TO WHERE?

Are we, indeed, as a nation, in a period of cultural decline as many loud persons, so proclaiming , tell us we are. I am generally suspicious of any person who has a cure ready for everything that might face us socially or physically.

Could it be, rather than a declining situation, that our case has been improperly diagnosed?

As a nation we are rather young. We think we have lived a rather full existence in our short span. My own state, the Commonwealth Virginia. Is getting ready to observe her 400th birthday in 2007. It will call for us to take a close look at what we have accomplished in that time. It will also be a time in which we mus evaluate the enduring worth of our action in the past.
Youth, generally, lets confidence show itself. We have been accused from time-to-time of being a bit on the cocky side when meeting with European or other nations. The opinion has, at times, been justified depending on the nature of the individuals who have represented us in those specific times.

The upcoming years of such birthday celebrations marking four hundred years of existence, may be a good time for us to access our past accomplishments and to determine wherein we may have been amiss in dealing with with some of the problems which faced us.

It may well be that we, at times, have confused quantity those quality. In our past we have taken risks. That element, too, is typical at times of most nations as they grow and mature. How did those experiences affect our national history? Are they part of the reason for the alleged attitude of superiority? Can we justify actions we have taken in the past which may no fit well with he best thinking of today?

In truth, there will, I think, be little reason to think we can change things we did wrong as any point of crisis in our years of becoming what we are today. We can , however, learn to live with them in constructive, healing ways. Any nation claiming to be pure is in abject error so, on our 400th Birthday be prepared to witness the presence of warts, wens and withered areas on the birthday cake,. Some of the candles simply will not burn and add light. Some of he sweetness will be bitter and some of the color will be faded and waning.

It could, perhaps, be that we have forgotten much of the stress and growing pains because of the exceptional blessings which have come our way. This 400th birthday celebration will be a good time for taking inventory of our accomplishments and of our failures and those times when we have been, perhaps, amiss in our duties toward others.

A.L.M. December 31,2005 [c474wds]

 
FUTURISM

I find people,this year,to be rather reticent in predicting what might take place in the immediate three hundred sixty five days now upon us as the year 2006. They will talk long-term, but few seem ready to guess what the next twelve calendar pages will hold for us.

Find I among them, too.

I think many of us agree that Iraq - and bigger than that narrow name – will continue to be the main source of news. However, I do not feel it will increase in the catastrophic dimensions predicted by some politically-pegged groups here in the United State. With some nasty nit-picking associated they will continue to plague present leadership with with negative views fresh from the stale stock of the mullah's minions in their maddest moments. We will need to be on guard as average citizens in the next twelve months, lest we are our own victims by reason of informational ignorance. In spite of all that is currently being bandied - and “banded to just about every physical portion of the Earth by an aging, somewhat in-grown television system and and expanded to just about everywhere by advances in sonic style radio. The average citizen is going to be called upon to think more for himself rather than to simply swing on the informational vine in company with a chattering pixel head or keyboard.

We stand in rather urgent need right now of the presence of a strong public voice among us which remind us that in the past our attitudes concerning war and peace; my-way and your-way, right and wrong have been by and large, rather fundamental in keeping with the serious economic, social, religious stands we have set for ourselves. For the year ahead I am confident that this stature which is so much a part of the American way is strong enough – true enough to the ideals of its founders.

A.L.M. December 30, 2005 [c335wds]

 
TAKE A POLL
It is not necessary for a person to qualify as one of the world's few remaining, internationally-known brain surgeons,or to claim that you are rightfully the fastest peanut sheller in the country, to decided that what we call “television programming” is getting to be of poorer quality each year. I met one such individual just this past week,who thinks at the production people who make so much of TVs programming material have collectively, it seems, gone stark, raving mad. Not just ”off their rocker”,or some other witty way to say “they don't have all of their allotted potatoes, mashed, fried, or even powdered.

They may not be that bad off, but some of them are, indeed, well...sick.

Many of them are making use of the reruns on half a dozen stations. If anything, Raymond is now loved by everybody – plus. Certainly,TV show producers must see what happens when they kill a successful show. “Friends” did it. “Raymond” made the transition just as others have done in the past. How many times do you watch Andy Griffith in his various roles, how about “G:Green Acres”, The Munsters,”, “The Adams Family, Lawrence Welk and others? The re-run is not new. One can easily
see the money re-runs must pays at other doorsteps. Of course, it could also be true that producers actually fare better financially - if they drop an older show and go with a new one- even if it is known to be inferior in some ways.

It is not at all clear just what money arrangements are made by “rentees” and “rentors” of such properties and it may well be that the original owners ,even the stars performing the leading roles,

are making a”second killing” all over again in some manner. So, we may not be aware of the forces which drive changes whereby good shows are ended and replaced by ones which seem, to us, to be inferior. Money talks, and in a host of local dialects, as well.

We get so used to certain favored shows that we fail to see changes which occur as the year as the years go by. That which seems normal and right for us might not so appear to those who live about us – the growing group in our midst; those we know and live with. The characters on the shows mature and grow older. Part of the reason for such changes in favorite shows depends, you see, on you. It is not always some “high-paid numskull” in TV production land who decides he final favorite show date. Each of us contributes in our own, small way.

A.L.M . December 26, 2005 [c458wds]

 
BOXING DAY

England has had a “boxing day”for more than eight hundred years, I'm told, and I think we need one.

Everywhere the tradition still holds firm it has, through misuse and application without self-defacement mindset. Boxing Day is that one day of the year – traditionally the day after Christmas Day – which has been set apart for all of us to give expression through the concept of providing for those persons who did not enjoy the “Merry Christmas” you enjoyed.

The observance occurs in many forms, I'm told. Some keep it close to home hearth by simply wrapping our old shoes and other wear replaced with new ones and deliver them to the poor and needy people. Americans do pretty mush the same thing when we clothing items at the Salvation Army' or Good wills collection points around he city. The items are then channeled to those in need.

It is said that Boxing Day was, at one time, more closely connected to individual family group. One system placed empty cartons in the rear of each eating area used by the family during the holiday and members dropped in such gifts as they had which were then divided among the servants. All those servants who had worked so long and so long might have a worthy reward for their trouble and a holds a sort of holiday time of their own. One might out a point out a parallel in American industry whereby firms give their workers Christmas bonus gifts such a frozen turkey, a ham, candies, fruits, fruitcakes, whisking,wines and seafoods but this practice has grown less evident as economic condition worsened and our industrial locations have lost family status with workers off shore.


A.L.M. December 26, 2005 [c303wds]

 
AT THE MOMENT

Now that the Christmas Day celebrations are coming to a halt in most sections of our country we can make an evaluation of the day in the light of what was expected. Some people had anticipated a time was was ripe for another sneak attacks by our sworn enemies, but that has not, as yet, occurred. Those people who have been worried about such an attack are not to be scorned or vilified for guessing incorrectly this time, because it is, very often, their alert worry and care which tells the rest of us that danger does, indeed, still exist.

We must not let our guard down, even when things begin to take on a rosy glow according to the manner in which the “news” is placed before us. We are ,in spite of our much lauded systems of communication not all aware of the true structure of those news accounts which reach us through channels we, ourselves, have set up very often to retain certain elements we deem to be of importance.

Today's accounts say today was a rather quiet one in Jerusalem. Well over a hundred thousand pilgrims form all faiths were there and no tales of rioting or mass assault as absent from tonight's news accounts. Dissident groups will report minor, local skirmishes and try to make the make them appear to have been major problems censored for some indefinite reason. It is, perhaps, unwise to place complete trust in any one telling of such stories.

The day has been good one. If you followed the path I did, we all overate, perhaps over-rested a bit, too and now we have a memory of a peaceful day during a time of war.

We must remind ourselves of the consequences of relaxing too much and even pretending there is no war in the traditional, all out sense. If you fail to support the troops we have active in the fields of war around the world you are committing treason.

The war in which we are engaged demands much of each of us – all citizens and chief among the moral honesty. Be firm in your beliefs and live by and with them.

A.L.M. December 25, 2005 [c379wds]

 


L.O.L.

It is not a good thing for man, woman or child to have in heart or soul any special cares on the eve which marks the birth of our Savior.

Certainly, in time of war we are a people beset with unusual concerns for our lives but for those of thousands upon thousands of people all around the world. Not only does such physical strife cause us worry and doubts, but we also have all-too-near memories of tsunami waves, hurricanes, floods and kindred mishaps with Nature. All of these haunt us in many ways. Certainly there has never been such a Christmas tide for recent decades; such a crushing time marked by the lack of love flowing among us.

We need to be reminded, however, that love remains constant. It is still there; it remains steadfastly in place, but it is very much obscured by such lrcoomvwar, and other maladies which harm the very fabric of our being in special profusion at this moment in our history. The wars at hand, mishaps, disease, poverty, ignorance, famine, illness of many kinds and – above all - tragic oversights in care and maintenance of people and principles.
h
Oddly enough it is only if we do not think about the problem and do something about it that real damage is done. It can be good if we think about our problems, and pray about them during these glory-fortified times of the year. Now is when the reflection of the reality of his birth and of his presence in our daily lives if we so will it to be. That's a sapecailxtimeinoujr life sequence when we are most closely tuned to His precense with us.

 
FOREST FIRE

Among the many stories which will come from the current, continuing and costly wildfires in Arizona and California, is one from which we can all learn a much needed and valuable lesson. It would certainly pay us to give more attention to keeping our forests in proper condition.

By "proper", I mean keep them useful to man as he harvests their treasures and does so under conditions which encourage and maintain Nature's dominance.

One California resident in the fire stricken area has been clearing his property regularly for years, he has eliminated exessive undergrowth and cut those trees which were close enough to torch his home if they chanced to burn. He kept the trees trimmed as much as possible and even planted some new, varied ones set sufficently apart from his home to add variety and make it all more beautiful.

For doing all this, he has been scorned by his neighbors; even sued in the courts for "destroying the natural habitat" of several specified wilflife critters found throughout the entire area.

After the fire, which burned homes all around, but did not touch his, he became the only resident of the area who has living specimens of the various threatened biolocial and zological species on his property. They sought, and some of them actually found, sanctuary from the steadily approaching walls of flame.

When, one might ask, are we going to come to understand the importance of foresty care and maintenance. It is not a matter of simply refusing to use the forests at all and to allow them, even force them, to fall back into a chaotic state we call "wilderness." That is the foolish way out of the predicament in which we have placed ourselves
and one which does not solve any problems at all. Rather, it increases other dangers we must confront in years to come..

Living in the wilderness is a harsh setting for Man. It has always been so, and wild life as well. Our artists and poets describe a totally different paradise than the wilderness dweller usually found he had to conquer or die. The dominent form of life takes over in any specific area and the rest have a rough time of merely staying alive - much less prospering.

We have been victims of excessive and often hollow-headed enthiusiasms related to the serious subject of envionmental control. It has been warped into a social values thing far removed form the actual needs of a constantly changing state of being one in which Nature thrives at its best, for the moment. To think of the environment as being a packagable, bounded, concrete, pre-determined set of perfectly constant little compartments is sheer idiocy. It is time for us to begin to learn how wrong our attempts to rein Nature into our idea of what we think she ought to be. We must learn to us our natural resorces and not allow ourselves to be blinded by emotional considerations which are, at best, ever costly to both man and beast. We need to use our forests rather than to push them to disuse and ruin.


A.L.M. December 5, 2005 [c531wds]

 
HELPING HAND

The heavy hurricane season, and the exceptionally amount of damage done along our Gulf Coast have brought to the forefront an American trait we should use more often, sustain, strengthen and nourish as something proper in our way of living. It is called “charity” by some but there are those who seem to feel that term to be demeaning, so we call it “lending a hand in time of needs,“ some other less disturbing term.

We have, in 2005, seen examples of how well the concept does work and also some examples of incidents where it did not work – certainly not as well as we felt it might function. We have, it appears, allowed it all to become rusty with disuse over the years in which years we have ventured from the concept of individual charity beginning at home into government assistance as a part of the welfare state.

He best of such giving is done rather quietly. I remember watching a young child taking its first steps with family gathered around and watching his every move. He stood by a straight-backed holding it in a firm grasp. The projected trip was a three or four foot space from the chair to a sofa. He plainly had some doubts about the adventure; loosed his his hold on the chair; balanced a bit, then tightened his grasp once again on the chair.
I was seated closest to him and, reading the doubt in his eyes, I held my cane out in front of him. He grasped the end of the cane and followed it across the chasm and ,without realizing his support was gone threw himself in the welcoming arms for Grandma hugs.
That's my idea of the manner in which we give in times of need. We help the individual express himself in doing for his self whenever possible.

You ,too, could not help but notice in recent weeks how there as been a general upsurge in the rate of giving and from many segments of our society. Children have been given through their school and church groups. Adults have joined in fund raising activities of every imaginable type so more money could be sent to the stricken areas. Money with which to buy food, provision of all types; money with which people can rebuild a life which- in a sense of “belongings” has been totally destroyed. We all know that such tangibles cannot be replaced; that they will never be the same but in helping as best we can be come to realize a wholesome and worthy bond has been established between the haves and the have-nots of the moment.

During the holiday times in which we are reveling, make it a special point to reflect upon the continuing plight of thousands of victims who are homeless, as well as those who have returned to the often desolate homes in Gulf coast villages and cities. Make sure your Happy New Year is a sharing one as well.

A.L.M. December 22, 2005 [c511wds]

 
BACK TO . . . .

Occasionally, we come across a city or mid-sized town which is attempting to bring about a return to a bygone era of supposed prosperity and of a vague and, perhaps, will full nostalgic sense of blissful well-being for all. In some cases the olden era to which planner are working to resuscitate is a strong, practical memory of an elite group of citizen with property and professional and either commercial, or industrial holdings which were in demand at that time and upon which their present-day prosperity is founded..

In-depth reading of the local newspaper's morgue files will show a
student how people lived and what was of real importance to their way of life. I think you know of cities which fit this pattern. It is unwise for any outsider to suggest that what was right for crowded, little colonial town of Williamsburg, Virginia is not, automatically proper for other villages in our time.

Every citizen has or her idea of just what the "old town" may have been like at one time or another; some idea, perhaps, of the ethical concepts of the social groups which enabled the community to grow in physical size and prosper in many other ways as well. Seldom do we find such images which could be matched. It is not difficult to see why some whole-city restoration plans go astray or simply get lost in a welter of modernization and replacements.

The people who are now trying to re-establish the fine, old and very unique city as anything else other than what it has always been will find their plan will flounder and fade. The physical needs of the complex City of New Orleans after the ravages of hurricane and food damages, provide a particularly difficult task because they are beset with a myriad group of idea as to what so many different people seem to think a restored city might mean to them and to future residents and visitors. They are going to have to remember that New Orleans has - and must ever be - a special type of city. If it is made to be anything other than what it has been...is...and will be again....such plans will falter and fail. It has long been one of the nation's favorite entertainment centers.
It has been that, if you so desired, one could find in New Orleans the kind of entertainment you considered best for you. One could find gambling of various kinds, one could seek out avenues of a sexual nature, others could enjoy fine dining in a large selection of restaurants of many types including Creole-oriented cookery with its gumbo magic.
There is a backlog of history studies and discovery. Nature studies abound. Then, there's music - the roots of was correctly called "jazz" during its early days - and it is here we must part because this would go on endlessly once we get started on that phase of the enduring values of a city to which we are - all of us - obligated in more ways than we might realize.

A..L.M. December 19, 2005 [c529wds]

 
SUPER BUS

I can still look at photographs of the all new Airbus A380 which is, undeniably the world's largest passenger plane, and have some serious doubts about the existence of such a sky-crunching flying objects.

It is big in ever sense of the word and it weighed in about 308-tons out of the ultra-high-tech bathtub that got it clear, clear and ready for public showing as being flyable.

The maiden flights were made around the Armagnac area of southwestern France. It was done at 10:30 in the morning when thousands of people gathered to see the giant aircraft would actually fly. There must surely have been a score or so of individuals in that crowd who has some secret doubt that the event might not go as planned. They would not admit it, of course, not even to themselves, but there are some such doubters in all such crowds at first-trip starting points. The ”Titanic”, for instance, in 1912 went un-photographed more or less when launched. The photographs of the vessel you see in news releases of the events are those made of her sister ship built later. Photographic chores were very lax during the maiden voyage planning. The emphasis was on the impressive list of important people who were making the maiden trip. In the present case we have plenty of good photographs showing how large every area of this magnificent flying machine. We are impressed with he spaciousness of seating areas. They can get five hundred or more of us in there depending on the seating arrangements they consider to be comfortable.

Now, add all of that army of riders to a six member crew and perhaps twenty tons or so of luggage and cargo. It all has to be lifted up off of that tarmac pavement; lofted into the clouds and sailed about gracefully and artistically. We all hope it will go as planned,but there are some among us who wonder - even worry deep down – about mishaps. The line of fire trucks parked at intervals along the runway, don't exactly improve a confident feeling.

The engines take over. Your consciousness is motorized and measures the movement down the runway carefully and you start breathing normally as you witness the giant craft take to the air. Some of us remember the Concorde supersonic marvels of 1969, already set aside for reasons of economy. The new Airbus A380 is catalog pri

 
STAR MAKERS

The next time you find yourself charged with tending small children or, at least keeping them from getting into trouble try showing them how much fun they can have making stars!

It will take you just minutes to show them how they can make neat, five-pointed stars with just one small, straight clip of a properly folded piece of paper!

Get some sheets of paper. Any size will do; more-or-less square. The bigger the paper; the larger the star. Pages of a discarded magazine will do fine. Don't start sneaking pages from the printer tray because kids or adults tend to go into wholesale production once they find out how – with just one scissors clip - they can make bright shimmering stars!

Start your demonstration star by selecting one sheet of paper. You are going to fold it upon itself one, two, three times. The first fold in simply. Crease the fold flat. Keep the open edge facing on you any flat surface. Next, take the “A” or upper left of the corner of the folded sheet. Think of it in this way: you are picking up the Puget Sound, WA. area and placing it at a point half-an-inch back from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean – about the west end of Hampton Roads or even Richmond, VA.

Place the Point “A”; just half an inch back from the Atlantic ocean midway - at about Hampton Roads, Va. and back from the ocean edge by half an inch or so. Crease flat. Fold the same portion back upon itself twice, crease down and you are ready to cut your five-pointed star!

Just one snip it all it takes. You have as tight triangle in hand with two single page flaps hanging below. Start to cut at the lower left corner of the triangle and aim at about one-third of the distance down from the top of the triangle on the left side. You might think of cutting yourself a medium slice of pie. The fatter you cut it, the wider the points of will be on your finished star. Clip to the edge and unfold your new star!

Kid stuff. Think otherwise. Dedicated star makers have some historic lore they pass around which insists that George Washington, at one time,insisted on six-pointed stars for the new national flag. Betsy Ross is said to have quickly folded a scrap of cloth and, with a single clip, scissored a modern five-pointer. He admired her digital dexterity and it won him over.

A.L.M. December 12, 2005 [c483wds]

 
THE STAGING STAGE

We are, at the moment, still in the get-ready period during which the platform is being made ready for the of an event called, by some, “the prime happening of our century”; by others, the official trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and it will, doubtless, be called by other names as it drags to a vague conclusion months - even years from now.

The accused individual it catching on fast. This week, after being present and talkative for the opening sessions,borrowed a “conduct” page from Michael Jackson's California routines when he announced he would not be there in the court room the next day. He complained of not having even a change of underwear, or of the way in which he has not been improperly provided for in food, fabric and facilities. In the course of his accounts of such inattention to his basic needs he managed to let the presiding judge know of his displeasure by inviting His Honor to ”go to Hell.”

He got away with it, too. The next morning the fenced area where Saddam usually perched and pouted was empty. The judge, it seems, had decided to declare it to be “work day” for staff . He had sent Saddam a note excusing him from, being present, Em person, that day of the court proceedings. The staff, which should have been stunned st around all day, I assume, twiddling their thumbs and wondering what Saddam would next to stall, for time and stretch this story time out as long as possible. Here in America we should be constantly on the alert to detect an sign of Yankee doodling in all of this affair because our one-time Attorney-General and aspirant for the presidential office Ramsey Clark, is present and not always fully accounted for among Saddam's herd of lawyers. He says he is there to see that Saddam gets a fair trial.

The ridiculous is going to be in constant collision with the sublime in the future episodes of this well-planned attempt at total exoneration.

A.L.M. December 9, 2005 [c386wds]

 

SELF-BLAME

"You have no one to blame but yourself!"

How often have you had that accusation thrown in your face when something went awry in your plans?

There is a story going the rounds recently, and,I would assume since its lesson is a wide one, a young girl who was celebrating some special moment of her life enjoying ice cream and cake. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she began to sob and to cry real tears. Someone nearby, concerned with the sudden change of mood and the girl's shift from happiness to extreme misery. "Why are you crying?"

"Because this is so good." she managed, choking back sobs,"This ice cream and cake Both are delicious they are...perfect"

"But, that's no reason for you to cry, honey! You can have some more, after that is done..."

"Yes,I know, but I was just thinking of how bad it will be when it is all gone! We won't have any at all! How will we get along? All gone! Every bit - gone! None left!"

It all sounds childish, doesn't it but it is more real than we might want to admit in many areas. Political doomsayers are are less than a-dime-per-dozen. They tend to
forget the "good" we enjoy; to question the validity of much that we have by new, questionable standards.

We are going through a political phase of its pathetic action daily and heaping enmity and hate upon the very blessings we enjoy. While we have secure stature among Mankind's many variations, we should not dwell on potential events which have not yet taken place and which, in many cases, will never happen. To dwell on the negative, worst-case previews of self-appointed critics and judges could be costly.

We need to attest, by actions, which show our time-tested loyalty to basic principles of true freedom for all.

A.L.M. December 5, 2005 [c391wds]





SELF-BLAME

"You have no one to blame but yourself!"

How often have you had that accusation thrown in your face when something went awry in your plans?

There is a story going the rounds recently, and,I would assume since its lesson is a wide one, a young girl who was celebrating some special moment of her life enjoying ice cream and cake. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she began to sob and to cry real tears.
Someone nearby, concerned with the sudden change of mood and the girl's shift from happiness to extreme misery. "Why are you crying?"

"Because this is so good." she managed, choking back sobs,"This ice cream and cake Both are delicious they are...perfect"

"But, that's no reason for you to cry, honey! You can have some more, after that is done..."

"Yes,I know, but I was just thinking of how bad it will be when it is all gone! We won't have any at all! How will we get along? All gone! Every bit - gone! None left!"

It all sounds childish, doesn't it but it is more real than we might want to admit in many areas. Political doomsayers are are less than a-dime-per-dozen. They tend to
forget the "good" we enjoy; to question the validity of much that we have by new, questionable standards.

We are going through a political phase of its pathetic action daily and heaping enmity and hate upon the very blessings we enjoy. While we have secure stature among Mankind's many variations, we should not dwell on potential events which have not yet taken place and which, in many cases, will never happen. To dwell on the negative, worst-case previews of self-appointed critics and judges could be costly.

We need to attest, by actions, which show our time-tested loyalty to basic principles of true freedom for all.

A.L.M. December 5, 2005 [c391wds]




SELF-BLAME

"You have no one to blame but yourself!"

How often have you had that accusation thrown in your face when something went awry in your plans?

There is a story going the rounds recently, and,I would assume since its lesson is a wide one, a young girl who was celebrating some special moment of her life enjoying ice cream and cake. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she began to sob and to cry real tears.
Someone nearby, concerned with the sudden change of mood and the girl's shift from happiness to extreme misery. "Why are you crying?"

"Because this is so good." she managed, choking back sobs,"This ice cream and cake Both are delicious they are...perfect"

"But, that's no reason for you to cry, honey! You can have some more, after that is done..."

"Yes,I know, but I was just thinking of how bad it will be when it is all gone! We won't have any at all! How will we get along? All gone! Every bit - gone! None left!"

It all sounds childish, doesn't it but it is more real than we might want to admit in many areas. Political doomsayers are are less than a-dime-per-dozen. They tend to
forget the "good" we enjoy; to question the validity of much that we have by new, questionable standards.

We are going through a political phase of its pathetic action daily and heaping enmity and hate upon the very blessings we enjoy. While we have secure stature among Mankind's many variations, we should not dwell on potential events which have not yet taken place and which, in many cases, will never happen. To dwell on the negative, worst-case previews of self-appointed critics and judges could be costly.

We need to attest, by actions, which show our time-tested loyalty to basic principles of true freedom for all.

A.L.M. December 5, 2005 [c391wds]





SELF-BLAME

"You have no one to blame but yourself!"

How often have you had that accusation thrown in your face when something went awry in your plans?

There is a story going the rounds recently, and,I would assume since its lesson is a wide one, a young girl who was celebrating some special moment of her life enjoying ice cream and cake. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, she began to sob and to cry real tears.
Someone nearby, concerned with the sudden change of mood and the girl's shift from happiness to extreme misery. "Why are you crying?"

"Because this is so good." she managed, choking back sobs,"This ice cream and cake Both are delicious they are...perfect"

"But, that's no reason for you to cry, honey! You can have some more, after that is done..."

"Yes,I know, but I was just thinking of how bad it will be when it is all gone! We won't have any at all! How will we get along? All gone! Every bit - gone! None left!"

It all sounds childish, doesn't it but it is more real than we might want to admit in many areas. Political doomsayers are are less than a-dime-per-dozen. They tend to
forget the "good" we enjoy; to question the validity of much that we have by new, questionable standards.

We are going through a political phase of its pathetic action daily and heaping enmity and hate upon the very blessings we enjoy. While we have secure stature among Mankind's many variations, we should not dwell on potential events which have not yet taken place and which, in many cases, will never happen. To dwell on the negative, worst-case previews of self-appointed critics and judges could be costly.

We need to attest, by actions, which show our time-tested loyalty to basic principles of true freedom for all.

A.L.M. December 5, 2005 [c391wds]

ljlfma

 
NEWS NOTIONS

Do you find that you have difficulty, at times, in “keeping up” with the news of the day on TV?

I do. From time-to-time, not often mind you, just occasionally, I have sought ways of combating such a feeling of being inadequate. Some viewers speak of themselves as being “followers of the news” as if they are dragged along and able, at times, to pick up scraps - bits and pieces - “snippets” of news here and there which can be melded into a story in some manner. There are also those who brag about their way which enables them to “keep abreast of happenings around the world” - a comprehensive absorption of all the many streams of information from around the globe. We envision a sort of relay race in constant progess to determine who can memorize the most from five minutes of spoken headlines every hour on the hour. The news remains always in a fluid or transitional state.

Try to determine what type of news listener you think you would rather be, before you judge all TV news presentations to be less than good.

So much depends on what type of news listener you think you want to be.

Last Friday morning when the business day along the East Coast areas, one TV network informed us that some nut had sent a message saying he was going to blow up a Court House at a specified time in the State of Connecticut. The note did not say which ones or where, and, for that reason, five Court Houses in major urban areas were closed and being evacuated. Federal Court locations were being swept for explosives. Before too long a camera was placed on a window ledge in an office building and we could see down through an tangle of communication wires and lush, green trees into a busy, downtown intersection in which normal traffic moved steadily. I assumed the large building on one corner was on the the five threatened Court House structure. It irked me that the TV news crew used that same deadly shot over and over and again during the hours which followed right down to a wet-blanket finish at the set time when not even a sparkler had been set off.

In general, TV news is well done. It is no easy task to keep it fresh, factual and flowing. Usually what you get is what you can absorb .You get what you are, in a very real sense.

A.L.M. December 3, 2005 [c366wds]

 
BAD MOUTHING

In my book, it is "wrong."

I have long felt that for us to cheapen the process by which we elect our Supreme Court justices is harmful in many ways. By the ramshackle methods which as come to be more or less standard, we ignore entirely the best thought of the president, that of his immediate staff, and the process which takes place within the judicial system as it sifts, sorts and selects those individuals deemed to be considered as being qualified as potential leadership positions.

None of our Presidents could be accused of making such appointments by chance; by flipping a coin, perhaps, or ...by -. Now, that I see that word "none" in cold print I think I may wisely ask you to change it to "few" even though I realize some of our White House residents have made their decisions - even important ones - by means of some curious by-paths.

It made me feel good to hear just the other day that former President William J. Clinton along this line of making free choices quoted as having said was not in favor of the way in which we go to work on nominees to prevent Senate approval. Clinton, it seems, looks upon the concept of a sitting President has the right to suggest persons for such offices. It's among some of other perks that go with the job of being President

When we insist on dragging the good name of the worthy citizen suggested by the President we make a mechanism out of a method. T would be to the advantage of our national well-being if wed could arrange some other method whereby political party people m might refrain from such childishness as is so often displayed in this unpleasant situation. Our entire nation would benefit from such a change and we would allay our tendency to make public service something to be avoided. We need more people who are eager to seek a place in our government rather than fewer. Each time we go through this uncomfortable phase we drive someone away from a place of guidance and leadership.

A.L.M. December 1, 2005 [c366wds]

 
THE GRATE PYRAMIDS

Our U.S.D.A. or some other agriculturally-oriented branch of our expansive shade tree of governmental ever-growing in foggy-bottomed rotation in Washington, D. C. started to emulate the work of the rulers of ancient Egypt by building pyamids honoring the foods we consume and which many of us have been accused of worshipping in a sense.

For some reason which I have never been an enthusiastic booster of their food pyramid charts through the years but now that have grown older my dimensions have changed somewhat. Like it or not, I am now eligible to be called f-a-t. I say have come around to admitting my general physical dimension shave exhanged somewhat. My physical structure is a few inches shorter North-to-South - head to toe - or that my exercise routines (Ha!) my work habits...my play habits....snack habits and all my habits in toto. It's my East -West dimentions which are proving to be troublesome. In the equatorial line area dominated by belt pressures I can work miracles to lessen the distance by several inches between where I stand an Venus off low in the last days of the month of November.

When one gets fat, one also learns to talk about big, ponderous, or outsize things.. We learn to mention Hummers rather than Jeeps; limos rather than boxy, little half-cars. We are selective and try to speak of speak mainly of larger items appoved by today's society. Think of Grand Canyon and not of your local landfill; think Niagra instead of a kiddie pool shower. on TV screens and to minimize [rise for skinny stars. Self-esteem is part of this overweight problem. Hire yourself as a sort of at-the-ready PR person.

Sooner or later, I suppose, I will have to look, up one of the latest pyramid charts and take it seriousl and not let it grate on my sensibilities. I do think they known what the answer might be. The old maxim is still with us: “Eat less; exercise more.” One of those pyramids things calls for five fresh fruits daily. What am I expected to do: gluttonize on five Concord grapes at one-and-a portion-of-another per meal?

A.L.M. November 30, 2005 [c385wds]

 
CHANGES

Our conversation was about spectator sports and how different people might re-act to the regard to potentially inclement weather which appeared to be ready to become active at the football game were on our way to see. The exact sub- ject changed, however, when one of the older crew present shifted the talk a bit to changes he felt were taking place.

“We are seein' a different kind of game today 'n our folks used to watch. We see more deeply set team work today than they ever did, and millions of people watching get an even more deliberate dose of logistic details than we on the sidelines watchin' what pieces of a play we can patch together after we see how they worked out.
Someone mentioned today's simulations are, at best, cartoon-like, or tic-tak-toe-ish in appearance...stick people and stabs of coded colors. “In the future we're going to see quickie-shot “sims” which have what you now see in miltary simulations...movement!...action!..punch!”

The poker games have come to television only recently but we are
already seeing a flow of complaints from irate losers who think it unfair to allow
promoters to have computers play their end of the games. Even if the computer is a hundred miles away and used solely for “advice” the fact that it has memories of thousands successful ploys for winning players, could proved to be irksome while taking care of the promoters modest thirty per cent take. Imagine, if you will what tiny speakers in football helmets could do. Of, another such passage to perversity, allow just enough time when dealing quiz questions for someone to find the answer on a computer.

Our talkative futurist in the back seat claimed that new technology
will evolve much faster, too. Between now and 2015 we will see growth about like the amount we have seen from 1985 until now.

There will, of course, still be people who like to dress well in layers of woolen materials and seek out the colder spots which only “bowls” can generate. Another factor currently acting to cool down attendance at games and entertainment events in general, is the ever increasing cost of tickets. Lets hope these people find some way to get prices back down to where the average one of us can attend
such events now and then.

A.L.M. November 28, 2005 [c-408wds]

 
OWNERSHIP

Does the physical acquisition and a condition of holding materials constitute wealth?

We use the term: “Losers, weepers; “finders keepers.” We speak of “gathering in the sheaves”,”bringing home the bacon”, and other such folksy-sounding maxims which suggest that “possession is”, indeed, about “nine-tenths” of ownership.

Certainly many people think that to be true. Some seem to think the world, indeed, owes them such a living and they purposely learn acquire possessions and call such items wealth. We all know persons we consider to be greedy in that they would assume, naturally, that every shoulder and berm on every highway provided road-kill items just for them. Some item are not worth keeping. There is a vast difference between “aroma” and “odor”, between ”smell” and “stink as any able-beaked buzzard could tell you.

Human collectors can become that sort of person. They show sure sign of doing so when they start to haunt yard sales, garage, patio, driveway and just sale-sales to buy all sort of items strewn along the leftover berm of some wreaked households. They agree that “all that glitters is not gold “contending it may be “silver”, instead. They buy anything and everything which can be fitted into their attic or basement ”Plunder Room”.

In recent months we have witnessed countless wildfires raging through thousands of acres of forests and grasslands. Many homes are lost in such senseless fire each year yet people still think of such forested areas as personal property. They claim ownership or vast panoramas of Nature's finest but do not accept the duties of proper care. The can prove ownership of vast areas by showing pieces of paper authentically inscribed signatures applied but they cannot tell you what the term “back to wilderness” mean today in regard to forrest fire presence. Such wealth can be lost in a few hours. Owning a forest and allowing it to go back into a wilderness state can prove to be a tragic loss. The prying winds, such as the Santa Anna, can sift and stir and dry the of mated leaves, twigs, branches, fallen trees and dying one – all of the accumulation a resplendent forest can build. Low growth must thrive as well, as pasture for small, then larger creatures. The combination is required, not just endless tree-after-tree-after-tree.

Possession is but a way station in life. Only in their proper use do they become wealth.

A.L.M. November 26, 2005 [c418wds]

 
CARNEY CAPERS

You, perhaps, recall quite well the carnival capers attitudewhich loomed so large during the hectic days of the Iowa Primary caucus gathering. Then, New Hampshire came along as a kind of let-down for some. It was much tamer. Many seemed to feel relieved, I think, glad that the carnival aspects had been eliminated.

It was soothing to once again see politicians engaged in flipping hotcakes above a griddle or rearranging hot dogs and hamburgers on a smoky grill. Too many Americans seem to expect their candidates to be become in such active and to take part in local problems and concerns, but the average performance rating of most political aspirants is on the low side.

The semi-historical “laugh” given by Vermont's Governor was memorable moment of this phase. It was cry, to me rather than the laugh TV imitators have made seem to have been. It was ,in my opinion more a cry for help than a laugh of any kind. It was a call for assistance from a man on the edge of a threatening abyss. It was not like one of TV's so-called “reality” shows. It was not faked in its original form. The trapped man was speaking to the entire nation, not to just one faction or a narrow part of that in fact. It was the cumulative result of a series of judgments made by one man which showed us just how far that man could be pushed...either by himself or by others. The hysterically uttered series of numbers and days which followed it were even more hysterical in sound and this tone dragged him back to a saner level.

We should exercise special care in choosing our future leaders that we do not cause them to realize that there is very little one man can do to change our set ways of living.

Modify? Yes. Change? No.

A.L.M. November 19 , 2005 [c326wds]

 
THEM RICH FOLKS!

Time was, and tain’t been too long ago either, when I was, I will admit, downright envious of all that rich people had and the way some of them flaunted their wealth in front of us. Goin’ wide-open honest, for the moment, I’d have to say it was more like being jealous. It was something more than just having an occasional pang of envy...deeper...and it could hit heavy when I witnessed a display of wealth.

Looking back a those pre-teen and teenager days I realize it only happened occasionally usually in early Spring and again in the first days of the first says of early Spring or just before the Fall arrived.

At two set times of the year a change took, place in the railroad town in which I grew up. We had seventeen trains per day at our two railroad stations which were on the north-south rail axis. In the Fall the wealthy owners of private railway cars passed through on their way to Florida; in the Spring they went north.They were fabulous creations and seemed they grew larger and more ornate as the years went by. It was the custom of wealthy people chug south for winter and eagerly back to the north in summer.

We boys had a favorite place for obsevation of said private train cars. In those days the Railway Express had four or five, twenty-foot carts on the ramp The woodenc deck on the carts was good four feet off the platform and the carts were used to drag up to fill the expanse of the rather higb,open doors of the express cars to unload or stow shipment aboard. Those carts were our special observation platforms well above obstructions putting our questing eyes more on a level. Our town of Radford, Va. had a complicated switching system at the eastern end of the extensive yards which made to necessary for many trains to be, liteally,”backed up” or pushed into the to allow other trains to use certain tracks. The delays worked to in our advantges in examining the visiting cars.We were often overcome by the elaborate designs. The owners had their name emblazoned on the sided of the cars and they were really museum pieces.

They are all gone today. I suppose they are actually in some museums. Or, more likely, stripped an discarded hulks in landfills everywhere...discarded toys.
A.L.M. November 22, 2005 [c443wds]

 
IT HURTS

Have you ever wondered how we managed to get where we are today?

There can be little doubt it; we have, in several centuries found our way to a special place. I'm asking you to strain your natural sense hesitation to brag about our progress a bit and look at what we have accomplished from the way we lived in Colonial times - and how we have done much of it against self-imposed odds.

Right now when we are involved in wars that are different in so many ways from what we have known before we cannot seem to agree on just how we should conduct ourselves. In recent years we have seen protest manifest itself in some strange ways, some of which have exited fears of internal weakness which is at work doing us in. The name of Congressman John Murtha, a Democrat, a member from the Johnstown area of the State of Pennsylvania came into world-wide prominence this morning. All day we have been subjected to piece-by-piece descriptions of the man himself. He was virtually unknown to most of us. He is being put together like a jig saw puzzle of sort none of which can possibly be a fair estimate because everyone forms such an image as it appears in their own mind.

I have a strong feeling Murtha is being used as a patsy by his own party. since his statements were bomb-blasted on TV hey are all ready for the major talk shows over the week end. It also hits at then moment when any good, news filtering back from the media from every angle.

Next week, or at the opportune moment, better know Democratic voices will sound out with more moderate “demands” and we can marvel at the wonderful, cooperative, understanding and bsic element of love for all mankind in which we live...at times.

Let's face truth. At times, peace-making, too can be “hell”

A.L.M. November 18, 2005 [c354wds]

 
QUIZ: I BLEW IT.

The National Wildlife people did a brand new quiz concerning this past week and I failed it miserably. I really blew it, confident as I had been that I knew a thing or two about bears. After all, I have seen live bear “in the wild – as they say. I've witnessed them lumbering across fields, crossing streams, even one fine animal ambling along the road beside which I used to lived in Virginia. Being aware of bear, of course, I thought I knew a thing or two about them.

The first question on the Wildlife quiz threw me. They ask me where most grizzly bear called home. They even gave me a choice of four locations, so I became suspicious. When I saw “ Alaska”, “Canada”,”Montana“,” Idaho“ printed before me, I went first with ”Alaska”; did not bite on the Idaho bait at all, and concluded that Canada had more room for bear to wander than even huge Alaska. My answer was “Canada” and they, of course, liked “Alaska”. Next question, please.

The bear is seen today in just eight species. Originally it is thought to have been it was a small animal of about the size of present day racoons and foxes. It was called the “Ursavus” and it lived in Asia; ate both plant and animal food and was heavily covered with thick fur which enabled it to thrive in the coldest areas. Those which remained in Asia eventually turned into the giant Panda living China today. Those who took the bridge across the Bering Sea, short-faced bear, which prospered in the Upper North and in the Altas Mountains in South America. The “Brown” bear and the “Grizzly” bar are one and the same. Lest we forget, the "Polar” bear split off from the regular bear family at about three hundred years thousand years ago when they took to the ice and turned white for protective reasons.

Male grizzly bears find their partners by following a scent left by the female wherever she may go. The baby pups are only about one-pound in weight at birth and they stay with Mother for two years or more. The male grizzly or brown bear take absolutely no responsability for their young at all, so the romantic version of Papa, Mama and Baby are extremely exaggerated.

The grizzly life is not the sort forming the base of romantic novel - far from it and it appears to be one place for humans to avoid. Other bears are found in many sections of our country - in our National Park area, in particular, and we need to take sensible steps to see to it we can coexist a while longer.

A.L.M. November 15, 2005 [c000wds]

 
NOT QUITE READY

It appears that we will have to to wait a bit longer before we can whiz through down town in our ultra new hydrogen-powered car. They still don't have the high-cost bugs devalued enough. I may hav committed a literary boo-boo when I used the term “whizzed”,that suggests too much noise and h-car fans insist their new system “whispers” at the loudest.
The thought occurred to me just the other day that, with all that quietness wrapped around us as we drive, we can not only see but also hear what other drivers say about us when they drive eratically. Lip reading will no longer be useful. Driving habits will change.
I was reading just this past week about the Swiss version of such a future car the “Prius Pac-II. The figures I have were done last August and could have changed by this time, but this is typical of the way keep tabs on the matter so they are valid for me. It is sleek, tubular little thing, silvery with three red and yellow Shell logos. With paint, it weighs in at sixty-two pounds. The one hundred pound girl student stands at the ready with sturdy crash helmet in at-hip position.
The students at the Swiss Federal Insitutue of Technology, Zurich,who worked on this car know what it can do and they have learned what it cannot do, and why. They can't expect to set any speed records on a car which runs on two 150 watt light bulbs. So, their next car will be a hybrid using some sort of hydrogen power.

It might prove worthwhile for us to glance down through some of the statistics which cause us to pause in an plans we have to turn out h-cars successfully. For instance, Honda fuel cells offered just sixty-seven miles per gallon That's about average for others, as well, it seems. Studies show that it is more expensive to operate a fuel cell car when compared to a conventional one per killowatt hour in the range of eighty five times.

The United State currently manufactures about 9 million cubic feet of hydrogen perhps,enough of fuel 25 million cars. With current
trends toward offshore manufacturing that could fade away fast under narrow enviornmentalist pressures and the internal production of all hydrogen fuel cancelled. Especially for those people who have continuing “Hindenberg complex” doubts and expect hydrogen in whatever form to explode at any moment.

 
THE DAY AFTER

What can we do to be assured of cleaner political campaign?

I assume you agree that, following our election of 2005 here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, such a pristine promise, is, beyond doubt, something to be considered quite seriously. It is most important, too, that we do so before the basic structure of our state and nation are harmed in any way.

Our recent experience with political cowardice here in Virginia will be something which will be long remembered by historians who will seek ways to cover it as best they can because it was a decidedly poor picture painted on a state-wide basis which gave a very poor picture of the manner in which democracy works a mong us.

The campaign was blatantly nasty and a great many people were "turned off" by the negative rantings. Of far great import will be the number of people who were confused, dispirited and miss-led into faulty judgment on critical issues. There were, of course, the usual number of clowns who say they were disgusted with the trivial nature of the campaigning and stayed away from the polls as a sort of protest"; others just stayed away - as both types commonly do year after year.

Television is, perhaps, the most important single element in our political society today. It has brought with it some rather drastic changes in to the art of capable electioneering. We have not kept pace with the many advances of comunications in general and often failed to adjust our thinking to the extensive power it exerts over large areas of geography and increasing segments of voting persons and new groups as well. TV is now the controlling power of elections, having taken over from the ponderous job the printing presses - with their associated art forms - did so well for so many decades. The newer versions also have a marked tendency to show things as they really are or as they might be made to appear to have been or to promise to become. The opportuniiesites allow spaious reas for working with suggestions, hints, half-truths and downright fabrication can be magnified and easily accessable to all.

Today s the date t all happened - or came to a screeching halt - and most of us are glad it is ended

Pleased? Some are. Some are not.

We split the main ticket with a Democratic Governor, a Republican for him to work with, and the Atty-Gen contest is in a recount proceedure reminicent of "chad" days not too long ago.

 
HOW MANY?

How many TV channels do you actually need?

Make that “use”, rather than “need”, to cancel out those people who seem to think if they mention a higher number it will make them appear to be more literate, more concerned about world affairs and generally better informed than the average TV watcher.

Mike Shickman, who does a week-days evening “going-home” radio show on WSVA in my hometown area posed a question recently to find out what his listeners “needed.” The replies offered some surprises.

Judging by the replies Mike handled it appears at appears that, locally, at least, most TV viewers use very few stations in spite of the fact that they subscribe to either cable or satellite services which provide them with hundreds of channel choices. Most subscribers soon realize that “hundreds of different channels” does not mean “hundreds of different programs.”

So many listeners who called, when asked to do so, named either shows or talent they like best. I was pleased to find many watched the very same Schnabel's we do as we tend to watch as a family. No one channel seems to be a favorite in the usual sense.. Now, the tendency seems to be to get the information or entertainment they want with less concern about where they are greeting it from. They get used to duplications across the dial and alert to recorded replays which better suit their available time slots.

The call-in reports were mainly concerning family watching. I was pleased to find other families watch the same things we do as a family. The HGTV channel, the Food Channel, CNN and FOX News, ESPN for special SPORTS EVENTS. Our local Public TV station was mentioned, I have noticed as names of personalities associated with various kinds of shows such as Jeff Ishy, Andre and Mark Viette and others. Most of the favorite shows seem to be ru-runs without end. Elaborate “new” shows - bigger money shows mostly are tried but after few weeks many fall by the wayside. In the background are scores of channels doing old-timers – a few years or a decade ago, and others millions remember with “Desi and Lucy,” M-A-S H”, ”Andy Griffith” and others, still on, it seems, every day and night somewhere on the dial.

I think we TV watchers are beginning to be far more selective. Time was when the networks and agencies could the amaze and amuse millions and they still try to fit in loud, flamboyant, shallow shadows of their best from the past. Few of them will ever serve as fabulous repeats and reruns in future TV.

A.L.M. November 3, 2005 [c441wds]

 
THE VERY BEST

I have, I think, always been proud of my home state of Virginia. She is a state of special, merited recognition - first in many situations, and with scores of recommendations -a good place to live and to raise a family, but as of this Fall of 2005 I find that I cannot condone our Governmental election procedures.

I don't think I have ever taken part in an election which was so unpleasant, violent a process steeped in so many crude accusations. It is, I think, the first time I have felt genuine shame and disgust with the way in which the political campaigns for the various state offices being considered. Party affiliation makes no different in the situation this year, either. One does it; and, then, the other side does it and it seems to become the pattern and no one will admit to having started the vile sequence of exchanging increasingly worse insults.

The final days of the election have become somewhat blurred during these final days of the sometimes, almost farcical process and I have felt genuine embarrassment when exposed to some of the material in the presence of other adult men and women. One such candidates actually accused opponent of “dragging my religious beliefs through the mud.” There has been far too much emphasis upon legislation, either pending or promised,. concerning sex offenders – which happened to be a hot subject right now and the offenders are all to be jailed exceeding our limited capacity. Each candidate accuses the other of laxity on crimes, such as allowing convicts to sue the state at fabulous cost. This election of 2005 will, I'm sure, be entered in my record book of such memories as the worst I have, as yet, experienced.

Part of the feeling of electioneering gone wild comes to us through a greatly expanded and influential media. In the past, you may remember when a candidate announced, the fields, trees, telephone poles, ad signs, sidewalks and lawns exploded with red-white-and-blue signs announcing his intentions. Radio came along to play an important role, which it still does, and television has moved in as the mainstay of all campaigns with newspaper support. Those statements previously made by candidates to small, often changing groups, are now placed with startling precision over huge coverage areas – repeated and repeated until there seems to be no end to it all! The manner in which we go about selecting our governmental leaders only vaguely resembles what it used to be under such pressures as are common today.

A.L.M. November 2, 2005 [c439wds]

 
CHINESE TIMES FIVE


We ate Chinese last night at our house.

There were five of us so that we were to share five Fortune Cookies with their cheerful, challenges in quick thoughts.

It just makes common sense that we should start eating more Chinese foods. Just about everything else on the dining room table, and in the Dining Room, for that matter, has a tag, stamp, label, on card attached to it by a piece of Chinese string telling you where it is made - which is – in, most cases, China. Even if the item identification reads elsewhere, it can still be from China the same selling sense by which we bought tons of merchandise said have been made in Hong Kong before it became a part of Red China technically. In like manner textiles we im port from South American locations, and others nations as well, are often shipped from stocks maintained there.. from China.

The Fortune cookies are novel addition - a free horoscope for all diners, in a small way.

Mine said: “Don't just think Act! So I got busy and wrote this page in praise of Chinese food – many of which I like – and also to express my growing fears about our relationships with industrial China. We are far too dependent on a foreign power - and one of political and social philosophy – than we ought to be and we are getting more deeply entangled in the crazed maze day-by-day

The second cookie said: ”Begin! The rest is easy! And ,thinking along the same line, consider the Thanksgiving Day decorations we bought - look at them! Made in China!. What about Christmas ? Do-dads and toys and gifts of all types have been from Santa's workshops in China for years now! A precedent has been well set.

Cookie #3: “Determination is the wake-up call to the human will.” It is going to be demanding thing if we determine to regain our ability to make the things we need e rather than depend on another people to supply our wants.

Number 4 Fortune Cookie points in a cheer-up note: “Confidence of success is almost success.” Almost, brother, is a “near miss.”

My wife drew Number 5 which proved to be one which brought us all back into modern times with something of a jolt. When it came her closing turn Vivian read: “Digital circuits are made from analog parts.” and looked as puzzled as the rest of us.

“That's true, I think...” I commented. We face a complicated problem but we will have to solved the problem in sections. It may be that only as we come to understand the mutual needs of both social groups that we can work out an adjustment.

We face some interesting times.

A.L.M. November 1, 2005 [c470wds]

 
ONE CITY – MINUS

Take one thriving city.

Call it New Orleans, La.

Then, pretend that you have the ability, by some magical method you are sure will work, to set about eliminating all those persons whom you can, logically, set apart, at least in your mind, as being the “poor people” of the city.

You may wish to show what proportion of the total population of the city makes up the “poor” element and where they are among situated among the masses of people. One can determine many points if one has the proper statistics concerning the units under study, but they are temporary at best because they are dependent upon the limitations of our knowledge at any given moment and conclusions drawn from our observations by men and women of the next generations. Things we learned September 9, 1965, when Hurricane Betsy torn through the city. That was the last time the city was really flooded and we came to feel it would be a long time before such a thing happened again. At the behest of Huey Long, Franklin D. Roosevelt flew in just a day later with federal officials and they saw the damage done to Pontchartrain Park, to Bywater and to the impoverished Ninth Ward When it was all over eighty-one dead were counted; a quarter of a million people had been evacuated and water level was set at nine feet. The Ninth Ward had suffered the most. That had been true of the Yellow-fever epidemic which raged through the city in 1905; and it was the poor of the same area which had borne the brunt of the Cholera epidemic in 1849.

This “poor finder” machine we have devised might be an example of the degree we so often seem to overdo analysis of the situation. You and I both know that the poor in the Crescent City have been scattered throughout a social structure which sees to be split between ours and the last century. Counselors at various “refugee” points who have talked with former residents find they do not plan to return – ever. If so, New Orleans as a city, enters a complete new era. She will try to be vibrant and alive without the under base of workers - the poorest of the poor level - those people who did much of actual work dealt out to a strata of our society few people admit exists – are, this time, saying they will not return.

New Orleans will survive, but it will have a longer, more rugged road to find its way back to anything like normalcy. I once made it a point to seek out a and talk to the downtrodden in New Orleans - example of that portion of humanity which is left on the fringe after all else is taken. I, at times, find it difficult to believe what some of them told me of their way of staying alive. Mine was only a small sampling, admittedly - two men and one teen-aged girl. Perhaps my fears for the City are misguided. Only history will work it all out.

A.L.M . October 31, 2005 [c527-wds]

 
THE HAZARD VIEW

Every time I see stock car racers slide through a window opening on their backsides to gain access to the interior of their controls, I think of two things: one of the "Dukes" of Hazard who made such action acceptable, and it takes me back to our 1924 Model Ford. It had no door on the divers sided, front. What appeared to be a door just like the others, was really
a swollen noodle of metal, a rounded line pressed into the metal side. You had to up-a-leg to enter.

It was line cut into the surface. From a distance it appeared to be a door not unlike the others. I have heard various explanations as to the need for such and purists like to say it was a "safety" feature placed there to keep a stray or clumsy foot from kicking the rig over the hillside. There were three pedals, some levers, handles and a steering column and wheel at that position. Those who know Henry a bit better know he was less concerned with safety that he was saving. If a "safety feature" printed-on front-left doors might cut costs - why not? Another "reason - the one we were given was that when you used the expandable luggage carrier which came as free extra with our car, covered the door anyway when mounted on the left side the accordian-like metal sections holding our suitcases and boxes covered the left, rear door as well.

Henry Ford didn't worry too much about safety. In fact, he and other early innovators never seemed to think of "motoring" as being as dangerous as some people liked to think it had to be. his assemble line production methods was a real money-saver. In September of 1924,my Father bought Henry's newest Model T - with an expandable, all-metal luggage rack, a free a tire-repair kit and hand pump plus one "spare" tire... all for just a bit over $300.00!

I often wondered Henry made any real money on his car sales. He did not put in any system of cost controls whatsoever until his son Edsel sided with the Defense Department of the United States at war. If he wanted to manufacture B-24 bombers at his new Willow Run plant, built for that purpose, he had to start some way of knowing how much it cost him to build the things he did.

The new version of a moderized Hazard boys movie is on screens right now . I've been holding off seeing it until I can witness every moment of it from behind the steering wheel in my own car in an old-fashioned Drive-In theater. I'm wondering just how the new hazard boys enter and leave their new cars. Front windows are a mite smaller today than they used to be and I can't see at awards for weight reduction of the average Dukes of car riding fame.

A.L.M. October 30, 2005 [c504wds]

 
OUR PAST

We do not, it seems to me, always appreciate or show proper respect for values out of our past in setting forth our present-day accomplishments.

The fine Conde Nast publication titled “Wired” is certainly one of the finest publications setting forth attributes of that which is new, exciting and emotionally moving in our advancing civilization. They keep us informed of physical products new to the markets. In
addition they deal with potential, with the theories and discernment that may urge us onward in the future.

If you saw the NBX-TV Tom Brocaw special recently dealing with America's newest large, larger and largest religious groups - active congregations of thirty-thousand or more filling areas seating fifteen thousand or so for each service – you, no doubt, noticed the enthusisam with which the devotees dealt so handily when they sang their favorite old hymns. They gave forth with joyous abandon and sang with all the dedicated fervor and sincerity – at one with the music and word “by heart.” It was a sweeping, leaping, joyful sound!
Few off the participants realized that more than one of the songs they sang so splendidly were the very same melodies or old drinking songs of the past.

So it is with much of what we call progress. It is, so often, founded on some which has proved to be of value in our past. Just as some of the old drinking songs of the past have been re-used as hymns of praise for the Deity, so it might well be that many concepts we hold in trust from our past may be due - or even overdue for some dramatic changes which will make them useful in our – or someone's future.

Any of our special days in church history are found to have been established on the very same date or days of ancient pagan worship


rituals and ceremonies so adherents to the new faith had something
to hold the attention of those new worshipers in a more modern religion. The present use of any invention we now consider to be common among us will , without doubt, mutated beyond recognition
but the concept is still there.

And, it is there for you.

Another faulty idea we have about innovations is that it is intend ed that other men and women should accomplish it for us. I think of you as other people and there are thousands of other people who think of you as the ones who will fashion our future.

Think about it. Make a choice for change.

A.L.M. October 29, 2005 [c-438wds]

 
LESSON NOT LEARNED

The unusual situations which came to be such an impressive part of the recent flood conditions in southern Louisiana - and to a most impressive extent along the Gulf coast port areas form a daunting challenge for all of us. We can accept or refuse to make use of information provided when then hurricane's Katrina and Rita,and their accompanying rains, and tornado winds dealt the area a severe package of destructive forces men have known in this particular areas in the past.

This time the evil, invading waters flowed across worn and ill-attended levees, walls and canal structures on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, canal channels and other inadequately prepared sections of the usual water system of the Crescent City. Many were in a neglected condition, many unidentified or confused with others in like condition. It quickly came to mind that the billions of dollar's requested by and sent to New Orleans for repair and maintenance of he water control systems, were misused to serve other purposes. This is one point which often gets lost during the days of registration in the rigorous days of restoration civic and private property.

It is obvious that such funds were mis-spent and some efforts are often made to try to determine whom might have done such a thing. It seldom, if ever, gets very far. Years later it often shows that the very same “foxes” had been put back in charge in care of the “chickens.” Records kept on the Washington, DC. end of this attractive arrangement plainly show the money did not go where it was deemed to be needed - often “urgently”. None of these federal funds were spent on any of the three most obvious levee and seawalls the most notorious offenders of all causing overflows which flooded New Orleans because no such fund were ever requested during that eight year period.

The ever-questing eye of television searched out and showed millions of citizens shocking realities concerning inequities which exist in our society which have not been acknowledged much less confronted and solved. And, there are other wrongs we saw; some we have never really discussed in fair-minded manner. All that awaits our ability to do so.

A.L.M. October 28, 2005 [c385wds]

 
SHE WAS RIGHT

During the month of October in the year of 2005 a feminine star loomed large on our political skies. On the 27th day of the month she was
eclipsed. Then, and not until then, it was seen that she had been wise enough to use good judgment in withdrawing from nomination to become a member of our Supreme Court.

In so doing, Harriet Miers demonstrated her ability to make judgements aside from personal or polical party feelings The oppositon to Harriet Miers came, not from Democrats but from objections by “far right”conservative Republicans - sometimes called “the religious right”.

Democats were standing by, I would say. They played it cool
awaiting this special oppuninity which allowed them to malign any Bush nominee. Other than one or two stalwarts among automatic critics voiced their very general opinons.

When Bush first mentioned the name Harriet Miers just weeks ago I think the average one of us welcomed the annoucment. We were pleased that he had chose a woman since he was replacing one on the existing court. Most peopleI talked with seemed also to be pleased with the idea that George Bush had avoided simply dipping into the well of lawyers from which so many politicians think justices must come, that he had look elsewhere to make a choice. Most seemed to be content with the idea that he had chosen a non-lawyer type. Such a choice
choice was was not all that unnatural, however, because many of our justices of the past have come from other than lawyer backgrounds – notably our past Chief Justice -and it seemed to make good sense to choose some one from other than lawyer sources. Some were bothered a bit by the fact that she was a White House
council. It proved to be a stumblin bloc because someone wanted to see official papers concering her advice and treatment of WhiteHouse problems – papers which the President felt could not be made available. This, to many critics suggested ”cronyism” - a favorite hurdle which is difficult to eliminate.

A.L.M. Oct. 27, 2005 [c356wds]

 
THE COMING OF SNOW.

When we hear the very first rumors of snow flurries arriving we tend to pull in the dimensions of our wider summer time living. We begin to think about ways and means of warding off or, at least, weakening, the imaginary or real threats of the coming winter months.

Usually it becomes a rather routine preparation which we through by degrees
,we might dare say, and as readings go downward steadily on indoor and outdoor temperature gadgets, we start digging winter clothing out of storage and putting put our summery stuff away for a rest.

So, un-officially ,our local winter began as of today. We heard rumors early of six inches and ups in the edge of Western and throughout the TV day we saw New England changed into a fluffy white decoration as a welcome change from rain.

For us it will, again, be pretty much routine but this year the transformation will be filled with many serious problems stemming from the situation in which we from the situations in which we find ourselves to be involved.

First, we are a nation at war and that never helped to make any of our burdens any lighter. Then, fact that it is an unusual war, as wars go, with rather indefinite goals and fragmented leadership which does nothing to bring the phase to a close. Millions of families with members in the armed forces will see the coming winter with different feeling than ever before. The tragic scenes we have witnessed on TV concerning the lifestyle now allowable to millions of human beings in hurricane, flood, tornadoes, earthquake and fire. Think about that for a moment: have you ever know such a dire concentration of misery within so short a span of time? All of that,plus the ever-present threat of epidemic disease out breaks in any of the stricken areas

National and Regional leaders – at all levels – have been called on to face the largest challenge of their lives . Some have been judged to have failed; others have been said to have been successful, and a few have gained a measure of popularity among the common people they were called upon to serve. Just about all of our well-established relief agencies have been pushed to their absolute limits by this series of cataclysmic events. Much criticism has been leveled at each and every one of them and much of it was not always justified. The old adage holds true: until you have walked a mile in the other man's shoes you have no idea of the horrors which must be faced.

A.L.M. October 26, 2005 [c450wds]

 
YA-YA-YA...

We, as small children, probably did some despicable things as we went into the strange processes whereby we learned how to live with others. You can, no doubt, remember some incident in which - looking back at it and knowing that which solved a problem for you, at that time was as wrong.

If you can count up a gross collection of such incidents from your early, formative days, you probably never think of your actions, but if you were more of an average kid - sort of a “Terrible Through Ten” type were an average kid – a
“Terrible Two-through-Ten” brat – you will think of having done wrong and you will regret having done so. Newly hatched political figures seem do fit well into the chronic mis-doers.

The childish bickering which has been so common in the Washington, D.C. is an insult to the intelligence of all. The seemingly natural opposition to anyone not of his or her own choosing is a indication of underdevelopment.

No one candidate named as a possible holder of a specific office, is going to be perfect. Certainly he or she will be wanting in some supposed merit in the eyes of a member of the opposition. It is a wise thing for opposition to seek out and find evidence of evil, or even some minor social error, even a minor wrong in his past to find evidence of wrongdoing, but to use it as a means of keeping a person from getting into office is a waste of effort, time and trouble.

I have always been amazed when I hear that an office holder could pretty well determine his future on certain legislation by picking up the telephone an
engaging in a little tech-e-tete with a wavering or opposing individual. A conversation concerning experiences of long ago can, ofttimes, could work wonders.

When will our beltway boys and girls come to know the real world?

A.L.M October 24, 2005 [c336wds]

 
WHY?

Why do we not find scattered collections of random marine life dead in the ruins of low-lying lands when hurricanes we have seen along our Gulf coastline this fall?

I have wondered about this many times, but it never seems to occur to me to ask such a dumb question when I am with someone whom might know about such odd things. Doesn't it seem logical that fish, swimming in the upper layers of the water as the most common species usually do, would be caught up in the swiftly moving currents and swept along toward the storm's set targets. Many, one could imagine some to be caught up in the scouring winds topping waves and becoming airborne projectiles aimed at any land target ahead. It seems logical that fish in abundance might be trapped or “netted” in such a manner by the storm since the is normal for the species we know to swim in the upper levels of the sea and most often in groups, that they would a be caught up the compelling currents and spread on the shore in a tumbled mass and doomed.

That is just one way in which such a situation might come to be - that fish have a sense of pressure associated with danger and that they, then accordingly swim at a lower level when the sea above is turbulent.

The sole evidence of dying sea life I have seen in the coverage of the storms and flood conditions was in a river in New Hampshire. The cameraman caught a shot of several hundred dying in a corner lull just below one of the dams being watched. That would lend credence to the “swim lower in bad times” tactics of the sea creatures.

I still wonder what we don't see more seaweed, shells, and, since many of these are offshore of large cities, what about the scoreless scows of mega-city mounds of garbage we dump “out there – somewhere”. Let's hope it can't go home again.

A.L.M. October 26, 2005 [c347wds]

 
D.C. PLAYTIME

Far too many of our elected political leaders are currently engaged - day after day, week-after-week - in petty, bickering party-back-room games.

One would think grown men and women, many with some educational attainment, would be, at least trying to avoid such outward displays of childish pique being shown so avidly these days. Do they not comprehend the embarrassing position in which voters back home who have supported them on their way up. Certainly, in war time, in a time when natural disaster has caused serious dislocations in our national and international fabrics, is not a proper time or place to start argument and to start blaming people This is not a good time for doing the family laundry in public.

I mention it now now because it is time for many of us to get busy letting the world know how stupid this all must appear to people in other nations as well as many here in our own domain. Make it a point to look and listen for your local political person whom you helped put in office. Pay attention to what he has said and will say about situation.

I have been pleased with what I have heard my congress persons say about the many problems we are facing. It is one thing to talk about what can be done but it can be quite a different matter to do it and do it right. As cumbersome as business seem to become with government it is a wonder anything gets done at all.

Everyone makes mistakes, too. Never forget that.

Never get angry about it. The ballot box is your best talk back. Let him or her know that.
A.L.M. October 23, 2005 [c307wds]

 
HONOR?

We used to speak of “honor among thieves” with some confidence that we knew such a thing was unlikely because thieves, by their very nature,would lie, cheat, steal and show show little concern for the feelings and property of others.

We seldom spoke of a kindred relationship which seems, now to have been in existence for some time, wherein “birds of a feather” - let us say -just for example, mind you several congress persons, officials, political leaders, and so forth,and we tempered our thoughts thinking that they, as our servants in a way, would not, knowingly,do us any harm.

The word “indicted” has a more serous meaning to the average one of us live our lives without ever knowing the actual experience of using such legalese terms. Notice the reaction when people hear of an indictment. In common usage it so most often taken to mean he or she has been “arrested” without having to go to jail. It can,however,however be seen as being ”bad” but to “too bad”. Some few, so designated individuals even claim to welcome the indictment because “it gives me a chance to show wherein the accusations are false, an show how honest I've been all the while!”

To me, the indictment, hurts! The individual who have been indicted for something - almost anything – is automatically guilty of having excited doubts and suspicions; raised some far-out and unanswerable questions, and provided a legal foundation upon which anyone can construct both real or imaginary barricades of demerits. All of this often can be - and is – exploited by our communications media eager to enhance the very nature of such conflict. They respond, often and at times with creative and quite original ingenuity, to the interests of their readers far and wide.

I have disturbing feelings that labels we have used for many years - such words as “honor”,“veracity” - even “truth” have changed quite a bit from Victorian times in which we are, oddly enough, often considered to be “living in” at the moment.

“Upon my honor” does not mean what it used to just a short time ago. The various honor codes have been diluted many times over and not honored as they once might have been in your own social circles. Think,for instance, of the many
fine points which you took a stand when you joined the Boy or Girl Scouts, your social club or church related group. Does a Code of Honor hover in the background every time you sing our national anthem or see our flag floating freely and forcefully in the winds of both good and bad times.

A.L.M. October 21, 2005 [c453wds]

 
POVERTY POWER

Poverty has, long ago, become a political power.

The term which now has little to do with the segment we used to call “poor” people. It is, today, used as a term which is bandied about when we seek federal largess or when we seek to make a candidate appear in a good or bad light. The candidates actions or stated opinions are applied against a template prepared ahead of time containing diagrams, charts, graphs, list of statistics and attractive artwork depicting the blessings of “pie in the sky” promises. It can be used to sooth a populace or keep it feeling insecure.

There was a time when we considered the word “poverty” to be a term we used to describe the economic levels of a person or of a social or racial group. Mainly we thought of “poverty” in that way - short of money, lacking in luxuries. Much of that has been changed since the Federal government felt compelled to chart and diagram
the language used in describing poverty. Oddly enough, the criteria
by which the new rating placement were based on, so often, on other charts which showed what that poor person might have earned had he or she not been poor.

In recent years we have come to depend on terms such as “Cost of Living.” It and “Studies show... have pretty well veneered our usual poverty terms. The term “poor” has actually become a mark of special distinction in the mind of many. It is interesting to me that some of these people are actually third and fourth generations of welfare recipients which casts some distrubing shadows over our past attempts to help the downtrodden.

We have had a special opportunity to learn how all of us can live better lives after witnessing the events which have taken place in recent weeks. New Orleans, in particular, and many other cikties and town alon g the Gulf Coast have suffered trememdous losses in lives and property. It is easy for us to sit back and potificate on “what went wrong” both in the planning for such disasters and actions taken or not taken under stress. Even as I type these lines another tremendous hurricane is building in the Gulf of Mexico and it will hit the mainland -somewhere – Saturday morning.

What can we do - now – to help the people in those areas to be ready to face such a threatening storm?


A.L.M. October 19, 2005 [c421wds]

 

NO END IN SIGHT?

The long endured troubles in both Ireland and in the Middle East, as well as hot-spots around the world suggests it may be time for basis change in some such each area. If the factions concerned have not decided to call a halt to their disruptive tactics is up to this time, then, it seems highly unlikely they will ever achieve any lasting peace any time. Drastic changes are needed.

It is true, of course, that these are not new problems and that the underlying causes are mixed into a complicated series of historical occurrences far removed from the realities of our own day. It is very difficult to re-do history whatever degree to the concerned persons. That holds especially when when persons involved are relatives.

In recent weeks our attention has been diverted by the hurricanes and resulting flood condiions along our coastal ports. This has been - is - and will continue to be a major event in the life of our nation. It is far more serious than most Americans realize a the present time.

Times now are often not what they are said, to be.

Right now - today - here in the Commonwealth of Virginia and efforts of men running for Attorney-General opposing a growing tendency or prisoners to enter suits against the state for the most friviolous reasons. The truth has its verity only in the mind of the teller...who is telling the tale and from what perspective. The truth is often left untold, as we trust in factional accounts. Certain such questions as this may be brought before a world court of some type for a "ruling" on the subject which might help the cause of peaceful co-existence. Is such world bodies as the United Nations organizations can not be used in such cases of what value are they to us?

I agree that this sounds too much like our own "Special Prosecutors" setups to be practical if might prove valuable in bringing such problems before a world wide audience who are concerned in some way. Holme front happenings very often indicate the path our future might follow.

A.L.M. October 15, 2005 [c399wds]

 
DISSENT

If it appeared that we were about to start arguing about the manner in which Mankind has handled his affairs since the time of Creation, I would, I'm sure, choose to side with Mankind and argue that he has done an exceptionally good job of improve his social order - despite a veritable catalog of obvious wrongs he is doing, has always done and will, there seems to an eight-tracked miss-guidance system, he will continue to follow his own methods of improving his social environment.

And, the records of the projects he undertakes, because he has not yet come to term concerning "who" and "what" his place was meant to be in this complex world of ours. Hand a man a blank sheet of paper and a sharp pencil - maybe a short ruler and a simple compass for creating circles we can run around in - and he can give you a picture of what he wants our world to come. Give him a computer and he will give you a spittin'-image model of what his way-out ideas jell into something which just might be economically chewable.

Creative advances cannot be hurried.

We have been at it for some time, but we have never been ready to admit, we have been so strangely blessed. When all this which we call "the Universe" was a made The Power causing it all decreed his work to be "good". At some point along that line, authority decreed that, henceforth, this World would be under the "dominion" of Mankind.

You know the terms of the agreement. Man was given... dominion over life in the far-flung seas... the endless sky above... dominion over the natural resources of the the salt, gas, oil, coal, diamond, silver, gold!

We have been slow in undertaken our share of the blessed burden of our ownership. We must work toward such a goal by exercising our right to rule, and by basic acts of care and maintainenace required to maintain the great wealth we hold in trust with the Creator.

A.L.M. October 15, 2005 [c 358wds]

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11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005
11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005
12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005
12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005
12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005
12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006
01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006
01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006
01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006
01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006
01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006
02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006
02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006
02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006
02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006
03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006
03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006
03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006
03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006
04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006
04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006
04/16/2006 - 04/23/2006
04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006
04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006
05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006
05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006
05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006
05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006
06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006
06/11/2006 - 06/18/2006
06/18/2006 - 06/25/2006
06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006
07/02/2006 - 07/09/2006
07/09/2006 - 07/16/2006
07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006
07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006
07/30/2006 - 08/06/2006
08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006
08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006
08/20/2006 - 08/27/2006
08/27/2006 - 09/03/2006
09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006
09/10/2006 - 09/17/2006
09/17/2006 - 09/24/2006
09/24/2006 - 10/01/2006
10/01/2006 - 10/08/2006
10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006
10/15/2006 - 10/22/2006
10/22/2006 - 10/29/2006
10/29/2006 - 11/05/2006
11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006
11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006
11/19/2006 - 11/26/2006
11/26/2006 - 12/03/2006
12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006
12/10/2006 - 12/17/2006
12/17/2006 - 12/24/2006
12/24/2006 - 12/31/2006
12/31/2006 - 01/07/2007
01/07/2007 - 01/14/2007
01/14/2007 - 01/21/2007
01/21/2007 - 01/28/2007
01/28/2007 - 02/04/2007
02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007
02/11/2007 - 02/18/2007
02/18/2007 - 02/25/2007
03/25/2007 - 04/01/2007
04/01/2007 - 04/08/2007
08/05/2007 - 08/12/2007
08/26/2007 - 09/02/2007
11/18/2007 - 11/25/2007
12/09/2007 - 12/16/2007
12/21/2008 - 12/28/2008
01/04/2009 - 01/11/2009
07/26/2009 - 08/02/2009