ARE THEY RUNNING OUT OF NEWS?

Watching network news every evening has been a habit for as many years as we can remember. The idea of turning off the TV at the news hour would have seemed unthinkable until now. However, I find myself walking away after a few minutes of viewing. Because now, the lead story is always about the resurging covid-19 outbreak. Even if you didn’t like Trump or Biden, at least the presidential campaign and the fuss over who won the election provided a little excitement. Are they running out of news this week, or just not very interested in what else is going on?

I find the endless reports of new covid-19 outbreaks annoying. If half the people in the United States won’t get vaccinated, I consider them risk takers. They’re really no different than smokers, or people who ride motorcycles without helmets. Yes, we’re sorry that they get lung cancer or are permanently disabled, but they’ve mostly brought it on themselves. It’s unfortunate, but t can’t feel too much sympathy for irresponsible people.

I don’t know why they consider the Covid-19 outbreaks more important than the riots, high crime rate, and number of homicides taking place in cities like Chicago. The people in those areas did not bring their problems on themselves. They’re the victims of a very sick society where children grow up watching violent video games and then proceed to act out, with life-ruining results for small businesses and ordinary people in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or they could take us to the Southwestern Border, where millions of illegal immigrants are overwhelming our resources, and wreaking havoc in the unfortunate cities and towns along the way.

There isn’t a dearth of news in our country. There’s just an unwanted emphasis on the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic which could have been prevented if the people who got sick had been vaccinated. They don’t deserve that much attention.

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021

CITY CAN’T MANAGE TRASH CANS

Should someone be paid if they don’t do their job? Obviously not, in ordinary circumstances. The lawn service get paid when the grass is cut. A food server gets paid for the hours they’ve worked. But when it comes to city contracts, it’s a different story. In the case of trash pick up in our city, the Waste Management contract is awarded by the Board of Public Works. I’m not sure what those people do after the contract is awarded. Apparently, they turn the whole thing over to an office administrator, and that’s who you call if you don’t have enough trash cans. Trouble is, that person seemingly has no control over what the Waste Management company does or does not provide. If you complain about busted or missing trash cans, the reply is: “all I can do is e mail them.” And if they don’t do what you pay for? Repeat: “all I can do is email them.” Why such a flaccid response? Obviously, the city can’t manage trash cans.

The Board members, themselves, are appointed by the Mayor, but the entire process is shrouded in mystery. If you go to the Board of Public Works website, you can’t find the names of the board members. I did see a notice on the internet from 2009 that a new man had been appointed to the board after someone retired. But that was twelve years ago. Actually, the decision on who to hire for trash services is a fairly major decision, amounting to more than half a million dollars. But do any of these four people feel responsible for the efficacy of local trash pickup? Do they care if you have busted trash cans or fewer than you need for your rental property? Who holds the Waste Management Company accountable ? Some cities fine companies for violating contracts.

The company won’t empty overflowing trash cans, but the cans are overflowing because there aren’t enough of them. As Winston Churchill once said, “ It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” Why does our Waste Removal contractor have such a stranglehold on the Department of Public Works? Seems to me that the city can’t manage trash cans. Or maybe they don’t want to.

July 5, 2021July 5, 2021

CAN YOU CURE LAZINESS?

If you live in an area of single family homes, it’s easy to identify laziness. These are the folks who seldom mow their lawns or bring their trash cans in from the street. Their kids leave toys strewn around the property, and swim towels hang on their clothes lines for weeks after the summer ends. In the office or workplace, it’s the person who spends more time socializing with co-workers than actually doing much work. The list could go on and on. The question is, can you cure laziness?

Psychologists have tried to come up with ways to cure laziness. They say a person should set goals, and stop procrastinating. They might blame a person’s parents. Apparently, an overly critical and demanding parent causes the person to give up and stop trying, because they know they can’t please. Therefore, if you work on improving your self esteem, you will not be lazy. It all sounds like psychobabble to me.

The Bible has this to say about laziness:

“The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work” (21:25); he loves sleep: “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed” (26:14); he gives excuses: “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets’” (26:13); he wastes time and energy: “He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great waster” (18:9 KJV); he believes he is wise, but is a fool: “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly” (26:16).

Proverbs also tells us what happens to lazy people: : A lazy person becomes a servant (or debtor): “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor” (12:24); his future is bleak: “A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing” (20:4); he may come to poverty: “The soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (13:4 KJV).

When politicians start talking about welfare and extended unemployment benefits , laziness is the elephant in the room. No one wants to accuse a potential voter of preferring life on the dole.

Intellectual people are sometimes lazy. They’d rather sit at a desk than do any physical labor. The internet hasn’t helped matters. We all know someone who spends hours online playing video games or maybe watching porn.

Physical therapy doesn’t appeal to the lazy patient. When the doctor orders six weeks or so after some type of joint surgery, he/she may opt not to “bother.” Which results in a poor recovery.

The fact is, most of us are somewhat lazy. As an example, if you don’t see the importance of having a clean car trunk, it will probably always be a trifle messy. A little bit of laziness makes you more relaxed, and feeling less stressed. Anyway, messiness and laziness are two different things. A lazy person can keep a very neat desk drawer, while a messy person may be too busy working to sit down and take the time.

Can you cure laziness? I doubt it. But here’s the good news. If you’re not lazy, you’ll probably exercise more, take the time to prepare nutritious meals, and lead a healthier, happier life.

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021

TRAIN TOWNS TEST YOUR PATIENCE

Do you live in a train town? You don’t have to wonder if you do. You’ll know it when your car trips are timed with the possibility of being stopped to wait for a train. Consequently, you may end up early for appointments, but at least you won’t be late. For decades, we had only one overpass running North on the West side of town. Finally, they built another running East– miles away– on the South side. The politicians who run the city apparently think the blocked train crossing problem has been solved. But it hasn’t. Because the inner city is surrounded by train crossings. An overpass doesn’t help if you’re trying to get to city hall, the University campus, the hospital, the library, or many of the businesses and homes that are located in the town’s inner core. Train towns test your patience.

CSX, a country wide rail service , has had a terminal here for over 100 years. Sadly, they decided to run their tracks right through the center of our town, and they aren’t about to move them. Fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles are often hampered while waiting for a train. Frequently, if you’re running errands , you will be stopped not once, but twice, and sometimes maybe even three times while getting from point A to B to C.

Outwardly, our city seems like a desirable place to live, work, and raise a family. We have five colleges . One is a top rated engineering school. We’re blessed with numerous parks that are well maintained Housing is inexpensive compared to the rest of the country. Why, then, do people leave? Our population peaked out at 72,000 in 1960 . Now, it’s dwindled down to about 60,000, and it’s still falling. Looks like folks are eager to get out of this train town.

Many of the “natives”(people who’ve never lived anywhere else) are puzzled. With all that our city has to offer, why don’t people want to stay? Let’s say you’ve moved here from a train-free city. All of a sudden, your life has changed. Unless you live very close to downtown, you’re shocked to find that you will have to wait for a train to pass several times a week. Sometimes, you have a lucky streak. Not a single wait for a train all day. . But that’s an anomaly.

I can remember living in Florida, and driving 1500 miles without waiting for a single train until arriving in my hometown. If you’re a long termer, you’ve developed coping mechanisms to deal with the waits. A book or magazine. . Perhaps a few minutes of meditation. And there’s always the cell phone, unless your battery is getting low.

Every once in awhile someone announces that CSX will be fined it they make you wait more than five minutes at any given crossing. But the rules are seldom enforced. Sometimes, a train will come to a dead stop in the center of town at 5 p.m. Traffic backs up for miles. When the track finally clears, everyone rushes home to collapse.. CSX breathes a sigh of relief. They’ve gotten away with another traffic stall, because everyone is too tired to report it.

But here’s the bright side. Train towns test your patience and develop your frustration tolerance . Consequently, we must be one of the country’s most patient cities.

June 25, 2021June 25, 2021

CHINA IS STILL AMERICA’S SEAMSTRESS

Remember when Trump was campaigning for the presidency back in 2016? He kept going on and on about how everything we buy is made in China. He bared his teeth when uttering the word CHII-NAH. So naturally, we assumed that things would change under his administration. But it didn’t. If we bought a new dress at the mall or ordered a coat from Amazon, it had a brand name that sounded American. But if you looked inside at the label, it usually said “made in China.” Still does. 90% of the clothes in my closet were made there. China is still America’s seamstress.

Politicians keep talking about the trade war, but I’m not sure what they’re doing about it. If they’ve imposed tariffs on clothing made in China, they aren’t high enough to make anyone want to open more garment factories in the USA.

Back in the forties and fifties, a lot of us sewed our own clothes. It was fun to look at patterns and go through stacks of materials, dreaming about the new outfit you were about to create. And you had the satisfaction of saving a lot of money. A homemade dress cost about 1/3 of what you would pay for a “store bought” outfit. Somewhere along the way, that began to change. Clothes were so cheap that it really didn’t pay to sew. Why? Because of China. They did– and still do– have the advantage of low labor costs. Obviously, there are no labor unions in China..

China is still America's seamstress. Grmet workers in China make very low wages. — China is still America’s seamstress. Workers in garment factories make very low wages.

Amazon won’t tell you if a dress is made in China in their product description. But there are small clues. Usually, there are strange, grammatical errors, for example:. “it fit like dream.” Instead of “It fits like a dream.” Little nuances that show there’s something lost in translation. Another thing they’ll do is suggest you order a size larger than usual. Apparently, this is because Asian women are so much smaller than Americans. But it also saves on material. If vanity compels you order your usual size, and it’s a little bit snug, you might blame yourself for weight gain. As a consequence, you keep the dress in the hopes of eventually losing five pounds or more. Just one tricky little way that Chinese clothing manufacturers fool us.

What would happen if our government really got serious about imposing tariffs on Chinese clothing imports? Prices would skyrocket. And maybe—just maybe—we would start sewing our own clothes again. Until that happens, China will continue as America’s seamstress.

June 21, 2021June 20, 2021

SHOULD WE ALL WEAR BODY ARMOR?

A year ago, if you’d talked about getting a bullet proof vest, people would have thought you needed to see a psychiatrist. But now, I’m beginning to wonder if that’s what the future holds for people who step outside their homes. We who live in small towns don’t see mass shootings as something that would happen to us. After all, everyone knows everyone else, one way or another. Six degrees of separation are more like two when the population is under 100,000. But the truth is, we aren’t as safe as we think. Should we all wear body armor at work, school, church, and when shopping? If domestic terrorism continues at this year’s pace, the idea doesn’t seem so far out.

Trouble is, bullet proof vests are expensive and uncomfortable. Going on the net, you find that one offering decent protection runs around $400. Say you’re a family of four. That’s fairly pricey. And do we really want to scare our kids by suggesting that they need to protect themselves from a knife or bullet?

There’s also the issue of inner wear and outer wear. Supposedly, it’s better if everyone can see that you’re wearing a protective vest. But I’m not so sure of that. If the perpetrator really wants to harm you, he’ll just aim for another place on your body that isn’t covered.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not illegal to purchase a bullet proof vest, unless you are a convicted felon. However, people might look at you oddly, and a police officer might view you with suspicion. On the other hand, if it became a common practice, you would fit right in with the crowd.

I’m seeing a business opportunity here for some enterprising entrepreneur. Come up with an inexpensive form of body armor. Mass produce bullet proof vests and sell them at Walmart in every size, even for kids. I’m betting they would sell out pretty fast.

If you think it’s been miserable being forced to wear masks during the pandemic, just wait until the government decides we all need to wear bullet proof vests.

June 19, 2021June 19, 2021

FREE MONEY IS NOT FREE

Back in the Hippie Days of the late sixties and early seventies, there was a saying: Free Love is not Free. This was in response to a society that had embraced the concept of free love. Living together without marriage, which had once been scandalous, was now accepted as the norm. But the older generation wagged their finger and warned against so much sexual freedom. They had a point, because unmarried women still kept getting pregnant, and there was an explosion of STDs. Today, we have a new type of freedom to worry about. A government that’s borrowing wildly to print money, writing stimulus checks every few months, and rewarding those who choose not to work with generous unemployment benefits. But it seems we’re about to learn our lesson: Free Money Is Not Free.

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Supposedly, prices have increased a mere 5%. I don’t know who’s pumping out those figures, but here’s an example: A month ago, I could buy a low calorie frozen dinner for $2.29 cents. Today, that same product was on the shelves with a price tag of $3.59. At the home improvement store, floor covering I bought last year has increased from 54 cents a square foot to 89 cents. To me, these and numerous other price increases are closer to 40%.. All this free money has pumped up demand, creating a scarcity for goods and services..

Free Money is not Free. The feds don't know what will happen with inflation — Free Money is not free. The feds are blowing smoke when they say high inflation will not last.

I don’t know where the fed is coming from. First, Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen. says inflation is “good” for the country. Then, she’s comforts us by predicting that it’s only temporary and prices will soon go back down. I say this lady is blowing smoke , along with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. They are basing their predictions on events that occurred in previous administrations. None of them have ever been though a pandemic like COVID-19, and they have no more idea of what is going to happen to prices than you and me. .

As a matter of fact, I think the average, middle class consumer has a better handle on the future of our economy that they do, because we’re driving to appointments, going to grocery stores, and buying home improvement items on a day to day basis. We, the ordinary tax payers are paying more for everything because all this free money has created such a high demand. Eventually, taxes will go up to pay for the free money , and so will interest rates. Ordinary people will find they are struggling to pay their bills every month. Many businesses will fail and unemployment will increase.

According to Fortune Magazine, “The economic lockdown, and the gigantic new spending enacted to combat it, brings the day of reckoning far closer. By borrowing multiple trillions at a pace never before seen, the U.S. is endangering the sterling credit that makes Treasuries and the dollar the safest of havens for global investors. It is likely that within the next decade, the U.S. will need to impose monumental tax increases. What America’s leaders aren’t saying is that it’s the middle-class Americans working today, the autoworkers, nurses, and deli owners, and not just their future generations, who’’ll foot most of the bill.”

Free Money Isn’t Free.