Friday, September 30, 2005
LESSONS NOT LEARNED The unusual situations which came to be such an impressive part of the recent flood conditions in southern Louisiana - and, to some 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, dealt the area a severe package of destructive forces men have known in those areas in the past. This time the evil, invading waters flowed across worn and broken levees, walls and canal structures on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain and other inadequately prepared sections of the system - 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 the water control systems, were misused to serve other purposes. We can, in our investigations, overlook such "monetary" 'lapse's or take it under consideration and try to roundup those persons found to be guilty of such funds. I am told a definite paper trail e exists in the Washington, D .C. agencies which details the intended use of the funds. 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. September 30, 2005 [c320wds]
Thursday, September 29, 2005
CLAIM TO FAME Who among us today will be judged to have been famous in his or her own time? Very few. Such a list, if it could be compiled, would be rather short. It has been concluded years ago by unnamed persons who did not, themselves make the grade - names unknown – who decided just what must transpire before anyone could have a real claim to genuine fame. Here, briefly, is their formula. “If, after you have been dead for one hundred years, two people - not relatives or descendants of yours – remember your name and something you did, then you were a famous person in your own time.” Just two people - after one hundred years! Frills have been appended to the original theory, of course. If ,for instance,your deeds had been less than admirable you might have “infamous” rather than honored. Or, worse yet – like the rest of – simply forgotten. Take a few minutes and boggle your brain a bit concerning the untold millions upon millions of eager souls who have populated this Earth for umpteen centuries. Not very encouraging, is it? Makes a person wonder if its such a good idea to aim for fame after all. That may explain how it is that so many people aim for fame as combined with fortune. They aim for fame, but money spends better and, who knows? Any good deeds done with your fortune may be your key to fame. A serious study note: with the fame theory in mind, rethink how it must have been Mark and and a few went into the mid east, and one hundred years after Jesus had lived; searched and found the reasons for his fame for all times. A.L.M. September 29, 2005 [c354wds]
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
WHY THE DELAY? Why did a Texas lawyer, as a prosecuting attorney, wait until, this moment to call for the indictment of Republican Congressman Tom Delay? For many reasons, perhaps, but prime among them but standing prime among them must have been the was the fact that this was grand jury number six who have heard the case presented. The five which have gone before said:”No.”. Number six grand jury six agreed with lawyer Ronnie Pearle, who has specialized in this procedure for many years. No crime has been charged. The grand jury has as its purpose to decide if a trial is needed, based on the the amount and quality of evidence presented before that body. If they feel such a step be taken. The general public does not always understand this step and often think of the individual as being on trial for the commission a crime. In this case Ronnie Earle is asking that Tom Delay be brought to trial for willfully breaking existing State of Texaco which specifies what types of contributed money - individual or corporate - might be spent on party activities as opposed to direct support a specific person;s campaign. Definitions of exactly what constitutes any one of the ultimate recipients are difficulte and who knows how we will find our way out? One has to wonder if this was the work of the aging “partisan fanatic” Ronnie Earle alone, or if party funds from mysterious source might have pushed it all along a bit so it could “happen” at this particular time. Now a Texas court will decide it all A.L.M. September 28, 2005 [c341wds]
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
PRIZED PRE-CEPTS
Certainly, events along our Gulf coast during the past few weeks should help us to overcome some of our deeply set prejudices. These changes are most urgently needed in the very areas where senseless restrictions and selfish favoritisms are models of operation. Landmarks of proper conduct are easy enough to see, to post, print, preach and pontificate upon in endless stream of pallid platitudes, and even book of laws which remain, by and large, unenforced. We are in need of some further studies of our present situation in regard the stability of our faith and trust in our own government as a basic form of civic rule. During recent weeks we have all heard some rather harsh criticism of both the government of the State of Louisiana and of the City of New Orleans. It was specific in nature and mentioned leaders by name, departments, functions and failures and accusations claiming they had failed to meet the needs -or a least, the expectations of the people. Time after timed they hesitated in uncertainty, and it was “time” which took value out of any plans they may have had in mind. Quite often comments compared what was happening during the old days of Huey Long's rule of the area. Far too frequently the talk concerned the corruption and illegal actions of Long's reign with conditions today in state and city. The political cleanup will be done eventually and may be that it will rival the real estate changes. Other discussions overheard compared the plight of New Orleans to that of Chicago in its darkest moments years ago and I found criticism of the patchwork New Orleans' police department to be beyond comprehension. All of this devious complicity evolves from individual wrongdoing. It is far easier and better if it can be curbed at the starting end than at the “end” end. Let's school ourselves as individuals against avarice, greed, against hate and distrust and prejudices and falseness. As individuals, we become our nation. A.L.M. September 27, 2005 [c368wds]
Monday, September 26, 2005
HOLLOW DAYS Does seem to you that we are gradually reworking our national holidays to make sure they are centered on gastronomic extravagance! We are heading into the season called “Thanksgiving” a special time for consuming huge quantities of food. It is a kind of dietary preview of how much we plan to eat when Christmas arrives. The day dedicated to dining has a rather uncertain history. It is well-established hearsay tradition which started during the earliest days of the settlement of New England by Pilgrims from various points in the U.K. area of Europe. The 1620's celebration of gratitude by Pilgrim for a good initial harvest from newly cleared fields in a vast land of forests. Down half-way south in Virginia colonists had been been had experienced both good and bad harvests of their portion of the newly cleared lands, game from the forests, fish and related treats river and nearby sea. Both settlements probably received more essential help from friendly Indians than we admit. It is an interesting sidelight that they did not put on a Thanksgiving show the second year but spoke of poor harvests. Historians delving into the records concerning the first Thanksgiving Day observance in New England indicated that it seems to have been far from the solemn occasion we laud. It was a three- day festival and included drinking, gambling, athletic contests and target shooting to show the Indians how effective the musket could be. Another reason for calling it off the second year, might well have been the arrival of as new shipload Pilgrims to be fed and housed during the coming winter. For us to pretend that today's Thanksgiving menu items are caloric echoes from wherever it may have been held. At best they were smörgåsbord's – a wide swath of limited quantities - whatever was available from the woods, waterways and wigwams, hogans or long house dwellings - Indian corn, pumpkins, melons, greens of every shade and critter parts beyond our imagination. The latest addition I have heard about as being from the original Pilgrim version: pop corn! Are you ready? It's about eight weeks away. To get prepared you need go on a crash diet right away. A.L.M. September 26 , 2005 [c401wds]
Sunday, September 25, 2005
CHANGES IN PROGRESS Perhaps too often a favorite a subject which comes to the top when good folks get together, or are forced by circumstances beyond their control is: how much better “things” and “times”used to be than they are now. Recent floods in the United States have caused countless numbers of people to be transported into locations with other people not of their own choosing. They feel they have been“stranded”in a modern sense - without electricity, without their cars, truck and other means of travel, without oil, gas, grease, goop and goo preparations and a withdrawal phase on being set apart from free-will purchases of food we call “fast”and a possible threat of no food at all. A mixed bunch of humans suddenly found themselves to be in a strange world. Many, no doubt, felt themselves to be alone. It may be that this will have a long range affect on American styles of living. When things dry out a bit more, maybe those people who write books about what makes people do what we do under stress of any kind will be concocted and we will know why we acted back in 2005. And, I purposely say “we” because all of us have, are or will be changed because of events which have marked this year as a turning point marking changes in our personalities which will affect how we grow as citizens in a nation grown to a new level of maturity. Some simple principles need to be re-studied and fitted to the way we live our daily lives - now. We, for instance, have come very close to being unable to speak with each other as equal citizens pledging loyalty and understanding one to the other. I know that sounds harsh, but think back over you own, personal statements and unsaid judgments made concerning individuals who as elected, chosen, or simply named to be ”leaders” in circumstances which redefine the real nature of such terms. Have your critical views been justified? Only the future can tell us if we have been right or wrong in our decisions. A.L.M. September 25, 2005 [c366wds]
Saturday, September 24, 2005
WE SEE SO LITTLE Ours is a large nation. It is big in many ways. So much so that, at times, it tends to minimize any terms used to try to define it's dimensions. Many were reminded of the size of the nation when watching the two hurricanes which have, this far elected to visit our gulf coast states. As hurricanes go, they were classified as being “large” and when a map either of them was applied as an overlay, it covered the area completely and fudged a bit into the edge off edge of the Caribbean Sea. If, in your own mind you slid it all up and you swamped the entire Republic of Texas - now called a “state”- one among many united Many foreign residents never think of a nation of such extended dimensions They think, in many cases, of driving of a hour or two and visit several nations. It is said one cannot drive more than seventy-two miles in any one direction from the center of England without ending up in the sea. In the City of New Orleans more land was under water than most people realize. They quote it as being “80% or 90%” but never say “of what?” Many Americans make the false judgments. There has been, are, and will continue to be, groups of narrow-minded critics by birth who will insist that “authority” in the stricken areas was a either lacking or in the hands of incompetent people who were either stupid, greedy,or motivated by the wrong political and social principles. They tend to mark all whom they accuse as offenders with a wide brush of their own dipping. In the past the best way to deal with this troublesome rash has been simply to expose them to the sunshine of honest, open publicity. They tend to crawl back into the wood work to await another opportunity when we may wander away from the dominion we hold over our Good Earth. A.L.M. September 24, 2005 [c351wds]
Friday, September 23, 2005
PREVIEW “That which we are now seeing on television is a preview of what it is going to happen when the Terrorists attack America!” I first heard that said during the early hours of the Katrina flood water were inundating the City New Orleans and we had growing fears that he various agencies we expected to show up to help victims were absent Looting continued before our very eyes and we surmised that local law was not functioning all. Both city and State assistance proved to be evasive; to be proud of plans and promises but not too great on delivery. Federal assistance simple was not there start with anything than endless rolls of red tape. On the very first day it was evident that peoples expect too much of government. We forget our welfare years when New Deal thinking prevailed. We are a people seeking to call aspect of our lives as “rights'”and safety is what we expect it to be replete with protective rights of all kinds” I felt that judgment was too severe but in the past week I have changed my view We were not prepared for “Katrina”, we are not prepared for Rita and be it every so far away -– we will not be prepared for the next hurricane, either. These two big winds have changed by view. Now, as we watch New Orleans re-filling with floor waters once more and wonder it area will survive its past and start living with the future in mind. We have never suffered the plight of being refugees a and to think that we might be called upon to do so is almost beyond our comprehension. These natural disasters have shown us what it can be to suffer. Those who have been trapped in the actual events have found an awareness of the great loss of human life and billions dollars in property. We have also made Hope more difficult to obtain and hold. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, it may be good for us to seek to live honest, decent lives which will merit quality leadership and guidance. A.L.M. September 23, 2005 [c362wds]
Thursday, September 22, 2005
NOW, THE WAY I HEARD IT.... I go back to Gramophone days. Everything. Thick, black disks were the heart and soul of the sound system. They measured about twelve or fourteen inches across. They were made of a dried-tar substance we called "wax". A thick coating of soother stuff was baked on the top side of each disk which was slick looking. You could see circles of round scratches like little Grand Canyons of sounds pocked into the tiny ditch. In some way record makers caused a needle to vibrate to sounds and ridges and valleys were cut in each crevice. We ran another needle over those ruts and ridges and heard sounds when it was run through amplifiers and speakers. We didn't worry much about how speech and music was so preserved. We seldom became involved in development. As long as it came to us mounted in a nice cabinet -a piece of furniture with the large horn-like speakers concealed inside the box. Owning a Gramophone was a social thing. It marked ours as a modern, wide-awake family. The early recordings had announcers to tell listeners who was going to read, recite or sing but that didn't last long. Neater, smaller, more dependable as "Victrolas" replaced the old "Gramophone machines". We started calling them "phonographs" and for many years the word was tagged with the name of the maker. Until 1925 records were expensive because only one record could be made at a time. One loud military band and one super-powerful tenor who had proved they could make three record at the same time. Materials used to make records had changed before too long a number of records could “cut” at the same time. The materials were more durable with proper care and the term “quality”came to have more meaning in the industry and among “record fans.” The advent of radio made the record change rapidly. The makers name gradually faded away and phonographs became simply “record players.” It took a good many years to work our way through three favorite record speeds – 78's. 33-1/3 and 45 r.p.m. In addition, radio's demands caused distinctions to be made with applications. The records are still with us but tape recorder and other electronic system have taken us even closer to perfections we still seek. A..L.M. September 22, 2005 [c402wds]
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
A FULL HOUSE You certainly must have noticed that there has been a decided jump in the populace's interest in card playing games. Everywhere - the deal is on! New television versions of "Poker" are appear within ever-increasing regularity. New deals are turning up in non-metro areas as well, so it will soon get to be possible for you to find a game going wherever you may happen to be. It won't be too long until housewives tire of being desperate and, once again, fill Middle America with "Bridge Clubs". They can fill slots left b y soaps which have gone on to become prime-time TV drama, featured films or Broadway shows. Some good ole times playing cards with agreeable friends; having some good food and drink and,perhaps, to connect with some of that Vegas variety of greens - colorful wrappings with presidential portraits properly positioned. What could this rather abrupt return to the cardboards mean? For one thing. It shows that TV production people have found yet another way which allows them to ship out newer stocks of low-budget programming. The playing card has long been such an inspirational token for individuals of ability who have been led by the excitement of games to apply sensitive exactness to the work in improving our lot by inventing machines and systems which also follow set rules. The games are precise and accurate, depending on strict attention to other, higher rules which are also precise, fixed and firmly set. These rules must be adhered to or all can be lost. The era of games on TV might a provide a needed lull in which producers and viewers can get over the excesses of several seasons which have over-produced a veritable plague of so-called "realism" ; cloned quiz shows with exorbitant cash giveaways and glamor and glitz by the gallon. Other TV fare has wavered a great deal and , no doubt, caused many viewers to seek havens in cable TV and other specialty outlets. They are not lost. They are alienated and if TV producers simply take a look at the "cue cards"- bearing on their sides a rubric set of signs: "Spades" for the hard work it will demand; "Clubs" - to be used if knocking a few hard heads about is necessary; "Hearts" - for showing gratitude to writers, artists, actors,actresses, their stand-ins and tech-people - all those who do the work you want done often beyond your expectations; and "Diamonds" created by the efforts of all concerned. The rewards provide the mean by which you say "Thank You" to each other. And remember this: wherever cards are present a gambler is prevalent. There is always "Joker" - one,at least. A.L.M. September 21, 2005 [c466wds]
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
FIRELESS COOKERYYou may be too young to remember when we actually had a genuine “Fireless Cooker” in our kitchen and used it often to prepare many some delicious, nutritious meals for our large family. It must have thought at the time – the mid 1920’s – that other families had such fantastic stoves but since that time I have been alert to find another such stove anywhere and I have yet to find one. We made good use of that stove right on up into the Great Depression years of the 1930’s I can even recall that we shared it with a family who lived in the big , white house next door to us. The metal legs weakened where they were screwed to the base of the metal box and caused a wobble which , with repeated wiggles, split the seams of the cooking wells. A strange or irony came from it all in that we found we could not get replacement parts for the stove. No store in town “carried” such a strange item, including the hardware store where Dad had originally bought it. Their explanation of it was that a new company tried to market a new product which “bombed” as so many innovative products tend to do when they try to market the item without customer interest and concern and dealer/distributor loyalty, support and service. Our Fireless Cooker was a novelty then even though we were not aware of its unique nature at that time. Ours was painted in bright green with legs and latches in black, in case happen to come across one in your travels. It was an adaptation of the slow cooking techniques which have been used for centuries . It worked will for us and I've always felt we enjoyed better foods and improved nutrition benefits through so many years. I'd say it is time to market a version of the same thing all over again today! A.L.M. September 20, 2005 [c399wds].
Monday, September 19, 2005
DOG GONE! While watching the rescue efforts trying to save household pets from Katrina's floods waters – dogs, cats and any other critters mankind befriends and invites in his domain - I kept thinking about a book I read years ago dealing with a dog-napping gang operating in the Crescent City. I remember I read the book because assumed it had to be about the “historic” French Quarter. I had, shortly before that, visited New Orleans for my first and only visit as a member of the convention-eers who help the Quarter stay in business. The book only touched on the French Quarter being right where the French left it when they unloaded it on the Spanish for a short time and the norte americanos when Thomas Jefferson issued a purchase order purchasing the entire purchase. And, as usual, it was done for some ridiculously low price which I will refrain from even mentioning. In modern times there was some crisp, folding money to be made dealing in dogs down there. The mutt merchants had an international arrangement whereby canines were gathered in from several source ....quasi-legal – a dog catcher who was poor a math; a pet-polisher/clipper/styler with an expensive girl friend; a shadowy vet with varicosed principles. Two additions are necessary at this point. Add one pretty young girl who has developed an interesting hobby-job of raising puppies which she then takes to her nearby hospital to serve as “four-legged friends” to the older, inactive residents. Then, bring on a young who is a successful dog-napper-catcher. Not so in this case. He makes the mistake of falling in love with the girl who become the leading suspect in the case. They work it all out and it made a good story. It turned out I didn't miss the”French Quarter” after all.It may just be that this flood and all I feel must follow unless some radical changes in effect right away. Much of the old area has long been a rather shabby sham. It has, long ago become an over-painted plywood plaything. The women are, too often, girls; the jazz music is rock; the entertainment is under-financed and no-show; the bars and booze rate "B" at best. Food? Too spicy and too pricey. Vegas wins all the way. A.L.M . September 19, 2005 [c401wds]
Sunday, September 18, 2005
THANK YOU, “FAST COMPANY” We, as a nation, should be thanking the editors, staff and management of America’s most sprightly business journal “Fast Company”. They are the first and only business oriented publication I know of which has ever published in full, open print and with worthy photographs of a “the Top ten bosses from Hell.” If you seriously undertook to prepare such a list of the lousiest C.E.O’s of American business what names would you include? I picked three myself and I was a bit surprised to find that I knew four or five of them - even revered some of them and admired some of them for career attainment and accomplishments against severe odds. Of the others on the list , I found I knew three fairly well, and for the other two I had to search out along the fringes of my mind -read ab of their dastardly deeds done before I could remember who they had been. One thing more before we start to look at the list. After reading the entire article, I realized that I had not come across anything I did not already know. Well, perhaps some small tid-bit, but I have known the major twists and turns. That mean I have a double standard. How do I live with it? How do I live with such a condition? It makes it appear as if we all do so, g some degree. Interesting. We can control such feelings while we admire some seriously flawed individual can’t we? Glance through the list, bellow in disagreement if you need to do so; get angry if that helps, voice disagreement loudly; brandish weapons if needed but read the list and the accusations. Ready? Martin Davis, Ivan Boesky. John D. Rockefeller, Armand Hammer, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Andre Fastow, Harold Green, Leona Helmsley, Al Dunlap. For details concerning the above, up FastCompany.com Fast Take on your computer.It is done there as a slide show. A.L.M. September 18, 2005 [c340wds]
Saturday, September 17, 2005
CATCHING ON Do I just imagine it, or are we rather slow in catching on to the idea that there may be something worthwhile for us to learn from the New Orleans situation? I keep having a feeling that this is more than just a quirk in the weather whereby the wind blew too, too strong and too dong-dong-dong-dong like the loose clapper on a large bell. Are our eyes blinded by our own glory shining forth? Are our ears forever sealed with the worrisome wax of disuse and neglect? Why can't we see? Why can't we hear voices crying out endlessly for assistance? Partly, I'd say, because we'd rather not be like that dream stuff? theory! In the main, I believe, we get pretty much what we pray for, don't we? Oh, but of course, you don't pray, do you! None of that foolish pretending for modern you! Yet,when it hits as it does, the waters of the world come hurriedly moved by the same wild winds, he same irresistible forces and to pick us up and crush us against the real hardness of the earth with tremendous force and power -power enough to swept us away, smashed what protective shields we may have raised and dashed us against unyielding rocks of reality. So many survivors of the floods sit idle in total unawareness of what might have caused their suffering. They understand even less what they can about. Among such a group of survivors you. In noticed it years ago in sharing a bomb shelter with civilians. Even in New Orleans with its excessive expectation of federal miracles which could not be. Here and there you saw a person who did not litter; who had his or her possessions in a semblance of good order – folded, bagged, or folded and tied for quick movement if necessary. It was the Englishman who whittled a small toy from a piece of wood; it was the the lady who knitted or crocheted ;it was the old man who helped several children to build imaginary things with the curious collection of materials with pebbles, rocks, and such scraps of paper,cardboard, string, bottles and empty containers. He helped them hold fast to mutual dreams and plans. There were such individuals in the sports arena and in the convention center. Look or them when you see re-runs on TV. We can learn just by becoming aware of what have done in times of trouble. A.L.M. September 17, 2005 [c428wds]
Friday, September 16, 2005
“THE” NEWS!It is common today for many of us to be overcome the sheer volume and complex nature of such major news stories such as the floods; the disappearance of college girls at home and abroad. All such cases are plural in nature, but we tend to go along with the media and use one as an example for all. Right now “the“ war is, of course, the Bush One in Iraq. “The” coed is Natalee Holloway missing in Aruba; “the” flood is considered be that portion of “the” hurricane Katrina which brought severe damage to all our Gulf Coast states. It is a glaring mistake to emphasis any one simply by ignoring it and pretending it has not happened. Such an unfair attitude is wrong in every way – politically, socially, financially and in a moral sense! An old rural saying from the horse and buggy days has been recycled and put to use: “The wheel that does the creaking gets the grease!” The city – poorly prepared, ineptly staffed and politically patterned to avoid any action which might show past acts to have been less than perfect. Thus bound - leaders hesitated, delayed, and pretended, and came fast moving deluge. Complaints continue, and show little sign of abating. The thousands of people who are being victimized by circumstances far beyond their control. As the days go by things have become even more complicated as refugees are moved into their new environment. The hosts of such a group sent to West Virginia expressed unhappiness in this morning's inner pages news items have been studied the newcomers. It appears that from fifty-three to fifty-five per cent of those sent from New Orleans are felons or have police records. It seems the political clique in New Orleans still has problems they expect other people to solve for them. It appears the entire Crescent City situation is going to worsen somewhat from different angles before it gets any better. A.L.M. September 16, 2005 [c338wds]
Thursday, September 15, 2005
HAD ENOUGH? Have you, during this week, had about enough of "the John Roberts Hearing:" thing on TV? If so, join the club. I'll move over a bit to allow you room on a crowded bench. I thin k even those who admire the concept of examinations with questions and and answers got their fill quickly. The procession - for it was that rather than a procedure - jelled even before it came to a boiling point with scathing criticism of previous statements - oral and written - turned quickly into a search for any little error or chance remark which could be saved and, eventually, be used and mis-used in seeking to destroy the man. Salient points were put as questions again and again in slightly different words in attempts to catch the speaker off guard with a slight error of any sort or a chance remark or comment concerning previously stated views on subjects only vaguely associated with today's events and circumstances. The man being questioned showed such outstanding skill in repelling such attacks. Perhaps the one most outstanding point of interest for me was that, through all of the proceedings John Roberts, the nominee in the glare of detailed examination, spoke with confidence and clarity without notes of any kind. Several members of the opposition felt forced to make very obvious use of prepared scrips. Opponent Sen. Ted Kennedy, with script close at hand, read what he said. It seemed to have been written by someone else judging by the readers attentive pauses as he read. It is important that we, as a nation, maintain this and other historical traditions. It is important that we give it more attention and higher historical status. It has become a farcical thing by which political clowns to don their particular sectional prejudice. Among leaders who have expressed some doubt about our ability to face up to demands of a future are: Thomas Jefferson who worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpretation the law would begin making law an oligarchy - the rule of few over many." John Jay - our first Supreme Court Justice, put it much more strictly: "American should select and prefer Christians as their rulers." Imagine either of those gentlemen saying those words in the John Roberts Hearing Hall! Where, where and how have we arrived at the point where we seem to be - when everything we have done in the past 229 years is now, suddenly, either "wrong"or "unconstitutional?" A..L.M. September 15, 2005 [c426wds]
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
RE-START! What's behind all of this idle talk about the sudden demise of the grand City of New Orleans? You don't just walk away from a city which has been one which needs to be remembered ...always. I agree that New Orleans has its problems. All cities do, I suppose, that of this particular city being (parts of it, not all of it) twenty feet or so "under sea level" - and we use of that term most of the time which shows how much we actually know about the situation. Much of the land within the city is under the high water levels of the Mississippi River on the west side and of Lake Pontchartrain on the northeast, top end. The "sea level" it is supposed to be "under" is a good hundred miles downstream and getting more so year because Louisiana is the only state in the Union which adds land area every year. The tons of silt brought down by the Mississippi system stretch he delta out into the Gulf of Mexico a square mile or so each year. Think about this: How should we explain it to the Village Idiot that if the sea level were higher than that of the river level at the city site why isn't the river flowing north. If and when properly constructed and maintained a system of modern levees, dikes and associated locks and canals, will be efficient and dependable. The example has been cited perhaps too often, the Netherlands seems to have survived using dikes and sea walls. And what about Venice, some one else suggests, where the city itself is the sea wall. But, let's refrain from using those two as examples. Both the V-people and the ZZ-folks face troubles as their systems age. Think instead of other cites where underground extended downwards growth are drilling deeper and deeper - many below local "sea levels." As soon as the pumps get the city empty and the fans have run for a spell, the paint brushes and carpenter's hammers and saws will put much of, it back the way was it back to it was before. Much of the lasting charm of the of the French Quarter, after all, dealt primarily in used goods; repeated circumstances; new attempts at living out of truncated dreams of romantics from the past. Yes, the Crescent City will live again. It will, once more, thrive as the main multi-cultural city Mid-western, largely French, partly Spanish, even for a short, glancing time and the seed city for a special treasure the whole world has and loves - authentic jazz music. A. L.M. September 13, 2005 [c449wds]
Monday, September 12, 2005
READ ROUTINE I, along with scads of other Americans who like to read, have put in my share of time spent reading what we used to call "westerns". They are referred to as "Oaters".Then, we also read a lot of fantasy, fantasy, murder mysteries and bundles of far-out books by authors who specialized in writing elegantly about future science discoveries we have yet to see. We called them "SI-FI," Who-done-its?" and, then we have another classification which brought us stories of feminine trepidation matched with male aggressiveness called "romances". These pulp-type books - far-ranging in new subject matter ran from "censored" to "best sellers" on an international market. I read a "western" last week. I rather enjoyed it, too. I usually do if I read them with an open mind and can recreate a feeling we had about that time. I admire the skill many such writers exhibit , too, in putting the story together to prevent readers from guessing the outcome or the events leading to the usually happy ending. Part of the enjoyment of reading westerns is to be found in the fact that you know what is going to happen. You compete with the author in finishing the process. The novel I happened upon last week was titled "High Country Cowboy". It was written back in 1994, I find and seems to have been the first novel written by Sandra Moore, who, at that time, lived in Wyoming having moved there from Texas. That may be why the story had a widen feel for me -Texas plains and Wyoming uplands. She followed all the usual guidelines for such a novel and did a fine job of it. The girl in the story is a bit more complex than usual - a college graduate who returned to her ranch home to find an auction in progress selling the equipment and livestock. A young neighbor has bought the family ranch from her father without her knowledge - all except the house and fifty acres. The reader is well aware whom he is to hate, distrust and suspect of all sorts of evil trickery right from the start. As the girl is beset with all sorts of rumor about him and she gradually finds the accusations to be poorly founded or false, she realizes she is in love with the young man. That's the way women are supposed to react in such books, which makes it all more interesting. Under mysterious circumstances her father is killed and we have suspects in mind promptly. There is a weak county sheriff; there are ranch hands, and an an old derelict loner who has a place nearby who styles himself as her father's "best friend." It is the girl's actions as she tries to find out what happened to her father which leads to be climax of it all in the dramatic capture of the killer and an assurance that the girl will inherit the family ranch after all as the wife of the hero. Readers of western novels always say they knew "how it was all going to end". A skilled writer can, however, keep them still wondering right down to the last lines. A.L.M. Sept. 12, 2005 [c543wds]
Sunday, September 11, 2005
COVER CRIME If you read a lot and find it all too easy to buy books of various shapes, sizes - fiction, science-fiction, even romance - there is a good chance that you have committed a crime in recent years without realizing you had done so. I, personally, went afoul of the law many years ago when I found myself on a trip with nothing to read. I fell for a "charity" appeal. In the foyer of a restaurant near my hotel. The small rack held a display of double rows of paper-back books - varied subjects. A rather tacky looking hand-lettered cardboard signs was stapled to the top of the stand urging me to "Give generously to - a local cause." I could do so by purchasing any of the paperback books on the display for the bargain price of just twenty-five cents or five for one dollar - proceeds of course, going to said charity It was a Honor system set-up, too. No one to make change pr wrap purchases or wrap purchases - just drop your quarters and dollar bills into the slot in the box affixed just under the sign. I bought five books and dropped my dollar in the charity slot. That's when noticed that none of the books had covers -those bright, overly colorful attention naggers - a bit sexy for romances - all were missing. News stand persons, you realized, don't always sell every copy of the latest edition. They tear the cover from the dated magazine and return to the publisher for compensation . They destroy the out-of-date magazine or paper. Not so with book sellers. The Charity oriented display stand from which I had bought my books was owed and operated entirely by one man. He alone got his books anywhere he could find them, removed their bright covers which he destroyed and refilled his racks at regular intervals to keep the world of literature thriving. This may sound like what has been called "petty thievery" but it is important to publishers and the writers of paperback books. I just picked up a copy of a western romance novel from our shelves here at home titled: "High Country Cowboy" well written by Sandra Moore (her "first" I see in the blurbs). It has its original cover, by the way, and on page three there is a boxed notice in which the publisher - Silhouette Books, New York states the case: "If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publishers, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book". Good, plain English. It sounds "jaily" to me. A.L.M. September 11, 2005 [c468wds]
Saturday, September 10, 2005
TERROR LOANS Thus far, it appears that only eleven per cent of loans granted to business firms located in Washington, D.C and New York City areas designed to help them to recover from losses incurred during Terrorist Activities on September 11, 2001 got there. It appears obvious that most of such funds so allocated by our Congress have gone awry into other hands. It is of special importance and urgency that we think about these facts while we are in the process of preparing loans for those who have suffered losses in the Katrina floods. Federal funds already total over six hundred million dollars and we all think we know where it is supposed to be used. To permit the commercial banks to profit from such an emergency program constitutes, to me, "a wrongful act." It crippled the previous program designed to help during the Terrorist scare, and the Flood package now being started is a potential bonanza for the same people who are especially aware of how to work loopholes in the legislation. This might well prove to be another example of the use of the old system of putting the foxes in charge of poultry house security. It doesn't work. I am not aware of any investigation of such obvious mis-application of funds,but your daily paper is featuring them them one-by-one. Thus far, I have read of a Pet Shop located in a Rocky Mountain state which is alleged to have have contended that pet owners in New York City and around the Pentagon building in D.C. and the surrounding area of Northern Virginia could no longer, because of the Terrorist attacks could not afford to bring their pets in for regular shots, clips, curries and cures. A Perfume Salon located in one of the Caribbean Isles is reported to have applied for and received such a loan. The owner once again can again walk tall with assurance among fellow West Indies perfume people confident of his abilities to deal with future problems of a like nature. The was another one in our own local paper yesterday but I forget what sort of gadget they make, I have been led to wonder why it appears that none of these loan applicants seem to have been informed of the origination of the loan funds. What is the explanation? Or, need there be one? A.L.M. Sept 10, 2005 [c416wds]
Thursday, September 08, 2005
DUET One of these bickering days the political factions constantly engaging in narrow criticism are going to be forced to realize that no young people will be interested in even aspiring to - some day - become president of our nations. It was an inspiring thing to see former Presidents George Bush and William Jefferson Clinton working together as a team meeting with survivors of the Tusami disasters. You have, no doubt, seen them at work again as a team. I watched them along the groups and shaking hands with some, hugging oldsters, accepting pats on their shoulders from some "touchers" and even high-fiveing some kids standing on folding chairs in the background. Those two former heads of our nation really know how to "work a crowd", don't they I wondered, at the time, how they could do so with such earnestness and sincerity when each of them - Bill Clinton, in particular, must have each been painfully aware of the fact that - at that moment - the opposition party in our nation's capital was eagerly seeking for anything and everything that might be used - or misused to make George Bush look bad in the New Orleans area. New Orleans ..."The Crescent City",and, more recently, "The Big Easy" -has long been for most of us a place for the enjoyment of living. It was a fun spot of the nation in many ways. It was the capital of the music world as far as "jazz" music was concerned. The "French Village" - unchanged even as it changed nightly striving always to hold its title as national center of night clubs, jazz music and sex sensationally. In he smoothness of the name itself - when said by natives - N.O. has a certain old-fashioned charm, elegance about it which never got transported to Vegas and other fun spot We are not so mindful of the importance of the commercial port at lower end of the Mississipi system. That's where most of the mid-western harvest of grains find its way to markets all over the world; that's where my coffee and yours enters these United States. It will be a great port again. During the next few weeks the political clique still in charge in New Orleans will mount a campaign outlined in a speech this morning in Washington. It will accuse George W. Bush of having repeatedly diverted federal funds allocated to repair and maintain levees to other projects.. A paper trail is available which sow what was requested for what project. The levees which broke a week or so ago are not mentioned. If diversions were made in funds, they were made in New Orleans by local political talent. And, you thought waters of the flood had a bad smell about them! A.L.M. September 8, 2005 [c471wds]
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
ONE GOOD REASON Would someone, please, explain to me why those authorities who are, apparently, still in charge of whatever they seem to think might be done to ease the plight of the people of the New Orleans, insist that the major portion of the toxic water in which the city has been rotting is being pumped "back" into Lake Pontchartrain rather than downstream in to the Gulf the way of the already polluted Mississippi River? Why change Lake Pontchartrain into a cesspool by pumping flood water back where it came? We have heard praise and approval for the present plan: "Send the water back where it came from - the Lake!" These same people will refer to the levees along the lake shore which broke and allowed the flood waters to seek and find lower levels in the city. They will say those levees have been "restored", "Rebuilt" or "repaired". In truth those breaks have been been temporarily "plugged" best. You don't "rebuild" by tossing tons of sandbags until flows become trickles. Even bull-dozing dirt over the broken area by thinning the walls of the levees upstream site of the break. The bad places have been "patched" one might say or the catch-all "fixed" can be applied - hoping any future local rain will not help the lake find new outlets. There can be little doubt the health situation in New Orleans is serious. The toxic content is excessive. Most of the illnesses usually caused by such contamination of weeks or months to strike. That is one reason why what is happening today in New Orleans is important to you; to me - to all of us. Does it bother to know that the contaminated wastes of the Katrina flood are being "saved" for potential in Lake Pontchartrain and in the blood of some who have been in close contact with the waters for a week or more? Think about it. Take it seriously. A.L.M. Sept.7, 2005 [c335wds]
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
HAIR DON'TS Artists have disagreed rather widely in depicting the hair styles worn by early inhabitants of the Garden of Eden. The male often had a rather short covering on his head and neatly curled in trim ringlets. That was the preferred "Adam" look." The "Eve" - a feminine style in Garden couturier's shop talk - featured length or every other quality in most versions. Long hair was very much in demand due to it marked shortage of first quality, sizable fig leaves. Long hair styles were "in" and "out" for both men and women for centuries, and now that I ,personally, am in a counting stage which allows me to look at pretty much the whole of the past century, I would say I came along at a time when long hair was on its way out. Woman began to "bob" their hair and during the celebrated "Flapper Era"of the 1920's is filled with memories of pert young girls with short hair, short skirts, short patience with all males unable to wiggle to such dance tunes as "The Charleston", Five-Foot-Two" and "Black Bottom." en trimmed back some, waxed and oiled down to the scalp. They strummed dance tunes on shortened tenor guitar called a ukulele - which we shortened to "uke". When the 1920's got to "29" we ran out of money. Hair care became a matter of just hanging to what we had. Our "Barber Shops" weer all segregated and sex-regated, as well. There were no signs saying: "Men Only!" but it was understood that men when to barber shops; women to beauty "salons" or "parlors. In the summer time you might see a domineer mother in a man's barber shop overseeing her kid's annual sheering. Now and then a nervous, distraught Mama used to have to stand by while Junior got his first hair cut. Today we have a wide variety of services in barber shops including a price schedule which knocks your hat off so your hair - standing on end at that moment, is easier to cut. Zip! Spang! Buzz Snip! It all over! There now, ante up. There is, of course, a wide variety these days in styles You can stay old-fashioned ,or sedate if you, like and stay with the same old mold or you can add a little adventuresome novelty to you home life - even engender possible grounds for divorce by getting one of those "spike" hairdos that are so popular right now. Get your barber to sop you hair down with a heavy oil or a mild wax - three-inch length, more or less and wait eagerly while he expertly fingers sections of hair into upright peaks, Indian tepees, Egyptian pyramids, or pointed machine cogs all over your skull casing! Then step out of that barber's chair and stand tall in full confidence as a new man! Never before will you ever realized what it means to be on your own. I've gone back to "skee-ball" custom cuts myself called "flat tops",""crew cuts" if you need to sound more formal. My hairbrush is a bath towel. My "barber" is one of my daughters who has a hirsute husband and who has raised two well-shorn boys. .L.M. September 6, 2005 [c549wds]
Monday, September 05, 2005
SARAH GRAHAM - POET
Sarah Estes Graham is a poet. Past experience tells I had best refer to her merit among us as being a "poetess". I've never cared for the term. Such subtle terms shift and rearrange a person's origins to diminish, I think, many fine talents in subtle, but deeply important, ways. Enough, I 'd say, that you know the name "Sarah" to be feminine and that I speak of "her" works and the abilities "she" exemplifies. As a poet I find Sarah Estes Graham sets me free to enter with her into a word -world fraught with images which would never have been had she been "a poetess" seeing things as being always delicately inactive, full of charm but lacking in vigor and substance for endurance. Her brief poem titled "Nagasaki" was, for a long time, the only one of her poems I had ever read. Each of us has our own pre-set ideas of how a poet or a poetess might write about this Japanese city which has a special niche in history. She turns thing around for me by abruptly speaking of radical change. The line of first impression reads: "The potato peels fall to the floor in a country of rice." To me that line meant, "we are in Japan - a room within a larger area, where the prevailing culture of centuries has been supplanted by a starchy, heavy potato-headed one. It was not that there was anything amiss with that only the novelty of peels plopping on the floor seemed out of context.. .hard to accept. where rice alone had fallen so long. I also had a picture of Bismark, having wagon loads of potatoes hauled in to feed starving mid-Europeans. The peasants fed the spuds to their hogs because everyone knew that potatoes caused leprosy ! We have time for another line the poem "Nagasaki" - the second: "The tatami needs replacing, We must participate in something." How did I know "tatami" referred to floor coverings in Japan? I don't know, but it helps to be aware of that fact. They were ritually sized and always made of straw with cloth sewed to the side. They were fitted together - again ritually - on the smoothed surface of the dirt floor. Size was rigidly controlled and they were never to placed in a manner which allowed any three or four corners to meet. Misfortune would follow in tiles were thus strew about. Foreigns would not know the floor needed attention and natives need things to do. The rest of the poem contains other such ideas: should they believe the new light which has come? what about truth and value in the old? ""Hope comes lean and sculpted" she feels ."I thought happiness was fat." She seeks "Antarctic peace" "unpopulated and and spacious. She feels empty:"I feel some closer bone"; "Wisdom guts us. An empty seat on a near full train." Remember the name: Sarah Estes Graham. Right now she is a student at the University of Virginia. Soon she will be among our nation's leading poets. A.L.M. Sept. 5, 2005 [c521wds]
Sunday, September 04, 2005
SOLE SUBJECT One subject dominates just about every conversation you have this week. Regardless of where you may have started you will end up discussing some phase of news about the floods along our Gulf coast. If you try to escape from flood reports and more of the same by turn away from the five or six news channels on your TV set to other cable and stations which clutter the air in a constant old reruns, low budget cooking, gardening or home improvement demonstrations,you have strange sensation of being a quitter, of running away from, or avoiding the harsh reality of the day's events. This "what else is happening?" feeling drives you the long string of cable and some random stations each pushing their own cause. That ,too, can be extremely dull and, often, that sameness chases us back to the news stations. There is a marked danger we may try to take on too much news in a constant stream of re-hashed details.. When you start see the same film clips being show all over again, its time to take a break from "watching". The very people who are this week's prime watchers of new events will, next week, avoid watching news. Their entire awareness of the situation will be depend almost entirely on the spoken word of a favorite TV "talking head" who spouts the news each evening. Each of us abrogates a portion of our civic duty when we fail to keep up with the news events of the day. It can so easily be overdone with our modern communication advantages - radio, TV, FAX or our computers. If we go through spells of "over-listening" or "over-watching" we are asking for trouble we do not need. The decisions we are going to be called upon to make in the near future may determine what, why and how something strange happened to us - as a nation - in the Fall of the year of 2005. We must make certain such decisions are founded on intelligent awareness of what has taken place. A.L.M. September 4, 2005 [c356wds]
Saturday, September 03, 2005
LOOKING AHEAD
Could we have taken action months ago, even years ago, which might have prevented,or in some way have eased the national agony we are now experiencing in our gulf coast states and, in particular, chaotic conditions bordering on rebellion? Yes. We can,I'm sure,look back over what has taken place and see errors that were made - in our view - by individuals, by groups including governmental personages as well as self-appointed or fame-fertilized guru types of various religious tinges. It is usually easy for each of us to see how it worked out that the so-and-official in such-and-such an office knew little about what he or she was supposed to be doing. One suggested, then, which can enable us to avoid trouble later on. Take elections seriously and vote capable, qualified, worthy people to office. Make elections more than popularity contests. The actual events we are discussing for the most part,had taken place approximately five days before. It was at that critical point, when victims sat waiting and wondering when help would arrive, that the potentially mad moment of the entire tragedy became evident. Out of the abyss; out of the silence and inactivity came the corrosive idea that the delay might be a deliberate political strategy. It was hinted rather than said aloud. Up and down the organizational charts from the city or nationwide elected or of appointed authority "outs accused "ins" regardless of party affiliation. To me, this continues to be the most critical point of it all. On Day Five needed supplies, medications, equipment and personnel for public control are evident. The scourge of rampant looting and gang-rule in some areas where city, county and state control were not functioning has been given serious treatment. With basic local law re-established, improvements will follow speedily. In truth, we do not know exact reasons which may have caused the New Orleans aberrations. It is imperative that we continue to center our investigative attentions upon them until we understand them very well. We have come close to our ruin in "The Big Easy". The deadly seeds are there. We must gather them with special care. We must never allow any of them to be planted again - anywhere. A.L.M. Sept 3, 2005 [c389wds]
Friday, September 02, 2005
READY FOR SAINTS...The fine old Dixieland jazz song: "When the Saints Go Marching In." would need to have a few words changed were it be performed in the downtown area of old New Orleans today. As I remember it, the actual entombment area is some lower than the average terrain around it the average terrain is even lower than the land around it. The tombs tower up in layers, however, and one standing there during an interment may sense an upward thrust. Right now, of course, the area is filled with flood waters - deep, dark and mysterious. Those lines of the lyric making reference to "walking" would need to be changed to "swimming" or "wading" but not so for the musicians steeped in lore. The lyrics could remain he same because it is the purpose of the burial ceremony to mark the defeat of despair, sadness, bereavement and loss to be replaced through the is performed. The way home from the cemetery - out of the depths - even now the cold, dark flood waters. The musicians celebrate audibly the obvious fact that death has been overcome; that dying is no longer dominant. Very little, if any of ideas as these will be a part of anything in New Orleans in then next few weeks. The flood victims are not local,. by and large. They are from other places. They were there having found work there or what they felt to be opportunity. Some never took roots , while others prospered and put their earnings in homes which have now been destroyed. Many of those who survive are being moved to other cities and some will, no doubt, become residents of those adopted areas. In time, the bad time of the great flood of 2005 in New Orleans, La. will be scoured away b by the oft-gritty sands of time. A.L.M. Sept. 2, 2005 [c319wds]
Thursday, September 01, 2005
MUTUAL SHAME Do you feel it? We all share a portion of national shame which comes over us when we continue to see American men, women and children looting on the scenes of tragic flood conditions along the Gulf Coast. Thousands of lives have been lost; unequaled loss of property and unheard demands on people who have never had to face such dire conditions before. They are openly and eagerly engaged in committing a common crime and they go unapprehended and undisturbed. No one impedes their illegal actions. The fact that those persons designated as “police” have plainly and openly failed to even try to apprehend, much less punish, looters wantonly and openly stealing thousand of dollars worth of valuable merchandise is a national disgrace. These stalwart minions of the Law have made themselves shameful misfits among us, by declaring that the prevention and control of looting was “an impossibility.” This is a sad commentary on the dregs into which our law enforcement people seem to have fallen! It can’t be, we insist! And yet, we sit there watching on our TV screens and plainly see adult men and women, as well as children of all ages – save, perhaps, toddlers. They are, obviously, taking valuables which are not theirs to possess. They are not taking “ just essentials.” They are no emaciated, starved shells of humans; they are able-bodied people showing themselves to be quite capable of physical work when necessary. We have “progressed” from older methods of preventing looting. The simply method used to be an under standing that police were authorized to “shoot to kill”. Such an understanding – simple and direct -discouraged looting and other such crimes promptly. We, of course, do not use such harsh methods today. There are new tricks available. Equip our limited police personnel with small pellet guns which send a charge off brightly colored indelible ink, dye or plastic. Looters, so marked, can be picked up later by enforcement personnel. Looters can be tried by reason of the colors the wear, the site determined and materials stolen. Let's clean up this looting scandal-in-the-making right away! I,for one, am ashamed we let it happen. A.L.M. Sept. 1, 2005 [c374wds]
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