FAMINES & EARTHQUAKES

This was originally published in January 2010 regarding earthquake in Hattie.  I have updated to reflect current, never-ending events.

Famines and Earthquakes in Diverse Places

There was a devastating hurricane, 5 on the Hurricane scale we are told.  Thousands of lives were lost; disease and starvation followed; for lack of medical care or effective infrastructure recovery will take a long time and cost a great deal.

This time it was in the Caribbean island nation of Bahamas, reportedly among the poorest nations in that part of the world.

America, Americans, responded.

Responding, it’s what we do.  We send supplies and people and reporters free to tell us who needs aid and how much.  We do not go because we’re the richest nation; going is what we must do because that is who we are.  For all the popular and politically correct rejection of “religion” as the basis of law, America is still based on a Judeo-Christian ethnic.  Like the Good Samaritan, wherever and whenever people hurt we will try to help.  We can do no other.

And, in the passage of time and the rise of people who do not know or remember, with the rise of those with agendas of their own, the very people to whose aid was rushed will come to hate America.  Help, at first greatly appreciated, comes to be thought of as deserved and lacking.  And, no one will be quite sure why.

In 1973 a Canadian named Gordon Sinclair gave a radio address that has popped up from time to time as each generation of Americans discover it for the first time.  Although dated by events inconceivable in 1973, it is still worth repeating.

Sinclair concluded with this statement:

“I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

“Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.”

Sinclair passed away in 1984.  What do you suppose he’d say about the current earthquake response?

Maybe, just possibly, America comes to be hated for helping just because we are a Christian nation, doing what Christ would do, and those with ill motivation cannot comprehend unadulterated acts.  As written by the apostle John many centuries back, “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1.5, NIV).  

Back in my college days when studying the life of Christ we came to Matthew 26, where Jesus is asked for the signs of the end.  Our professor pointed out that what Jesus gives as end-time indicators are common things, which have happened to mankind over centuries.  We will always have famines and earthquakes, wars and disasters.  Professor Bourne thought the key was not so much whether the world was coming to an end, but whether in the end Christ would find us responding to “ordinary traumas” as He would have us do.

America, Americans, responded.



David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com.



Please Note

This is part of complying of Blogs posted from May 17 2008 to May 10 2015 on the Brazil Times website under the by-line MY VIEW FROM THE BACK PEW.  Not all Blogs can or should be included -- that's well over 150,000 words which nobody much read the first time around.  And, some will be edited for timeliness, relevance, or just plain keeping short enough to be read.  These Blogs can no longer be found on the Times site and are reproduced here from original document files; my understanding is they remain “property” of the paper, so acknowledgement is given.

NUMBERS ON PAPER - MONEY

NUMBERS ON PAPERS

Do you remember way back to 2011 when a billion dollars was still a lot of money and national debt was well below $20 trillion? Ever wonder where the government gets all that money it wastes (sorry, spends)?
According to the Tax Foundation, “Tax Freedom Day” will take place on April 9th [2011]. They say this means on that day Americans will have earned only enough money to pay off their total tax bill for 2010.  By these statistics Americans work 99 days—or 26.89 percent-- of the year for the government while having the remainder of the year to pay for all necessities.  If it helps any, apparently in Great Britain “Tax Freedom Day” doesn’t come until May 30th.

Let me get this straight…

In order to run the government the feds need us to pay them some enigmatic amount of money based more-or-less on how much of this money stuff we had pass through our hands the previous year.

Every time this money thing passes from one hand to another to another we are supposed to dutifully report the amount so that the government can get their fair but indecipherable share.

And, why exactly do corporations not want to make more profit because they'd pay more taxes?

As a society we have learned to spend and not try to keep any of this money, even though the receiver must pay part in taxes.  If we just put it in a box, the government punishes us by printing more money than it has money.  If carefully invested the government punishes us by taking “their share”.

In order to collect their share of our money the feds (and state and county and city) set up innumerable and money-consuming bureaucracies – any one of which might just cost as much to maintain as taxes collected.

If you and I agree to exchange, say, my brilliant writing skill for your apple pie, we each have a “value” which, technically and legally, is also income, maybe.  The duty dutifully due cannot be paid in writing skill or apple pie, but in mere money.

If I have U.S. Bonds the interest gained cannot be taxed by the Great State of Indiana (which might actually need it); but I do pay tax to the federal government on money they paid me.  This after I agree to pay a “tax” of accepting lower interest.

In like manner, federal employees generally work for less money (e.g. President Obama’s new Chief-of-Staff took a huge pay cut), but they still pay taxes on what they get.  As someone asked, are they really paying taxes or just taking a further cut in pay?

Just incidentally, The Great State of Indiana seems to have both a billion-dollar reserve and massive debt (to the federal government of all people).

In all of this we have to use the cash money the federal government prints and issues; they can’t just use some of it themselves and leave us alone.  Better yet, let us print our own and they can just keep theirs!

We hear tell the “value” of the dollar is kept “up” or “falls” depending on what the markets dictate; unless one government or another does this-or-that to control their currency’s “value”.  This seems to mean we shouldn’t go to Europe next summer, but drug-war ridden Mexico is fine.  Think I’ll stay home and count what little is left of my numbers on paper.
David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com

Please Note: This blog was first published on the Brazil Times website on March 29, 2011.

This is part of complying of Blogs posted from May 17 2008 to May 10 2015 on the Brazil Times website under the by-line MY VIEW FROM THE BACK PEW.  Not all Blogs can or should be included -- that's well over 150,000 words which nobody much read the first time around.  And, some will be edited for timeliness, relevance, or just plain keeping short enough to be read.  These Blogs can no longer be found on the Times site and are reproduced here from original document files; my understanding is they remain “property” of the paper, so acknowledgement is given.

GLEN ALLEN WALKEN FOR POTUS

Glen Allen Walken for President!

Probably best known as Dan Conner on “Roseanne”, veteran actor John Goodman has been in over 50 movies and awarded a Golden Globe and two American Comedy awards.  His role of a lifetime, though, may well have been portrayal of Glen Allen Walken on TV’s “West Wing”.

According to the story line Walken is Speaker of the House and the political enemy of sitting President Jed Bartlett.  Bartlett’s Vice-President had resigned in disgrace, making the Speaker constitutionally second in line for the Presidency. 

Bartlett’s daughter is kidnapped, and in the best interest of the country Bartlett turns over the office of President to Walken.

Walken, knowing the country can have only one President at a time, says “You are relieved Mr. President”.  Walken’s character then proceeds to take command and make decisions about which Bartlett’s staff is not sure.

As the story develops Bartlett’s daughter is rescued.  Then comes one of the great scenes of American television: Walken turns the power of President of the United States back to his political enemy, Jed Bartlett, as also provided for in the Constitution.

It was great television precisely because this is what we want to believe about America and about the people we elect to represent us in governments:  When faced with a crisis of command, enemies -- politically and perhaps even personally -- will act with honor, putting the best interest of the nation above everything.



Something like this really did happen to real people in the real world.

On August 8, 1974, having been told by his longtime political supporters that it would be impossible for him to remain in office, President Richard Nixon announced he would resign the Presidency effective at noon the next day.  Vice-President Gerald Ford, who had not been elected to that office, would be sworn-in as President.

There was a story told at the time of a man living somewhere in the Midwest who bundled his 12-year old son in the family car and took off that August night for Washington, D.C. to be there for the departure of Nixon and swearing-in of the new President.

That man wanted his son to see what was happening:  What he did NOT see was just as important.

The Washington Mall did NOT fill with a million good people demanding the ouster of a bad man; nor of a million bad people demanding removal of a good man.

The United States Army was NOT called out, the National Guard NOT put on alert.

The military Chiefs of Staff did NOT meet to decide who would now be President, whether to fire the Cabinet, or if Congress would be adjourned.

What that man wished most to have his son see was this: What men of honor do when faced with a crisis threatening peace and the pursuit of happiness.   And, why it is that God still blesses America.

David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com



Please Note[1]

This is part of complying of Blogs posted from May 17 2008 to May 10 2015 on the Brazil Times website under the by-line MY VIEW FROM THE BACK PEW.  Not all Blogs can or should be included -- that's well over 150,000 words which nobody much read the first time around.  And, some will be edited for timeliness, relevance, or just plain keeping short enough to be read.  These Blogs can no longer be found on the Times site and are reproduced here from original document files; my understanding is they remain “property” of the paper, so acknowledgement is given.

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[1] Posted on The Brazil Times  February 15, 2011

BEAUTIFUL LADY @ PROVIDENCE

Beautiful Lady

This blog appeared on Brazil Times website March 12 2009.  If you’re around me very long you have heard be refer to someone I should know as either “brother” or “pretty lady”.  This is solely because I can’t remember names. But, in this case I’d like to specifically dedicate this re-print to some of the beautiful women I know whose name I do remember.

There is an old song, “This is all I ask”, one version of which I recall a line as rendered:  “Beautiful lady walk a little closer when you pass my way.”  The song, as this old man thinks of it, is a ballad sung from the perspective of an old man.

I thought of that song the other day waiting in a doctor’s office and watching a “beautiful lady” quietly deal with a man she’d apparently known from working in a sheltered home of some kind.  She was perhaps, to be polite, in her late forties; and there was nothing remarkable about the woman’s appearance.  Yet she was one of those people you might have noticed in a crowd even if the man hadn’t drawn attention to her.

In the time the man was talking we learned a lot about him, he talked freely about himself and did so quite loudly.  I’m not sure of the politically correct term, so I shall say he was “developmentally disadvantaged.”  In the process any observer who cared to could learn something about her.  What was most valuable about the conversation was not what he said, but how patiently and politely she listened to him ramble on.  Everyone in the vicinity could tell she felt a certain sense of relief when his name was called.

As the man walked away the lady said, “I don’t know how he remembered me.”  I leaned over and told her the obvious truth she’d overlooked:  He had remembered her because she is a very beautiful person.

It seems to this old man that there are certain people who just stand out.  Somehow such folk project a sense of knowing who they are and being content with that person.  I am not sure whether this is an attribute or an accomplishment, but you do see it in people if you’re observant. Our daughter Susan is someone like that, as is my [self-appointed] “god-child” Robin Fine Bradley.  Another one I wouldn’t want to fail to mention is Lynn Llewellyn, [former] General Manager of The Brazil Times.  I’ve never made a secret of being an admirer of Lynn for all of the 12 years I’ve known her (did one of us get 12 years older, Lynn?).

To be fair and balanced, this quality I’m talking about is certainly not confined to women.  I’ve seen it in men many times.  The reason it stands out so much in my mind when I see it in a woman is simply because I am getting to be an old man who has seen the world change considerably.  It seems to me the generation that has come of age during my lifetime simply has no comprehension of any other world than one in which someone can be a “beautiful person” without regard to gender.  And, that’s a good thing.

 But, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, “Beautiful lady walk a little closer when you pass my way.”

David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com.

BASEBALL IS BACK!

BASEBALL!

Please Note: This blog was first published on the Brazil Times website on March 10 2008 – Before the CUBS WON THEIR WORLD SERIES!

“… The only real game in the world, I think, is baseball. As a rule, people think that if you give boys a football or a baseball or something like that, they naturally become athletes right away. But you can't do that in baseball.  You got to start from way down, at the bottom, when the boys are six or seven years of age. You can't wait until they're 14 or 15.   You got to let it grow up with you, if you're the boy. And if you try hard enough, you're bound to come out on top…." from Babe Ruth’s farewell speech at Yankee Stadium, April 27, 1947.

In middle-class St. Louis of the 1950’s we were believers.  We believed in God, country, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, and the St. Louis Cardinals.  Only the latter ever let a boy down.

We did, as everyone in the world knew, have the unconquerable Stan “the Man” Musial.  If only baseball wasn’t a team game. The Man would have won us the Pennant every year, if baseball were a one-man enterprise.  The Cards usually finished fourth (or fifth) in an eight team race.

In those days Major League Baseball (the only sport I knew of) had two leagues which included nine teams – eight of these were in the National League; the other, the New York Yankees, made up something called the American League.  The National League team which won the most of 154 games played the Yankees in the WORLD SERIES!  Once in a while the Yanks would let someone else play in the SERIES, but not often.  After all, without the Yankees we could not justify stopping school to watch the (day) games.

Probably it was because the Cardinals never won the Pennant that spring training became my favorite part of the baseball season.  I once had an opportunity to talk with the late Harry Carey, longtime announcer for the Cardinals.  I thanked him for making every spring of my childhood such an exciting, hopeful time.  I’d hear his unmistakable voice and hope bloomed again in the hearts of all St Louis boys.  Every spring he’d lead us in believing this was the year the Cardinals would win the WORLD SERIES!

When we moved to Indiana in 1996 I resolved to be a fan of our Colts and of the Chicago Cubs, the St Louis equivalents having inflected a childhood of disappointments. 

You may recall that in those days it took some determination and dedication to root for the Colts (i.e. pre-Manning).

It took no fortitude to become a Cub fan.  The Cubs never disappoint a boy, unlike the St Louis nine.  You never expect the Cubs to win, they never do, and you can’t be disappointed with the results.  When they do win it’s a bonus.  Even when they got to the playoffs they didn’t fail us.  No one electing to remain sane hoped they’d win, so faith was kept by all.

Last Saturday was the first televised Cub’s spring training game for the 2010 season.  Play-by-play came via Len & Bob, the best sports announcers in the biz.  The Cubs lost (oh, hum) to some guys calling themselves the White Sox.  Apparently White Sox also play in Chicago?  Must be an American League thing?

It was only an expedition game, sure. But, baseball is back! The Babe is not forgotten!  The Man Lives!  Len & Bob are on the air!  It’s spring!  There’s hope!  Maybe this year!  The only real game in the world, I think, is baseball (at least in the spring).

David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com

This is part of complying of Blogs posted from May 17 2008 to May 10 2015 on the Brazil Times website under the by-line MY VIEW FROM THE BACK PEW.  Not all Blogs can or should be included -- that's well over 150,000 words which nobody much read the first time around.  And, some will be edited for timeliness, relevance, or just plain keeping short enough to be read.  These Blogs can no longer be found on the Times site and are reproduced here from original document files; my understanding is they remain “property” of the paper, so acknowledgement is given.

EVERY DADDY NEEDS A LITTLE GIRL

Every Daddy Needs a Little Girl[1]

This blog was written in 2008 at a time of a great loss to my favorite daughter.

When she was a teenager our only daughter, Susan, was embarrassed for me to introduce her with “I have four sons, but this is my daughter.”  Naturally I persisted in doing this because she was a teenager and was embarrassed by my saying it.

There is a story I’ve told so often she probably thinks she really remembers it happening.  When Susan was about four we went together to the bank.  She wanted to see what was going on, so I lifted her up on the counter.  Who can resist a sweet, good-natured and extremely beautiful four-year old?  The teller offered her a sucker.  Very sweetly she replied, “I have four brothers.”  Somehow I always want her to be that innocent little girl.

When she started Kindergarten I tried to convince her that if any boys tried to be friends she should say, “My name is Susan.  I love my daddy the best.  I don’t talk to boys.”  The “don’t talk to boys” part ended when she met Richie, on the first day of school.

Our four sons all understand that their father loves them deeply, but in a crisis the child I want with me is Susan.  Such as when you yourself are going into long put off heart surgery and your primary worry is a wife of 50+ years -- that’s when Susan is my strength.

Whenever I see some young father with his little girl I want to tell him that every daddy needs a little girl.  He needs one if only to learn what absolute and unconditional love really is.  I have seen daughters who adored their daddy when no one else could.  My little girl never seems to remember or recall my mistakes and stupid decisions. (Although I do suspect that when our kids get together without us parent types they do tell mommy & daddy “horror” stories.)

Another thing I tell young fathers is to not turn their back – when you turn around a few seconds later she won’t be that little girl you could lift up to see what’s going on.  Somehow she will have become a practicing lawyer in a city 2000 miles and [an airplane flight] away.

This past week my baby girl was hurting; and I had tears.  She faced pain and turmoil and disappointment; and there was nothing I could do to be strength to her.  I couldn’t even tell her I knew how she felt. No mere daddy could have known.  Every daddy needs a little girl, if only to teach him what pain really is and what tears are really for.

One does get old enough to learn that the sun also rises; but age brings the wisdom to know the time to point that out is after the sunrise.  The darkest time has now passed.  A few more sunrises may have to take place, but recovery does come.  Susan will go on because she is a strong woman -- even if she will always be daddy’s little girl.  After all, every daddy needs a little girl,

David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com

Please Note

This is part of complying of Blogs posted from May 17 2008 to May 10 2015 on the Brazil Times website under the by-line MY VIEW FROM THE BACK PEW.  Not all Blogs can or should be included -- that's well over 150,000 words which nobody much read the first time around.  And, some will be edited for timeliness, relevance, or just plain keeping short enough to be read.  These Blogs can no longer be found on the Times site and are reproduced here from original document files; my understanding is they remain “property” of the paper, so acknowledgement is given.

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[1] Published on Brazil Times Website August 24, 2008

ONE RINGY-DINGY CUSTOMER SERVICE CALL

One Ringy-Dingy[i]

Actress-comedian Lily Tomlin has won multiple awards; including Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Awards. All this is true, of course; and my favorite Lily Tomlin role actually was Deborah Fiderer in West Wing. 

But, it was as telephone operator “Ernestine” on TV’s Laugh-In that made her someone I always look forward to seeing in any performance.

Ernestine would dial-up some phone company customer and you’d hear “that’s one Ringy-Dingy…two Ringy-Dingy” until the unsuspecting subscriber “answered”.  In one bit available on youtube.com she threatens an unseen party for not paying a bill of some $20.  When he doesn’t want to pay, Ernestine proceeds to relate the customer’s financial statement and tax returns (Ma Bell knows all).  Another time she uses a CIA phone book to get an unlisted number.  In a later bit she says, "We don't care, we don't have to...we're the phone company."

It is funny, even years later, because we’ve all had to deal with the phone company.  Lily went on to bigger and better things; Ernestine lives still.

The first time I got a phone there was only one phone company (“Ma Bell”), only one phone choice (black), and you did it their way on their terms.  Fifty years since my unfailing experience has been the hardest people on earth to do business with on the phone are telephone company employees.

Last week I ventured again into the valley of the shadow of Ma Bell (no longer called that, but the mindset thrives).  As Dante would have said, “abandon hope all ye who enter here.”

For indiscernible reasons our phone service is tied to high-speed Internet.  This worked well enough for about 3 years; even get an occasional e-mail for some far-off Blog reader.  About two weeks ago I suddenly couldn’t check my mail – just kept me running around in circles.  But, my phone company has a special line just for residential user of their DSL service.  I’d just call and find out what’s going on.

Big mistake.

Apparently a system has been nearly perfected to defend live employees from ever having to talk to paying customers.  You just call and push requested numbers until the system cuts you off.  On my third attempt somehow defeated their defenses and got as far as being put on Hold for a technician who would be with me “in a few minutes.”  Didn’t keep track, but apparently I was on Hold long enough to time-out.  The line went dead.

Next day, mostly out of curiosity, timed how long I was on Hold before cut off – two-hours and fifteen-minutes.

Time to try a different approach:  Live Chat line.  This lets you “talk” to a customer service rep via on-screen response.  He texted me their phone number.  After explaining the 2-hour thing, he offered to have someone to call me, if I gave him a phone number (he didn’t have it after my entering it into their system three times).

Someone did call.  He assured me he’d put me direct through to a tech without having to be on Hold.  After 20-minute wait he broke in to assure me they’d call back as soon as a tech was free.  I’m still waiting for that call back.

Two hours later I ventured again into the valley of the shadow of voice recognition software [at this point it was me or them].  Oddly enough after only an hour I actually got someone to talk to (Saturday seems to be a good day to call).  It was a male version of Ernestine.  They’d been having trouble with some e-mail accounts, he stated matter-of-factly; why hadn’t I just called tech support?  He gave me an esoteric website to use to check my e-mail.  It worked, once.

One Ringy-Dingy.

David L. Lewis is an observer of and sometimes commentator on life who may be reached via e-mail at thedaddy1776@gmail.com (I will read it, soon as I’m off Hold).

Please Note

This is part of complying of Blogs posted from May 17 2008 to May 10 2015 on the Brazil Times website under the by-line MY VIEW FROM THE BACK PEW. Not all Blogs can or should be included -- that's well over 150,000 words which nobody much read the first time around.  And, some will be edited for timeliness, relevance, or just plain keeping short enough to be read.   These Blogs can no longer be found on the Times site and are reproduced here from original document files; my understanding is they remain “property” of the paper, so acknowledgement is given.

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[i] Posted on The Brazil Times website April 13, 2010