Andrew's Corner - Views Of An Independent Thinker

As most readers of this column know, I rarely allow anyone space in my column, However, Margaret's submission was intriguing, if not downright inspiring. We as a human race need to be respectful of the celebrations of every religion and its customs. Sadly, there are some who would try to stop one religion from celebrating a day or season in its accustomed ways. Its simply unfair, that one group should attempt to stop another's outward displays of festivities. Granted, in all the holiday splendor we seem to somewhat forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas, and that is the birth of Christ. Shouldn't we be able to celebrate Christmas as Muslims and Jews celebrate their holidays? May I humbly suggest that we allow all religions to celebrate their holidays openly...isn't that what religious freedom is all about?

Pass this on to your church, co-workers, family, and friends. What do you have to lose but 44 cents, what do you have to gain ----------- more than you will ever know...
What a clever idea!
Yes, Christmas cards. This is coming early so that you can get ready to include an important address to your list.

Want to have some fun this CHRISTMAS? Send the ACLU a CHRISTMAS CARD this year.

As they are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice,

CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world..

Make sure it says "Merry Christmas" on it.

Here's the address, just don't be rude or crude. (It's not the
Christian way, you know.)

ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York , NY 10004

Two tons of Christmas cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 44 cents and tell the ACLU to leave Christmas alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a " Holiday Tree". . . It's always been called a CHRISTMAS TREE!

And pass this on to your email lists. We really want to communicate with the ACLU! They really DESERVE us!!

For those of you who aren't aware of them, the ACLU, (the American Civil Liberties Union) is the one suing the U.S. Government to take God, Christmas or anything Christian away from us. They represent the atheists and others in this war. Help put Christ back in Christmas!

...it is sad that anyone or group would try to turn another's holiday generic...doesn't the ACLU have anything better to do?

I just finished watching a movie called 'SUPER SIZE ME' by Morgan Spurlock through my site here on MALL727.net. (You'll be able to watch it on the 'Entertainment' page in November.) Morgan's claim to fame is a movie that centered on his 30 day trek of only eating McDonalds menu items three times a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner. He also had his physical before he started on this odyssey, during and after it ended. At the end of his McDonalds food fest he gained nearly twenty-five pounds in the process. Spurlock who was healthy going in to this, increased his chance of an early death by two times. I myself have been fighting the battle of the bulge since my late thirties, so I can emphasize with anyone going through the up's and downs in trying to lose weight. Before watching this film I tried a new variation of Kellogg's Rice Krispies called 'Jumbo Multi-Grain' cereal. Geez, Rice Krispies, that's a simple food isn't it? It has Crackle holding a sign that says its a good source of fiber - and geez, it has a touch of honey. Reading the nutrition facts on the side of the box it has a fair amount of vitamins and minerals - nothing wrong with that?

However, reading the ingredients on the package of Kellogg's Jumbo Multi-Grain Krispies gave me a feeling of guilt - I had something that was not quite as healthy as I thought. The first ingredient was rice flour - not bad - though I would have preferred it was made of the whole grain of rice - but that's me being 'nit-picky' again. The second ingredient was SUGAR! Believe it or not, most cereals ingredients in my very unscientific study of processed cereals is sugar is usually the second largest ingredient listed. I also decided to make a bet with myself I could find a cereal where the first ingredient was sugar - really wanted to lose the bet with myself - sadly, I won...Kellogg's Apple Jacks first ingredient is (drum roll), SUGAR!!! Then again, so is Froot Loops! Speaking of Kellogg's, its co-founder John Harvery Kellogg ran a sanitarium. His advice on what to eat was "eat what the monkeys eat, and not too much of that!" Doubtless good 'ol JHK would take too well to Apple Jacks or Froot Loops as a nutritious breakfast. In fact, many of the commercials for cereal generally say, "part of a nutritious diet" Lets decode that for you - you'll need to eat better stuff with the cereal before it has any real nutritional value. Sugar and salt are the two most used flavor-enhancers next to fat in processed food. Its kind of frightening to think about how much we average consumers consume on a daily basis. Oh, that 'touch of honey' in the cereal, its just that - in twenty-one ingredients, it came in at number eight - the ingredient salt was ahead of it. Now I'm really feeling guilty I bought it. I already finished off a half box (11.2 oz box) in two sittings within a three hour span - not a good thing, as a matter of fact, very foolish on my part. Funny thing is I could practically smell the sugar in the box more than I could smell the honey. Now I've got to tell you, I usually have a self-made and self-created blended breakfast drink in the mornings that consist of throwing in a blender, a half orange, half an apple, two fresh cut-up baby carrots, banana, with some generic form of Metamucil, a bit of prune juice and cranberry juice and a small carton of 2% milk. Sometimes I'll add other natural ingredients if I have them at the time. I've done this for the past thirty years in my efforts to slow down the overload of calories I consume in a day. To be honest, I do like things as unprocessed as possible - but that becomes harder each day to do.

Here's the thing, my problems started in my twenties when I started chasing after news stories that kept me on the road a lot. It was so easy to just slip into the drive-thru and grab that Quarter-Pounder or Whopper with a Coke or Pepsi - and I really had a 'jones' for that Dr. Pepper machine in the conference room off the newsroom. I was young and thin at that point, and my work pretty much took off the calories. However, one day my metabolism changed and it no longer allowed me to stay thin on a mega-lousy diet. Can't say I hadn't been warned in my nutrition classes in high school and college - I just didn't think about it hard enough. As I mentioned in a past editorial, I can't really blame the processed and fast food people along with the carbonated-beverage industry - I willingly consumed the stuff didn't I? I have a pretty funny feeling that at the top of these companies - the CEO's avoid the very crap they put out. Like I also feel the heads of tobacco companies don't allow their children to smoke! Of 'course I really don't know...its just a guess.

Getting back to the film 'SUPER SIZE ME' is another bothersome aspect - elementary through high schools turning their lunch programs over to 'fast food' purveyors. Yes, as a kid, I'd love a McDonalds mini-restaurant in the lunch room - what kid wouldn't? But I'm glad it never happened in my time, very sad it happens now. However, even if a famed fast-food company isn't running a fast food concern at your child's school, they are still serving bulk foods that contain a lot of fats, salts and other icky stuff that will start your beloved child on the path of poor eating habits. In my time, I mostly 'brown-bagged' it with a bologna sandwich with mayo on white bread and really nothing else. We were allowed four cents for a small carton of milk and that was it - my parents never gave any thought what they sent us off to school with. I'm sure there are parents today who still put little thought in what they send their children off to school with. Here's the fact, even the first bite of an innutritious food starts your child off towards the land of heart disease and a whole plethora of health problems down the road.

So what can we do about turning around poor nutrition habits in children and of course adults? Its a very hard question to answer...

As to Morgan Spurlock, it took him one month of McDonalds to gain twenty-five pounds onto his girth, and it took him fourteen months of hard exercise and good eating habits to lose it. In-between mood swings, liver damage and sexual dysfunction and other assorted maladies. I guess there is a lesson to learn here...if you want to keep it hard, stay away from the Mickey D's!-)

When Benjamin Franklin envisioned the United States Postal Service, there was no thought given to the age of e/mail, the internet, nor private package delivery services. When I was small, I can remember first class stamps costing as little as four cents for a basic letter. That same first class stamp now costs forty-four cents, and you can bet that rate will go up early in 2010 if it follows a trend. The rises in postal rates are starting to produce minimum return as the higher costs of sending mail are driving customers away from 'snail' mail to electronic means in receiving and paying bills. Now the postal service is considering other methods and options to remain profitable. When e/mail via the internet started eating too much into its regular mail service, the USPS proposed that it should be able to levy a tax on every piece of mail delivered by electronic means - thankfully, that idea never flew. Earlier this year, the postal service floated the idea of cutting delivery service to five, rather than the current six days per week - actually, not a bad idea. They would save a tremendous amount of money in fuel and personnel costs. Or, they can close post offices that do not handle as much business. That is where I get concerned.

Post Offices are a given part of a community - or they should be. However, the United States Postal Service is now reviewing around 3,200 offices it may close around the United States. I'm really not sure what the criteria is for keeping a particular office open, or closing it. On that list of potential closings is the branch that serves our area - and I'm none too happy about that. To be fair, people living in those areas where a post office may close are no less cheerful. I've written in another blog why our office should remain open, but I fear the 'fix' is already in and by this time in 2010, the office will simply close - period! I have not seen any lines at our office protesting the closure, otherwise I'd make it my business to join them. The USPS is actively trying to find ideas to curb their losses, but some ideas simply should not fly, and closing offices is one of them. One effort to compete with private package carriers like UPS and Fed-Ex, is the 'if it fits, it ships' campaign - rather than charge by weight, you now are charged by the size of the box - sounds good to me. I predict that when sending a letter first class costs fifty cents, you'll see a real stampede away from USPS services. Closing of the offices could virtually cripple the USPS out of existence - and that would be a horrible idea!

There are plenty of things USPS can do to cut costs and maximize profits without shutting down postal offices - research ways to make them more relevent!

OBAMA: Hello, everyone — how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday — at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer — maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper — but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor — maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine — but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life — I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that — if you quit on school — you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our first lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life — what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home — that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer — hundreds of extra hours — to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education — and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you — you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust — a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor — and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you — don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down — don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

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The above is one of the best speeches ever made by a sitting President of the United States towards our nation's young I've ever read! It is clear, concise, has NO political undertones whatsoever and far exceeds anything ever said about education by George W. Bush and his gang of misfits - you know, the Kingdom of DUH, the most sick and mentally incompetent group of failures EVER to occupy the White House. In Barrack Obama we have a true President we can believe in, someone who indeed has high standards and has to work hard to correct ALL THE MISTAKES OF THE GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION, before he can move onto his own agenda. How the conservatives and Republicans can find anything wrong with what President Obama has said in the above speech is way beyond me. The 'GOP Elephants Who Are Full Of Shit' may actually be trying to put up a smokescreen to take attention away from the Public Health Insurance Debate. Its also obvious that those who have protested the above speech have never read it, but have allowed themselves to be duped by Rush Limbaugh and his legion of liars in the conservative talk show trade. Read the speech above...what is so damned controversial about it? Damn, are people who protest the works of a great President this dumb minded? I just can't believe the intellect of people who found anything bad about the above speech. The speech is about the importance of students to get a good education, it is telling them they have the ability to shape their own lives, and the truth that if they fail, they fail themselves and this country, but perhaps most of all, their eventual progeny. It is saying that if they try, they can overcome any obstacle between themselves and the true American Dream. It is saying that the answers to current and future problems are locked-up inside of them, but they can only be released by a good education. The above speech should be in the 'Foreword' of every textbook printed from this day forward, it should be read to every class on the first day of class from kindergarten and all the way through college. This is bootstrap stuff and it needs to be said. President Obama's speech is not politically motivated, he already has the job! Thank-You President Barrack Obama for giving a great historic speech to our youth, they really needed to hear this, and hopefully take it to heart!

I get little chills when I read some people's blog postings on the internet. Imagine if you will, these are adults who head households and to a slight lesser degree vote at election time, both leaders from local to national as well on important issues in their communities that affect them and their neighbors. They sit in on trials as a juror, and they are parents to their children. Perhaps the last thought is the scariest of all. I can only hope some see their parents as they are and want better for themselves and their progeny. Its more than just the misspellings and poor sentence structure, it is the thoughts they issue. These are the people running their own little world, but they are also the people who helped put Richard Nixon and George W. Bush in office - we know how that worked out. Rather than reading the newspapers beyond the comics section and watching some PBS programs, they get everything they need to know by listening to Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. Chances are they barely got beyond high school, if even that. They have no real interests or ambitions beyond their 'stay-cooled' 24 pack cans of beer parked next to their easy chair, and their answers to their kids questions does not go much beyond an occasional 'burp' and fart brought on by the cheap Blatz and 'we're not sure of what its made of' sausage dog.

"I remember the cold war when we hated communism
now look what we are becoming. Free means only that you do not pay your share, nor will your offsprings, and theirs..
I think "PINKO" was the term"

read between the lines....global warming ( human caused) is BS.'
I see fat, poor (lazy) folks voting for freebees.What ISIM is that?'

Now there are some people who write well thought-out viewpoints and I respect those. But too many rely on conservative talkshow hosts to shape their viewpoints for them - one of which is Rush Limbaugh who only made it though his first year in college. His father owned a radio station and he actually started out as a disc jockey under various names like Jeff Christie until he used his real one - Rush Hudson Limbaugh lll. The guy is a three-time loser in the marriage arena and does not mind using a now-former housekeeper as a drug mule for illegally obtained painkillers. Rush has stated many times he does not believe in manmade global warming, against reseach conducted by legitimate geologists and earth-science researchers. Perhaps his biggest boner of recent times is enthusiastically supporting Sara Palin (you remember, the Alaskan governor who said she was a foreign policy 'expert' because she could see Russia from Alaska and who spouted 'family values' when her daughter gave birth to a baby out of wedlock as the Vice-Presidential running mate of Senator John McCain in his presidential bid. By the way, Sara never did finish her first term as governor. One final hypocritical Rush moment when after he was caught with illegal non-prescribed pain killers, he was found to have a couple of the fun blue pills called ''Viagra' on him which had not been prescribed either. So much for a man you can trust.

However, I'd have to admit there are many liberals or independents whose writing looks like they had been done by a third grader on a bad day. I'd hope the next generation is smarter, more informed and has the independence of an individual mind who can assess an answer, not based on politics or what's popular at the moment, but what they feel is honestly right. Even if that individuals' beliefs don't mesh with mine, I will still respect their thoughts.

Margaret is a fantastic young woman who has a great sensitivity of patriotism for our country here in the United States. Then again, I've know her to be brilliant from a young child onward!-) In any case, Margaret has a brother who proudly serves for the causes of freedom everyday. In support of that, and of the victims of 911 and their families, she asked me to pass on this thought in showing our support for our freedoms, liberties and of the servicemen and servicewomen who protect those freedoms everyday.

Please Participate.
We have a little less than one month and counting to get the word out all across this great land and into every community in the United States of America . If you forward this email to least 11 people and each of those people do the same ... You get the idea.

THE PROGRAM:
On Friday, September 11th, 2009, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States . Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this eighth anniversary of one of our country's worst tragedies. We do this to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to -shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric
of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

Action Plan: So, here's what we need you to do...
(1) Forward this as an email to everyone you know (at least 11 people). Please don't be the one to break this chain. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.
(2) Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation.

God Bless You and God Bless America !

Scare tactics, scare tactics, scare tactics - this is what is going on concerning health care reform. People have become too lazy to read the proposed legislation for themselves. Instead, they are getting their facts from talk radio hosts - especially those with a conservative bend. This is dangerous - you are automatically giving your mind over to shock jocks and to talk show hosts who do little research and whose interest is in keeping their audience by stirring controversy to the point of distorting the facts. They in turn are getting money from private health insurance companies who profit by charging high premiums and putting very little money out for their consumers. You want to know who pays for those tall monolith buildings and private jets and prohibitive CEO salaries...you do! Private health insurers are there to make money - and that's understandable - its a business. Nothing wrong with that. They have to pay staff salaries and other associated costs before they see profits. However, what the insurance companies are afraid of is competition that could challenge their profits. They do not want to offer public health care even to those who cannot afford to pay for private health insurance. Therefore, doctors need to check the patient's coverage before they even attempt a needed procedure. Ever have insurance and think you have been covered, only to find out after the fact that a procedure is not covered when the postman shows up with your bill from the hospital and physician? I have. Read the fine print, your carrier can cancel you at will, even without your knowledge. They can deny a 'life-saving' procedure.

Republicans and their conservative lots want to make you believe that reform is medical Armageddon. This is why they are encouraging conservative talk show hosts to talk down the choice of public healthcare to compete with private. This is why politically-based conservatives are doing their best to halt health insurance reform. Being denied a choice will not benefit you, but the status-quo does benefit private insurers and their bottom line. Put it this way, if there is no competing healthcare option, the private insurance companies can jack up rates whenever they want, and refuse those they wish. I'm very tired of lobbyists in general and of the scare tactics used on the general public by private companies that employ it. I'm also scared of individuals who take the word of talk show hosts as gospel. I used to work in news at a station that had talk show hosts - and I can tell you that they are told by their bosses what angle they should take as to issues. Keep in mind, these people are generalists in the media game, they are NOT medical specialists nor expert on insurance issues by any stretch of the imagination. Their research staff (if they have one) spend their time coming up with diverse topics and their object is to fill four hours a day per host with controversial topics that capture audience and thus generate more ad business - they don't do it because they love you! Controversy sells, and if it takes 'half-truths', distortions and lies, so be it. Look, if you are going to participate in a demonstration - DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Don't turn your mind over to a talk show host who feels the world revolves around them. If push comes to shove and something goes wrong from the advice they give you, they have a perfect alibi, "Hey, I'm an entertainer, this is entertainment, and its up to you to know the difference!" And guess what, they would be right! So, before you get talked into a stance, do some honest homework to learn the facts - especially where it concerns healthcare reform. Because if you don't, you could be slitting your own throat!

I've really been meaning to write this for awhile, and its time to get to it. I realize this may get a lot of 'boo's', so be it. But I feel it may be time that internet sales are taxed similar to brick and mortar stores. I know I buy stuff over the internet, and if the store has a location in my state, I pay taxes on it. To be honest, I don't like taxes and many other people don't as well. However, we are in a very bad recession that will take quite a while to crawl out of - then again, you know that. Revenues both from state and federal taxes are dangerously low, and it seems as though we are selling our souls to China and Russia by continuing to accept loans from them through the IMF. That is frightening to think of, especially since there is always a day of reckoning. Right now there is a lot of fighting going on in Washington politics - I'll admit that's always been true. Currently it is over fixing a broken health care system that is bankrupting people in short order. Even if your home is paid for, it can be taken away in one swipe to pay for the medical bills caused by one critical illness - even if you have insurance, there is a maximum payout and heavy duty premiums to be paid - after you max out, you are on your own! For people who are middle class or lower, its almost instantaneous. Insurance companies are in the business to make money, and they make a lot of it. The bet is the companies make more money than they put out in legitimate claims. The small print in your policy points out that the consumer is on the short end of the stick, and when you sign for that policy, you also sign away your legal rights to the insurance company, especially in areas of health care. They can refuse your claims for a myriad of reasons - including 'pre-existing' conditions or high risk factors decided upon by the insuring company itself. You wonder about all the asterisk and yards of small legalize language? And they can cancel your insurance at will, even in the middle of a procedure. The problem is most people don't read the fine print, and that's what the insurance companies count on. However, if you fall ill, you are not in a position to argue. The United States of America is the only industrialized country in the world that does not offer socialized medicine. Preventative care is not really supported as a concept. Premiums and deductibles are costly to begin with, especially on tight budgets and low earnings. Most people do without because they don't have enough money to pay the premiums and put food on the table with a roof overhead.

I really do believe in what has been called Universal Health Care, aka, socialized medicine. It works for other major countries including Canada and Great Britain, so there are simply no excuses why it won't work here. Is it expensive? To be honest, the answer is yes. Someone has to pay the doctors, hospitals and their staffs. But right now, billions of dollars end up in the hands of health insurance companies and HMO's with little going towards actual care. This is why health reform is essential, it should not break the bank to see a doctor when you or a family member needs one. Health insurance should not be a 'for profit' business. The more 'middlemen', the less goes for actual care and the more doctors need to spend the time with insurance paperwork and less with their patients - the only people winning here are the HMO's and the insurance companies. So how come with all we know, we are still dealing with middlemen? Because we pay these 'for profit' companies gobs of money to work against us. Then these insurance companies in turn pay a small percentage of their profits to professional lobbyists who put money into an elected official's campaign treasure chest - oh, and a few paid junkets, gifts and the padding of some wallets of willing politicians on the side when they can get away with it. The big argument is how are we going to pay for a non-profit government health insurance? And yes, its a big question? Do we tax for health care? We most certainly will have to face that truth. But what kind of tax? Hopefully one that is the least painful. My vote goes for a tax on purchases through the internet.

We need to make the retail ground a little more fair for local businesses. Truth is, small 'mom and pop' retail businesses are pretty much a relic from the past. That corner grocery store went the way of covered bridges and the pony express. Brick and mortar stores are on the critical list as well. We must find a way to support health care in the least painful way possible. By having an across-the-board 'internet tax' on purchases, lets say five cents for every dollar spent, we can put it into a public-controlled insurance fund that can support socialized medicine and provide real competition for the 'for-profit' health insurance concerns and allow every individual to make a choice as to which system they pick. It would benefit those who can't afford huge premiums and deductibles and in order to compete, force the 'for profits' to be more fair to their consumers. Breaking it down, two cents would go to the federal level, two cents to the state level and one cent to the county level to support healthcare, including Medicare and Medicaid. There should be a lock on those funds that they can't be siphoned off for other purposes - that's how Social Security got into trouble in the past...we are paying for that mistake as well! Right now the 'blue dogs' of the HMO's, insurance companies and the Republicans and some Democrats in their pockets are nipping at the heals of President Barrack Obama and his administration to weaken, if not out and out destroy any attempt to change the status quo - hey, these big insurance companies will lose a bundle if the concept of socialized medicine remains intact and makes it to law. The only way to muzzle the 'blue dog' pit bulls is to find a way to pay for an alternative health care plan. So, if you like the idea that the least painful way to pay for healthcare is through an internet purchase tax, write your elected officials from the national level through the local level and tell them you would support the idea of an across the board internet purchase tax on retail products purchased on the web as long as the money went exclusively to a public heath care system, no matter where the businesses are located. Hey, five cents on the dollar is a hell of a lot cheaper than paying huge premiums only to be told later, that your illness is not covered!

Let your elected officials know you want competing public health insurance policy legislation passed, or come next election, you won't be supporting them! Support choice, it really is the American way!

There will be no 'forgiveness' for these six men, one woman and a male teenager, either on Earth or in eternity. Their crimes will be their calling cards into the gates of hell. Their acts were heinous beyond belief, their stupidity is beyond reason. Each of these cretins should be hung and used as target practice by police recruits, their bodies should then be fed to hungry pit bulls who will shit out their remains. It is unbelievable what they have done in the name of greed and an attempt at making a quick buck. I really don't think God will find mercy for these eight individuals. Each piece of crap is human garbage, shit, waste, piss, not fit to walk or breathe on the face of this Earth. Man will judge them, and hopefully commit each and everyone of them to death. Then God will judge them a second time...and no lawyer can save them from God's judgment. The world should piss on all eight of their graves.

The six men and one woman you see pictured here - Wayne Coldiron, Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Sr., Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., Gary Lamont Sumner Jr., Fredrick Lee Thornton Donald Ray Stallworth and Pamela Long Wiggins along with a teenage male played roles in the deaths of brutally murdered Byrd and Melanie Billings of a small community in the Pensacola, Florida area. The couple were one of the most God-giving people you would ever meet. Perhaps one of the things that made Byrd and Melanie special is the adoption of children of special needs. Byrd and his wife were wealthy, but they shared that wealth with nine special needs children along with their own four. It was a big household and it was filled with love. God blessed this couple with the ability to provide a home for these nine children and the eight evil, sick and ignorant individuals pictured above destroyed not only the lives of Byrd and Melanie, but that of their four children and nine adopted children.

The motive was armed robbery as the eight murderers - some dressed as ninjas entered through a front door and also from a rear. According to Pensacola police, it was well planned and executed. The suspects were in and out of the Billings home within ten minutes according to surveillance cameras which had been set up to watch over the special needs children. Thankfully none of the children were reported injured. The suspects ranged in age from 16 years-old to 56 years-old. I have no photo of the sixteen year-old, otherwise I'd run that as well. Sad to say his name and photo are protected by juvenile laws. Some of the criminals were day laborers for an auto dealer and pressure washing business, one was in real estate. One was an ex-convict who taught children self-defense, while another was an Air Force sergeant attached to an elite special operations unit. Wayne Caldiron had already served time for murdering a man in a fight.

The end result of this bloody mayhem are nine children who will lose their home and be placed back in state care, four children who lost their parents and a number of people who worked for Byrd and Melanie who are now without jobs. These eight individuals who murdered the Billings are sick perverted wastes to society and deserve not prison, but death. May they all burn in eternal hell!

There was another little problem, GM went on a buying spree, picking up foreign nameplates like Saab and Daewoo rather then spending the money to improve their own cars. Go to any Consumer Reports magazine or used car buying guide, and you'll find GM only ahead of Chrysler in reliability ratings. Americans are no longer buying slogans over history - that's ended. If a car maker is known for turning out crap every year, people stop buying. If a car maker has a strong reputation for building reliability, that's where the customer will eventually go. And this is exactly what happened when Toyota sales pushed GM out of first place. The thing of it is, people are no longer seeing America out of the windows of a Chevrolet. Try Toyota and Honda. The New GM will need to work very hard in putting out a quality car for at least a decade before they see their fortunes turn. There will be no second or third chance. I'll keep saying it, the American auto worker is capable of turning out as high a quality car as Toyota or Honda - if they are given the right designs, engineering and tools to work with by upper management.

One very bad fly in the ointment is the decision made by the old GM to import cars from China and rebadge them as Chevrolets. GM did something similar with a now defunct nameplate known as GEO. With the exception of the Prizm which was actually a California-made Toyota Corolla, the GEO nameplate sucked shit. You really didn't know what substandard piece of junk you were getting beyond the Corolla sister. Some of 'em were downright deathtraps. GM, not too long ago decided to have a deal with Chery Motors of China to ship cars to America as rebadged Chevy's. I really hope that deal is dead with the recently formed new GM. Chevy, Fords and Chryslers should be made by North Americans, not by China, Inc hiding under domestic nameplates. Americans and Canadians are not that stupid!

Finally, GM should not make sister models of Chevy and Buicks - each should have their own individual personalities. And Cadillac should never, ever stoop down to make a gussied-up Chevy ever again. As to trucks, well they should exclusively be GMC's. One division I did hate to see go was Saturn. Done right, it would have been a great division to turn out compact cars. However, Chevy should be able to handle that task. So here it is - for GM to survive, they will need to greatly improve the reliability of their cars, not copy other divisions in style or genre, and innovate in their products. One bright note is the new Chevy Volt to be introduced in 2010, it really is a concept that's with the times. However, GM needs to work a little harder by utilizing both solar and wind power in their concept. Toyota Pruis is incorporating solar in its next generation. As to wind power? Well, figure out wind speeds of a car traveling at twenty-five to sixty-five miles per hour. Developing a small efficient wind turbine behind the front grill work could well supplement recharging of batteries used in propulsion of said vehicle. Hey GM, I'll give you that idea for free!

Ange M. is a veteran who served in the Navy. She is a very tough lady who has a heart of gold. She is now also a grandmother. However, she still works hard everyday as an assistant manager at a retail location - one that is open during the Memorial Day weekend. As a veteran, Ange should have had the weekend off - this after all is a weekend dedicated to honoring our nation's finest for the service they have performed protecting our nation. It takes a lot of dedication to perform in being in the service - and it is a very hazardous occupation. Too many 'twenty-something's have and put their lives at risk everyday and every hour if they are in service of their country. Make no mistake, the contribution of individuals like Ange are awesome. Ange came up with a philosophical way for her having to work the Memorial Day weekend in a cashier capacity, and sent the following to Glenn Beck at FOX News into how she would deal with being a former vet working this holiday weekend;

I am a Navy Veteran that served this Country for eight years. I followed your advice this weekend. I am a cashier and I have to work all weekend. When I have completed the transaction, I look at them (customers) and say this;

The reason I have access to her thoughts, is I have watched her grow from a four year-old, all the way through to the woman she is today. And I can tell you from personal experience, she has not had an easy life to begin with. She has and is a very stoic individual with a heart of gold! So Ange, THANK-YOU!!! - both on a national level, and on a very personal one. You've taught me a lot from the time you were a child, to the grandmother you are today!-)

When I read the news that General Motors planned to import 17,335 Chinese-made cars to North America by 2011, I flipped. GM says that number will rise to 50,000+ by 2014! There is REALLY something wrong here when an American corporation will import foreign cars to a country deep in recession - or at any other time for that matter. If GM follows through with this plan, than GM can go fuck themselves out of business for all I care. We've got massive unemployment running rampant on our shores, and GM's plan is to lay off more blue collar factory positions - that is as Un-American as one can get! I don't mind if the Chinese make cars in America, as long as they are made in North America by North Americans! Come on, China already ships enough junk to North American shores - this is simply ridiculous and foolhardy beyond belief! BAD GM, Bad GM - if you start this business, I hope you do sink in oblivion! I support any UAW protests against GM for such a 'boneheaded' plan! We do not need to strip any more American jobs, we do not need to send any more money to China than we already have!

Here it is GM, I applaud your efforts to bring out an 'Eath-friendly' car made in North America like the Chevy Volt! However, you can take the Chinese-made Chevy Spark and drive it up your CEO's ass! You want to know what the problem is GM? You've commissioned the building of crappy cars for decades. You've even apologized in the media for the crap you've been putting out - and that's a good start! However, you are now stumbling over yourself in this 'importing' Chinese automobiles under a GM nameplate! What is it with you guys? I'm sorry, but I don't want to see anymore of our children being forced to live in tent cities to slave at minimum wage as a 'part-time' clerk at Walmart in future times. This is simply immoral! What's more, it could be dangerous on many levels! From an article I've read, the Chinese automakers are unsure how to comply with American safety standards. DUH? Can you imagine the amount of carnage that would occur eventually when driving these things? A lot of things China turns out for its own market and world consumption end up being questionable purchases both for the world, and even the Chinese in China - toxic baby formula, dog food, toys, exploding computer laptop batteries...ect! And now GM wants to cash in by bringing more cheap and questionable goods from China?

Understand that when I rip on corporate China and GM, I do not rip on the Chinese people themselves, they are as much a victim as we are. How many innocent Chinese babies have died from drinking 'tainted' formula? How many are working and living in substandard conditions? Mao and his idealisms must be turning in his grave, as is President Franklin D. Roosevelt is turning in his! GM's move will most likely deepen the recession as more workers are laid off, and more Chinese junk is rolled-in. My advice? Just don't buy a GM car made in China. If GM succeeds in importing Chinese cars into North America, then American consumers might want to invest in a lot of Vaseline, so they can Bend Over and Grease Up! Think about it?

I have a close friend by the name of Margaret, I've known her since she was an eight year-old. I can tell you she was a pretty smart cookie - and she still is now. Recently Margaret sent me an e/mail concerning the subject of mastectomy. This was a strange letter I never expected from her. But it shows me her intellect and I couldn't be prouder of her. I admit, she was just forwarding it - however, I consider her brave for doing it - its not an easy subject for a woman to broach to a man. Then again, for many reasons, I can tell you Margaret is a very brave and special person. No, neither her mother nor her have breast cancer, nor had a mastectomy, thank God! But it is her awareness and ability to think about others, than herself - then again, she's always been that way. So, Margaret, I'll go one better and post the letter you forwarded, here;

Proposed Mastectomy Law Change

(written by a surgeon);

I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it really quick! The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill is important legislation for all women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tube s still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support.. Last year over half the House signed on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number..

http://www.mylifetime..com/community/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition <http://www.mylifetime.com/community/my-lifetime-commitment/breast-cancer/petition/breast-cancer-petition>

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your 20 friends.

Yes Margaret, I did sign the petition and sent it on! And I couldn't be prouder of you than if you were my own daughter for your concern to take the time to let me know. Now, to all of you who've read the above, its your turn. And, if you feel it important, feel free to highlight the above message and forward it to your friends!

There are many different thoughts in MALL 727, and I like it that way. I'd like everyone to agree with me, and I'd like to agree with everyone else. At the same time, I respect individuals who have their own - and differing - points of view. As a matter of fact, I encourage it. A true test of a friendship is how well it survives differences of opinion. I respect other thoughts that don't agree with mine.. Reason is, seeing as many sides to a thought is a process of enrichment. Sad to say, some friendships, even long term ones, don't always survive the test. The other columnists who write here are good friends of mine, and hopefully will remain that way. One person I don't always agree with is 'Packy' at Packrat's Place - and we've often gone 'head-to-head' over those different points of view - but each of us knows, at the end of the day, that we remain friends even if we agree to disagree. I can be wrong at times, then Packy can be too! As a webmaster and editor here, I have to make editorial decisions. As a writer for Bleacher Report and Digital Journal, my work comes under fire from the editors at those publications. Actually, I take it pretty well when something is changed by an editor, its their baby, and I respect that.

Recently, columnist Austin Kuder wrote a piece for his column called, 'Legalizing Drugs Thought Through', a piece that encourages legalizing hallucinating drugs - you know, the stuff that is currently illegal in North America. I can understand his point of view, drugs are so easy to obtain in the United States and Canada as in the rest of the world, that chances are, even with heavy enforcement, the problems of drug abuse and its effects on all of us, may never be resolved. I was a little rocked when I read the piece, and would agree, Austin made some valid points. I would even go so far as to agree that locked-away hard core drug traffickers and users in prisons should be given enough free drugs to kill themselves, if that's what they want to do. Most of the 'hardcore' addicts will never be cured, or go straight for long, and many are unable to hold jobs. A fair number that do usually go back to old habits, becoming risks in the workplace and endangering others in the process. That's just it, they endanger others with their chemical altered mentality, that they have no regards for the safety of others.

So, in some ways, I do agree with Austin's thinking. However, I draw the line of selling hallucinating drugs over the counter at pharmacies. Don't worry, as greedy as corporate America is, I doubt the lawmakers (even those in the pocket of corporate greed) would go through with such an outlandish idea. Have you ever spent time with an alcoholic or drug addict? I have. And I can tell you they do not have much of a conscience on how their behavior - no matter how destructive - affects others. Even if illegal drugs were legalized, most 'hardcore' addicts would not socialize well with the 'un-stoned' world. An addict who must constantly be stoned to be alive (if you can call it that?), will have a hard time holding down any job. And thus, would still rob and kill to get a fix. I'm also bothered that openly selling drugs would be too much of an enticement for school students to resist. We don't need children growing into addicts and having their lives wasted and erased by the effects of drug use. If you've ever known a 'hardcore' addict long enough, they are not people you'd want to live next door to. or have over for dinner, or trust your children with.

What I'd done with his installment is 'tagged' it with '(WEBMASTER NOTE: The following comments do not reflect the views of MALL 727, but are strictly those of the writer.)' in order to let readers know, a particular commentary has questionable value, and as a webmaster, while I believe in 'Freedom Of The Press' and abhor censorship, there are just some things that can potentially abuse that freedom. Realize I am a father and grandfather, and I also feel its important to encourage positive non-destructive venues either towards my own children or those of others. There is a responsibility in encouraging good directions in a publication such as this. Call me 'square', but in no way will I personally advocate illegal drug use. I don't want to encourage destructive behavior in anyone. Think of it this way, would you want the bus driver you ride with, stoned out of his mind behind the wheel! For that matter, would you want to put your personal safety in the hands of EMS drivers who'd been 'toking' before or during a shift? Or would you want someone who is stoned with his/her hand at the nuclear button? I don't think so, at least not in the world I live in. So Austin, while I run it, I also take issue with some of, but not all of, the comments you raised in your 'Legalizing Drugs Thought Through' piece - understand if we go our individual ways with this thought. And yes, Austin, I do look forward to your next commentary. Lets just hope we can find more common ground.

As I was checking my e/mail recently, I came across a letter (actually junk mail) from a political organization called 'Move On', about the danger of losing our wind and solar industries to China. Adam Ruben of 'Move On' writes to say that by the end of this (2009) year, China will easily surpass the United States in the manufacturing of wind turbines. It also stands to reason, they will surpass (they may already have) the United States in photo-voltaic solar cells as well. Now personally, it does not bother me that China has a burgeoning solar and wind turbine industry - that's their right. However, I really take issue that oil companies and the politicians in their pockets are trying to do everything in their power to kill the green industries from growing here in North America. Yep, that's right, there are individuals and the corporations they represent behaving in reprehensible ways trying to convince Americans, Canadians and their heads of government, that green power is just too damn expensive to be worthwhile to pursue. Yet everyday we waste listening to these grimy-greasy lobbyists arguments is an extra day we allow them to push us deeper into a recession, and into an environmental abyss. Trouble is, these 'shit-for-brains' lobbyists and the corporations who pay them, don't realize they will doom their futures and that of their children as well - both economically and environmentally. In their greed for the dollar, they have lost all sense of sanity.

We are in a recession that can easily turn into a depression. Don't blame President Barrack Obama folks, he only inherited the mess of the Bush/Cheney years - Obama's the one trying to get us out of this mess. Right now, GM is busy closing plants - nobody wants to buy their junk - same for Chrysler as well. Hard working blue collar workers are being laid off in massive economic bloodbaths. Lets face it, the CEO's of the big three really screwed themselves in the ass putting out shit for automobiles. Thier workers are suffering because of executive errors. Now, I can reason since we are on the abyss of losing our domestic auto industry, it might be a really good idea to get into a domestic industry that spells growth - think green. No matter what the oil industry and their minions are saying, we will have to 'bite-the-bullet' and realize oil and coal out of environmental necessity will have to be placed in the back waters of commerce. For the survival of the world - plant, animal, and yes, mankind, we need to get our act together and put out the smokestacks - we'd better do it fast and we better do it smart! We've run out of room for error, both on the environmental and fiscal fronts. Look at it this way, if there are no good jobs, there are no futures - if there is no environmental action, there will be no more life on Earth. At that point, every oil executive will suddenly get 'religion', but it will be too late! They will be fucked as well as us!

China is thirsty, ravenous in consuming world wealth - America has been guilty of that as well. However, China as an economic power has the upper hand - we boy their electronics, we buy their food, we buy their clothes and anything companies like Walmart can shove down our North American throats. Go into any big box store, and look at the package that says where the item was manufactured - chances are practically everything you look at will say, MADE IN CHINA! The biggest factor is every product that comes from China, means one less job here - our children will be forced into hamburger flippers at Burger King and McDonalds, or slave-wage workers at Walmart - really think hard about this one! President Obama is trying his dam nest to get a green economy going. But he won't be able to hold back the oil lobbyists if we don't scream loud enough at our elected officials to cut the crap, and do the right thing. You need only look at the photo by Bob Sacha/Corbis to realize we are at an economic breaking point. China is already loading ships with cars and trucks distained for North American consumption. Cheap cars and trucks for people who are soon to be a nation of hamburger flippers. Face it folks, this will be an awful blow to democracy.

As to innovation, China is already working to lead in design in wind turbine engineering. According to Justin Thomas at TreeHugger, have unveiled the first permanent magnetic levitation wind power generator at the Beijing Wind Power Asia Exhibition in 2006 known as the MagLev generator. It is a joint development between the Chinese government and the Guangzhou Energy Research Institute through China's Academy of Science. What it means is a 20% boost in energy prouction from a turbine by reducing the frictions inherent in current turbine designs. What that means is the claim of cutting turbine generation costs in half. There is a boom going on in green energy production - and China is at the forefront. Boo, Hiss, you say - and I couldn't agree more! However, unless we really get serious about domestic green power research, development and marketing, we'll be forced to buy Chinese-made residential wind generation products from Walmart! That is indeed a very frightening thought on many levels. Can you say kiss your fiscal ass goobye? Sure you can!

So, what is it going to take to turn the situation around. Well first, you can say to the oil lobbyists, their cronies and political hacks of congressmen to go fuck themselves at the next senatorial election - that includes blowing out every Republican on election day. You can demand our elected officials who remain to get off their freaking asses and commit to a green power economy. And that we put development money into green research. There is another thing - any domestic or foreign company will be told that every part down to the last bolt of green products has to be built in North America by North American workers using as many raw materials from North America as possible, if it wants to sell its wares in North America - no if, ands or buts...period! The only way North America can ever climb out of this severe recession is to get tough on foreign trade. My suggestion to the three domestic automakers is to come to the realization that at least for the foreseeable future is we've pretty much lost the domestic market in America and the world, for that matter, to Asian car makers - soon to include China! Now, GM, Chrysler and Ford ought to seriously consider getting into green generation on the commercial and consumer market big time to save their corporate asses - and make DAMN SURE that what they put out is quality! Our government and colleges need to realize their very survival depends on making higher education affordable to the masses, rather than the few. We need companies working with colleges and universities to research green energy developments. I am an American, first and foremost. And if I'm a little hard on the subject, its because I want America to remain a democracy - but the more we rely on Asia for goods and services is the more we put our freedoms at risk.

Education is getting a lot of interest here in the United States, and for good reason. We can no longer say that we are the most technologically advanced nation, nor that our young people are the most intelligent. Certainly we fall within the top three, however, we usually find ourselves going outside this country in seeking some of the top brains in the world. One cannot help but feel that companies and the government have been lazy in encouraging 'home-grown' talent. Too many of our youth are headed for lifelong careers of flipping burgers at McDonalds, becoming low-paid associates at Walmart, or living under a bridge after serving two or three years in a war zone with no practical skills to show for it. We parents are especially guilty at failing our own children by our own ignorance. As long as we retard our children's intellectual growth, this country will continue its downward spiral in its fiscal competition with other nations, The past eight years under the George W. Bush presidential administration have been especially brutal with children being left behind in even greater numbers than before. They were made 'political pawns' to get an ignorant 'recovering' alcoholic made President - two terms running. We are now fully suffering the consequences for that folly.

There is a move by President Barack Obama to make a clear transparent effort to truly advance our children's education - not by testing them to death, but providing them tools in the classroom to make an honest attempt. Lets get something clear, over-testing is a way to numb the mind. Think about when you were a child, and a teacher went into overdrive with homework, tests and 'pop' quizzes. Did it really help you learn? With a classroom size of twenty-five to thirty-five children, its really hard to give individual attention that each child deserves. Oftentimes if a child has trouble grasping a concept, even the best of teachers will simply lose their patience, ignore the student, allowing that entity to fall between the cracks - either failing the student, or passing it onto society to deal with fifteen or more years down the road. The reason crime rates are as high as they are is because youth suddenly finds themselves out of the public school sector with poor grammatical skills, poor math concepts and an inability to successfully deal with the unvarnished world at large. When you read some of the blogs online, you'll notice what I mean. Sometimes they have failure passed down to them - often encouraged by parents to not expect too much of themselves or their children - a recipe for failure.

And that's a really big problem - parents who as children were taught to accept failure. Many who are borderline or full-blown drug addicts or alcoholics who will sometimes use their children as punching bags - both in the mental and sometimes physical sense. They themselves as parents are lacking in the skills of raising children. These of course, are the worst cretins society has to offer. Thankfully, they are not in the majority. For parents born after World War II, a high school education was enough to get one a good job - enough to buy a home and have some pleasures. We were an industrial-agricultural society where the majority of things we purchased were made here in the United States. As the 1960's began in earnest, we found ourselves in competition with other countries as it concerned consumer goods like electronics. By the end of the 1970's, American firms began a process of laying off their factory workers and closing plants - choosing to import goods made in Asian countries which were initially cheaper, and later better made than one could find in this country. Simply put, major American-born corporations got very lazy on domestic product research - eventually closing factories here, and heavily importing from abroad. Now there's nothing wrong with trade in itself - but America has long had a trade imbalance that may never be rectified if we keep going in the same direction from the 1970's forward. What it means is if you only have a high school education, it's a lot more difficult out there. And simply - more and more blue collar well-paying factory jobs are now far and few in-between. You need a college, or a really good vocational school education to survive in the future. A public high school degree just does not cut it anymore.

Our children have a choice in this world - get a good education, flip burgers, or go live under a bridge. Unless one has an entrepreneurial spirit and the drive to see it through with just a high school education - there are very few choices beyond that of the military for any future. Heaven help that now adult child if there is a war on during the time they serve. If you are a Marine or in the Army, you'll see a lot of ground action in less than desirable places. While the life in the Air Force is better, as a pilot, one always runs the risk of being shot down behind enemy lines or a malfunctioning aircraft. If you don't get seasick, than the Navy is generally the safest place to be. The military services can help you learn a viable peacetime skill, or can be excellent careers in themselves - provided you do some very heavy-duty research and thought in where you want to be after you serve your initial basic training, or if you sign up again. There is a lot the recruiter is not going to tell you if you don't ask. Remember, their duty is selling you to sign on the dotted line! If you are about to put your life at risk, then you want a contract saying that they will foot the bill for college after your enlistment ends, or if you remain in the service, training to help you to advance in rank and military occupation - don't leave it to chance. Talk to people who are or were in the service about their own experiences and how they were treated - or whether they were given any real skills towards a viable career when they got out. Also, visit the patient wards at VA Hospitals to see how returning injured vets are treated - both on regular floors and in mental units - this is a sobering reality. The VA has not been getting high marks lately! Remember, this is your life, the decisions you make on a personal level will affect your quality of life.

Now let's look at us parents, or in some of our cases, as grandparents. What can we do to help our children advance? The primary thing is being good role models and providing a nurturing and loving and peaceful home environment. That aspect does not have a physical price tag, but it does require us to be on the ball. It also requires that we look at each child as individuals, each with their own natural talents and aspirations. It requires that we don't tag their imagined shortcomings as being the marks of a failure. Finding ways to belittle and humiliate a child for not succeeding at something that everyone else is seemingly able to do better, points out your own individual weakness as to your parenting skills. When I was restoring a house initially built in 1866, I remember putting garbage on the tree lawn for the trash men to pick up early one morning. Along the sidewalk walked a mother behind her son. She was obviously mad about something. She kept grabbing her young son's head and trying to smack it against the ground, or in this case, the concrete sidewalk. You could tell by looking at her, she was not very intelligent herself based on her actions. Its a wonder if that child didn't grow up brain-damaged. But I'll bet he grew up angry and feeling helpless. Chances are, he may have had a very hard time building self esteem - let alone trying to advance his life. Feeling sorry for the young man, I said a small silent prayer, and went back to working on the house. In varying degrees in too many circumstances, there are parents who either subconsciously or deliberately sabotage their children's future by labeling them or comparing them with another sibling. This is not an easy thing to grow out of, in many cases that entity carries a negative self worth throughout their lifetimes - that is cruel on so many levels.

Here's the thing, what as parents are we doing to encourage our child's success? Are we providing encouragement? Are we giving them the help they need in finding answers - both on a scholastic and individual basis? Or are we smothering our children from adapting to real life, or marking them as failures? Perhaps, there has to be an effort to provide a space they can call their own - and the needed tools like a computer with internet access in helping them conquer their homework assignments. What is expected of a child changes year-by-year - your sons and daughters are challenged more than you may have been. And they are trying to deal with an educational system that is not easily adapted to their individual circumstances - some are just late bloomers, or need to be reached in different ways - remember, we are all individuals. Getting the right start in life is so crucially important for the overall quality over that individual's lifetime. Encouraging hobbies is important - often they can lead to challenging and rewarding careers. Hint, if a child is involved in a positive hobby, its usually not getting into trouble, and it is putting their education to work. Hobbies involve using motor skills, reading ability, exercising thought processes - and providing socialization skills with other like-minded individuals. It is a character builder offering challenges and successes along the way. Trust me, a mate who has a hobby is a better mate than one who doesn't. Hobbies and skill levels grow with the child into adulthood.

Lets get a little deeper. One of the reasons we have so much violence and crime on all levels is that a lot of these individuals grew-up under a vacuum - not offered any real stimulus or hope, and stuck in front of the all time champ of electronic babysitters - television. Now tv itself is not a bad thing, but it depends on how it is used. If all a child does is spend its free time in front of a boob-tube, its well on the way to becoming a couch potato, and a future hamburger flipper for McDonalds - is that why you bought a child into the world in the first place? To become a slave-wage earner for McDonald's or Walmart? I hope not! How you help or sabotage your child's development, will say a lot about you as a parent. And like the farmer, you will reap what you sow - sobering thought, isn't it! When my son was young, at three years-old, I gave him a used college level set of encyclopedias. I had real expectations in the outcome in how he might treat the books. I expected and accepted there would be crayon marks on the pages. It was after all, a used set of books, and my hope is he'd be curious about the pictures in the book, and thus have an innate desire to read and learn, not because he had to, but because he wanted to! I even took him to my college campus to look around. Again, I had a reason. I wanted to implant in my son the desire to seek a good education. He didn't know it at the time, and may even deny that influenced him in planning to go to college - but the end result, it worked like a charm. He has a degree in Computer Science and had achieved a 3.8 grade average through-out his college career in getting his BA. He's now in the process of going after his Master's degree and beating his old man out in the process. And you know what? I love every minute of it. I laid the groundwork and he took it from there. My hope is that his children will out do him, and go for their doctorates. On this day and that future date, I will have had the distinct pleasure of knowing I got the ball rolling. Hard to believe, but true, I never yelled at the kids, never spanked them, never threatened them or belittled them - I did listen to them and reasoned with them! I gave them no negative baggage to carry around, but I did give them hope.

Recently, another family-owned grocery chain went out of business - Rego's Fresh Markets in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area. It was actually one of the better grocers when it came to the foods they stocked and the service an individual could only get in a locally-owned chain. Here's the thing, the people who operated Rego's lived in Northeast Ohio - and in this case, that made a difference. Being smaller, they were able to innovate a little quicker than the national chains. They also shelved many items by local vendors, including the innovation of a sit-down deli operated in-store by an outfit called Corbo's Bakery in Cleveland's Little Italy. As you can see, the store at a Plaza called Kamm's was modern and nicely designed and built - very functional. Rego's was not the first operator of the facility, but thus far, it was the best. And as far as the City Of Cleveland goes, it was suburban grade. The Rego's were a class act in how they ran the supermarket. Everything was well maintained and stocked with things you couldn't get from a much larger out-of-town competitor called Giant Eagle from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. And certainly the staff was more intelligent then that of an average Walmart clerk. However, one paid more for the same items than at its competitors - but you knew you were getting a better grade of item. In all, the store went from two locations to seven in a short period of time. But with a very bad recession, and a more tighter banking market in general, the expanded Rego's ran into fiscal problems.

Originally, the grocery store that stood on the site was an old 1950's style Pick'n'Pay supermarket. As stores went in the 1950's, the facility was average and rather devoid of a personality. Whether you worked or shopped at a Pick'n'Pay, by the 1970's, it was a big yawn. Get 'em in, get 'em out, it was not a place to socialize, there were no places to sit down, because the stores did not operate a makeshift deli and bistro - there was no room. And the philosophy was they really didn't want their customers to hang around - get 'em in, get 'em out. By the end of the decade, more innovative groceries began to realize that having a sit down deli would be an attraction, and of 'course, a money maker. So, suburban locations of more and more groceries, began to think of new ways to attract more people to shop their stores. When city dwellers began to realize the revolution going on in the suburban grocery scene, many eschewed the drab little supermarkets for the more modern and better maintained shops in the suburbs. Pick'n'Pay's were eventually bought out by a firm called Seaway Foods, who aggressively went to work in changing the image of the antiquated locations. One-by-one, they would close the Pick'n'Pay's, knocking them down, and building new Finest stores. These were big mega-boxes, when compared to the old shoebox stores they replaced. The Finest stores were owned by out-of-town investors who had a cookie-cutter mentality (though I'm sure they'd disagree), but it was a new cookie cutter concept that would make shopping their stores more pleasant. The places were large and colorful, with attention on how items were stocked - and the shops had personality. So far, so good, huh?

The problem with the 'Finest' people, is their locations looked too plastic, and eventually the stores became déclassé, aging in their 1980's style. Another factor was that all this glitz cost money, and the owners naturally wanted to recoup their costs. So they upped prices, but didn't improve the quality. At least in the Cleveland market, Finest wasn't making it, and people shopped elsewhere, like at Giant Eagle, Walmart SuperCenters, and stores like Heinans which stressed a quality experience, and of course, Rini's and Rego's. One note, Giant Eagle took over most of the Rini and Rego's 'Stop 'n' Shop suburban locations. The agreement is that the Rini's and Regos would not open any competing stores for a set period of time, allowing Giant Eagle to build its market share without having additional competitors to deal with. Meanwhile, Finest just couldn't make a real dent in Northeast Ohio no matter how many commercials, promotions or public relations events it involved itself in. It became no secret it wanted out of Northeast Ohio, and the grocer began shopping the stores around. Fact is, they put a lot of money in their Cleveland operations and were getting nowhere in increasing market share. To get rid of the competition, Giant Eagle was more than happy to oblige - at bargain rates of course. It was 'win-win' for both concerns. Giant Eagle really had enough stores in Greater Cleveland, re-opening some locations, and shopping other locations to help recoup some of their investment. Enter Rego's.

Giant Eagle succeeded where Finest didn't, and they now had a strong and solid share of the market - they still do. So, Giant Eagle didn't have problems selling some of their locations to Rego's and some other smaller outfits. Rego's looked at it as gaining more modern facilities and regaining footholds in neighborhoods while Giant Eagle got rid of unused less desirable locations or areas where they already had established stores nearby. Again, 'win-win' for both Giant Eagle and Rego's - at least initially. Rego's pumped and borrowed a lot of money to re-brand the stores and did an excellent job. They picked a more intelligent and capable staff to run the new locations - this doesn't come cheap. In the case of Kamm's Plaza, it was a real boost to the strip and the area - Rego's was a class outfit. Rego's was really leveraged-out, but it was a good investment on paper. What no one could have predicted during the planning stages, is the country would go through a severe recession, laying off of a lot of people, especially in the Cleveland market. As the gosh-awful George W. Bush presidency was in its final year run, the bottom fell out of the financial markets. The bankruptcy of Bear-Sterns and other financial houses exacerbated a situation that was already going south. With practically everything being built in China and shipped here, American blue-collar workers were and are losing their jobs left and right thanks to George W. Bush Administration policies. As a matter of fact, if you run into the 'King Of Duh', bend him over your knee and really paddle his ass! Its a long time in coming! In short, America's military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its heavy borrowing from countries like China and Russia via the IMF, have turned a Clinton-era surplus into a giant Bush shortfall. All of this plays heavily into the poor economy, and it has a real 'trickle-down' effect.

As jobs were further lost and banks shut down, were bought out, or needed federal taxpayer support, loans were a lot harder to get for the individual, and later for the business owner. Retail was going into the crapper, and banks were not especially willing to prop up what they saw as failing operations. The result is businesses like Rego's couldn't get extended credit as easily as before. As a matter-of-fact, Circuit City, the one time large retail electronics concern ended up owing their overseas vendors one hell of a lot of money, and with dwindling sales, had no way of paying it back - they would go under, as far as their physical stores are concerned. Rego's was now in the same boat. Credit was tight, they couldn't pay their bills and the banks refused to extend them a line of credit. They were now officially dead in the water. Venders who had not been paid on time stopped making deliveries and demanded Rego's pay up. The store shelves started emptying out over the summer of 2008. Rego's fighting for it's fiscal life, put out its spin that everything was okay, it was just switching vendors and the stores would soon be restocked. It didn't happen. I'd go into their stores and see less and less merchandise on the shelves. If you think this is distressing for their patrons, it was shear horror for the employees who had a sinking feeling they were about to be out of a job in a down economy. Those who could successfully jump ship, did. Those who didn't, were resigned to sinking with their ship. And their owners, well, we may see a few mansions on the market any day now. Trust me, since the stores started emptying out last summer, I really wanted to be wrong with my prognosis. As it turns out, I guess I'm not. Rego's closed most of its stores in March, and rumor has it that the remaining stores may head in the same direction. Had it not been for this terrible recession, Rego's would have been wildly successful in the areas it served. I will miss Rego's, I really will.

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APPAREL	COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS	FINANCIAL	LAWN & GARDEN	WEATHER
APPLIANCES & KITCHEN	COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES	FURNITURE	MALL 727	WIKIPEDIA
ART	COMPUTERS	GIFTS	NEWS MEDIA	727 UnCORKED
AUTOMOTIVE, BOATS & PLANES	CONSUMER RESOURCES	GOURMET	PET SUPPLIES	HOUSE & COTTAGE
BABIES & TODDLERS	DEPARTMENT & SPECIALTY STORES	HARDWARE & BUILDING SUPPLIES	REAL ESTATE	AMAZON / ebay
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PACKRAT'S PLACE	AUSTIN'S PICK'S	THE SCHMIDT CHRONICLES	NORM'S NOTES	ANDREW'S CORNER