to come.

There are other “sacred grounds” that we should remember.  The American Battle Monuments Commission administers, operates, and maintains 24 burial grounds on foreign soil.  124,909 Americans are at rest in these cemeteries:  30,921 from World War I in Europe; 93, 238 from World War II, in Europe, North Africa, and the Philippines; 750 from the Mexican War in the Mexico City National Cemetery; and 5,364 in the Corozal American Cemetery and Memorial in Panama.

If Arlington National Cemetery is the best known national cemetery in the United States, the best known of those overseas likely is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial on the heights above the Omaha Beach.  Here rest 9,387 of our honored dead.  Additionally, on a decorative semi-circle wall outlining a garden are 1557 names of those identified as missing in action. Each resting place is marked simply with a Christian Cross or a Jewish Star of David.  I am told that the graves are situated so that the bodies are laid “feet toward the West”, which seems contradictory toward both Christian and Jewish customs of “feet toward the East.”  However, it, allegedly, is explained that the slain heroes are “looking homeward.”

For a brief tour of the Normandy American Cemetery, go here:

http://media.oaktreesys.com/abmc/video/cemeteries/no.wmv


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Thank You, Veterans of D-Day, 1944

By Dr. GARY D. LEMMONS

Published: June 6, 2010

It was from the sea they came.  Suddenly and with a due admixture of passion and fear, they swarmed ashore. Out of the landing crafts, they emerged into the hail of bullets and amid the shower of shrapnel all along the beaches of Normandy.  Dropping, one by one, they stormed ahead.  With the sacrifice of sweat, urine, and blood, they forged forward, across the beachhead and into the cliffs that lay within their grasp. As one died, another took his place, and, collectively, they gained ground and within a matter of hours decided the fate of the world.

For years they had waited for this.  For years, the dream of when a second front on the main continent of Europe would be opened to challenge the German Army was not only the faint misty subject of Churchill’s nocturnal dosing, but the bright and cheerful scenes of the Stalin’s nightly naps.  Now, it was to become a reality.

The storming of Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold, and Juno beaches, however, was not to come without a price.  The cost of opening that all important second front was to be in excess of 10,000 Allied casualties on that one day. Yet, that was just the beginning.  In the eleven months to come after the Operation Overlord Invasion of June 6, 1944, until the capitulation of the German forces in May of 1945, some 184,000 Americans gave up their lives. They were joined by some 200,000 British deaths.  I do not have the figures of other nationalities that suffered in that global conflict, but they were significant.

I don’t want to take anything away from those who have fought in Korea, Vietnam, the Granada Incident, the Panama Incident, the Nicaraguan Episode, the First Gulf War, the Second Gulf (Iraq) War, the Afghanistan War, or any number of our other “police actions” in which our nation has been engage, but if the men, who waded ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944, had not been successful, you and I would NOT be living as we are this day.  We would not be enjoying the level of freedom and liberty that we are blessed with in this nation, which, despite the errant failures of its national government, is still the best place in the world to live.

We are losing more and more of our World War II veterans.  It is reported that we lose about 1000 each day! The very youngest of these men and women (even the ones who lied about their ages) are now, easily, in their mid-80s.  Soon they will be all gone.

Before that happens, let at least one “baby boomer”, from the extremely early “post-war” era, say to them, “THANK YOU, and may GOD bless!” 
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“Hello, there, buddy boy”

By Dr. Gary D. Lemmons   (June 13, 2010)

 
I spent a lot of time at the home of my great uncle and great aunt, Sam and Elizabeth (Uncle Sam and Aunt Lizzie) Tyler when I was growing up.  The Flowertown community was fast being overtaken by the city limits of the town of Tullahoma, but there was still enough “country” left to make that little area special.

My relationship with Uncle Sam and Aunt Lizzie was unique.  Uncle Sam was a brother to my paternal grandmother, Cecil Mae Tyler Lemmons.  My Aunt Lizzie was the youngest sister of my maternal grandmother, Willie Bell Arnold Matthews.  To say that I was close to them is an understatement.  They were very much like grandparents to me, and that fact was intensified by the fact that both my maternal grandparents died before I was born.

Uncle Sam had been a railroad worker on the L &N Railroad, and he suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.  As a side, he was one of the most bow-legged men I have ever seen.  In the mid-1950s a proliferated ulcer almost killed him and by the early 1960s he was retired.  That did not mean, however, that he did not work.  Each year he had one of the most prolific gardens in all of the community.  He and Aunt Lizzie, not to mention several families, including my own, made it through the winter on vegetables raised by him and canned by my aunt and my Momma.

As soon as school was out in the spring in the early 1960s, I spent most of my summer days “down at Uncle Sam’s.”  Our house was less than a thousand yards up the road from his.  Many were the summer days I spent helping him, although more often I suppose I was in his way.

Uncle Sam was one of those individuals that never seemed to be out of sorts, even when he should have been.  I know there must have been many times when he would see me coming into his yard and he, doubtless, didn’t feel like company, but he would always grin and say, “Hello, there, buddy boy.”  The term “buddy boy” was his universal name for every male with whom he dealt.  The girls, he would call “honey.”

We had some hot summer days in those years.  Looking back now, it didn’t seem that they were that warm back then, but they were.  We never worked in the garden in the heat of the day, but in the morning and evening, we many times toiled on many chores.

Uncle Sam was an adult with whom a young teenage boy could talk.  It was easy to talk to him.  It wasn’t like talking to your Daddy.  I can’t explain why, but it might have been because Uncle Sam didn’t have to be the disciplinarian.  When you got out of line, your Daddy had to jerk you back to the straight and narrow.  Uncle Sam could coax you with questions or stories about his own shortcomings as a boy.

Uncle Sam and I had a lot of talks.  Thinking back, I believe he listened more than he talked, and in that there may be an important lesson.  We did a lot of work too.  I remember the summer we picked over 20 bushels of green beans off his vines.  Now that was a job.

Uncle Sam was a religious gentleman.  But he had not always been so.  In fact, he did not come to CHRIST until he was 54 years old.  However, in the 12 years he lived after he had the “change of heart”, he lived an example before me that was impressive and enduring.

Uncle Sam has been gone a long, long time, but his memory remains with me today fresh and crisp.  GOD willing, I look forward to a “summer day” sometime in the great beyond and to hearing his voice and those thrilling words, “Hello, there, buddy boy.”
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Creative Thinking Needed in Georgia

Dr. Gary D. Lemmons © June 20, 2010

As I listen to the Georgia gubernatorial candidates (and there are a bunch of them this year), I am amazed that, in the throes of “the Great Recession”, we have such a lack of creativity and critical thinking in dealing with the challenges that face our state.  In fact, if one removes the Power Point presentations and some of the other bells and whistles, the campaign could sound like a “golden oldie” from the 1970s…tight budget, shortfall in revenue, and expanding needs.

The situation, of course, is dire.  Georgia’s projected 2011 budget is some $ 2.5 billion dollars less than the 2010 budget and it is balanced on a projected growth in state revenue funds of 8.5%.  In recent years, Georgia’s revenues have decreased substantially due to the economic decline both in state and nationally.

The next governor of Georgia is going to have to “hit the ground running.”  The legacy of Sonny Perdue will prove quite a challenge to overcome.  The new governor will need to be able to “think out of the box”, to be creative in her or his approach to grappling with the difficulties that confront our state, and, most importantly, to not be afraid to try new and radical solutions to the problems that face our citizens.

Some examples and suggestions for our future state chief executive, whoever he or she may be are as follows:

1.       Consider a total renovation of our state tax system basing the foundation on a consumer theme as opposed to the producer theme.  

2.      Consider a total renovation the state’s public education system.  For example, do we really need 189 separate school districts? How much in revenue could be saved if we consolidated a number of the smaller “fiefdoms” and managed the business side of public school (the school boards and central offices, NOT the classrooms) like a business?

3.      Consider the total renovation and streamlining of state government.  How many agencies and bureaucracies could be reduced or totally done away with, if we set our mind to it.

As I give ear to the politicians, who are vying to move into 391 West Paces Ferry Road NW, I hear a lot of the typical rhetoric…“foster and create jobs, encourage business, support families,  improve education, and (as the King of Siam would say in the musical “My Fair Lady”,  “etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.”

What is lacking among the tribe running for governor is a clear plan with specifics to accomplish the admirable goals of meeting challenges and solving the problems of our state.  There is “lots of sound, but not much fury.”


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Political “Lawn Litter”

By Dr. Gary D. Lemmons   (June 27, 2010)

Ah, the primary election season is upon us once again as can be evidenced by the explosion of political “lawn litter” throughout the various neighborhoods around our state.  Every two years or so, this phenomena appears when candidates attempt to saturate the countryside and the city streets, as well, with signs advocating their elections to the various offices for which they are vying.

Most politicians and their campaign supporters start out with their respective bases…friends, neighbors, and relatives.  From there they venture out into less familiar communities within the district or post from which they are running and attempt to distribute as much of their advertising as possible.

Some of the signs can be quite large. These, for the most part, are designed to be placed at strategically located sites where a lot of other candidate signs are allowed to be congregated…at major intersections, on large open, neutrally located lots along well-traveled thoroughfares, and near liquor stores.  However, occasionally, a relative or good friend of a candidate will allow one of the giant signs to be placed on a front lawn or in a field abutting a major highway.

Over the years, I have known a few candidates who have had the resources to afford the large billboard signs.  Now that is where real money can be spent.  In this day and age of technology, the animated billboards are extremely expensive, but equally effective.  The face of a candidate suddenly appearing on a billboard on the side of a large building as one drives into the downtown business area of one’s city can exact a lasting response.

Of course, the massive amount of political “lawn litter” continues to be the small signs that are placed on wire braces in the front yards of the candidate’s supporters.  It is generally believed by the candidate that if a person puts up the candidate’s sign, that person will support said candidate.  Also, it is a commonly held belief that the more signs a candidate can get displayed, the more support the candidate has. 

Sometimes these beliefs are true, but not always.

I do not display political “lawn litter” in my yard, even for good friends.  There are two good reasons for this. 

First, political “lawn litter”, in my aesthetic opinion, just looks bad.  It reminds me of those less than attractive “Yard Sale, Today” signs that one sees as one travels around the country on Saturday mornings.  I don’t want my lawn looking like that.

Second and most important, I am never really totally committed to any candidate until the instant that I mark the ballot for that person.  At any moment during the campaign, if the candidate veers from what I feel is my position or (as in most cases) close to my position, I reserve the right to change sides.  Consequently, I would not feel comfortable putting up a candidate’s sign until right after I vote on Election Day and by that time it is too late to do any good.

I mentioned earlier in this column that the belief, the more political “lawn litter” a candidate has displayed the more support the candidate can count upon, is not always true.  To illustrate this, consider the fellow I knew who ran for sheriff in one of our north Georgia counties several years ago.  He had a massive campaign and I would not be exaggerating to say that he had displayed throughout the modest-sized county in excess of 5,000 signs.  He came in third!

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We Hold These Truths

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, July 4, 2010

 

On this day 234 years ago the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence. That magnificent document, which arguably may be described as the “birth certificate” of this nation, is, in the opinions of many, the greatest and most comprehensive explication of freedom and liberty ever put on paper.

There are many sentences and sections of the Declaration of Independence that stir the hearts of humankind with the thrill of the promise of the endeavor that the men, who drafted it, were about to engage upon. However, the soul of the declaration, I believe, can be found in these lines:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.


That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

In the world in which we live, there are many who have come to believe that, once again, government may have come to be destructive of the ends for which it was founded and set-up following this declaration and the Revolutionary War that followed.  Some of our more radical citizens have even spoken of taking up arms against lawful authority.

For those who would advocate a more radical approach, I would point-out that we have a mechanism to insure the preservation of our liberty that was not available to our forbearers in 1776…the ballot!  Periodically, we have the opportunity to go and cast our votes to ratify or reject the actions of those we select to govern us.  So long as we enjoy and exercise the franchise, our liberty and our freedom is safe from the usurpations of those who would limit it.

Happy Fourth of July, and I will see you at the polls!

Got a Light?

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, July 11, 2011

Recently, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s column, “Get Schooled,” was a disturbing report that smoking among the teenage population appears to be growing again. In 1995 it was estimated that 34.8% of high school students smoked.  That number dropped to 21.9% in 2003, but, then, reports “Get Schooled,” the rate of decline stalled.

In a recent study issued by the Center for Disease Control, researchers found that 19.5% of high school students take a puff on a regular basis.  Further, the number of addicts among high school girls seems to be increasing.  This is due to the weight loss benefits (perceived or otherwise) that the use of tobacco, especially cigarettes, can provide.

Strange, but on T.V. today one rarely hears any public service announcements about the dangers of tobacco, especially smoke-related dangers.  It seems that our anti-smoking educational effort, like most everything else of value has been left to the realms of the public schools, and I doubt that there is a question on the CRCT or the Georgia High School Graduation Tests about the dangers of smoking!

When I was a boy, my father was a smoker.  For the entire time I lived at home, I was exposed to the influence of second hand smoke.  As a teenager, without my Dad’s permission, of course, I tried smoking, but never on a regular basis so I never became addicted.  

At Tullahoma Senior High School, where I attended classes, smoking was permitted.  One had to have a “smoking permit” and that involved bringing a note from parents, and my Dad, although quite the nicotine addict himself, was determined that  my brother and I were not going to become such.

In college, I took it smoking a pipe for a while.  After all, one had to attempt to look studious, but I was too lazy to keep up with all the utensils that smoking a pipe entailed and so I gave that up too. For close to 30 years I have not had a puff of anything.

In the early 1980s, school rules regarding smoking and other tobacco products changed.  As a school administrator responsible for discipline, I, for many years, was called upon to deal with students, who violated the school rules against tobacco of any kind on campus. During those episodes, I came to realize just how much of an addiction the use of tobacco is.  For many, it is just as compelling as cocaine or heroin!

I do not know what the solution to reducing teenage use of tobacco is.  Punitive measures have only a cursory effect.  Educational efforts are expensive and have only marginal influences at best.  Certainly, parental behavior plays a role, but I am not sure of just how much.

There is some evidence to suggest that if the society can sell the movers and shakers of the teenage generations on the idea that tobacco use, in general, and smoking, in particular, is not cool…the “peer pressure” effect might lead to a decrease in the practice.  The problem with the “peer pressure” effect, especially among teenagers, is that it is so fickle.

What I do know is that one-third of high school smokers will die prematurely of tobacco-related diseases.  What I do know is that the cost to society in health care dollars, whether in the private sector or under some new socialist medical services delivery model, will be enormous.  What I do know is that the lousy politicians and heartless bureaucrats will continue to do little to really combat this malady.

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The Georgia Primary

© Dr. Gary Lemmons, July 18, 2010

 

Philadelphia, PA…Come Tuesday, July 20, the voters of Georgia, in each of the two major political parties, will be asked to go to the polls in an effort to select the candidates who will bear their respective party’s standard for the various offices up for choice in the General Election in November.  Georgia’s primary is an open primary. That means that when voters go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be asked to declare in which party’s primary they wish to vote.  If a voter chooses to vote in the Republican primary then only Republican candidates for the various offices will be on the ballot.  Likewise, if the voter chooses to vote in the Democratic primary, only Democrats will be on that ballot.

The reason it is called an “open” primary is that in some states, when one registers to vote, one has to declare herself or himself a Democrat or a Republican.  In Georgia, we do not…until the day of the primary.  Of course, in the General Election in November, all candidates are on the ballot and no one knows, except the individual voter, how he or she votes…unless they wish to reveal it.

I voted early, a process which is authorized by law, because I knew that I, along with my grand children and some other members of my family, would be in Philadelphia on primary election day.  I have brought my grand children here during this week to introduce them to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Valley Forge in particular, as well as to some other interesting sites throughout the State of Pennsylvania in general.

Long after I am but a memory in their minds, I want my grand children to recall the day they stood with their grandfather in Independence Hall and heard how our nation was founded.  I want them to be impressed with the importance of the events which happened here.  I want them to digest the symbolism of the Liberty Bell and to know that it still rings out the tone of “liberty” and the chorus of “freedom” wherever men and women struggle to maintain them.  And, too, I want them to come to understand something of the sacrifice that is always required to maintain “liberty” and “freedom” from the snares, both overt and covert, of the oppressors, who would love to wrest them from us. Valley Forge is a great place to learn that lesson.

Now, as to the election; I voted in the Republican Primary…not on account of being a Republican, which I am NOT.  Rather, I voted in the Republican Primary because there were some candidates on that slate that I could vote “for” (e.g. Johnny Isakson, Becky Hood, Nan Barnette, Dick Gordon, Tom Graves) as opposed to the Democratic Primary slate on which I would have found myself voting “against” various candidates more than I would have been voting “for” their opponents.  The fact that I voted Republican in the primary election DOES NOT assure that I will push the Republican button in the General Election in the fall.  I am, at heart, a Samuel Adams Federalist, and there are very, very few of us around today.

If you have not already voted, as is authorized under the law, I hope that you will go to the polls come Tuesday, July 20, and perform that duty.  Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, whether you are a liberal or conservative, whether you are a progressive or a reactionary, whether you are a lousy politician, an idiot bureaucrat, or an honorable citizen, too many good men and women have given their life’s  blood for us to enjoy the franchise.  We must not insult their sacrifice by ignoring the awesome duty of casting our ballots!

I hope “you” are seen at the polls!
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The Georgia Gubernatorial Election:                                                               Shifting Into Second Gear

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, July 25, 2010

The first round in the political contests leading to the selection of Georgia’s governor for the next four years is history.  The primary elections, held last Tuesday, saw “King” Roy Barnes sweep the Democratic primary and become that party’s nominee for the office that he held from 1999 until 2003.  On the Republican side, former Georgia secretary of state, Karen “Bring It On” Handel and, former ninth district congressman, Nathan “Real” Deal, garnered enough votes to require that they face off against each other in a run-off on August 10.

Barnes, who was taken to the woodshed in the 2002 election by Georgia schoolteachers, seems to have experienced something of an epiphany when it comes to his old campaign issue of education.  He has promised “no teacher furloughs”, “no reduction of school years”, and “increased financial resources for schools.”  Indeed, he carries his “pro-resource provision by government for education” over into his “Make Georgia Work” theme for the entire range of economic maladies suffered by the state.  Unfortunately, he is strangely silent about from whence the monies will come to finance these bold and decisive programs of expansion and innovation of government services and support.

Handel and Deal are not that different on the issues. Ironically, their major difference, which really isn’t that much of one, centers on the one issue a state governor can do little about…abortion.  Both candidates claim to be of the “right to life” cut of the cloth, however, Handel, it seems, would allow governmental financing for abortions in the event of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.  Abortion, like it or not, is a settled matter of law, and until a United States constitutional amendment is enacted, which prohibits it, state governments are spitting into the wind to try to limit it.

Both, Deal and Handel talk much about providing tax breaks and extending supportive legislation to business (small or otherwise) to encourage economic growth and entrepreneurial success.  However, just as in the case of Barnes on the Democratic side, they lack specifics.

Whoever emerges as the 82nd governor following the general election in November, is going to need to “hit the ground running” come next January.  Among the items with which the new state chief executive is going to have to wrestle are:

1.       Creating new and sustained job growth,

2.      Developing a comprehensive business encouragement plan,

3.      Developing a comprehensive water management plan,

4.      Developing a continuing transportation improvement plan and expanding transportation resources, especially in the area of light rail,

5.      Adequately and fairly funding public schools,

6.      Developing a comprehensive plan to improve and extend health services to all Georgia citizens,

7.      Revising and improving the tax code.

These are the major items that will be on the plate of the next governor.  He or she will need strong critical thinking and creativity skills to deal with these matters.  I will be looking, with interest, for a hint of these skills in the weeks ahead. 

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A Visit with the Amish

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, August 8, 2010


A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel with Miss Debbie, our elder daughter, Charlene, and our two grandchildren, McClain and Mary Margaret, to Pennsylvania for what we jokingly called the “Liberty Tour.”  We spent several days in the Philadelphia/Valley Forge area, then, we journeyed into the Amish country of Lancaster County.

I was a bit concerned as to how much my grandchildren would enjoy the Amish country experience.  I knew that my wife and daughter would enjoy the crafts and various canned goods and food items that are unique to that part of the country.  However, I was afraid that my grandchildren, being 21st century people, might become bored with the simplicity of it all.

Nothing was further from the truth.

First of all, we stayed at the Family Inn Motel in Bird-in-Hand, one of the small and colorful towns along the Amish strip of US Highway 30.  The motel is clean, comfortable, and conducive to families.  With three swimming pools, a child friendly (with adult supervision, of course) workout area, and with a video game room, all of the necessities for 21st century kids are provided.

Second, we visited Intercourse, PA, right down the road from Bird-in-Hand and enjoyed the various shops and venues in the miniature shopping center located in the heart of town.  Then, we explored some of the more local shops along the main highway.

By far, the crowning experience of this portion of our “Liberty Tour” was the “Visit-in-Person” tour to three Amish homes.  That "tour", which is handled by the Amish Experience at Plain and Fancy Farm (http://www.amishexperience.com/tours/viptours.html), is an absolute “must” for a successful visit to the Amish country.

The tour began with a visit to an Amish milk farm at milking time. The ingenuity of the Amish farmer, as he met the health requirements of the dairy industry, yet maintained the standards of his Amish beliefs, demonstrated highly creative thinking.  The work of the farmer, his wife, and children is very manual, and I quickly remembered why I never gave a second thought to taking up farming as a life’s work!

Our second stop was at the home of an Amish family with a cottage industry.  This industry involved the growth, harvesting, processing, design, and distribution of decorative gourds.  Imagine a small factory, churning out a product, yet without using electricity.

A side interest at this location was the presence of four teenage girls, all ranging near my grandson’s age.  They managed to find a reason to stay around while we toured the business.  I don’t think McClain is ready to give up his I-pod, computer, and video games just yet!

The final part of the tour consisted of about an hour visit in the home of John and Sylvia and their six children...a true Amish family.  After a brief look at their living room/dining/room kitchen area, we were escorted outside and sat under large shade trees in the cool of the evening.  A good conversation ensued.  They answered our questions and asked some of their own.  A point of interest…they understood about my favorite sport, horseshoe pitching, but they never really got a handle on McClain’s favorite sport…Lacrosse. 

Our conversation was enjoyable and educational.  We had a good time.

Toward the end of our visit, the family sang a hymn for us, and I was taken back to another yard, under some other trees many years ago, when members of my family sat and conversed in the cool of the day and when, on occasion, someone would break out into a hymn.

I grew-up in a “separate” (one of the most conservative in the denomination) Baptist family.  Our heritage is traced from the Anabaptists.  So, too, is the history Amish! 

Perhaps there is a kinship.  

I don’t think I am ready to give up air conditioning, the Internet, or electricity, but we all might do much better if we spent a little more quality time out under the trees in the cool of the evening, singing a few hymns.

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AN OPEN COLUMN TO ROY BARNES AND NATHAN DEAL 
 © Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, August 15, 2010

 
Hello, boys.

Congratulations!

You boys have been selected to be the “banner bearers” for each of your respective political parties…you know the “Demoncats” and the “Republifools”…excuse me, my prejudice is leaking through…the “Democrats and the “Republicans… for the office of governor of the sovereign State of Georgia in the November general election. This is a significant honor.  You fellows have worked hard for it, and you deserve all that you have coming to you as you move toward the “day of decision”, November 2, 2010.

Now, I have been told by some of my friends that, through the "Facebook", my emails, the talks that I am invited to give around the state from time to time, and this, my “Mid-South Philosopher” weekly column, I have the ability to influence several thousand voters here in Georgia.  I don’t really believe that.  I think my friends are just trying to make me feel good.  But, just in case you are interested in getting my vote and having my influence exerted in your behalf, I am writing this column to tell you what I expect of you.

First of all, if you want my vote, you are going to have to drag your “pompous posteriors” (and both of you are like me…you haven’t missed many meals) to my home here in Gordon County.  I am the easiest man to find; just ask the sheriff.  I expect you to knock on my door, shake my hand (I like that “pressing the flesh” stuff), and ask me to vote for you.  It is just this simple, if you don’t have time to come see me, I don’t have time to go vote for you!

Please don’t have Sarah Palin or Bill Clinton to “robo-call” me.  That irritates me, and I had just as soon hang up on the “Momma Grizzlie” or the “Arkansas traveler” as any other d*mn telemarketer!  So, don’t do it!

Don’t send a staffer or (GOD forbid) one of your relatives to see me.  I’ve dealt with enough rift-raft in my time.

If you come to my home, I will invite you in, and Miss Debbie will serve you a cup of hot coffee or a glass of iced tea, while we talk.  If you are really nice and act like somebody, I will serve you a little “sour mash whiskey” before you go…so long as you are not driving an automobile.

Now, I like both of you boys.  I believe you are good men.  I haven’t always agreed with you, and sometimes I have believed that you were down-right idiots.  By that is not an unusual thought for me to think about politicians.  

For example, Bro. Roy, when you were governor before, you were for changing the Georgia State Flag.  So was I!  I thought we needed a flag to represent all of our citizens, but you didn’t trust the people of Georgia to do what was right and you worked a change in “ramrod” fashion.  That was arrogant, Bro. Roy, as was a number of your other acts as governor.

My greatest disagreement with you was the A+ Education Act of 2000.  This was a precursor to the No Child Left Behind (no teacher left with one) Act of 2002…that meritorious, yet, illogical legislation that has stolen the soul of public schools in much of America.  I haven’t forgiven you for that, and you are going to have to do a d*mn sight better in convincing me that you have had an “epiphany” with respect to public schools before you have a chance of getting my vote.

Now, Nathan.  I understand that you may have some ethics problems stemming from your time in the Congress.  I haven’t heard too much of the details of what these allegations may be, but in light of the difficulties of Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters and the assertion by Maxine that other members of Congress have “played loose” with the rules…well, boy, I just hope you have been straight!

My main concern with you, right now, is that you are supposed to be a “conservative”, yet there are times when you seem like a “reactionary.”  For example, you say that you think that the national government should stay out of the individual’s business as much as possible.  I have heard that you are opposed to Obamacare.  Me too! 

Do you believe that the government should stay out of my doctor’s office?  

I do!

And I, also, think the government should stay out of the office of a doctor treating a woman for pregnancy!

Oops, that changes things doesn’t it?  It is not so clear anymore is it?

Now, before my “right to life” friends have cerebral hemorrhages, I am “right to life”, too, but I don’t want the government making medical decisions for anyone!

Now, another thing, I want our borders (northern, as well as, southern) secured.  However, I don’t want the Congress messing with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution!

Now, if you boys decide to come see me…, and I that doubt you will…I am going to ask you some hard questions. I want to know “how” you are going to deliver on some of the “miracles” that you have promised.  I know that both of you are good Christian boys, but I doubt that either of you have a guarantee from JESUS on the delivery of some of the things you have committed to do.

My invitation is open.  I will listen.  But I promise “you” that if you don’t come to see me, I will either not vote in the governor’s race in November, or I will pull the lever for John Monds, the Libertarian, and I may do that anyway.

I will be waiting to hear from you.

Gary
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Covered and Uncovered 
 © Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, August 21, 2010

 
When I was a boy growing-up in Tennessee in the 1950’s, almost all men wore hats of some description.  Insurance salesmen, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and any assortment of other male professionals would not think of leaving home without a Fedora.  Occasionally, one would see a Homburg, but usually this was worn by a banker or a judge.  Very, very rarely a Bowler or a Panama would be seen, but that usually meant that the wearer was from “off”…not a local individual.  Late in the decade, the Porkpie became popular among some of the younger men, especially golfers. 

Tradesmen… mechanics, boilermakers, pipefitters, and other laborers usually wore some sort of cap.

Farmers ranged from the "farmer" Fedora to the Stetson, as did the “pseudo-cowboys.”  Many railroad men had distinctive caps, but, the further down the chain one fell from railroad engineer, the less decorative the headwear became for the employee.

When I was a boy, men, when they met a women on the street, would tip their hats, caps, or what-have-you and usually say something like, “Morning, Ma’m” or “Afternoon, Ma’m”…depending upon what time of day it was.  There was a historical reason for this.  In ages past, when people were a lot less clean in body than they are now, lice were rampant among the population.  Long eons ago, it became the form for a man to tip his hat to a lady as an assurance that he was clean and did not have head lice. With the passage of time, the act of “tipping the topper” became a signal of respect and no self-respecting man would disrespect any woman by omitting the gesture.

When I was a boy, men, upon entering a building, would take off their hat or cap.  Now, if the building was a barn or a large store or a warehouse, they often would not.  However, if the building was an office, a small business, or a restaurant, off would come the cover, and even the most uncouth country bumpkin would not enter another person’s home without removing his hat and wiping his feet at the door.

When I was a boy, men would never dream of sitting down to eat with their hats on their heads.  I well remember when I was about 4 or 5 being under the large trees where my Papa Lemmons and his co-workers on Mr. Bill Jones’s farm gathered for dinner (that is what working people called “lunch” back then).  Those men would gather round to enjoy the noon meal and off would come the hats and caps as they enjoyed the shade of the mighty oaks towering over them.

In 1961, John F. Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States.  He did not wear a hat on a regular basis and by the end of the decade many, many professional men had discarded the fashion of a head covering.  Tradesmen, however, continued to wear caps, and with all sorts of designs from “Confederate logos” to “tobacco advertisements” to the admonishment, “kill ‘em all and let GOD sort ‘em out”, the wearing of caps flourishes even today.

Today, a lot of folks wear caps.  Only a few of us wear the Fedora or some semblance of headgear of yesteryear.  However, those who wear…wear!

Miss Debbie and I were sitting in a restaurant recently at lunch.  In and around us were at least a dozen men…good men…working men…men who are to a credit to their families, their communities, and their country.  

What was unique about them?  

I was the only one in the bunch who had his hat removed.  The others, all cap wearers, were chomping away on their buffet morsels while their caps were snuggly on their heads.

Now, I am not bragging or boasting, but when I pass close-by a lady in a public place, I tip my hat.  That was what my Momma taught me that a man is supposed to do, and I don’t figure that Momma had it wrong.  I have received some nice smiles in return, especially from some of the ladies more of my age or older (yeah, there are a few folks older than me), but I have also gotten some strange looks, especially from some of the younger females.  I just keep walking and hope that I am not reported as a “pervert!”

It is really none of my business if a man wants to wear his cap in the house, while he is eating, or while he is taking a bath, if that thrills him.  However, the one thing that does gall me is men, young or old, standing at a ballgame for the National Anthem with their hand over their heart and their hat on their head!  

At least on that occasion, TAKE THAT DANG HAT OFF!

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Is There a Saturation Point 
  © Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, August 29, 2010

It is well known that radio pundit and personality (most of which is bad) Neal Boortz has a “hard line” on public schools and public school teachers.  At least once per day on his radio talk show, which airs generally from 8:30 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. on WSB - Radio and is syndicated across the country as well, he is sure to take a swipe at “government schools” as he calls them.  Additionally, he will almost certainly rant about the dangers of the “evil” and “powerful” “teacher unions” that (according to Boortz) dominate and control the all Democratic politicians and a large number of the Republicans.

I am not sure what happened in his life to cause Boortz to have such a “teacher-phobic” attitude.  Perhaps some teacher of yesteryear walloped with a paddle that broad posterior of his when he was in school for some transgression of deportment rules or some deficiency of study habits and that experience scared him for life.

Boortz contributes to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on a regular basis, and one of his latest efforts may be found at this location:

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/neal-boortz-reed-wrong-601299.html

There is, within this column, at least one statement that merits some consideration.  Boortz cites a Heritage Foundation study that calls into question the notion that “the more money spent on education, the more increase in student performance.”

I quote from the Boortz column:

The Heritage study contains a rather eye-opening chart showing a $9,000 increase, duly adjusted for inflation, in per-student spending in our government schools from 1970 to 2005. Now you might think that more than doubling per-student spending would really kick up those grades. You would be very wrong. Reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for that period remained flat. Reading is the key — the portal — to all education. We more than doubled spending over 25 years, and reading scores improved not one whit.

With respect to reading, Boortz and the Heritage Foundation are correct.  The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data reveals that the average reading scores between 1971 and 2008 for 9, 13, and 17 year olds are essentially flat.  More improvement seems to have been made with 9 year olds, but that may be due to the emphasis placed upon reading in the earlier grades of school.  The progress does not seem to flow on in any significant degree to the middle and high school years.

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2008/2009479.pdf

One might ponder the question.

With all the emphasis placed upon reading over the last 40 years, with the expenditure of millions of dollars on programs, techniques, strategies for more effective instruction of reading, and with the general desire of teachers, parents, and the public at-large for reading improvement, why have the average reading scores remained largely stagnant?

Now, I am NOT a reading expert, so I am not going to offer a “theory” as to why we are not more successful in reading.  A “theory” should be based, in some measure, on research and facts, and I have not done the work to shore up some sort of hypothesis.

Instead, I am going to offer another question…just something to think about…something that some of you younger professionals might want to pursue.

Is there an average reading skills saturation point among the population of American school age children?

In other words, are we destined to score about what we’ve scored over the past 40 years because that is the limit of our potential as a population?

Secondarily, was doubling the amount of per-pupil spending necessary to keep us on an even keel or would quadrupling the amount of per-pupil spending assured that we would have doubled the meager gains we have made?

I just don’t know, but maybe it is time for the reading experts to address the issue.
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A Tale of Two Mosques

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, September 5, 2010

 

Of late there has been quite a hue and cry against the building of an Islamic cultural center, including a Muslim place of worship called a mosque, some two and one-half blocks from “ground zero” of the destroyed World Trade Center, that magnificent structure that fell as a victim to Islamist terrorists on September 11, 2001.  I, myself, have expressed my opposition to the construction of the cultural center on that location owing to the fact “so many” of the victims of what has come to be known as “9-11” were not Muslim and “all” of the murdering terrorists professed themselves so to be.

Now, no one alleges that the Muslim owners of the property where the proposed cultural center/mosque is to be erected do not have the right to build there if they ultimately decide to do so.  It is their property.  I am assuming that they have paid the appropriate taxes and fees that are of required of similar property owners over the years. Consequently, they have the constitutional right to build their mosque and cultural center even though it may fly in the face of their alleged purpose to promote outreach and understanding between their religion and other faiths.

I suspect the Islamic cultural center/mosque will ultimately be built.  The political correctness of our age will assure it.  My best advice to the families and friends of the massive number of non-Muslims who were killed in the mass murders of “9-11” is simply to ignore it.  Leave it to its attendees.  Perhaps it presence will serve as another sort of reminder.

 

Change locations  over 1000 miles to the south to Murfreesboro, Tennessee

 

The Muslim community, which has existed here for many, many years prior to “9-11”, wishes to erect a new mosque on Veal Road in a community south of the city.  Enormous amounts of opposition have been raised to this construction.  The usual song of “too much traffic” in a “too crowded residential area” has been sung.

The truth of the matter is that a lot of folks in the area just do not want a Muslim house of worship in their community for any other reason than the fact that it is Muslim.  There was no facility attacked on Veal Road on September 11, 2001!

The opposition to the cultural center/mosque near “ground zero” in New York is in large measure a result of the national assault and injury that was suffered there.  The opposition to the Veal Road mosque is the result of prejudice and bigotry.

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The Mosque Controversy

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, September 12, 2010

The proposed mosque and Islamic cultural center to be erected some two and one-half blocks from “ground zero”, the site of the World Trade Center destroyed on September 11, 2001, has been one of the most emotional and controversial issues to confront the American people in sometime.  Additionally, it caused the ceremonies, held on Saturday, September 11, 2010, to be most difficult, especially for the families of the victims and the survivors of the attacks.

Near “ground zero”, after the solemn ceremonies of remembrance on Saturday morning were concluded, protest groups formed. On one side were the “anti-mosque/cultural center” protestors decrying the perceived effort of Muslims to “take over New York and Manhattan.”  Placards with such messages as “Never forgive, never forget; no WTC mosque” were waved.  On the other side, advocates of the mosque and cultural center bore banners stating, “The attack on Islam is racism" and “Tea Party bigots funded by corporate $.”

Clearly, in recent months there has been a manifestation of anti-Muslim sentiment in this country.  In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the home of my alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, there has been strong opposition to the building of a new Islamic mosque.  The Islamic community in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County was strong and active in the area long before “9-11.”  I have read a lot of the objections and listened to those in opposition, and, quite honestly, I find most of the arguments to be a weak veneer for the brutal truth…”we just don’t want it because it is the Muslims doing it.”

Other acts of vandalism and destruction have been committed against Muslim facilities around the country and, in New York, a Muslim taxi driver was stabbed for no other reason than being a Muslim.

One might question why has this serge of anti-Islamic feeling arisen now, some nine years after “9-11.”  I think the answer may lie in the situation that American society finds itself in circa 2010.

First, our nation is in the third year of the worst recession since the Great Depression.  Many of our people, myself included, have never experienced these economic difficulties before. During hard times, it is natural to look for someone to blame, and it is much easier to blame someone who is markedly different from us.  For example, it is easy to rail against the massive number of illegal aliens allowed into the country by an inept national government that cannot or will not secure its borders.  It is easy to rail against the free trade decisions of three presidents that have shipped thousands of jobs overseas and ended America’s preeminence as a manufacturing nation.  It is easy to be critical of large banks that were forced by government regulations to make risky loans to less than qualified borrowers in the interest of ethnic and racial equality.

Of course, it is not as easy to rail against Aunt Susie, who hires the Mexican girl, Isabella, to come in and do the laundry, ironing, and housekeeping on Mondays and Thursdays.  It is not as easy to rail against Uncle Fudd, who hires Manuel and Sabo to do the lawn work and to build that nice out building.  It is not as easy to rail against you, yourself, when you stop off at Walmart and purchase, at bargain prices, the clothing, household products, and other items that are manufactured in Pakistan, India, or China. And, it is not as easy to rail against Cousin Cicero, who managed to get a home loan in 2007, even though his work ethic wasn’t all that strong.

Many of us suffer from economic hypocrisy.  We want things to be different, but we aren’t willing to make the sacrifices ourselves to make them different.  Ergo, we need to find someone to blame.

Second, we have seen the Obama Administration and the progressive Democrats in the Congress make a concerted effort to move the nation more and more toward a social democracy on the order of some of the European countries.  This is not new.  Since FDR’s initiatives in the 1930’s America has slowly moved toward a more socialistic state, but the degree to which our current leadership has pressed the effort has alarmed many Americans.  Thus, we have had the rise of the “Tea Party” movement. These folks have taken on the politicians, both progressive and conservative, but principally progressive.  At the “town hall meetings”, in private audiences with constituents, and in public protests, American politicians have been called to account.  An additional factor is that there exist a significant number of the citizens who are not “Tea Party” members, but who are slightly right of center.  These voters, coupled with the “Tea Party” activists and the “died-hard” Republicans, will topple the progressive Democrats from power in the 2010 election.  The House of Representatives is lost to the progressive Democrats, and there is a real possibility that the Senate majority may change hands as well.

Third, the progressives, by means of their political rhetoric and via their supporters like that “intellectual giant”, Bill Maher, have promulgated the notion that anyone who disagrees with the progressive agenda must be a “racist.”  Quite honestly, the mainstream media has not done much to challenge that assertion.  One wonders how many people may have taken the attitude that if one is going to be charged with racism, anyway, why not be guilty of, at least, a little of it?!? 

Fourth, just as the anniversary of “9-11” was approaching and the controversy about the erection of a mosque and cultural center was in high gear, come Pastor Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, Florida.  This “pastor” in an “outreach” effort proposed to “burn” copies of the Qu’ran, the Islamic holy book, on Saturday, September 11 as a protest against the “fanatic” Muslims.  For several days, Pastor Jones was the center of the domestic news.  He received a lot of attention and a number of indirect messages from such folks as President Obama and General David Petraeus.  At length, he received a personal telephone call from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.  Finally, he heard from a “higher source” and announced that, "We feel that God is telling us to stop."

It is interesting that in the mainstream media, Pastor Jones was often referred to as an “extremist”, which he is, and as “a nut”, which is an opinion.  One can’t help but wonder what the reaction would have been if that latter descriptor had ever been used about Minister Lewis Farrakhan.

My position on the mosque and cultural center near “ground zero” is quite well-known.  The Muslims, who own the property and comply with all the legal requirements like anyone else, have the constitutional right to build their facility.  However, the hope that Imam Feisal Rauf has enunciated that the cultural center will be an outreach to bridge the gap and bring understanding among the differing religions will be, at best, marginalized.  Owing to the massive opposition to the venture, I suspect it will be about as successful in promoting an “outreach” of understanding as Pastor Jones’s marsh-mellow roast would have been.
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Myth and Madness Revisited

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, September 19, 2010

 
In her Sunday column this week, entitled Myth and Madness, New York Times pundit, Maureen Dowd, expounds upon her belief that Christine O’ Donnell, “Tea Party” supported winner of last week’s Delaware Republican primary race for U. S. Senator, is living in a fantasy world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/opinion/19dowd.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Dowd cites a number of references that O’ Donnell has used in speeches to such literary works as “The Lord of the Rings” series and C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books.  In typical liberal fashion, Dowd also takes a swipe at O’Donnell’s religious remarks relative to the role of women in the family as defined by “fundamentalist” Christian beliefs.

Dowd’s point is that, whether or not one agrees with O’Donnell, the 41 year old, tea partying, Republican has incited both “passion” and “myth” in her campaign.  She has touched a cord, at least with Delaware Republicans, that has ignited an excitement and passion.

Dowd spends the final sentences of her column musing that the Obama administration is struggling in a state of “bloodless rationality.”  She charges that the President, while understanding much about the forces that motivate the citizenry, is just not connecting with the  people in a sphere of empathy, much less sympathy.  She asserts that the President seems “put upon and impatient with reality.”

After reading Dowd, who is notoriously liberal, one feels that the Obama presidency is in great trouble.  While it isn’t said outright, the feeling of impending implosion is there.  Now, I don’t suspect that it will be cataclysmic in nature, although I could be wrong if we have another recession before we recover from this one; rather. I think the blood will drain slowly from the administration.  If the November elections go badly for the social Democrats (and they will) and if the “real” unemployment rate does not drop to around 6% by this time next year, there is a good chance President Obama may have a primary challenge from an old political figure, who, given the right circumstances, might just take the nomination from him.  We shall have to see how that “myth” plays out in the political arena.

In her column, Dowd also said, “Tea Party is basically a big tent for anger.”

Dowd is right.  “Tea party” members, by and large, are angry…angry at government growing and growing and becoming more inept in the functions that it assumes, angry at politicians who promise the moon on the citizen’s dime, angry at officeholders who pass legislative bills without reading them and who act arrogant and detached from the citizenry which they are chosen to represent.

But…what Dowd and other liberal pundits fail to understand is that the “Tea Party” is but a small “overt” expression of the larger “silent majority”…that vast number of citizens who do not attend meetings, do not march on Washington, do not become involved in the political sewer of campaigning, but who cast their votes religiously each national election.  That group is angry, too, for the same reasons, and the incumbent politicians have ignored those grievances with the attitude that “We know what’s best for you.” Folks, both “Tea partiers” and “coffee drinkers”, demonstrators and homemakers, professionals and blue color laborers are “mad”, and, come November, we will see how that “madness” plays out at the polls.
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Radical and Macabre

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, September 26, 2010

 
Christine O’Donnell would not have been my first choice had I been voting in the Delaware Republican primary election. She is, in my judgment, shallow and simplistic in her thought processes and some of her views, expressed in the past, border on the radical and macabre. Of course, Mike Castle, the Republican incumbent that she unseated for the nomination, has been the best Republican in the Democratic Party in Congress in recent years.  This “moderate” Republican has supported Obama Care, TARP, and Cap and Trade to name but a few social Democratic initiatives.

It is the conventional wisdom that populist nominees, like O’Donnell, who have been swept into their nominations by the Tea Party movement, are not going to be able to prevail in the general election.  The pundits assert that these nominees will not be able to withstand the challenge of more “traditional” candidates and that the electorate will return “business as usual” politicians to the halls of Congress.

I could be wrong, but I think that the pundits and conventional wisdom purveyors are going to be very surprised come the morning after the general election on November 2.  I believe there are going to be a number of incumbents looking into the mirror and asking themselves…what now!

The politicians for the last decade, on both the Democratic and Republican sides, have been pitiable.  The nation’s economy has been allowed to sink into despair and the unemployment rate has been allowed to rise dramatically.  Now, as a remedy to the situation, the social Democrats offer us more socialism and the corporatists Republicans call for a new version of “trickle down” economics.

Consequently, it is clear to me why more and more voters are turning to the less conventional, more colorful candidates.  When what you have is not working, when the time tested rhetoric of the current leaders is accomplishing nothing, why not embrace the radical and the macabre?

Such thinking is desperate and, as the world saw in 1933, dangerous.
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An Encounter with a Cherry Red Mustang

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, October 3, 2010

It was a Friday afternoon at the Quick Trip gasoline station and convenience store.  I was on my way to a meeting in Smyrna, Georgia, and I had pulled into the facility to fill up before hitting the Interstate and joining that wonderful Friday afternoon traffic horde.  As I guided my car beside the gas pump, I noticed a group of some eight young men standing by two pick-up trucks parked away from the gas pumps over near the air and water isle that was on the far side of the parking lot. These guys were standing there talking and drinking soft drinks reminiscent of the sort of thing my friends and I did decades before.

Suddenly, a high powered pick-up truck, pulling a trailer, swerved into the parking lot and glided up next to the air and water isle. On the trailer, anchored by hauling chains and booms, was a pristine, cherry red, 1980 Ford Mustang.  

In 1980, car lovers may remember, Ford offered, as their Mustang model, a 255-cubic inch V-8 engine which produced 119 hp. The design was created with the intention of providing a sporty, yet economical, vehicle. While the 1980 model was not all that well received by Mustang enthusiasts, who preferred the 302-cubic V-8 engine that Ford dropped from its Mustang line-up, others embraced the less gas guzzling, vehicle.

The gentleman driving the pick-up jumped out and, grasping the air hose from the adjacent compressor, began to fill one of the back tires on the trailer with air. He appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties, just about the right age to have been a boy who was just beginning to notice automobiles in 1980.

The boys standing by their pick-ups all began to focus on the vintage Mustang on the back of the trailer. It was clear that they were impressed with the vehicle as boys often are.

Just then from inside the white pick-up towing the Mustang, a lady emerged. Now, this lady, and I have no reason to believe that she was anything but a lady, was as stunning in her own right as the vintage vehicle on the trailer.  I would guess that she was in her mid-thirties, and it was clear that she was well-maintained. Her enviable figure and healthy physique were accentuated by the designer jeans and attractive blouse that covered her as though they had been form-fitted by seamstresses whose sole occupation was the production of her wardrobe. 

Her appearance on the scene had an intense impact on the collection of boys, here-to-fore, admiring the Mustang.  From the shuffle of the group, it was clear that their interest, while they tried to pretend that it was still on the car, had shifted significantly toward the this beautiful creature, who was now circling the towing trailer, examining the various chains and booms to assure their security.

In short order, the woman completed her inspection and returned to the passenger side of the white pick-up, but not before turning and giving the crowd of boys a warm smile.  Her male companion completed placing air in the tire on the trailer, jumped in the driver’s side of their vehicle, and drove away.  As they departed, the crowd of boys expressed a collective shuffle of appreciation and returned to their own conversations.

As for me, I completed filling-up my car with gasoline, and I could not help but chuckle.  In the great scheme of things, nothing ever really changes.  Always, somewhere, there is a group of boys, young, naïve, impressionable, who are smitten by cars or women or something that is entirely out of their league…either because of money or esteem.  At any extent, those “desirables” present themselves from time to time as a tease or a hint of what could be.

I would have liked to have gone up to those boys and told them…”Take heart, fellows, your time will come.  Work hard, be good citizens, do what is right, and you, too, may someday drive the pick-up with the vintage car of your dreams on the trailer behind and the girl of your dreams in the passenger seat beside you.”  I would have liked to have told them that, but they would not have believed me.  They would have thought that I was just a crazy old man.

Youth arrives at wisdom only by going through the growing pains of aging, and only by experience do we really come to understand what is of real value in life. 
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The “Civic” Soul

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, October 10, 2010

I believe that each member of humankind has an “immortal soul.”  It is, I feel, an intricate combination of spirit and intellect that transcends the mortal existence, the latter which is composed of the physical, intellectual, and emotional.  I am convinced that, at death, the “immortal” soul goes to a resting place prepared by ALMIGHTY GOD, according to how that soul has reacted in the human realm to the expectations of DEITY.  

For me, the proper reaction to the expectations of DEITY is repentance toward GOD and faith in our LORD JESUS CHRIST.  I strongly encourage it.  However, I understand that others have different ideas about the matter, and, while believing that they are “dead” wrong, I will “defend to the death” their freedom to worship (or not) according to the dictates of their own consciences.

The purpose of this little essay, however, is not to pontificate on the “immortal” soul. Rather, I want to put forward my belief that members of humankind also have a “civic” soul.

The “civic” soul involves the people, places, things, and ideas that we encounter about us.  It is composed of how we interact with those entities.  A part of it has to do with how we behave toward our fellow human beings and how we treat the resources we acquire.  Most importantly, it encompasses the question of how we impact all of that around us…people, places, things…for better or worse.

The “civic” soul for most of us is lost in short order after our demise.  Within a generation or two, most of the people who knew us are gone, too, and our contributions or detractions are forgotten by the society at-large.  However, for some small part of the population the infamy of history embraces their lives…presidents, politicians, national figures, entertainment stars, sports heroes, etc. are relegated to prominence of the history book and their “civic” souls are held to account for ages of people to come.

For example, school children, today, still learn of the great contributions of Washington and Lincoln, and school children, 200 years from now, will still be learning of the transgressions of Richard Nixon.

It might be a good thing for politicians and other public figures to keep that in mind.
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My 2010 Georgia Gubernatorial Endorsement 
  © Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, October 17, 2010

 
This year, more than ever before, I have agonized over the Georgia gubernatorial race. Two individuals that I have met and know, in an acquaintance sense, are representing their two respective political parties in this contest. Both men have experience in government, which, while not constitutionally mandatory for the job, certainly will be an asset in this era of economic and social instability. Both men have their own baggage from their political careers and, likely, have both stayed too long in previous political offices.

“King” Roy Barnes, of course, is a former governor of Georgia.  When one shells it all down, his time in office was a time of “arrogance” and “dismissive” attitudes.  His assault on public education, while well intentioned, contributed to the sterile and test obsessed environment we find in most Georgia schools today.  He hasn’t been charged with much in the way of legal wrong doing; however, he has had to amend his 2008 and 2009 tax returns, which is an embarrassment to someone running for governor.

(Note: One does have to cut “King” Roy some slack on this tax issue.  One needs to be half idiot and drunk to begin to understand the Federal Income Tax Code.)

Nathan “Shady” Deal served 17 years in the U.S. House of Representative, representing my congressional district.  His record was not all that bad, but, along the way, there were ethics and political deportment issues that were troubling. One of the major concerns was the allegation that he used his political office in Congress to pressure Georgia to continue the automobile inspection program that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his family’s automobile salvage business in the state. His latest controversy was his failure as a candidate for governor to disclose some major loans that he cosigned with his daughter and her husband.

The 2010 gubernatorial race has been one of the dirtiest in Georgia history. While some political ads (specifically the “good ole boys” having coffee) have been amusing, the level of vitriol has been high. But more to the point, neither “King” Roy nor “Shady” Deal have told me what they are really going to do as governor.  Oh, they have used the rhetoric…“create jobs”…being the cornerstone of their presentations…but they have been short on details, and it is clear that if either one does half of what he says he is going to do…some new revenue is going to have to be generated from somewhere and somebody!  I am getting that overpowering urge, again, to make sure that I have a large, economy-sized jar of Vaseline on hand.

Following the primary elections some weeks ago, by way of this column, I invited Roy and Nathan to come see me and ask for my vote.  I am told that they received the invitation, but neither has had the time nor the inclination to accept it. That invitation is now withdrawn.

My old friend Arbuckle often reminds me that,” in politics, we often have to vote for the lesser of two evils.”  However, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that “the lesser of two evils is still evil.”

Consequently, after careful and prayerful consideration, I am, today, endorsing and I will cast my vote for John Monds the Libertarian candidate for the office of governor of the State of Georgia.  

In this race, Monds has been the one candidate who has consistently stayed on issues and not on personalities.  He has enunciated his positions well and, while I am not in complete agreement with him on everything, I am impressed by his stance for smaller government, lower taxes, and more opportunity with personal responsibility.  Moreover, I am in agreement with the notion of more liberty and less legislation.

Do I think that Monds has a chance?

Did most Americans in 1776 think that Washington had a chance?

But be the outcome what it may, I will have the advantage over the next four years of being able to look into the mirror and know that I did not help to put either “King” or “Shady” in office.
===========================================================================================
 State School Superintendent Endorsement  © Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, October 24, 2010
 

While “King Roy” Barnes and “Shady” Deal have been ripping each other to threads, another political race in this state, possibly just as important as the gubernatorial contest, has been making its way toward November with the candidates acting like candidates instead of “silly, little boys.”  I am talking about the race for Georgia State School Superintendent.

More than any other function of state government, education places heavy demands upon our revenues. It is a vital component in the effort to strengthen and expand economic opportunities in our state. It is a measure of the value of our people, and for far too long we have lagged at the bottom of the range of comparisons with other states.

As in the gubernatorial race, there are three candidates vying for the office of state school superintendent.  Joe Martin carries the Democratic banner.  Dr. John Barge bears the Republican standard.  Kira Willis is the Libertarian candidate.

Joe Martin is steeped in the business world.  With degrees from Vanderbilt University and a MBA from Harvard, he has enjoyed much success in the economic and commercial world. However, he is not alien to the world of schools, having served as a school board member for 20 years, on three state commissions for school improvement, and as the executive director of the Georgia School Funding Commission.

Dr. John Barge is a career educator.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Berry College, a Masters and Specialist from the State University of West Georgia, and the Doctorate from the University of Georgia.  Currently the director of secondary curriculum and instruction in Bartow County Schools, he has been a middle grades and high school teacher, as well as, an assistant principal and a building principal.

Kira Willis is in her 18th year as a classroom teacher.  Currently residing in Roswell, she is a mother of two small children and that fact seems to have intensified her concern about the direction in which schools are moving.

With respect to issues, Joe Martin views the intrusion of the national government as a given. He believes that the “feds are here to stay”; consequently, he favors using the federal resources to the best advantage of the state.  While not agreeing 100% with the Georgia application for President Obama’s “Race to the Top” monies, now that Georgia has it, Martin proposes to use his very best efforts to make it profitable for Georgia.  Martin views school funding in Georgia as an area of major concern and one that will require a great expenditure of his time and energy to navigate.  Finally, he sees high stakes, standardized tests as a necessary tool, but not the end all to education.  He sees the need for a broader array of assessment instruments and processes.

John Barge sees no constitutional role for the national government in the education arena. However, he is realistic enough to know that he must play the hand he may be dealt.  He avows that he will move to carry out the provisions of Georgia’s application for the “Race to the Top” monies, and follow the guidelines of that program.  Barge, too, sees that his role will be one consumed in large measure by working with legislators and other authorities to improve the funding mechanisms and processes of Georgia schools.  With respect to standardized tests, he says that we have created a “toxic environment” in our schools with the massive testing and pledges to reduce and refine our assessment instruments and procedures.

Kiri Willis bases her campaign on the ABCs of education…“Accountability, Budget, and Choice.”

Willis would not only hold teachers accountable for the progress of students, but would hold parents and other child care givers accountable for the readiness and maintenance of the children.  She sees a dire need for the bridging of the gap between the classroom and the home.  With respect to budget, Willis favors making the most effective use of funds to deliver educational services to our children.  She is for eliminating most jobs that do not involve contact with students, and getting the most return for the dollar.  As for tests, Willis would carry the state to a biannual assessment module and make use of national tests that would give a more accurate portrayal of how our kids do when compared to those in other states. Finally, Willis would work to extend “choice” to more parents.  She urges parents to join her to“take ownership of our children's education!”

Unlike the gubernatorial race, the race for Georgia School Superintendent seems to be populated with good and worthy candidates.  I don’t have a major criticism of any of the three.  I believe they are all honestly interested in improving education.

That being said, while I respect Joe Martin’s record of service and while I like Kira Willis’s attitude about accountability that includes parents and those acting as parents, I believe the best choice for us in this race is Dr. John Barge.  In my judgment, he has the experience, the core values, and yet the sense to know that we often have to work with the opposition while attempting to achieve the common good.

I shall vote for Barge on November 2.=============================================================
When the Gales of November Come Early
(With Apologies to Gordon Lightfoot)
© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, October 31, 2010

Note:  This little song is put to the tune of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”



It was all in the game, 

just the call for a “change”,

that propelled Obama to victory.

 

The Bush years turned bad 

and the nation was sad

and the people were tired of the trickery.

 

The economy was down

on the farms and in the towns

and the gales of November came early.

 

McCain did his best,

and Palin did the rest

but the majority thought both of them squirrely.

 

So, off to the polls,

the voters did go,

and made Obama the winner.

 

But in a few months 

it was clear to the bunch

that Obama was just a beginner.

 

Does anyone know

where employment goes

in the face of a stimulus, gigantic?

 

The car makers came, 

And the bankers exclaimed

“Don’t mess with our bonus dynamics!”

 

Health care was so dear

and the Congress was clear

that every person must have it.

 

Barack said we’ve won

and the lawmaking’s done 

and now every person must buy it.

 

The pendulum swung, 

the “right” started to hum,

and the gales of November began churning.


 

Scott Brown led the way

at the dawn of the fray,

for America to “take back her freedom.”

 

Then Arlen went down 

with a pitiful sound

and said, “Boys, I think I’ve been beaten.”

 

When the primaries came

it was not all the same, for

new faces emerged as the winners.

 

The “tea party” rolled 

With Miller and Rubio 

and Murkowski and Crisp were much thinner.

 

And on the west coast

Jerry Brown started to roast 

as Meg Whitman’s campaign became heated.

 

Nevada came through

and right out of the blue

Harry Reid just might be unseated.

 

Then from Bidenland

with the “tea party” brand

came a “young witch” without a broomstick.

 

She cast her spells

but most folks could tell

that she was undone by the slapstick

 

The end of this song,

which could go on and on,

will be written come Tuesday for certain

 

We’ll all learn the rest,

for the people know best 

when the gales of November come early!

========================================================================================

The Enigma

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, November 14, 2010

It is reasonably clear that within the next 90 days Congress is going to confront one of the major tax issues of the last 100 years…whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts in whole or in part.  Whatever the decision, there are going to be significant consequences as a result.

It is projected that to extend the tax cuts for the middle class, only, will increase the national debt by about 3 trillion dollars. Adding in the top 2% of the highest earning Americans will raise that amount to 4 trillion.

The Republicans, who have given quite a bit of lip service in many campaigns over the past four years to reducing the national debt, do not seem too worried about this increase as it the result of “tax cuts.”  The Democrats, who never met a deficit they didn’t like, are suddenly concerned about this growing debt.

President Obama would like to make the Bush tax cuts for the middle class permanent, but to return the tax rates of the rich (those individuals earning over $200,000.00 and families earning over $250,000.00) to the pre-George W. Bush levels.  The Republicans, especially buoyed up by the “Tea Party” element, want to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent.

The 800 pound gorillas in the room are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  These “entitlement” programs, collectively, will cost the American people about 1.5 trillion dollars in 2010 or slightly less than half of the total $ 3.5 trillion budget.  Reform of these three major programs is vital, yet how to accomplish this reform and in what shape would these triad gods of American society would take remains an enigma that would challenge the reasoning of the Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, and the Sphinx!

Nevertheless, Congress, in all likelihood, will grapple with the issue of what to do with the Bush tax cuts when it returns for its “lame duck” session this week.  It is generally believed that some sort of compromise will be reached wherein the cuts for the middle class will be extended indefinitely, while the benefits for the wealthiest 2% will be extended for one or two years.

Don’t bet on it!

It would not surprise me at all if the Republicans hold fast to their demand that the tax cuts be extended permanently for all parties involved.  Such a bill would easily pass the House, but might become bogged down in the Senate.  If some of the more moderate Democratic Senators should support such a Republican effort, likely, the President would veto the bill.  Ultimately, we could wake up on New Year’s Day with a much higher tax bill for 2011 than we have “enjoyed” in a decade or so.  Of course, the new Congress could revisit the situation in January, but who knows.

 

The thing that troubles me is that I see no real effort, yet, to deal with the overriding issue of the economy.  Oh, the President has his Commission on Reducing the National Debt, but commissions are like congressional resolutions recognizing the contributions of Elmer Fudd. They make a little headline news and then they go away.  It is ultimately up to the Congress to deal with the entitlement enigma.  To that end, we shall see if this new bunch is any better than the last.
========================================================================================


Hog Killing Time

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, November 28, 2011


Not too many years ago, there was something in southern culture known as “hog killing time.” This usually occurred around Thanksgiving Day or within a week or so after that national holiday.

“Hog killing” was an annual harvest of the pork meat that farmers and some non-farmers had raised throughout the year and the purpose was to make sure that families had a generous supply of pork for the coming winter and spring.

“Hog killing” would often occur in several locations simultaneously and it was almost certain to involve a myriad array of family and friends at each location.  Each individual or group of individuals working together would have certain tasks to perform.  The killing and dressing was often the least enjoyable, but it was a necessity.  The meat, once the animal had been slaughtered, had to be processed properly or the danger of ruination was very real.

The first step following the slaughter was the butchering of the carcass and removal of delicacies like the lungs, intestines (called chitlins) and the liver.  Special procedures had to be followed to insure that these choice morsels did not go bad.  

The lard had to be rendered out of the hog and the cracklins and pork rinds processed.

The shoulders, loins, and ribs had to be taken, processed and packaged.  The hams, in particular had to be started on the curing process preparatory to their salting and smoking.

I am told that in some situations “mountain oysters” were harvested.  That didn’t happen in my experience.  I think it had something to do with my Momma’s position that it would be a “cold day in the Infernal Regions” before she would cook any of those things.

Sometimes there would be as many as twenty people working at one farm to get the task completed.  On occasion, if a crew got finished at one location they might relocate to another farm or slaughter sight.

The weather would always cooperate with the event.  It was usually brutal cold outside, so the fire necessary to facilitate the activities of cleaning and butchering was always welcome and the spoilage of meat due to the heat was virtually never to be a matter of concern.

I guess the real value of “hog killing time” was the sense of community and neighborliness that it provided those who participated in it, helping friends and family members prepare and preserve food for the coming winter and the spring ahead.  It encouraged friends and families to work together for a common purpose and to enjoy the labor even though it was often hard and often a filthy endeavor.

Now, I have to admit that I was never involved much in these ‘hog killings.”  By the time I came along, global warming had screwed up the weather and the big grocery stores like Kroger, A &P, and H.G. Hills made it a lot easier to just go into the town to procure the meat instead of doing all that work to “cure” it in the first place.

Still I have to smile when I hear an “old timer” (you know, someone who can call me, “young feller”) makes the remark… “Dang, it feels like hog killing time.”
Address to St. Johns’ Commandery No. 19, 
Knights Templar

Christmas Observance, December 6, 2010

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, PC, December 6, 2010


Eminent Commander, Past Grand Commanders, Officers, Sir Knights, Ladies and Guests:

 

I am deeply appreciative of having been requested to address St. Johns’ Commandery No. 19, Knights Templar, on the occasion of this our Christmas Observance for 2010.

 

As many of the Sir Knights know, the nature of my evening work schedule over the past several years has kept me from attending my Commandery conclaves on a regular basis, and I have missed the fellowship and the camaraderie for which St. Johns’ Commandery No. 19 is well-known.

 

I hope to do better in the future, but until we overcome the economic unpleasantness that has been brought upon us by the fallacies of our national economy and I manage to get a few people off my payroll, I may be absent from my station for some time to come.

 

It occurs to me that the financial downturns that our nation has experienced over the past three years or so merit some consideration as we enter into and embrace the Christmas season of 2010.  Many of us have been able to weather the financial storms and difficulties that have been brought upon our country with only a slight sense of sacrifice and discomfort.  Others, however, have experienced real travails and have had to make severe and dramatic changes in their life-styles and in their day-in and day-out activities.

 

One of the saddest things I have heard during this time is the story of a little boy and girl who were talking to some adult friends about wanting a particular toy. Desiring to impress upon the children the value of thrift, one adult friend smiled and said, “Well, you had better start saving up your allowance.”  The boy, who was older, said, “We don’t get an allowance.”  The little girl, in a quiet voice, followed with, “We got laid off.”

 

While this economic mess, in no way, has reached the level of severity of the Great Depression, still it has affected some in ways that are just as meaningful as that great economic morass of the 1930s was to my father and mother’s generation.

 

It occurs to me that there is a significant lesson to the troubles that we have experienced and are experiencing.  Also, it occurs to me that there is a significant opportunity in the challenges that we have faced and are facing.

In the last 50 years or so, one of the great criticisms of the Christmas season has been the great commercialization of the holiday.  In truth, it seems that for decades, the emphasis has grown upon the “things” that we can buy and give to one another.

The merchandising of products, goods, and services for gifts during this time has exploded into a large and vibrant industry.  Millions of dollars have been and are being spent on advertisements designed to hawk and encourage the purchase of the latest device with all the bells and whistles.

 

All of us, even the most frugal, have become a part of that “get and gimme” mindset.

 

Santa Claus, that jolly old elf, has become a powerful and dynamic telemarketer for the latest, optimum possession, and his sleigh and reindeers have been replaced by the UPS, Fed Ex, and DHL trucks.

 

We have complained about this commercialization for years, but, in truth, we have been a part of it and contributed to it with our investments in gifts for our own friends and families.

 

Now, it is true that all of us and especially those of us in Freemasonry have made some contribution for the less fortunate.  Many of our Masonic Lodges make contributions to the poor, the needy, the shut-ins, and some community service organizations during this time of year.  Many of our Lodges use this time of year to deliver fruit baskets to our widows and shut-in brethren. We all have received the “green envelope” appeal for our Masonic Services Association to use for the visitation program to members of our military services who are ill or wounded and in hospital.  We all have received a Christmas appeal from the Masonic Home of Georgia.  And our Knights Templar Magazine reminds us each month of the opportunities that we have for contributing and giving something for the benefit of others.

 

All of this is good.  And I hope that each Sir Knight has contributed in some way to all of these.  But there is the need for another kind of contribution, and, perhaps, the nature of our economic environment over the past couple of years makes that need more apparent.

 

The significant lesson that the difficulties that we have experienced in our nation in recent months is quite simple…people need people.

Our families, our friends, even our general acquaintances have a real need for us in the day and age in which we live. They have a need for our time and our attention.

Too often, in the course of our busy lives, our spouses, our children, our grandchildren need us just to sit and talk…just to spend some time devoted to listening to them…to hear their concerns…to let them share their thoughts and ideas, their fears and anxieties, and their hopes and dreams.

 

Conversation, which is said to be a dying art, is more than a voice mail or an email or the texting on a cellular telephone.  And conversation is needed in the 21st century as never before.

 

The significant opportunity that is provided to us in the modern world is that with all the technology at our disposal, we should be able to get the tasks of our usual vocations completed and be able to set aside a little time for family, friends, acquaintances, and, yes, brethren, companions, and sir knights!  We need to be supportive and encouraging to one another.

 

When we turn to the Christmas story…the old, old story…most of us know it by heart.  We know that the fall of man in Eden, as depicted in the story of Adam and Eve, resulted in the separation of humankind from GOD.  We know that GOD, through his servants, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, interceded to influence humankind to do good…, but humankind was unsuccessful.  To Moses, GOD revealed HIS law, a prescription by which humankind might merit the restoration of that relationship with the ALMIGHTY.  And the prophets of the Old Testament were sent periodically to warn the people of their transgressions and to admonish them to walk in the paths of righteousness.  But as GOD had already foreseen from before the foundation of the world, humankind was not up to the task.

 

And, so, on that Christmas night over 2000 years ago, Christ Jesus was born into this world…very GOD and very man.  And in that hollowed-out cavern being used as a stable, the Son of GOD was born and to that place days later came Magi (wise men) bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh…symbolic, if you will, of all the wonderful possessions and devices of this modern age that we might desire for our enjoyment and pleasure.

 

But, the greater gift was to be found in the manger…Christ Jesus…for he would grow-up and bring to us a message of hope and joy.  He would teach us to give of ourselves to others for their benefit and for his sake.  Finally, he would give the ultimate gift on Calvary…his life…as the perfect sacrifice for the atonement and salvation of humankind and our restoration to the ultimate relationship with GOD.  And aren’t we thankful that if we have repented toward GOD and placed our faith in Christ, Jesus will never “lay us off!” 

In this Christmas season, let us resolve to emulate, just a little, the role that our Savior exhibited so perfectly and give more of ourselves than of our things.

 

Let me take this time to tell you that each of you is special to Miss Debbie and me.  Over the years that we have been coming to this place, since I was first accepted into membership here in 1976 and since Miss Debbie joined me in 1981, we have come to think of all of you as a part of our family. We love you, and we wish for each of you and for your families a joyous and Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year, and may it please the Grand Captain of our Salvation that we may meet at this place many, many times again to bask in the spirit of this season.=========================================================================================

A Lot on the Plate of the Next Congress

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, December  19, 2010

 

The passage of the legislation to extend the Bush era tax cuts for all Americans, which was completed in the “lame duck” Congress last week, was, for many hours, by no means were a “done deal.”  While everyone assumed that it would ultimately be passed, the actions of several factions of the Congress could have easily derailed the effort.  In the history of the Congress, probably no piece of legislation was ever enacted that had so many members of the Congress dissatisfied with it.

The socialist Democrats were unhappy that the law retained some $750 million in tax cuts for those individual Americans earning over $200,000 and those American families earning over $250,000 annually.

The corporatist Republicans were unhappy that the tax cuts were not made permanent, instead of just being extended for two years, and that the unemployment benefits for some were extended for another 13 months.

Some members of the Congress, from both sides of the aisle, were troubled that the national government will have to borrow more money to pay for these cuts and benefits.

Like a lot of Americans, I have debated long and hard with many of my socialist leaning and corporatist leaning friends on how we should address the economic maladies here in these United States, and it is clear that folks on both sides have strong opinions.  I have attempted to listen with an open mind, but I must admit that my view of the situation is tempered by fundamental beliefs that I hold dear.

I believe, very strongly, in the dominance of the concept of “liberty.”  Now, there are countless pages of definitions of “liberty”, but to me, in a nutshell, it means the state of “being let alone.”  So long as I am not harming or endangering others, I ought to be allowed to do what I darn well please and the government ought to “let me alone.” 

I concede that government’s major responsibility is to protect its citizens from harm, but, in my judgment, that protection is meant to be from outside sources. In other words, assuming that I have not been adjudicated to be insane or mentally incompetent, the government should NEVER pass a law that “protects me from me.”

I admit that to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities, government must collect taxes and I freely and without fraud make submit to those taxations with only a modicum of griping and complaining as is common to all citizens.  I favor the universal consumption tax as apposed to the progressive income tax, but owing to Congress not wanting to give up the power for exempting special groups or deductions, etc., such ideas as the “flat tax” or the “fair tax” will never be enacted.

I believe that the national government is limited in what it can do to those matters outlined in the Constitution; however, it is clear that it has far and away overstepped those bounds, particularly as related to the nebulous “Commerce clause.”

With these prejudices and views in mind, when I look at the economic situation of our national government, I realize that we need to “trim to the bone” discretionary spending.  The infamous “ear marks” should be eliminated and any monies spent should be appropriated, debated, and voted on, openly, by the Congress.  Never again, should there be a “highway to nowhere” or the financing of a “study of the sex urges of men over 60.”

Having said that, the real “800 pound gorillas” in the room are the entitlements: principally…Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.  If we are to survive, economically, as a nation, the national government is going to have to revamp these three programs.  It is going to have to be done in a way that is fair to those people who have contributed in excess of 40 years and who are totally dependent upon the program and equally fair to those who have contributed 40 years, but because of hard work and ingenuity have means outside the Social Security System.  Even those people’s contributions, made in good faith over the decades, should be honored!

Dealing with entitlements is not going to be easy, but it is likely the most heroic thing that any Congress or President will do in the near future.

One last point is the issue of healthcare.  

It is clear to me that “Obamacare” will not work.  Its major premise (the individual mandate that every American must purchase a healthcare policy from a private insurer) is unconstitutional.  President Obama (and most second year law students) knows this, otherwise, he would ask the Supreme Court to expedite the case and render a decision.  Instead, he and the Justice Department is keeping the case in the lower appellant courts in the hope that one of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court will retire or die and he can appoint a new Justice, thereby, changing the “balance of power” on the court.  He may be surprised.  I happen to think that a couple of “liberal” minds on the current court may have actually read the Constitution and may understand what it means! 

Wouldn’t that be a “kick-in-the-pants” for the progressives?

That being said, we, as a nation must address the rising cost of healthcare.  In particular, the health industry complex “suits”(NOT doctors, nurses, and other medical workers) together with the health insurance “suits” cannot continue to glean the level of profits they have enjoyed…even during the Bush/Obama Recession…and not expect the people to demand that government act!  There are actions the national government can take against the corporations that will be constitutional and will protect the citizenry from abuse.

No doubt about it, there is “a lot on the plate of the next Congress.”
===================================================

 End-of-Life Planning May Be Necessary

Dr. Gary D. Lemmons © December 26, 2011

A new health regulation will take effect in January 2011that will provide “voluntary advanced care” planning services to recipients of Medicare funds.  It appears that the program will pay for counseling to help beneficiaries deal with difficult and complex decisions when a loved one is approaching death.  This, of course, is simply a form of the “end-of-life” planning provision that was a part of the proposed national health care program passed by the social Democrats in the 111th Congress.  The “end-of-life” portion was dropped from the legislation prior to it being enacted.

It is generally understood that the cost of medical care will continue to increase despite the best efforts of either progressive liberals or reactionary conservatives.  The national health care legislation has already resulted in a number of increases and likely there will be more if the law is left unrevised.

Even if the Republicans are able to change or even repeal “Obamacare”, as the national health care legislation has come to be hailed, the growing cost of health care services will continue under the corporatist dominated health care industry and the equally corporatist controlled health insurance agencies.  

We have all heard the horror stories of a patient in a hospital being charged $8.00 for an aspirin or some other ridiculous cost for an item that in the free market would have minimal expense.  However, the real costs are found in the medicines and the medical procedures that are available to patients.  For example, one form of a cancer fighting treatment involves pills that cost in excess of $350 each.  A round of treatment can exceed $25,000.  The frightening thing…this is just one of the more “inexpensive” examples of treatment that is available!

Increases in health insurance premiums and rising costs of health care services are, in time, almost certain to generate a call from the American people for some sort of government intervention.  Likely, that intervention will come in the form of some sort of socialized or nationalized system of health care distribution…probably along the lines of one of the European models.

At first glance, it seems ridiculous that the leadership in the medical care industry and the medical insurance industry should want to behave in such a way that they contribute to their own destruction.  The answer lies in the fact that most of these entrepreneurs are “corporatist.”  This means that they have embraced the notion that the “lord god”…profit…is all that is important.  Resources…natural, manufactured, technological, or human…are all expendable. The more profit, the better!  Also, they are counting on conservatives and independent thinkers, like me, to fight against nationalization or socialization of health care and to protect their fiefdom.

I fear that it will not happen.  When the people have no option and no longer can afford to provide health care for their children or their aged parents, in the post-modern world of the 21st century, their eyes shall turn to the government for succor.  Given the decline of the American economy and the disappearance of large portions of the American middle class, this end result may arrive much earlier than we think.

When nationalized health care or socialized medicine becomes a reality, the very nature of the beast will insure rationing of care.  A medical procedure costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars may not be justified for someone of great or even slightly advanced age.  Applications of various treatments based upon the state of the patient’s health or general condition cannot be far behind.   How long will it be before a “bureaucratic” panel…death or otherwise…begins to determine whether or not the worth or projected amount of contribution a person is expected to make to society is sufficient enough to warrant the expenditure of the cost of a given medical procedure or treatment.

Now, that isn’t to say that we don’t already have health care rationing.  As my progressive and liberal friends are quick to point out, in the free enterprise system, rationing is imposed by the cost of the medicines and procedures that one is able to afford…either by personal fortune or by insurance coverage.  Currently, someone having a severe medical problem but not having insurance coverage, can, by the raising of private monies, if that can be achieved, secure almost any sort of legal medical treatment. 

Conversely, when nationalized or socialized medical care is fully implemented there will be no recourse at all.  Even those with private resources will not be able to acquire medicines or treatments unless the health service bureaucracy approves.  To have any other scenario would violate the progressive notion of “fairness.”

Consequently, since nationalized health care or socialized medicine is coming, it seems altogether fitting and proper that the government use the Medicare program to begin the “end-of-life” counseling services that ultimately will need to be available to the public at-large when the big change comes.
=========================================================================================
 Snowy Weather, Politics, and a Wild Hog Supper
© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, January 9, 2011

 
The weatherman is calling for significant snow all across north Georgia beginning tonight (Sunday, January 9) and extending into tomorrow night. Accumulations ranging from 2-6 inches may be expected, with the occasional isolated dropping of 8-10 inches in the higher elevations. What is of more concern is the likelihood of sleet and freezing rain, which will compound driving conditions and could last well into Tuesday or (in some areas) Wednesday.

The prediction of winter weather in the south always produces a rush on the part of the people to stock-up on provisions (usually bread and milk) just in case the storm lasts for an extended period of time. Usually it doesn’t last all that long, and, with the exception of the “Blizzard of 1993”, most folks can usually be back safely on the roads within 36 to 48 hours after a southern snow has fallen.

This year the threat of inclement weather is coming on the eve of the inauguration of the new Governor of Georgia, Nathan Deal, and the convening of the 2011 Session of the Georgia General Assembly.  Plans are to hold the inaugural ceremonies outside on the steps of the Capitol on Monday morning.  Of course, if the elements are not conducive, the event can always be moved inside the chamber of the Georgia State House of Representatives, but that would certainly cut the number of spectators significantly. 

I guess there is something symbolic about all of this.  Here Governor-elect Deal is about to be inaugurated as governor during the greatest economic storm in Georgia since the “Great Depression” and the weather seems to be mimicking the environment in which he must function and lead the state.  For him and for the members of the General Assembly, that environment is going to be cold and sterile, challenging and argumentative, demanding and unforgiving.  There will be no room or toleration for “on the job training.”

The issues most challenging for the new governor and the legislators are, not surprisingly, “the economy…but more to the point…JOBS”, “education”, “transportation”, and “quality of life.” There is a tall order to be filled, and over and above all other issues is the question of “how are Georgia’s needs and wants going to be financed.”   Thus far, I have only heard “share the tax” and “cut off bone” (we cut “to” the bone some time ago) solutions.

Deal seems to be much smarter than his predecessor, Sonny “Let’s all go on a diet” Perdue, so maybe he will bring some ideas of worth to the challenges.

Preparatory to the inauguration of the new Governor and the convening of the next legislative session, everyone who is anyone in Georgia politics will be present this evening (Sunday, January 9) at the 49th Annual Wild Hog Supper.  This event, which is sponsored by the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Friends of Agriculture Foundation, Inc, and the Georgia Food Bank, Association, will be held at the “Freight Room” of the “Georgia Railroad Depot.”  It will be hosted by, among others, Tommy T. Irvin, outgoing Commissioner of Agriculture.

Tommy Irvin, who has served longer as an “elected constitutional state government official” than anyone else in the United States, did not seek re-election this year.  With him, passes a generation of statesmen (some good, some not so good) the like of which we shall not see again.


Admission to the Wild Hog Supper requires a $20.00 ticket and a non-perishable food item.  It is an entertaining circus and well worth the yelling that you will have to do if you want to talk to anyone while you are there.
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“My Father at 100”

Was Ronald Reagan Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease

While in the White House?

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, January 16, 2011

Ron Reagan, the youngest son of Nancy and the late President Ronald Reagan, in his new book about his famous father, My Father at 100 (Viking Press), has put forth  the idea that the President may have been suffering from the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease as early as 1984.  The younger Reagan cites an episode during the 1984 debates with Democratic candidate, Walter Mondale, when the President appeared to be at a loss for words.

 I have reviewed a number of clips of the exchanges between Reagan and Mondale in the 1984 debates and , while there is certainly the marked influence of age in the presentation of Reagan’s remarks, it seems to me that “the old man” gave as well as he received.  I do not see any marked lapses in his verbal bantering with Mondale, except those generated by a piercing assertion about some political matter that the President had to think about before responding.  Further, it is generally held that Reagan emerged as the stronger of the two contestants and the results at the polls in 1984 certainly bore that out.

On July 17, 1992, Reagan addressed the National Republican Convention in Houston, Texas. While his delivery was strained a bit from time to time and while he was by that time most certainly suffering from Alzheimer’s, he gave no outward sign of failing.  His speech was well received and lauded.

In August of 1994, Reagan, in a letter to the American people, announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.  He had already made his last major public appearance in April of that year at the funeral of ex-president, Richard M. Nixon.  Following the announcement, Reagan retired to private life and was rarely seen by anyone other than family and the closest of friends.  He died in 2004.

Some have said that Ron Reagan is just interested in selling books, and that may well be true.  He would not be the first author to use an “edge” in enticing readers to purchase a “tell all” or “tell enough” book.  Of course, it cannot be discounted that Ron Reagan was Ronald Reagan’s son and that he had a singular view of his father that others…even the closest associates…may not have had.

At any extent, if Ronald Reagan suffered from the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease while in the White House, it does not appear to have affected his work in any meaningful way.  His decisions and actions throughout his eight years in office, love them on hate them, were a clear portrayal of his conservative beliefs.

Alzheimer’s disease continues to be a terrible scourge on the aging population.  Ironically, it is a disease the discovery of a cure for which may lie in the use of embryonic stem cells.  The use of embryonic stem cells was opposed by Reagan owing to the fact that such cells come from aborted human embryos.

An estimated 5.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s.  Although over 90% of these cases effect people over 65 years of age, at least 500,000 Alzheimer’s patients in the U.S. are under 65.

The 10 warning signs are as follows.  PLEASE note that any of these warning signs or a combination of them does not mean that one has Alzheimer’s.  Only a medical doctor can make that determination!

1.      Memory loss that disrupts daily life.

2.      Challenges in planning or solving problems.

3.      Difficulty in completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure.

4.      Confusion with time or place.

5.      Trouble understanding visual images or spatial relationships.

6.      New problems with words in speaking or writing.

7.      Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.

8.      Decreased or poor judgment.

9.      Withdrawal from work or social activities.

10.  Changes in mood and personality.

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Everybody Wants the Services, but Nobody Wants the Taxes

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, January 30, 2011

 
We, in Georgia, are knee deep into the first days of our annual session of the General Assembly. Like many states, Georgia is struggling with the task of finding a way to provide a myriad array of services at a modicum of cost, and, in the postmodern world of the 21st century, that is a trick that would challenge the greatest of magicians.

The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians was established by an act of the General Assembly in 2010 and was charged with making a thorough study of the state’s current revenue structure and with making recommendations to the Georgia Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor by mid-January 2011 as to possible solutions to insure tax fairness in our state.

Some interesting facts emerged from this study.  For example, in 2010 the average state tax bill for every Georgian was $1492.  This meant that Georgia ranked 49th in the collection of taxes based upon per capita among the 50 states.  Only South Carolina’s taxes, at $1473 per capita, were lower than ours.

Now, to be honest, Georgians also pay local taxes (city, county, school board, etc.) and that averaged about $1605 per capita.  So, the average Georgian’s state and local tax bill in 2010 was about $3097.  Some were a lot more and some paid nothing.

The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians was concerned with recommending ways that would insure fairness for all taxpayers, and, to that end, here are some things they suggested:

·         Reduce the personal income tax rate from 6% to 4% by 2014.

·         Simplify the credits available to corporate income tax payers and maintain parity with the personal income tax rate.

·         Eliminate most sales tax exemptions; especially the home food consumption exemption.

·         Impose new sales taxes on casual sales, together with selected personal and household services.

·         Raise the sales tax on a pack of cigarettes to $ .68 each.

·         Impose a 7% tax rate on communication services.

 
These are just some of the suggestions that the Special Council set forth, and some of them were received with all the enthusiasm of “flatulence in church”! 


The truth of the matter is that we all enjoy the services the government provides.  We are happy that there are schools to which we may send our children.  We relish in the fact that there are reasonably good roads upon which to drive our vehicles to our places of employment, shopping, and recreation.  We take for granted the fact that our cellular phones will be available for our weekly call to Aunt Myrtle and that our televisions will be able to tune-in tonight’s episode of American Idol or whatever. 


Of course, we are critical too.  For example, when we have a once in a ten year’s snow, we complain that the government ought to clean the streets and roads faster.  When we are sitting in Atlanta traffic or creeping along on State Route 20 between Cumming and Buford, we muse at how the government ought to build better and wider roads. The other part of the truth that we enjoy the services the government provides is that we don’t like paying for them…and since we are going to have to pay for them, we want to pay as little as we can. I am guilty and you are guilty.  No point in arguing about it. 


Now, lest my friends think I have become a “flaming liberal”, I still assert that government does a lousy job with the stewardship of our tax monies.  If there is a way to mess it up government and the hordes of bureaucrats that seem to be necessary to make everything function will find it.  Never-the-less, it is clear to me that we are going to have to pay more in the future for less services than we have had in the past, and if we are going to expect even more services, we are going to have to be willing to pay even more. A look at the suggestions of the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians is a good place to start, and the regular replacement of members of the General Assembly is a good way to continue to improve our status.  

I suspect that we will do neither!

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SPRING HAS SPRUNG

(Note:  For a number of years I was Associate Principal for Discipline at Gordon Central High School in Calhoun, Georgia.  Like a lot of school administrators, I found that the spring of the year brought a lot of opportunities for my office.  In an effort to proactively intervene in the prevention of fights or inappropriate romantic expressions by the student body, I delivered this "Spring Has Sprung" speech for several years.  I am not sure how much good it did, but a number of former students, teachers, and others have requested it from me.  It took me a while to locate it, and I want to thank Mrs. Nancy Ratcliffe, for keeping a copy.  Anyway for all who want it, here it is.)

 

"Spring has sprung!

 

The warm, sweet winds of April are blowing gently across the Gordon Central campus.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the flowers are blooming.

 

Just as the sap is rising within the budding trees, so are the emotions of young men and women in the hallowed halls of our school.  Thoughts of our dear students are turning from studious pursuits to ideas of romantic passion and emotion, and the hint of “spring break”, so recently enjoyed by all, lingers in the memory of many.

 

When idle thoughts of refreshment and recreation come upon you, be not deceived into thinking that your scholarly tasks for the year are complete.  Neither, allow your passions to cause you to engage in "canoodling" or other inappropriate displays of affection nor your emotions to lead you into manifestations of fights or other physical violence…in the Mall, in the halls, or up against the walls!

 

Rather, martial your intellect to pursue your studies with renewed vigor.  Re-dedicate yourself to scoring satisfactorily on the several examinations that your teachers will, no doubt, administer to determine your final grade.  Most importantly, resolve to perform with excellence on those standardized assessments prescribed by those stately paragons of learning…the members of the General Assembly, the Governor, and the several state education authorities.

 

I tell you the truth.  If you heed my words of advice, you will be successful, and in a few short weeks you will enjoy the reward of the summer break.  If, however, you yield to the temptation of the moment, if you give in to laziness and sloth, then be warned…the chasm of SUMMER SCHOOL lies before you as surely as the bright sun and blue skies of spring reign calmly overhead."