I wish 2018 is an even better year than 2017; that as a Nation we enjoy peace, prosperity, and mutual respect for one another; that as persons we will live in good health, and enjoy the benefits and pleasures offered by families, friends, jobs, schools, and fresh opportunities.
Sunday, December 31
Welcome to the NewYear
Fireworks have been fired off for about 15 minutes somewhere near my apartment in midtown Mt. Pleasant, S.C. I suspect from the brilliant flashes in the sky and the noise this is an organized event by the government or some organization. In any event, it is a celebratory prelude to the coming of the New Year.
Friday, November 10
Terror Suspects
Published Friday, Nov. 10, 2017
Letters to the Editor
The Post & Courier
Charleston, SC
Dear Editor
Marc A. Thiessen’s column (Nov 6) criticizing President Trump for treating terrorists like former President Obama, is truly off the mark and implies the United States would do better to treat these terrorists as “enemy combatants” and send them to Guantanamo, rather than read them their Miranda rights and try them in civilian courts He wrote this would assist intelligence agencies in gathering data.
The organization Human Rights First provides reliable information more likely to make Americans sleep better at night. For example, consider just these four points they make:
(1) Federal civilian criminal courts have convicted more than 620 individuals on terrorism-related charges since 9/11. Military commissions have convicted only eight, three of which have been overturned completely and one partially.
(2) Federal prisons hold hundreds of individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses. None have ever escaped.
(3) Prosecuting terror suspects before military commissions makes them look like warriors rather than the criminals that they are. As Judge William Young said when sentencing Shoe Bomber Richard Reid, “You’re no warrior….You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders.”
(4) Miranda is an effective law enforcement tool that provides valuable information. Phil Mudd, former deputy director of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center and a senior intelligence adviser to the FBI, wrote that he “sat at hundreds of briefing tables for nine years after Sept. 11, 2001, and I can't remember a time when Miranda impeded a decision on whether to pursue an intelligence interview.”
Monday, October 9
Living long is the best revenge
Last Wednesday a young lady kept her hand in my groin for about 30 minutes. Normally under such circumstances, you would expect some pleasure, but there was none to be had.
It was a nurse who pressed on the inside of my right leg to close a puncture made by my cardiologist who did a heart catheterization to evaluate my heart function. During the procedure, a second stent was put in my heart.
Dr. Matthew O’Steen also went into my heart through my right wrist but the puncture there was closed with minimal effort.
My heart and Dr. O’Steen are not exactly strangers. He put an earlier stent in some years year ago and I have great confidence in his skills and abilities.
As we age, it is often one thing or another. As a child, we can’t wait to grow up and when we get older we wish we were younger. Whoever said a man is “never satisfied” was “spot on.”
I am pleased to admit to being 86. When I was a child I could not imagine being 65. That was a long way off and “old” in a child’s mind.
It will take a few weeks to adjust to my procedure and follow-ups with the doctor have been scheduled. Nevertheless, I am optimistic. I am a believer in a comment attributed many years ago to Bette Davis, one of Hollywood's greatest and most ferociously independent actresses, who was born in Lowell, MA., where I was raised: “Living long is the best revenge.”
Wednesday, September 20
"Ring" The Video Doorbell
September 20, 2017
Within hours of my last blog being posted a friend, JH, in Florida, sent me information on a doorbell called “ring.”
I was amazed to find this was what my friend who talked from his hospital bed to me standing on his porch about 15 miles away was using. This technology will allow a homeowner traveling in, say, California to talk with and view someone (via his smartphone) on his porch back home in South Carolina.
This is a great security weapon for homeowners and it comes with a battery pack so it need not be hard-wired at the point of use.
As a retired security director, I would recommend this product as something to look at for your home or apartment security.
Monday, September 18
From the hospital bed to the front porch
(Note: To protect my friend's name and home I am not using such personal data in this post.)
One night last week I went to a friend's house for a meeting of a group we belong to. It was a nice evening, the sun was moving into the West and I was looking forward to being with friends and exchanging stories about what we did while threatened by Hurricane Irma. I had gone north and visited my son and daughter in law in Virginia.
When I arrived at my friend's house there were no lights on in the house and no other cars around. I thought this was strange because a couple of people always show up early and help set up the refreshment table. I went to the porch and tried the door. On meeting nights the door is unlocked and you enter, sit on a bench and remove your shoes. The door was locked.
Hmmm. On the wall to the right of the door was a bell. Beneath the bell was the word "ring." A bit of overkill, I laughed: everybody knows what to do with a bell. I pushed the button and heard a bit of a chime. In a few seconds, my friend said, "Hello."
"Hi, friend. This is Archie and I am outside on the porch and here for the meeting." I assumed my friend was inside and talking to me through a speaker.
"The meeting was canceled a couple of days ago."
"I've been gone and missed the message."
"I am in the hospital, had a heart attack and am going to be here for a few more days."
"IN THE HOSPITAL, right now? Where?"
"In downtown Charleston."
"You are in a hospital in downtown Charleston, and I am on your porch 15 miles away and we are talking like you are inside the house?"
"Yes."
Did I mention my friend is an electrical engineer?
Sunday, August 20
"Tote that barge"
Published August 20, 2017
August 15, 2017
Letters to the Editor
The Post and Courier
Charleston, SC
Dear Editor,
The Aug. 15 story about the State Ports Authority steaming ahead with new cargo records is a wakeup call to the S.C. congressional delegation to get behind the request of the SPA to federal officials for authority to run a barge capable of moving 1000 freight containers from Wando Terminal across the Cooper River to a rail facility for further transport across America. The P&C reported on this request a couple of weeks ago.
As the SPA volume increases the risks to all motorists also goes up. Three recent experiences bear this out. I entered I-526 at Hungryneck Boulevard in Mt. Pleasant and headed west. At the next entry point, Long Point Road, six tractor- trailers with containers were coming up the access ramp and entering the westbound traffic on I-526. Three similar containers had just hit their stride on the Interstate.
A day later, I was on I-526 late in the afternoon heading east toward Mt. Pleasant. From the Don Holt bridge onward it looked like every five or six personal vehicles were bracketed by tractor-trailers carrying containers in both west bound lanes.
Recently, I was on Long Point Road and needed to make a left hand turn. Eleven tractor-trailers carrying cargo containers came from Wando Terminal and blocked my turn before a traffic light further down the road interrupted the flow of traffic and I (and others) could proceed.
These examples illustrate how the problem of tractor-trailers carry containers will only grow and seriously impact the traffic and vehicular safety in the Mt. Pleasant area.
Kudos to the SPA for the effort to increase their operations. The SPA brings in money to the state and provides good jobs.
It is time, however, to start a modern day version of “tote that barge.”
Sincerely
Friday, August 18
Failing as President and Father
Subsequent to the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend of August 12-13, President Trump failed in the moral leadership Americans have the right to expect from their President.
His failure to outright positively condemn the outrageous behavior of the Nazis, Kluxers, and white supremacists, at Charlottesville which among other tragedies cost the life of an innocent woman and two police officers, has brought criticism from responsible political, business, cultural, and religious leaders, and men and women on the streets across America. And he deserves all of it.
On top of that he failed as a father and a father-in-law to his daughter Ivanka, who converted to Judaism nine years ago, and her husband Jared Kushner. A Nazi thug was seen in a video criticizing the President for giving “ his beautiful daughter to that Jew.” Mr. Kushner is the son of Holocaust survivors.
And he failed the memory of Americans who fought and died to rid the world of Nazis.
President Trump has said frequently how much he admires ‘his Generals'. And he should, the generals serving in his administration have rendered outstanding service to the country, some over 40 years.
At the same time, he ought to remember the 177,100 Americans who died from battle casualties fighting the Nazis in Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, the South Atlantic and Europe. These Americans gave their lives so we who live today in this great Nation can enjoy our freedom and liberties, and don’t have to learn German.
James Murdoch, the Chief Executive of 21st Century Fox and the son of Rupert Murdoch, a frequent ally of President Trump, summed it up most eloquently in an email sent Thursday, August 17, 2017, to “Friends.” He wrote:
“These events remind us all why vigilance against hate and bigotry is an eternal obligation — a necessary discipline for the preservation of our way of life and our ideals. The presence of hate in our society was appallingly laid bare as we watched swastikas brandished on the streets of Charlottesville and acts of brutal terrorism and violence perpetrated by a racist mob. I can’t even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists. Democrats, Republicans, and others must all agree on this, and it compromises nothing for them to do so.” (My emphasis.)
Mr. Murdoch in the same email said he and his wife were donating a $1,000.000 to the Anti-Defamation League. (Correction: An early edition said the gift was to the ACLU.)
Tuesday, August 15
The day got better
August 15, 2017 -
Monday did not begin on a good note. It would be later in the day before President Trump - coming late to the party - called out the alt-right Kluxers, white nationalists, neo-fascists and other bigots reportedly yelling “Russia is our friend,” for their atrocious acts at Charlottesville two days earlier.
Then I went for an early walk and it turned hot real fast. Next on the list was an appointment with the dermatologist. Among many men this is the second least favorite medical necessity, being dreaded only by a visit to the proctologist.
The dermo doc looked me over good, froze a couple of spots (that hurts) and biopsied one. I left there wondering what else could go wrong. Would North Korea fire a nuclear-armed missile?
Right then and there I decided I needed a treat of some sort and, strangely enough, a pedicure and manicure topped the list. So on I went to Nails and Spa. A friendly beautician from Saigon, named Le, took me by the foot and got started.
“I had no idea how much it would tingle when my feet were soaked in ankle-deep warm water. The pleasant feeling of skilled hands carefully rubbing each foot. The pulsating tickle, like a feather carefully tracing my toes, arches, and heels,” This was also my experience.
When she finished I decided a pedicure would be a continuing experience for me. About 25% of American men get a pedicure regularly and I decided to join that number.I am tired of having to use long-handled hedge clippers to do my toe nails.
The manicure also went well and I left a happy man. My outlook was picking up. In the interest of fairness, I posted President Trump’s press performance earlier in the day on my Facebook page and was heartened by statements of the Generals that war with North Korea was not imminent.
Later in the day, I confided in a lady I favor about my day and asked her not to laugh at my pedicure and manicure. To her credit, she wrote: “I think your manicure and pedicure is wonderful. Relaxing, healthy and nails all look nice.”
So the day turned better as the evening came on and all is good with my world.
Thursday, August 3
"Ta Ra Ra BOOM dee-ay"
I got mine yesterday, did you get yours today?
I got this letter yesterday in my email thanking me for taking the time "to express my views regarding our country's domestic policy." The problem is I did not write to the President, nor anyone else at the White House expressing my views on President Trump's domestic policy. (Much of it, in my opinion, is not in the best interests of all the people in America.) Sending out this form letter with a facsimile signature is proof of how our email addresses are so vulnerable to capture and misuse that it makes one wonder if we should go back to writing each other with pen or pencil, (depending on your grade school skills), licking the envelope and increasing the workload of the USPS.
And another thing. How dare someone at the White House address me by my first name? We are not on a first name basis. I don't know the President, nor any of his staff, and if they want to write to me they should stick to "Dear Mr. Archibald," until, in the unlikely event, we become pen pals. In the past, I made exceptions for President George Bush the First when he penned in his own hand a personal note thanking me for a newspaper column I wrote about him. I also made an exception for President Clinton who sent a 8 X 10 photo inscribed "To Francis."
I believe emails like this sent out by staff with access to the presidential signature signing machine give the Commander-in-Chief his daily happy ego massage when staffers report X number of people have been sent "thank you letters." So, if it makes him happy it is harmless unless he (and the staff) begin to believe their own bulls**t.
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Thursday, July 6
Voter Data
Letters to the Editor (Published July 6, 2017)
The Post & Courier
Charleston, SC
Dear Editor,
I am 110% opposed to South Carolina sending any voter information to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, beyond what is available to any South Carolinian and only if the Commission pays for it like a citizen would have to do.
There are approximately 175,000 voting precincts in America. No one knows the exact number, as it may vary from year to year. But every one of these is usually staffed by good, local people volunteering to oversee the most important act of citizenship.
To allege, as President Trump does, that widespread fraud in voting across America deprived him of a plurality in the popular vote, is nonsense. It is not supported by any facts from any state, or by anyone or any organization who conducts legitimate poll watching.
The President’s comments are a vicious, undeserved slander on the good, hard-working, women and men who voluntarily staff the polls.
I have run for local and state office and won and lost. I never questioned the integrity of the process or the counting of the votes.
Send comments to: arch@archibald99.com
Thursday, June 22
Those who need Driver Training
Normally young people are the most logical candidates for driving lessons from a driver’s school. An older friend taught me how to drive when I was coming out of high school, but when he thought I was ready for my driver’s test he recommended I take some commercial driver school training. I took three hours, went for the test and aced it.
There are exceptions. My mother and an uncle learned to drive when they were in their fifties and each learned under the guidance of driver’s school instructors. My mother got her license but never drove. My uncle got his, bought a car and enjoyed the experience which came to him late in life.
There is another identifiable group of people who will undoubtedly benefit from a licensed driver’s school - government executives at all levels who enjoy the luxury of chauffeurs and government cars during their service. For many years in some cases, they are ferried everywhere and then one day they are on their own.
A reliable and knowledgeable source told me Mrs. Robert Mueller said when her husband left the FBI after 12 years, “The first thing we are going to do is get him some driving lessons. I’m not riding with him and the grandkids aren’t either.”
In 1975, Joseph L. Schott, a former FBI agent, wrote “No Left Turns” in which he told the story of J. Edgar Hoover riding in a chauffeured bureau car in Texas, and while making a left turn the car was almost hit by an oncoming vehicle. After Hoover returned to Washington, the Bureau sent out a notice to all Field Offices that when chauffeuring the director there was to be “no left turns.”
Hoover served for 42 years. Would you have ridden in a car driven by a man who wouldn't make a left turn?
Think of presidents, vice-presidents, cabinet officials, agency heads, leaders of Congress, senior military officers, and who knows who else, who haven’t been behind the wheel for years and one day they are out of office, back in private life, and the wife says, “Honey, drive down to the drug store and get a bottle of aspirin.”
Government officials worldwide are just like Americans. They could use refresher driver training. In Nixon’s memoirs, he told the story about Soviet President Brezhnev driving at Camp David.
"He got behind the wheel and motioned me into the passenger seat. The head of my Secret Service detail went pale as I climbed in and we took off down one of the narrow roads that run around the perimeter of Camp David….
At one point there is a very steep slope with a sign at the top reading, 'Slow, dangerous curve'….
Brezhnev was driving more than 50 miles an hour as we approached the slope. I reached over and said, 'Slow down, slow down,' but he paid no attention. When we reached the bottom there was a squeal of rubber as he slammed on the brakes and made the turn….
'You are an excellent driver,' I replied. 'I would never have been able to make that turn at the speed at which we were traveling.'
Diplomacy is not always an easy art.”
At the state level, there are officials starting with the governor and the lieutenant governor and other state office holders who serve for years and ride in chauffeured cars. One day they will find themselves on their own.
In the private sector, there are also thousands of executives - men and women - who would benefit from driver’s training after they leave the company and no longer have the privileged perk of being chauffeured.
The late William F. Buckley, founder, and editor of National Review rode to work daily from his home in Connecticut to his office in Manhattan in the back seat of a chauffeured stretch limousine so he could work en route. If Buckley had decided to drive one day, would Mrs. Buckley have ridden with him?
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Thursday, May 25
Leaking sensitive government information
President Trump has pledged his administration will get to the bottom of alleged leaks of information coming out of the government and put stop to this practice. He is not the first president to stake out this position, particularly when it puts him in a bad light. Not only presidents but cabinet officers, senior government officials, Generals, and Admirals, also have made the promise to “get to the bottom of this” and send someone to prison. Much of this is bombast to placate the public.
Many leaks from the government are planned, well-thought out, desirable, and often serve an official purpose. An official can leak something and if the public outcry is against it, the official’s identity, reputation, sanity, and job are not at stake. Masters of the convenient leak are found in the executive branch of government and the Congress. Supporting all these officials are thousands of workers from attorneys to file clerks who may also leak information for various reasons. Leaks have occurred since the Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to form a more perfect union.
In 1953, I was a young airman in the USAF and assigned as the senior clerk in the Sabotage & Espionage Branch, Counterintelligence Division, HQ, USAF Office of Special Investigations, (OSI). There were six officers serving under the Branch Chief, a Lt. Col. We had two civilian secretaries. We all shared a rectangular office with four desks lined up on one side and five on the other side. Conversations among the officers were open affairs.
These were the days when hardly a week went by that muckraking columnist Drew Pearson didn’t publish something that someone in the government fed him. Whether it was true, accurate or fair, did not matter to Pearson.
One day a particularly inaccurate and offensive Drew Pearson column dealing with Air Force business appeared in print and the matter came to the attention of OSI. Senior Air Force officials were furious and characterized the story as a mixture of bad information, half truths, and blatant inaccuracies. Three officials in the Air Force were suspected of being the source who leaked to Pearson.
A plan was hatched by the officers in the S&E Branch. It called for putting together a classified report to be circulated to the three suspects with minor variations in each suspect’s copy. The fabricated report would be close to reality and the type of story Pearson would jump at. Based upon what Pearson published it would be highly possible to identify the source based on the variation revealed.
The plan was worked and re-worked and ready to be put in play. Appropriate officials in the hierarchy of OSI and the Pentagon were briefed. Then the word came down from on high. Scuttle the operation. No one wanted to learn the identity of the leaker.
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Sunday, May 21
The world has lost one of the good people
The call came shortly after eight a.m on Friday from my daughter, Martha, informing me that “Jo Rogers died last night.” She was 90 years old.
This saddened me and brought tears to my eyes. It was as if a member of the family had died. My friend Karen Spica was with me at the time and she put her arm around me to comfort me.
Josephine (Jo) Rogers was the best friend my late wife Mary (1931-2010) ever had. They met in 1964 and instantly bonded. They were two mothers with young children who met in Hanahan where we lived for decades. Our families went to the same church forever, or at least it seems that way, and Jo and Mary were part of the parish activities that unite people and make life happy and worth living.
Our children went to Catholic and public schools together and the Rogers girls, Ann and Laura, became life-long friends to my daughters, Martha and Wynn. Ed Rogers, Jo’s son, and my son, Patrick, are friends to this day. Billy Rogers and my sons Frank and James also attended school together and hung out in early life.
Jo and Mary would confide in each other like only sisters could do. They shared the happy moments and the times when one was in the pits for something or other. When Jo came to the house Mary always fixed her a cup of tea. Jo was not a coffee drinker like Mary. They would sit at our kitchen table and talk to each other and give each other friendly advice if such was needed or enjoy something to laugh about.
Jo and her late husband, Jim, met in New York While he was in the Navy. They were married over 50 years. Jim died several years ago. Jo had asked me to speak at his funeral and as I was dressing that morning to do so I had a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) and had instead to go the hospital. Jo was understanding in speaking to me later.
She had the good quality of being able to see and deal with life in its many perspectives, pitfalls, humor and exhilaration. At a low point in my life, in the late 1980s, she bought me a book to read, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Jo was that kind of a caring person. She was a friend for the ages, for my wife and our family, and all who knew her. The world has lost one of the good people.
Wednesday, May 17
The President's First Trip Abroad
President Trump is on track to make the first foreign trip of his presidency. “Aides said he would leave Washington on May 19 and stop first in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before moving on to Jerusalem and then Rome. He will attend a NATO meeting in Brussels that opens on May 24 and then fly to Sicily, where the leaders of the Group of 7 will meet starting May 26.”
The New York Times reports President Trump, who is somewhat of a homebody, would like the trip shortened to five days instead of the nine planned. Obviously, this would require massive re-scheduling on the part of foreign nations and would send the wrong signal to foreign leaders, diplomats and the common people who would perceive it as a slight or lack of interest in them by the leader of the free world.
From John Kennedy on, Presidents have been aware of the impact their visit overseas has on the world. Practically everyone wants to see the American President up close. To say that the red carpet is laid out for the President wherever he goes is an understatement. Nothing is left to chance and no expense is spared.
The eyes of the entire free world will be on President Trump, and here at home, we can only hope he stays on script and surprises us with a successful nine-day first foreign venture. The prestige of the United States is at stake.
Saturday, May 13
The next FBI Director
Back in the day, Boston bus tour guides would ride tourists from the Dakotas, Kansas and other parts of middle America past the Boston Shipyard and tell them that during the war the Shipyard was guarded by the FBI. Then with a chortle, he would explain, “Foreign Born Italians.” Jokes aside, a new FBI Director is to be appointed.
In days to come, President Trump will nominate a person to be FBI Director for the statutory term of ten years. The President begins the appointment process by selecting and vetting his preferred candidate for the position. The vetting process for presidential appointments includes an FBI background check and financial disclosure.
The nomination will be forwarded to the Senate and then to the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee usually holds hearings regarding nominations to be FBI director. The committee may then vote to report the nomination back to the Senate favorably, unfavorably, or without recommendation. Once reported, the nomination is available for Senate consideration. If the Senate confirms the nomination, the individual is formally appointed to the position by the President.
At this point, only the President knows who his nominee will be. It is worth considering, however, what the initials F.B.I. represent and what the country has a right to expect from the nominee and should settle for nothing less.
Fidelity: faithfulness to a cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support: he sought only the strictest fidelity to justice.
Bravery: courageous behavior or character.
Integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness: he is known to be a man of integrity.
Let the process go forward.
Tuesday, May 9
Trump 's Very Strange World
The firing of FBI Director James B. Comey via President Trump's letter on May 9 is the latest craziness to come out of President Donald Trump’s administration in recent days. Does the President really believe we need a daily shock or surprise to get through each day, as he seems to?
Or, is the FBI getting too close to uncovering collusion between Russian President Putin’s government and the Trump campaign team during the 2016 Presidential election?
Or, is the FBI getting too close to uncovering collusion between Russian President Putin’s government and the Trump campaign team during the 2016 Presidential election?
Never mind that in the firing letter, President Trump thanked Comey for telling him on three separate occasions he (President Trump) was not under investigation. What the devil does that have to do with “You’re fired?”
Does President Trump believe he is going to get an FBI Director who will do his bidding like the White House butler who brings him coke whoever he presses a red Coca Cola button on the Presidential desk? Go back and read the fate of L. Patrick Gray who tried hard to please President Nixon,
Another piece of weirdness the administration sent to congress would butcher the federal tax code to obscenely benefit the rich and cut the corporate rate from 35 to 15 percent. The Alternative Minimum Tax and the Estate Tax would also be scrapped. All of this will enrich the Trump family, if he is as rich as he claims to be.
More importantly, it will stick working people in America with an additional $7 Trillion in national debt over the next ten years.
Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin, a well-educated and successful businessman, stepped forward with a straight face, looked right into the cameras and said President Trump’s tax cutting proposal will promote extraordinary growth and “pay for itself.” This bit of pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking has never happened in the history of this country. It is a carryover from the days of Ronald Reagan. (Probably something that card reader in California told Nancy Reagan.)
Of course, by the time the national debt goes up another $7 Trillion, President Trump and the millionaires and billionaires in his administration will be long gone from office and probably sitting around in some country club smoking cigars and drinking 40-year old Scotch while enjoying their windfall gains.
Hooting and hollering galore broke out when House Speaker Paul Ryan said Republicans were keeping their promise when the administration on its second try successfully twisted the arms of enough Republican Congressmen and women to pass a measure to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Never mind it will likely cost 14 million Americans their health insurance and screw over those with cancer, physical and mental disabilities, or other pre-existing conditions.
Wednesday, May 3
Harper's Review of the Week
I am tweeting this for the record in the sure and certain knowledge that even the smallest detail of our American experience should be recorded and remembered.
Hope you enjoy.
Hope you enjoy.
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