Eating with respect

One day this week I had lunch in an upscale steak house restaurant in North Charleston with another person. A police officer of commissioned rank came in alone and sat down at a table near ours. He was in full police uniform, complete with gun, cuffs, radio, etc. and his commissioned rank on his collar. He had a salad, a beverage and an entree. A couple of members of the restaurant's managerial staff came to his table and spoke with him while he was eating. When he finished he got up and left. He was not given a check, he did not pay and so far as I know did not leave a tip for the waitress who served him.

Several weeks ago I was in a submarine sandwich shop for a bite and looking out the window while eating saw a policeman get out of his cruiser, come in the shop, order a sandwich, chips and a soft drink, PAY FOR IT, and then go back to his cruiser.

Which police officer do you believe I respect the most?

On being alone, temporarily

Around my house I make the coffee in the morning; that is I plug in the pot which my wife usually sets up the night before. This didn’t work on Tuesday because my wife went to hospital on Monday night (she’s doing better, thank you). I managed to find some coffee in a large blue can and made a pot that would warm a submariner’s heart. These past few days have been an eye-opener for me into what has to happen around this house to make it worth living here.

Take clean clothes for example. I looked high and low for the dark grey metal wash pot and scrub board and could not find them. I recall my grandmother and my mother had a set at one time. At the hospital I asked my wife where she kept these and she told me we did not use them because “We have a washing machine.” “How long have we had this?” I asked.

“About fifty-two years. Do you remember when we were on our honeymoon and after about two weeks you let me out of bed one day? Well, I went and bought my first washing machine that afternoon.”

This is pretty good piece of equipment. You have only to put the clothes in and close the door. Some powered soap goes in a small slot behind a little door and you pull the lever and it works automatically. There are no rollers nor wringer to turn. To top it off when the machine finishes you can take out the wet clothes and put them in another machine and it dries them.

Eating has been less of a problem, but also a learning experience. We often eat out in the evening at the cafeteria or one of the restaurants; (we tend to favor steak houses.) I am confident that in a reasonable amount of time my wife is going to be OK so I wanted to avoid the widows with casseroles circling the neighborhood. I went to the cafeteria for lunch one day was pleased to find them open for business. The food in mid-day is better than at night. I had a large, delicious baked salmon and some veggies. Being alone without an eating-habits critic on hand, I also knocked off a dessert; a delicious lemon meringue pie, fresh out of the refrigerator.

All in all it has been a pretty good week, my wife being in hospital notwithstanding. I can make coffee, do the laundry and find a meal in mid-day. I believe this is enough of domesticity for a man my age so this week I intend to concentrate on letting my fingers do the walking thought the yellow pages until I find Maids-Are-Us. Somebody has to do the dusting.

The family business

When the subject "a family business" comes up in polite conversation we ought not to overlook that concept in Congress. Representative John Dingell, D-Michigan, 80-years old, has been in Congress since 1955 when he succeeded his father (also John Dingell) who had served from 1933. Mr. Dingell will likely re-assume his old chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (he was the chair from 1981-1994), in the next congress.

In related notes, Massachusetts (my birth state) holds a unique place in the House of Representatives. Among states with more than two Representatives only Massachusetts has a solid Democratic membership, 10 seats, and each incumbent was re-elected this week. (The state also has two Democratic Senators.) California has the most seats in the House, 53, with 34 Democrats and 19 Republicans; the Dems picked up one seat in the election. South Carolina has two Democrats and four Republicans, unchanged from the current term.

The American People Have Spoken

DATE: November 8, 2006

MEMO TO: New Democrat Leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives; Democrat Governors in the majority of the States; Democrat Legislatures in the majority of the States, and all other Democrat office holders.

You have a fresh opportunity to govern. Don't f**k it up!

/s/Francis X. Archibald

A joke and no joke

During the final days of World War II, two Germans are in a bomb shelter and it is shortly before noontime. They have been there since mid-evening of the previous night as first British bombers and now American bombers pulverize Germany. One asks, “What will you do after the war?” The other answers, “I will go on holiday and walk around Greater Germany.” “And what will you do in the afternoon?”


In Latvia, the parliament has decided to postpone until March 1, 2007, releasing the names of Latvians who were collaborators (read: spies, informers, tattle-tales, and neighborhood snoops) with the KGB during the 51 years of Soviet occupation (1940-1991). The list, estimated to contain approximately 4,500 names, was to be made public on November 1 and published in the official government newspaper. Husbands, wives, children, extended families, neighbors, bosses, workers, lovers, teammates, drinking buddies, etc. are all waiting to see who was ratting on whom. Critics say the KGB in 1990 sent to Moscow the most sensitive parts of the archive and the complete list with the most important names will never be revealed. Some collaborators have left Latvia; some probably are hoping their files were among those sent to Moscow. Anyone on the list will not be eligible to vote nor hold public office. When similar lists were unveiled in Germany several years ago, it was reported there was much heartbreak, anguish, fear and anger. Some relationships were forever broken.

State of Denial

Letters to the Editor
The Post and Courier
Charleston, SC
(Published October 25, 2006)

The 2003 invasion of Iraq began while I was winding up a two-month tour of South Africa. South Africans I was in contact with, well educated, professional people, asked why the United States had invaded Iraq.
I recalled those early evening discussions while reading State of Denial, Bob Woodward’s 14th book since Watergate and his third book on the war on terror. This insightful, comprehensive and diligently pursued book full of first-hand accounts (and almost 30 pages of source notes) is a tremendous addition to the body of historical knowledge required to answer “why.”
It is even more valuable to understanding what we did right and what was wrong. This tragically incomplete adventure is still an on-going tale, however, and it leaves one wondering, at the end of 2006 and State of Denial, if we are facing a Vietnam-like-ending where it is crazy to stay in and we don’t know how to get out.
I believe, however, after finishing all 560 pages of State of Denial, that if the men and women in Washington at the highest political, military, diplomatic, and intelligence levels who were in charge of this Iraq excursion devoted half the time to solving problems as they did fighting and arguing with each other and buckling under to one man – Donald Rumsfeld – and being afraid to bring bad news to the Oval Office, a “Vietnam-like-ending” would not hang over us.

You've got mail - responses

Judging by the swift response to yesterday's blog by five friends mail is something on everyone's mind. Here are their comments:

(1) What an interesting undertaking! Sounds quite familiar, but I'm jealous of your personal correspondence. I receive very little any more, sadly. Mostly thank-you notes or invitations. I used to maintain voluminous correspondences with many people--but that was before e-mail. I still have most of those old letters--they're more precious by the year.

(2) Only 4 bills!!!

(3) With the exception that personal correspondence, other than the cards my wife and her sisters, some of Hallmark's most cherished customers, exchange, has been almost entirely replaced by email among our friends and relatives, I think that the proportions would be about the same here. And I really do get dismayed of thinking of all the mailing expense various charities and causes must incur and of how much better those funds could be used.

But at least you're not standing in the mud, dog excrement and cigarette butts that surround our neighborhood stanchion box cluster as you sort it out. as we once discussed before. My favorite mail delivery system was some years ago, when I lived in a small town that had curbside residential delivery and three times a week trash pick-up at the curb. I could scoop out the mailbox and then stand over my trash can without having to ever carry the majority of it indoors.

(4) I could get a hernia carrying out the throw aways.

(5) Archie, this sounds just like the mail I receive.

You've got mail

I've been wondering for some time about the breakdown of the mail I receive. The Postman who covers our street looks upon me as one of the stalwarts of his long-range retirement program. In September I decided to keep a record of what came and it held few surprises. There were 25 requests for donations of money to causes far and wide; 29 requests to subscribe or renew magazine subscriptions; 20 offers of new credit cards; 24 pieces of other unsolicited bulk (read junk) mail; four bills; and 18 pieces of personal correspondence. These figures do not include the various magazines and professional journals, weekly, monthly and quarterly which come regularly, nor the newspapers and catalogs which we have requested.

A courageous lady has died

The lady who two years ago declined an abortion despite the danger her pregnancy added to her heart has died this week. (She subsequently gave birth to the baby who is doing well.) In early September, 2006, she had a heart transplant and was struggling to survive.

See my early blog: For those who believe in the sanctity of life .

The funeral for Elizabeth (Lisa) Ramirez Fuerte, age 32, was held Thursday with an 11 o’clock Mass of Christian Burial at Divine Redeemer Catholic Church, Hanahan, SC. She leaves a husband and two children, among her large, loving family of survivors

Two photos tell a story

The two photographs in the Sept. 20 paper (The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC) on Page 11A speak volumes about our lack of "national smarts" in foreign affairs. One photo showed all the Iranian seats in the General Assembly occupied while President Bush addressed the body. The second photo showed all American delegation seats empty while the Iranian president addressed the same body.

Doesn't this administration realize what a political coup they have handed the Iranians who will show these pictures around the world and say, "See, the Americans won't even listen to us"?

The administration could have taken the high ground by listening and then refuting the speech. Sure, they could read the remarks or watch the Iranian president on closed circuit TV in their offices, but they would not have handed the Iranians a weapon with which to beat us over the head in talks with China, Russia, France and Germany; all of whom, by the way, have major economic deals in progress with Iran.

(Originally printed as Letter to the Editor, The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC, Sept. 25, 2006)

You can't read that...

If there are any two words at the beginning of a sentence which tick off Americans these are them: “You can’t ……..” We don’t like to be told we can’t do something. As a child, for example, being told we couldn’t go out and play in the rain, or as an adult being told we can’t read something. Which is why free-thinkers, liberal oriented people and a few true conservatives, will observe Banned Books Week, September 23-30. 2006.

The BBW, observed since 1982, serves to remind Americans not to take this precious freedom to read what we want, when we want, too lightly least it be taken away. The American Library Association has recorded at least 8,700 attempts to ban books since 1990, when it began to keep an electronic count. Not surprisingly, “offensive language” and “sexually explicit” lead the pack of challenges of what should be on the shelves in public libraries and schools and even bookstores. Political and religious viewpoints also generate attempts at censorship.

Recently we had a parallel attempt at censorship of a film to be shown on network TV dealing with the events of 9/11 and the language of New York firemen. The firemen cussed and cursed as they went about their duties during this horrific event, and this some Bible-belt moralists said made it unsuitable for other Americans to hear. A guest on the Bill Maher show asked why the critics picked on the fireman, “There were 8 million people in New York on 9/11 and every one of them said, ‘what the f**k?’”.

Banned Books Week is a special time for all of us to be vigilant and to resist censorship wherever it rears its ugly head. We are Americans and we can make most of the decisions about our lives and what is good and bad, and all will still be well in the end.

For those who believe in the sanctity of life

Two years ago, Lisa Fuerte of Hanahan, SC, had difficulties with her heart during her second pregnancy. It was at the early stages of this pregnancy where her heart became extremely weak. As a result of the complication she spent many days in the hospital. The doctors suggested to her that she consider aborting the child to alleviate the stress on the heart. Being a woman of tremendous faith she knew this was not an option. She put the situation in the hands of God and the child was born premature at twenty-six weeks. Father Edward Fitzgerald had the privilege of baptizing the baby in the Intensive Care Unit. Lisa had a heart transplant at Duke University Hospital in September. She has a long way to go to recovery. There are many expenses for this family and insurance does not cover everything.

Father Fitzgerald is running in Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon (26.2 miles) on December 9. He will run because he is a runner and to assist the Fuerte family. You can help by pledging so much per mile (results available in December) – or easier by simply sending a check to: Divine Redeemer Catholic Church, 1106 Fort Drive, Hanahan, SC, 29406, marked for the Fuerte family.

I have never before used my blog or web site to solicit funds for any person, cause or any thing else. But this is a great story for those of us who believe in the sanctity of life and faith in God and the needs are great and a dollar or more will be a big help. Checks made out to the Church are tax deductible (and marking it for the Fuerte Family will guarantee it goes to help them.) And I believe God will return the blessing to you in some way, some day.

More shower space

I increased the space in a tub/shower today by about 25 percent through the simple expedient of hanging a crescent shower curtain rod in place of the straight rod we have used for years. The extra space comes where you need it up around your torso and shoulders. (We recently experienced a tub/shower with such a rod in a hotel and were greatly surprised and pleased with the effect.) The tub/shower is in one of our bathrooms that is original to the old part of our house where the tub is the customary five foot tub. The rod I selected was made by Creative Specialties International, a division of Moen Company. The rod came complete with installation instructions and ample wall plugs and anchors. It can be fastened into studs, drywall or tile. There were several choices from different manufacturers found on the Internet, but the Moen allowed me to center the new rod wall brackets over the holes left in the sheetrock after I removed the old brackets. Thus repair of the sheetrock, including painting, was not necessary

Friendship

“Friendship is often an amusement, sometimes an education, at least a reprieve from loneliness, at best a human connection of the highest and grandest kind. Contradiction is implicit in the very nature of modern friendship. F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the sign of an intelligent person is the ability to keep two contradictory ideas in his head at the same time and still function. With friendship, the two contradictory ideas are these: first, friends can be an immense complication, a huge burden, and a royal pain in the arse; and second, without friendship, make no mistake about it, we are all lost.” Epstein, Joseph. Friendship – an Expose. (Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston-New York., 2006, 270 pages, $24.)

Sports Note

A guy whose wife ran off with his Mercedes, his best friend, the family dog, all the money, and all the booze and grass laying around the house has better prospects than the Red Sox.

The beat goes on at the Post Office

They are still at “it” at the local Post Office. “It” being a callous attitude toward customers, (AKA: citizens and taxpayers.) Back in June I wrote about this problem (On Improving the Post Office) and yesterday I visited the same place again to mail five flats and see if the service had improved. They were looking good when I walked in, but it all went to hell-in-a-hand-basket quicker than a bodice is ripped from a well-endowed Southern maiden in a romance novel. The line of customers had 12-15 people waiting. Four uniformed clerks were working, and one in street clothes announced a couple of times that if anyone was there to pick up packages or mail to come to end of the counter. She served a couple of people. Then it all broke down. With three people waiting, two clerks closed their stations and commenced to do some kind of paper work important, I assume, to the Postal Service. They did this without checking what the other two clerks might be doing. One was serving a customer with a big carton (it originally held ten reams of office paper) full of large brown envelopes, each one of which had to be individually weighed and a postage sticker printed and posted on it. The other clerk was doing her best to handle all the other customers. Within minutes the waiting line of three customers had swelled to almost 20. When I left the Post Office it was two clerks closed down for paperwork, one continuing to work the box of large brown envelopes and one soldiering on. The person in street clothes had disappeared. Why do they act like this? If they must close down and do that all-fired important paper work, they ought to go in the back room and not stand there ignoring customers. No cell phone usage was noted.

New Police Chief-Former OSI

Gregory G. Mullen, a former special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and Deputy Chief of the Virginia Beach (VA) Police Department, has been selected as the new police chief in Charleston, SC, America’s most historic city. Mullen was selected by Mayor Joseph P. Riley after a nation-wide search and consideration of 137 applicants. Riley interviewed Mullen three times before selecting him “as an agent of change” for a city recently gripped by gun violence.
Mullen worked in Virginia Beach for 21 years, starting in 1985 as a beat cop and working his way up to Deputy Chief. His OSI service preceded his long career in Virginia Beach. He retired from the Air Force Reserve in 2002 after 22 years of active and Reserve Service.

Under cover of darkness

After the sun went down and brought on the dark of night, 230 cheapies in the House of Representatives couldn’t do the right thing and simply increase the minimum wage for the first time since 1997; no these avaricious panderers had to crank in some tax breaks for the richest families in the United States and exempt all estates below $10 million dollars (for a couple) from taxes. The package deal increases the minimum wage to $7.25, up from $5.15. Not many individuals can live on that, much less support a family. (By the way, this same Congress recently voted themselves a pay raise of more than $3,000 annually.)

(The favorable vote included 196 Republicans and 34 Democrats. The “no” votes were Democrats 158, Independent 1 and Republicans 21. Twenty-two did not vote and one voted “present”.)

The estate tax changes will likely cost the treasury an estimated $268 billion over the next ten years, and diminish chances to lower the deficit which grows daily due primarily to costs associated with the war in Iraq. Three Republican members of the South Carolina delegation, Henry Brown, Bob Inglis and Joe Wilson, voted for the legislation. They will soon be home for the August recess and probably bragging how they struck a blow for the common man and senior citizens. They ought to be ashamed to masquerade as fiscal conservatives, which is how they campaigned. It is no wonder they waited until after midnight to cast their votes and slip out of Washington.

The legislation now goes to the Senate where it faces strong opposition from some committee chairmen whose feathers have been ruffled by combining the wage hike with estate tax and private pension reform (employers will have to more fully fund pension plans.) The allure of the minimum wage increase and the pension reforms may be too much for senators to ignore and a majority may hold their noses and vote for the House measure. The rest of us will have to tolerate the smell.

50th Anniversary of our Church

The official observance of the 50th anniversary of our church, Divine Redeemer Catholic Church, in Hanahan, SC, took place July 18 with the Most Reverend Robert J. Baker, Bishop of Charleston, celebrating Mass at 7 pm. Over 400 people crowded into the church and following the Mass went to the school auditorium for a reception. Father Jerome C. Powers was appointed pastor of the parish on June 15, 1956; early Masses were held in an athletic field clubhouse owned by the Paper Company (Westvaco) and later in a trailer donated by a benefactor. Ground was broken for the church on July 14, 1957 and the first Mass in the church was celebrated by Father Powers on February 23, 1958. Following Hurricane Hugo in 1989, the church had to be re-built, almost from the ground up and today continues its 50-year old role as the spiritual centerpiece of Catholic life in Hanahan. Father Edward W. Fitzgerald is the current and tenth pastor.

Representation by cheapos

A majority of our Congressmen and women have refused to raise the minimum wage again (the last time was nine years ago) but have agreed to take another 2 percent over their current $168,500 for themselves. Is there no shame in this Republican controlled Congress?

For a family of three, the (annual) minimum wage of $10,700, set in 1997, is now more than $5,000 below the federal definition of poverty. In that same time, a lawmaker’s salary rose $31,600— better than 20 percent — while the purchasing power of a minimum-wage earner deteriorated by 20 percent. (From The New York Times editorial, Earning That Congressional Raise, July 13, 2006).

A raise in the national minimum wage to $7.25 per hour would go a long way for the poorest of the poor who struggle daily in this great land of opportunity. In my opinion, the argument that such a raise would break the backs of the small businessman and woman in America doesn't hold water, except in, apparently, this Republican controlled Congress. It is an embarrassment to be represented by such cheapos.