June 16, 2022
The woes since Watergate
This week marks the 50th anniversary of a group of thugs breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. This crime was funded and sponsored by the Committee to Re-Elect President Nixon. The purpose was to plant bugs and steal papers that outlined DNC strategies to unseat Richard Nixon in the 1972 election.
The thugs were caught by a security guard. The break-in was completely unnecessary since Nixon was way ahead in the polls and his opponent, George McGovern, had little chance of winning. A two-year process ensued in which Nixon and his inner circle denied any responsibility. However, relentless reporting by Woodward and Bernstein aided by a snitch named “Deep Throat” uncovered the truth.
Nixon was involved from the beginning.
The institutions of our democracy worked. Senator Sam Ervin was a Democrat from Morganton, North Carolina. He was respected by both sides of the aisle. He chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee that wrote the articles of impeachment. The evidence was irrefutable. Nixon resigned to avoid the inevitability of being convicted. He did the right thing.
Our Constitutional processes were preserved. The system of checks and balances worked. Yet, the damage was done. Watergate began a downhill run in our trust in government that has not yet ended and may be declining at an even faster pace.
Prior to Watergate and after the Eisenhower era, a Pew Research study found that 72 percent of Americans, both R’s and D’s, trusted the government. That number fell to 36 percent post-Watergate. The latest Pew study, released last week, showed the trust level at barely 20 percent.
Democracy’s survival long-term depends on the citizens trusting their government.
You cannot have a candidate who lost by 7 million votes and a significant margin in the Electoral College continuing to falsely allege the election was stolen. You cannot incite a murderous crowd to storm the Capitol to stop the Senate from confirming the outcome of the election. The peaceful transition of power is a fundamental principle of our democracy. Lives were lost on January 6, 2021, protecting that principle.
The legacy of Watergate must be reversed and reversed quickly.
Here are a few measures that need to be done. Throw the moneychangers out of the temples of Washington politics. Votes in Congress are bought by the rich and powerful. Go back to an old idea. Bad acts are met with bad consequences. Our leaders must be made to pay for their misdeeds with non-partisan investigative processes.
Most importantly, we need to understand and reject preposterous lies and flights of fantasy on social media. We need to reject candidates who run on baseless accusations about their opponents and never tell you what they, themselves, stand for. Finally, watch the Special Committee’s report on their investigation of the insurrection. If you don’t believe words, you might consider the videos. Is our democracy worth two hours of your time?
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JUNE 2, 2022
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
With only five months done in 2022,
27 school shootings have taken place as well as more than 200 mass shootings.
Enough is enough.
Some members of Congress and
state legislators have their hearts and prayers going out to the victims and
their families as a pre-packaged response. Enough is enough.
Spending more on mental health
programs will solve the crisis. Yet, most of the shooters have been turned to
violence by social media hate groups or some perceived wrong done to them or
expected to be done during their lives. The truth is the shooters got their
idea when they were sane; planned the shooting when they were sane; bought the
ammunition and guns when they were sane; and, carried out their plans when they were
sane. Enough is enough.
The Second Amendment was pretty
clear in 1791. “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of
a free state, the right to keep and bear Arms, shall not be abridged.” Our
Founders were afraid the British would be back or another opportunist country
would attack our fledgling nation. The predominant long gun in 1791 was
a musket and not an AR-15. Enough is enough.
Ten years after Sandy Hook, finally,
finally, serious negotiations are going on in Washington. Let us have our
hearts and prayers support the adoption of a law that does not falter because
it attempts to legislate the perfect rather than settle for the good.
Florida, with a conservative legislature and a conservative governor, to their collective credit, adopted a modest law after the Parkland massacre. The first element of the law raised the age to buy a gun to 21. The second element created the ability of local Sheriffs to issue Risk Protection Orders. There have been more than 3,000 issued. If an RPO is issued, a gun may be taken away.
The third element is the
Guardian Program which allows volunteers, staff members and teachers to be
armed to protect the school. 45 of the 69 school districts in Florida have
adopted this program which requires background checks and hours of training for
the volunteers. The law also bans bump stocks which allow semi-automatic rifles
to work faster. In Florida, enough was enough.
For those federal and state
legislators who fear supporting a modest limitation on the carnage will end
their political careers, consider that Governor Rick Scott is now Senator Rick
Scott. He said enough was enough and got elected to higher office. Perhaps all
the politicians should read Micah 4:3 “and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares.” Mathew 2:16-18 calls King Herrod’s murder of all children under
two years old the slaughter of the innocent. In ancient times, enough was
enough.
Folks, we all love our children,
grandchildren, and other family members’ children. If something terrible
happens at their school, will hearts and prayers be satisfactory to you? Let’s
hope you never have to say enough is enough.
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Graham Star May 4, 2022 Column
The debate over debates
A few days ago, the Graham Star sponsored a candidate forum for the local School Board, Sheriff, and County Commission. All the candidates were Republicans because there are no Democratic or Unaffiliated candidates in the primary.
It was necessary to induce Beth to attend with me by offering a Mustang GT ride and a nice dinner. Surprisingly, the forum was elucidating. The candidates expressed themselves in an understandable manner and responded to the questions moderated by the Graham Star’s star reporter Randy Foster. There were an abundance of candidates and a rather large audience for a Saturday evening. Some candidates could not make it with justification. The absent candidates were given an opportunity to respond to the questions electronically.
Why was the forum a good thing?
Because we live in a democracy and we need to understand the candidates’ positions before we vote. Keep in mind that early and absentee voting is already underway for the May 21st primary. If you are not a Republican, don’t yawn and say like Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman, “What, me worry?” Under North Carolina election law you can ask for a Republican ballot and get to vote for these candidates. That is a smart thing to do in order to shape the contests in the fall when members of all parties will be on the ballot. It is also a smart thing to do because there are other contests on the ballot. You can vote for the opponent to any candidate that you believe behaves abhorrently. So, go vote early or on election day and ask for a Republican ballot regardless of your party affiliation.
Debates are nothing new.
Some historians think the seven Lincoln Douglas Senatorial debates in Illinois led to the Civil War. This is because Lincoln made it clear he thought slavery must come to an end. His folksy Honest Abe style won over the electorate and he went to Congress. A few years later he went to the White House. This was a signal to the Southern states that the issue had come to a head and they decided to secede.
The Nixon Kennedy debates were the first to be televised. Kennedy was handsome an exuded youthful energy. Nixon was ill, sweated profusely and had a five o’clock shadow. The televised image really hurt Nixon and helped Kennedy who won by less than one million votes.
The arguments over debate format led to the 1987 formation of the Commission on Presidential Debates as a joint effort of the Republican and Democratic National Committees. The debates worked pretty well until the debacle of the 2016 debates in which none of the candidates distinguished themselves. In fact, they all deserved scorn. Now, the RNC wants to “reform” the debates due to bias, poor decision-making, and reluctance to make needed reforms.
The specific allegation is that Steve Scully of C-Span who moderated a debate with Biden and Trump had worked for Biden. Therefore, he was biased. Well, to unpack this disinformation, he did work for Biden in his mail room during college for six weeks to fulfill a course requirement.
Says Scully, “I sorted mail and never even got a picture with the guy.”
Five of the ten members of the Commission are Republicans who must take a loyalty oath to the party before they are appointed. Faith is a loyalty oath. Putting your family and your Country first is a loyalty oath. A litmus test of blind obedience to a candidate is an abhorrent thing.
Whether you attend or watch candidate forums and debates, get out and vote in the primary. If you don’t vote you have no right to complain.****************************************************************
A Small Story About a Big Subject
We live in a small town in a small county in western North
Carolina. We have friends who have lived here for generations and new friends
who have just become neighbors. To keep this story basic, there are two
cultures here. The Mountain Culture which is conservative and suspicious of
newcomers and the Flatlanders who want to evolve things that go back more than
150 years.
We are capable of change. After 74 years, the citizens of
Robbinsville voted to end prohibition and we can now buy beer and wine in our
sole supermarket and soon in restaurants and convenience stores.
Beth and I come from south Florida. We enjoy cultural
differences. Hundreds of restaurants serve up a myriad of food choices from
Albanian to Zimbabwean. Just about every major religion is represented with a
house of worship. Many holidays are observed and that is how this story begins.
Our odyssey started with the 15-mile beautiful mountain
drive to Stecoah to pick up hot cross buns for Easter. Then we drove nearly 90
miles to Hendersonville to the closest bagel store. Oddly, on the second day of
Passover when leavened bread is forbidden to the devout, it was open and people
were lined up outside the door. Perhaps this crowd happened because if you
bought six bagels you got six free. We bought two dozen and got a dozen free. Fresh
bagels are now ubiquitous except in far western North Carolina.
We then did an errand in Asheville at a wonderful antique lamp shop.
On the way home, we stopped at the Publix in Waynesville. Our mission
was to buy Passover matzoh, which is the unleavened bread that the Jews had to
make before they fled Egyptian slavery. They did not have time to make regular
bread. While we were there, the opportunity to buy halvah, half-sour pickles
and pickled green tomatoes, presented itself as well.
While checking out, this small story really begins. The
Publix store manager helped to bag the groceries. He asked me how I was and if
everything in the store was ok. I told
him we loved the store but, their shelves were devoid of Passover certified
matzoh. He pulled out his phone which has an inventory app and said they had
six boxes in stock. He then went to the shelf where the missing matzoh was
located and brought me a picture on his phone. Moses certainly would have been
impressed.
Here comes the
cultural difference. Passover Matzoh comes in packages of four boxes that are
individually wrapped. Families use a lot of it during the week-long holiday. We
use a box every two months or so. I asked him to break up the package. He
politely and apologetically declined due to company policy. The teenage cashier
was very interested and asked me how I knew about the matzoh. I told her that
everyone from south Florida knew about all kinds of ethnic foods. By this time
the fast line of less than ten item customers was growing impatient so we left
with a box of matzoh that was a healthy version that no one else had or
probably would purchase.
Now everyone from South Florida knows that the “yentas” (old
ladies) would just rip that four-pack apart and buy whatever lesser quantity in
individual packages they needed. The Publix manager was helpful as could be. He
just did not understand and the impatient crowd behind us in line just wanted
to move on with their day.
I wish we had more time to explain to the store manager why
he needed to break up the multi- packages. His store would have sold out. Maybe
that is why we do not have any “yentas” west of Asheville.
Our odyssey wrapped up at Nantahala Outdoor Center. Beth
wanted one of their 50th Anniversary T-Shirts. The wonderful Great
Smokies Mountain Railroad was there for its one-hour stop and the place was
jammed with people from all over the world.
So as three great religions celebrate their holidays, we
wish you and yours a wonderful day while we hope for a peaceful future where
people learn about each other’s culture.
March 24, 2022
Pitch and yawn on DST
There is a popular myth that Daylight Savings Time (DST) was
pushed by farmers to have more daylight to work their crops during the growing
season. Not true. The legislation was approved in 1918 as part of the WW I
effort to conserve energy. DST was a non-starter after the war and was not
reinstated till WW II with the same justification. DST did not become permanent
until 1969 when Congress enacted President Johnson’s Uniform Time Act.
If you really want a history lesson, Aristarchus in the
third century BCE thought the Earth might revolve around the sun. This heresy
was proven around 1500 AD by Copernicus and Galileo using more modern
mathematics and devices to observe the heavens. These theories are now known as
“heliocentrism” which means the sun and not the Earth is the center of the
universe.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has pushed for nearly ten
years to make DST permanent. More than ten states have approved this if Rubio’s
bill becomes law. Rubio’s bill passed the Senate unanimously. This rare display
of unity may have happened because the bill was voted on right after a sleep-deprived Senate returned from their tax-subsidized lunches and voted by voice
which means their individual votes are not recorded.
So, what does this mean to the residents of Graham County? If
DST becomes permanent, the sun will rise on December 21st, the
shortest day of the year, at approximately 8:45 a.m. If you live on the western
side of a mountain, you may not see the sun until after 9:00 am. This is
because we live in the western edge of the eastern time zone. Sunset will also
move an hour later in the winter. Nothing will change in the summer because we
already have DST.
Sleep experts widely agree that we should return to standard
time all year. This means that most people would wake up when the skies begin
to light up. I am a clock collector, so changing nearly 30 clocks twice a year
is a pain. Therefore, I support standard time becoming permanent and oppose the
DST permanent alternative.
There is also an economic argument. A study by the JP Morgan
Chase & Co. Institute analyzed millions of credit card spending patterns in
Los Angeles (DST) compared to Phoenix (no DST). The study reviewed 380 million
transactions made by 2.5 million cardholders. Guess what! When DST in Los
Angeles begins, spending goes up by 0.9 percent compared to Phoenix. When it
ends, spending goes down by 3.5 percent. Grocery stores are most impacted,
losing more than 6 percent of their daily per capita spending. I suspect this
is due to the loss of summer junk food sales. Beer and wine should make up for that
in our local Ingles.
Depending on your beliefs, human civilization as we know it
began evolving 6,000 years ago. The Egyptians believed in the Sun God Ra. They
built a pretty amazing civilization without DST. Humans and their ancestors
began walking the planet around 300,000 years ago. It wasn’t till 100 years ago
that anyone wanted to mess with the natural inclination to wake when the sun
rose and go to sleep after dark. Frankly, the whole thing is a yawn.
Graham Star February 10, 2022 Column
Presidential
candidacy announcement
After much soul searching, discussion with my family, and acknowledging my complete inability to raise the necessary funds to be elected, I have decided to run for President of these great United States of America.
I
want to unite the country because everyone is fed up with something. The
following campaign planks should solve nearly everything that everyone is
unhappy about:
Ban all Robocalls except for 15 minutes per day. This includes political calls, efforts to sell useless products, and surveys of any sort.
Any
company that sells your phone number or e-mail address will be guilty of
invasion of privacy and any telecommunications company that facilitates the
calls or e-mail must publish the home phone numbers of their five highest-paid
executives. Refusal to accept calls will be a misdemeanor punishable by
placement in a stockade in front of the company’s headquarters for one hour for
each infraction.
Interest rates on credit cards cannot be greater than five
times the interest rate on savings accounts.
Ban all drug ads that use more time for potential risks
than benefits. Make certain areas of the body off-limits.
Magazine renewals must state when the current
subscription runs out.
Weather reports must not be used by TV stations to keep
you awake for the entire program. The weather must be a single segment and no
models are to be used. The weathercaster gets paid plenty to interpret those
models.
Internet monthly fees must be based on the quality of service
meaning availability, reliability, and speed. Each state shall develop a system
to induce providers to bring quality internet to everyone who wants it within
the next legislative session or the state will lose all federal funding.
I will propose a U.S. Constitutional Amendment that stops
paying any salary or benefit to Congress and their staff if the federal budget
is not fully adopted by October 1st of each year. No exceptions.
Any political advertisement that is based on stating how
bad your opponent is shall require the accuser to fund the cost of the accused
running an ad to defend themselves. Who cares that you don’t like your
opponent? Tell us what you stand for.
Immigration approval will be based on job skills
necessary to maintain a healthy economy. After five years of good behavior, you
and your family will be granted citizenship if you pass a rigorous set of
standards.
We will put together a curriculum that explains all the
bad things that people have done to each other since Adam and Eve. It will not
be based on creating guilt, but on creating awareness. Parents must take the
course as well as students. The goal is that schools will no longer need to do
what parents should do in the way of creating morally responsible young people.
Finally, to control inflation, we will ban changing
prices on existing inventory when new products cost more to make. Anyone who
blames the supply chain rather than the profit motive for raising prices must
prove that contention.
Please do not send me money. I need an outpouring of
public opinion which means at least ten folks who agree that we should solve
the solvable problems with simple solutions that will make us all happy.
Predictions for 2022
Please answer this question. Will 2022 bring the end of democracy as we know it?
It is clear that we have become a nation of angry people polarized and paralyzed by an inability to compromise, egged on by opportunistic influencers who are enabled by an unregulated devil we call social media.
Sounds awful but, there is hope. Winston Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, after they’ve tried everything else.” My first prediction for 2022 is that we will try everything else because nothing we have tried in the past five years has worked. Ending the filibuster might be an example of something to try.
On the subject of the economy, inflation will continue until the supply chain problems of 2021 resolve. Supply chain problems will resolve when the oligarchs of industry realize that more product in times of shortage means more profit for the long term.
Income inequality will worsen which means the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. The “dignity of labor” will become a rallying cry for both major parties during the mid-term contests for Congress, governors, and state legislatures. The evidence is already in. People are quitting jobs in droves and others are demanding fair compensation and respect. Unless management figures this out, we will see a renaissance of the labor movement.
The environment and climate change will become top of mind for an expanding group of people. We cannot ignore fires in the west, tornadoes in the mid-west, and floods in the east. We will stop arguing about the cause of these ever-intensifying disasters and start finding solutions. That trend is why Elon Musk’s Teslas have made him the richest person in the world. He is providing a solution.
Public health concerns will remain top of mind.
More and more vaccination hesitant holdouts will come to the realization that the risks of denial are far worse than the rewards of social responsibility. Unfortunately, the loss of loved ones and the sanctions imposed by the government and employers will be the two main causes of this epiphany.
Despite the efforts of many agony profiteers who thrive on controversy, we will ask ourselves, “Why are we here? To what end are we arguing?” As author Phillip Roth questioned years ago, do we want to become a land where everything goes and nothing matters?
Said another way, are wedge issues like regulating assault weapons, creating a vigilante system to regulate abortions, limiting voting rights, leaving financial markets unregulated, and allowing drug companies to addict our young people, solvable issues only by spite legislation or can we develop compromise solutions?
This columnist is an eternal optimist. The challenges we face are enormous. My glass is neither half-full nor half-empty, but it is getting closer to full all the time. We will find new leadership in 2022 and beyond. The perfect leader will emerge, and he or she will combine the attributes of Lincoln, Reagan, Kennedy, Truman, and Roosevelt. We will move toward regaining our common vision and purpose in 2022.
My best wishes to all the Graham Star readers and people who put the paper together weekly for a healthy, prosperous, and peaceful New Year.
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December 2, 2021
Hartville and
Robbinsville
What would happen if you had a scale large enough to hold
the 331.4 million people in the U.S. exactly balanced? Where would the midpoint
be? In Hartville Missouri which is a metropolis of 594 people located in
southwest Missouri. The midpoint has been in Missouri since 1980 gradually
moving south and west just like the people of our great country.
When the first Census was completed in 1790, the center of
population was about thirty miles from Baltimore. The entire US population was
3.9 million. Waives of immigration as people fled tyranny or sought economic
security grew the population. So did internal movements like the California
gold rush and Oklahoma land giveaways. The Dust Bowl was an environmental
reason people moved. Today we end up 22 censuses later with the center of
population in Missouri.
Hartville has a history. Missouri was the 12th
state to join the Confederacy. The Battle of Hartville took place for three
days in January 1863. There were 111 casualties for the greys and 78 for the
blues. Despite these numbers, historians awarded victory to the greys because
the blues left town after the confrontation was over.
Hartville is not a lot different from Robbinsville and yet
it is. Somehow the population grew by 12 percent between 2019 and 2020. I guess
the good citizens realized the Census count was important or maybe there was a
wave of immigration. Basketball is the big sport in town. The Hartsville
Eagles beat the Kickapoo Chiefs 48 to 45 in a division championship game last
year. The FFA has 80 members.
What is there to do in Hartville? Trip Advisor had to
broaden its analysis beyond the 425 acres within the city limits. Laura Ingalls
Wilder Historic Home and Museum is 10.8 miles away. LJD’s diner gets four stars
and advertises “a cheap all you can eat lunch buffet” on their website. If you
are seeking a more adult experience, the Frosty Mug is 15.7 miles away next to
a place called Fun City. There are no local prohibitions on alcohol sales in
Missouri. The legislature decided this debate was theirs and theirs alone many
years ago.
Like many small cities in rural America, Hartville’s
downtown is struggling. One of the largest employers is the Dollar General store.
Taxes are pretty low. A farm with 308 acres is available for $1.3 million.
Property taxes are $790 per year. A very nice home with 58 acres is available
for $515,000. It gets an agricultural tax exemption because 150 round bales of
hay are produced annually when the grass is cut.
Is Robbinsville different from Hartville? Probably not. Just
a good old American small city where life goes on despite the craziness around
us. Besides, all you get for being the center of the US population is a bronze
monument provided by the National Geodetic Survey which is a division of NOAA.
Being the center of population rather reminds me of Atlas carrying the entire
planet on his soldiers. All he got for that effort was a backache and usurpation
by Hercules as the strongest person on the planet.
October 7, 2021
The Most Important Decision In 70 Years
Starting in a few days and continuing until election day on November 2, 2021, the voters in Robbinsville will have the opportunity to set the stage for a better future or to continue a downward spiral that has been 70 years in the making.
A “FOR” vote on all seven items on the ballot will allow our restaurants and retail establishments to sell beer and wine under limited circumstances. A “FOR” vote on all seven items on the ballot does not include the opening of an ABC store selling hard liquor.
The ballot language is complex. That is not the fault of the Prosperity Committee or the Revved-Up organizations supporting the ballot item. The language is required by State law. So, let’s not waste any time thinking that the wording of the ballot is intentional on the part of supporters.
There will be economic benefits. The tax money raised by the sale of beer and wine will be directly helpful for the people of Robbinsville. To be honest, the revenue should be allocated to mitigating all the real and imagined impacts of a positive outcome of the election. If we need additional security or expanded addiction programs, we need to trust the elected officials of Robbinsville to do the right thing. They showed the courage to put the issue on the ballot and they will have the wisdom to handle any problems that might occur.
The real economic benefits arrive quickly after a “FOR” vote. Our restaurants will be able to stay open longer and become profitable. This means we will serve our visitors and potential new residents with a quality of life that will bring to an end our population decline. Our young folks will begin to reverse their decisions to move away. With population growth comes opportunity. With opportunity comes investment. With investment comes economic betterment for the entire population of Graham County. Economists call this the multiplier effect which means that one dollar spent turns over at least seven times.
If real and demonstrable evidence of the success of allowing beer and wine sales in a small town will help you become a “FOR” vote, consider Saluda, North Carolina.
This village was in bad shape in the 1980s. Very few storefronts remained open in the downtown area. The voters supported a BYOB program in the late 1990s. In 2008, the voters supported allowing beer and wine sales. The population grew to 891 in 2019 from 713 in 2010. That is an increase of 178 people or 25 percent. Downtown has become vibrant and quality reasonably priced housing is being built throughout the community. With thirteen years of positive experience under their belt, the voters of Saluda passed by 77 percent in 2019 an expansion of the 2008 “FOR” vote to include cocktails in restaurants. Just like Saluda, Robbinsville is responsibly taking small steps.
We need a renovated or new Ingles. There is no hope without allowing the sale of beer and wine. Folks who might move here are used to more modern stores. That is why so many of our residents drive to Murphy to shop for food and leave their tax revenue in our neighboring county. A positive vote will show the Ingles decision-makers that an investment in our store will be a wise decision.
This column would not be complete and I would be a coward to avoid acknowledging the faith-based opposition to allowing beer and wine sales. The New Testament in Galatians 5:19-21 does warn that drunkenness and orgies will cause the sinner to “not inherit the kingdom of God.” Ephesians 5:18 states “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.” Both of these passages deal with irresponsible levels of consumption by using the words “drunkenness” and “drunk.” These are words of excess and not moderation. They are words of the failure of self-control and self-determination. Yet the Old and New Testaments are replete with references to the use of wine as an element of the celebrations of life.
If those words of excess are motivational to the opponents, we need to respect their “AGAINST” vote decision. My own faith in human nature to overcome self-inflicted excesses is my motivator. We need to move on to the greater good and not let the fear of excesses of a few control the destiny of our community.
There is a great unfairness that may be resolved when the voters of Robbinsville make up their minds. Some folks are blessed with the economic well-being to spend $50 or more per person to enjoy a beer or wine with their meals at the many places already allowed to serve alcohol in Graham County. When Joe or Jean working person wants to have a few beers while watching a sporting event over the weekend, he or she must drive at least 50 miles round trip to purchase the requisite sixpack. That is fundamentally unfair to our hard-working folks who cannot afford the luxury establishments. The voters of Robbinsville can end this unfairness by voting “FOR.”
A few thoughts to close out this column. Thanks to the Robbinsville Board of Alderman and the Mayor. They believe in democracy and put this matter on the ballot. They first asked the Graham County Commissioners to place it on the county-wide ballot and were denied.
Thanks to the leadership of everyone involved in economic development and advocacy for the beneficial future of our community. Let us all remember the words of Malala who won the Nobel Prize as a teenager “We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” Come out to vote. That is our responsibility as citizens of this great democracy.
Lake
Tahoe on Fire
My wife Beth and I had the pleasure of visiting Incline
Village, Nevada, for two weeks in late August and early September. Bring up a
mental image of the Michael Corleone mansion in Godfather II or
the Cartwright’s Ponderosa ranch in the long-running Bonanza and you
will understand the stunning beauty of the 8500 feet above sea level incredibly
steep Sierra Nevada mountains covered with 200-foot-tall sugar and ponderosa
pines.
The trip to visit our friend Carole had been planned for months. The tickets were bought and paid for. Then the news of the Caldor fire exploding to thousands of acres with more than 1000 structures destroyed and approaching the Town of South Lake Tahoe less than 30 miles away from where we would be staying became top of mind. We decided to risk it and leave early if necessary. We also decided to make sure if we left early, Carole would come with us no matter how resolute her desire to remain.
Lake Tahoe is a pristine body of water 72 miles around.
It
is located in the crook of Nevada and California. The lake is fed from winter
snows caught by the mountains as the Pacific storms move west to east. On the
west side of the mountains are dense forests where winter snows can reach 14
feet in depth. On the east side is a desert with very little rain.
The long-term drought in California and other states has
made these verdant forests tinder dry. The state and federal forests have been
closed to the public to reduce risk. The skill and bravery of the many agencies
fighting the fires and the strategies used are extraordinary, yet, a change in
the wind direction can cause the fire to voraciously consume the forest and set
back containment percentages without any warning. If you think the effort to
control our 2016 fires was an example of the work in the west, that is a
classic under-estimate of what is happening.
The impact on tourism and the local economy over Labor Day week was clear. It was easy to get reservations in normally crowded
restaurants. Hotels, resorts and casinos were closed. Great historic destinations
like Carson City, Reno, and Virginia City were very quiet. Traffic moved quickly
where congestion was the norm. The smoke was so thick from nearby fires that
the Air Quality Index ran as high as 171. The view across Lake Tahoe and to the
mountain peaks was obliterated entirely on some days.
Being so close to danger got me thinking about the many
natural disasters happening this year. Floods in the Northeast, hurricanes in
the Gulf, fires in the West and flash floods not many miles from where we live
are becoming the norm. California is the home to nearly 40 million people.
Record drought is causing reservoirs and rivers to dry up. Lack of water for
agriculture will show up eventually in the cost of produce and canned goods in
our Ingles. Robbinsville gasoline price just went up by 10 cents per gallon
because of hurricane-related well and refining issues.
I
don’t want to get all preachy about climate change. The fires in the West are
no accident caused because careless campers did not listen to Smoky the Bear.
The hurricanes become more intense in warmer seas and the floods occur because
sea level is rising. Our local flash floods are happening because we are
receiving consistently more rainfall than is usual. These facts come from real science.
Not the bought and paid for science that we have seen from tobacco companies in
the past and the fossil fuel industry today.
There are solutions but the window is closing. If you
don’t believe at least don’t obstruct. Some day your children and grandchildren
will be glad the climate problems we are currently experiencing did not get
worse due to our inaction. There are always naysayers in a democracy. Do you
want to be one of them?
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September 9, 2021 Column
Census Results Define
the Challenges
Adopted
231 years ago, Article1 Section 2 of the US Constitution says “Representatives
and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states…according to
their respective numbers…” The Census numbers decide who loses or gains seats
in the House of Representatives and in the Legislature. The Census results
impact funding for federal programs desperately needed in Graham County.
The
2020 Census was complicated by anti-immigration questions being tossed by the
Courts, COVID limiting access to certain sites and fear that answering
questions would somehow expose our rugged individuals to government scrutiny.
Thanks to the extraordinary last-minute efforts of the Dogwood Health
Foundation with help from Reverend Eric Reece and others, the dismal Census
results for Graham County were kept from being even worse.
Graham
County’s population shrank by 9.4 percent in the past ten years. That is 831
people whose futures would be here if we had just held even. All other counties
but one in Western North Carolina grew.
There
is more data to be released next week. These socio-economic statistics are
updated more frequently. Data as recent as 2019 include Median Family Income of
$39,571 and 17.05 percent Poverty Rate.
A declining population is a sign of a poor prognosis for the future of the place we all love.
Young folks leave because they don’t see a future or want a
different lifestyle. New full-time residents - the Census doesn’t count summer
residents - don’t come here because the lifestyle they seek is unavailable.
Potential employers can’t attract the managers and employees they need because
the many factors that define the quality of life are missing.
Communities
die for many reasons. A major employer leaves town. Weather disasters like the
Dust Bowl cause people to move away. Lack of vision from leaders both public
and private, a paucity of nearby specialty and trauma medical care, and young
people being turned off to the nasty business of politics all add to the demise
of a community.
There
is hope. The Corridor K decision at least from Wolf Creek to downtown
Robbinsville has been made. We need to keep going and accelerate the process to
plan the road from Robbinsville to Andrews.
The
lack of broadband is not an economic issue. It is a pure issue of the lobbying
power of the big broadband providers to keep competition from local government
from happening. There needs to be a coalition of statewide rural officials who
say enough is enough. Federal money is available in the COVID relief
legislation and more will come in the infrastructure bill. The industry
protecting barriers bought by political contributions needs to be knocked down
to solve this barrier to a good future for Graham County.
The
November 2, 2021, Robbinsville referendum on ending the 74-year-old beer and
wine prohibition holds the greatest promise for quickly moving Graham County
forward. A positive vote will remove a major barrier to a future renaissance
for Graham County. For those of us who answered the Census questions, pat
yourself on the back. For the rest, the results of lack of participation are
clear.
August 26, 2021
What is a real man?
A column entitled “Accepting responsibility” appeared in the Graham Star last week. The column, after criticizing President Biden for blaming President Trump for the recent tragedy in Afghanistan, then goes on to blame Marxist-inspired feminism for the decline in masculine virtue.
Somehow a great leap of faith was made that prohibition came
about because women and children were left destitute by the crisis of manhood with
drunken men not accepting their responsibility. That logic is a lot to unpack.
Karl Marx had nothing to do with the rise of feminism. He was about class warfare pitting capitalists against workers and the disparity of income that he saw 150 years ago and we see today. He predicted that if nothing was done to remedy the disparity a revolution would occur. Czar Nicholas II certainly discovered that truth in 1917 long after Karl Marx died in 1883.
Accepting responsibility is not a gender-related virtue. It
is a universal truth that the human mind, regardless of any physical body that
encloses that mind, has something called self-determination. We all get to
choose the right or wrong course of action and reap the benefit or suffer the
consequences.
The column got me to thinking about gender roles in our
modern society. The term “Barefoot and pregnant” was coined by a Kansas doctor
Arthur Hertzler in the early 1900s. He said that keeping women barefoot and
pregnant would end divorces. Meanwhile the divorce rate today is nearly 50
percent of marriages.
The truth is that a real man does not view a woman as a reproductive vehicle to perpetuate the species or to maintain the household for which he provides financial needs.
A real man looks upon his mate as a partner
of equal dignity and rights in the lifelong quest to meet the challenges we all
face in a modern world. There are also plenty of real men who don’t share the view
in the “Accepting responsibility” column to play the dominus to their female
relationships.
- Real men realize that the term “real men” could just as well read “real women.” The gender is different, but the virtues are the same.
- A real man does not blame others for his own weaknesses.
- A real man finds solutions. When he is done fixing the problem, he then determines causality to avoid repeating the mistakes.
- A real man does not measure his power by the decibels of his muffler or the length of his barrels. A real man measures his power by the achievement of good for all members of society.
- A real man guides his life by a multiplicity of sources. The Golden Rule, Ten Commandments, Sermon on the Mount, and the Bill of Rights come to mind.
The NRA, Q Anon, and buffalo-horned Jake Angeli do not.
Vaccines: COVID, Polio and Rabies
July 29, 2021
Nearly 100 years ago the world saw the Spanish flu. AIDS/HIV plagued us in the 1980s. We have seen Legionnaires’ disease, Ebola, Polio, and most recently COVID and its variants. In modern times, these plagues were discovered and science created a vaccine. Society had faith in the researchers and took the vaccine. In all cases, the beast was tamed and in some cases like Polio, the beast was eliminated.
My purpose in writing this column is not to beat the
non-believers or the vaccine cautious upside the head with a baseball bat. Some
of these folks are my friends and I worry about them and their families from
the bottom of my heart. So, we need to have a conversation about the resurgence
of COVID and the highly contagious Delta Variant.
Let’s start with Polio.
This disease crippled or killed
mostly young people. President Eisenhower was in office. The minute Dr. Jonas
Salk developed a vaccine, the former World War II hero determined that all
children would receive the vaccine. No one railed against the vaccine. In fact,
all elementary school children were vaccinated. This concerted program resulted
in the eradication of the disease. This doesn’t mean that the cause of the
disease goes away. It means that its deadly impact is eliminated.
COVID and its variants are a different story. The miraculous
creation of highly effective vaccines in a short period of time happened despite
denials by our leadership, misleading or sensationalist reporting and
politically motivated social media blitzes. The attacks on Dr. Fauci and
threats to have him arrested are shameful.
Graham County has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the State of North Carolina. While we don’t have a large number of cases, that is because we have a low population. The economically necessary relaxation of restrictions for certain businesses was implemented before we knew much about the dangers of the highly transmissible and fast-expanding Delta variant. What we do know is that of the 157 million American people that have been vaccinated, there have been only 186 (.003 percent) that have suffered severe symptoms.
Vaccines are not perfect. But the odds of a negative outcome from
being vaccinated are so low as to be negligible.
A few nights ago, Beth and I and our granddaughter Claire
attended the season final concert at Stecoah. There was a wonderful rendition
of the Crosby Stills and Nash 1970’s song Teach Your Children. This song
is really about teaching your children and your children teaching you in
return. Think about the lyrics and your legacy to your family.
Teach your
children well
Their father’s
hell did slowly go by
And feed them on
your dreams
The one they
pick’s the one you’ll know by.
And you of tender
years
Can’t know the
fears
That your elders
grew by.
And so please help
them with your youth. They seek the truth
Before they can
die.
This columnist does not want his family to remember that he put some amorphous right to object to anything above his love and hope for the future of his family.
Bear with me for just one more thought. Why would I vaccinate my dogs against rabies but not my family against COVID? Hmmmm?
***************************************
A day that will never be forgotten
June 24, 2021 was a day that will never be
forgotten.
At 6 a.m. my ritual of reading newsfeeds began. The weather was a
cool 60 degrees, while I awaited Beth’s arrival with our morning cup of coffee.
We love the view of Lake Santeetlah and discussing current events.
Before Beth arrived, the story about the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla. appeared. The horror of the situation became clearer as every major newsfeed began coverage. My phone, e-mail, and texts began a cacophony that could be summarized as a parade of “did you hear about the collapse?”
Why would so many contacts occur?
Because I was Town Manager of Surfside from 2010 until retiring in 2013.
Surfside is a lovely one square mile town located between Miami Beach and Bal Harbour. The 136-unit Champlain Towers South was completed in 1981. This means that the 40-year certification process is underway. The need for certification evolved more than 30 years ago because older buildings where beach sand was used to make concrete were failing repeatedly, as the high salt content eroded the structural steel.
The 1970s and 80s buildings did not use modern techniques like driving piles to bedrock, cathodic protection, hurricane windows, and doors and sealants that last. The steel rusted and the concrete spalled (broke away as the rust expanded), and salt air and hurricanes did their damage. Further, the design criteria did not consider the vibratory impact of nearby, newer-building construction using piles driven to bedrock more than 100 feet below the surface.
The certification process requires an engineering/architectural
study, review by the local jurisdiction and the development of a plan.
The condominium board must develop a financing methodology which usually entails the use of reserves if they exist and an assessment on the owners. The Champlain Towers South study was done in 2018 by MC Morabito Consultants. The nine-page report documents many major maintenance needs, costing an estimated $110,000 per unit.
There are two statements that should sear into our memories.
The first is that “MC could not get access into the soffit areas to observe the extent of the deteriorated soffit framing as CTS maintenance was too busy to assist us.”
The second is even worse.
“The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to
the concrete slab ... Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future
will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to increase
exponentially.”
Every catastrophe – whether man-made or natural – has a process.
The first step is the rescue of survivors and/or recovery of remains followed by
realization, acceptance, grieving, funerals and memorials. We are still in that
dreadful first phase, with hope dwindling for any of the 159 unaccounted for
people.
This number is more than a statistic or a body count. These are friends and loved ones. The grief is palpable and the
gloom is beyond measure. As a community of decent people, our love and sympathy
should go out to our neighbors to the south.
Next will come the forensics. There are so many questions that
need answers. The committee will be appointed, the study will be completed and
then action will be recommended. Rest assured that the lawsuits will fly,
some heads may roll or retire, insurance companies will want to settle and new
procedures will be proposed. Perhaps a Grand Jury will be convened.
In closing this column, some heroes need to be recognized.
Miami Beach Rabbi Elliot Pearlson has been the spiritual leader. He is providing
comfort to the survivors and the families and loved ones of the victims. His
words help the entire community to understand “When Bad Things Happen to Good
People,” which is the title of a book written by Rabbi Kushner when his young
son died.
Rabbi Pearlson’s faith provides strength to the entire South
Florida community. Pearlson began his career in Asheville at Temple Israel. His
congregation in Miami Beach includes 12 missing victims.
The first responders – and urban search and rescue members of the
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department – are heroes who are risking their lives to
locate survivors or human remains.
The County sheriff and police teams providing security in a chaotic situation are extraordinary. Surfside staff and other agencies are helping the displaced and grief counselors are there as well.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is a friend whom I greatly admire. Her press statements are from the heart, provide confidence that everything possible is being done and there is no political motive.
The news cycle will move on. The next disaster will happen. But
right now, let’s pause for a moment and share in the grief and suffering
resulting from the Champlain Towers South tragedy.
***************************
This is a rebuttal to another Graham Star Reporter's recent article.
Enlightenment trumps
darkness.
From my standpoint, this column should be the last in a series of four very different columns by two very different authors.
Two
brilliant philosopher scientists have been maligned in previous columns so, it
was my duty to come to their defense.
Thomas
Malthus (13/14 February 1766 – 23 December 1834) predicted overpopulation.
While his overpopulation limits were too aggressive, there are people starving
in many parts of the world today. Suggesting anything different shows a callous
lack of concern for the suffering in overpopulated areas.
Margaret Sanger was a nurse who took a different view of the overpopulation issue more than 100 years after Malthus.
She
believed that the solution to overpopulation was in education
regarding family planning and birth control. She practiced obstetrical nursing
in the poverty-stricken Lower East Side of New York City. There she witnessed
the terrible correlation between poverty, uncontrolled fertility, and high
rates of infant and maternal deaths from illegal abortions.
She devoted herself to removing the legal barriers to publicizing the facts about contraception.
In 1916,
Margaret Sanger was indicted for mailing materials advocating birth control.
The charges were later dropped due to something we call the First Amendment.
She was also jailed for opening the first birth control clinic which was
branded a "public nuisance" by the local authorities. Eventually, her
organization morphed into Planned Parenthood centers.
Margaret Sanger's critics focus on her early belief in eugenics which means selective breeding. She is branded to be a racist as a result. Many great people made mistakes in their early thinking. To quote her writings on eugenics in a column without giving credit to her reversal on the subject is patently deceptive.
Further to use Margaret Sanger's work to alleviate poverty and educate people on family planning options as a linkage to a personal belief about abortion is a leap too far. She died in 1966 at the age of 86.
Her active career ended many years before the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. All she tried to do was to save lives lost by desperate women. The Age of Enlightenment began in the early 1700s in Europe. The ideas included individual liberty, leadership by reason and evidence as the primary source of knowledge. The philosophers at the time wrote about advanced ideals such as the pursuit of happiness, progress, tolerance, constitutional government and separation of church and state. The Enlightenment followed the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. All of these periods ended the Dark Ages.
Most periods of progress for humanity end quickly. Our American freedom began with a revolution that was philosophically based on the Enlightenment, not the Dark Ages.
Democracy
emerged for some Americans unless you were a slave or a woman. The Civil War
began an era of freedom for Blacks that was nearly crushed by the Jim Crow laws
including massive voter suppression. Suffragettes won the vote for women. Teddy
Roosevelt began the National Park System. FDR began the New Deal. Ronald Reagan
crushed Communism. Private entrepreneurs with disruptive technologies make our
lives mostly better every day.
In closing, the French philosopher Voltaire was a key voice of the Enlightenment. Voltaire is credited with saying "I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Please
remember, the opposite of enlightenment is ignorance. Thanks to
Kevin Hensley and the Graham Star for printing different views.
******************************************************************
Cancel the Cancel Culturists May 15, 2021
- America never won a war without the will of the people behind the effort. That will has waned after 20 years and the panoply of new challenges including mass shootings and the pandemic grows by the day.
- The objectives of the war have been essentially accomplished. The leadership of this enemy has been removed and his organization reduced to a small band of Taliban. Perhaps no war ever ends with unconditional surrender unless you use the nuclear option like we did in Japan. Heaven forbid that the nuclear option is ever used again.
- Most of the major wars we have fought conclude with the enemy becoming our ally. Germany, Italy, and Japan are our staunch allies. Vietnam has become a capitalist society. If we truly believe in nation-building, we try to leave a war zone with a more democratic government that believes in a capitalist system.
- A global War on Terror cannot be won in the traditional sense of a clean and decisive closure. The terrorists are like a balloon. If you squeeze them in one place, they just move to another. Vigilance with pinpoint targeted responses as needed is the appropriate action to protect us from the threat.
- We do not dishonor the sacrifice of life and limb suffered by our veterans and their families if we leave Afghanistan. All we do is add to their ranks by extending the conflict. There are much better ways to honor their service.
Sadly, a column that appeared last week in the Graham Star denigrated H.R. 5, The Equality Act. The critique began with blaming the Democrats for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That is political, partisan, and grossly inaccurate. In fact, the Senate Republicans were in favor 27 to 6 and the House Republicans were in favor 136 to 35.
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