Countdown To Veterans Day - Our Veterans

This Article is from American Profile.com

Our Veterans
by Peter Fossel

In the 11th month, on the 11th day, at the 11th hour of the year 1918, an armistice was signed ending World War I—“the war to end all wars.”

On Nov. 11, three years later, the remains of an American “known but to God” were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., in a ceremony marking the first celebration of Armistice Day. Congress later declared it a national holiday—and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1954, declared it Veterans Day.

“On that day,” he said, “let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly—on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores—to preserve our heritage of freedom; and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so their efforts shall not have been in vain.”

The veterans of whom he spoke are ordinary people. For many of them, the end of combat meant the start of another war—this one against a slow crippler known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Its effects vary widely—depending on the individual, the type and duration of trauma, and other factors—but substance abuse is one of the most common.

Herein a look at some ordinary citizens who came through extraordinary times, finally overcoming the legacies of combat. The war in this case was Vietnam, but it could have been any war.

“A Lot of People Don’t Know the Toll it Took.”

U.S. Marine Sgt. Lorne Lemieux heard the click underfoot and knew he was dead. The booby-trapped 106mm artillery shell blew him into the air, and when he came down one leg was gone and most of the other. But he wasn’t dead. It was January 1967, Phu Bai Province, Republic of South Vietnam. Lorne Lemieux was a Canadian citizen when he joined the Marine Corps. He would not have been drafted; he never had to go.

Surgeons wanted to amputate both legs above the knee. Lemieux saw things differently—and months later, when the skin grafts finally took, the bone work was done, and infection failed to appear, he ended up with one working leg and two knees.

That September, Lemieux left Middletown, Ohio, for college. A week later in the dorm, he saw film on the evening news of a Marine rifle company which had been overrun by part of the North Vietnamese 324th division at Con Thien, near the Demilitarized Zone—then was decimated by rocket fire while trapped on a ridge during the battle’s third day. The news clip showed the dead being brought in to a Marine artillery outpost, stacked like cordwood on the backs of tanks.

It was Lemieux’s own company; friends he’d known and lived with for a year. “I freaked out,” he recalls. “I should have been there. When I found out all the guys that got killed at Con Thien… It almost killed me. It wasn’t my leg; it was my friends. I should have been there. I’d sell my other leg to have just one of those guys back.”

Lemieux left college after one semester.

“I began drinking heavy,” he recalls. “Here I am, a 19-year-old retired Marine Corps sergeant, picking fights at the Elk Creek Tavern where I was too young to be served. For the next three years, I drank and fought and wrecked cars. Until I married Robin in ’71.

“Even then, on our first Mother’s Day together, she had to bail me out of jail for assault and battery on a police officer,” he recalls. “I didn’t drink every day; I was an episode drinker. I tried to kill myself once. I didn’t know what was wrong. It took a long time to find what was bothering me.”

It took 30 years. And what was wrong had finally been given a name: PTSD.

“I was with the VA for years on physical disability but didn’t hear of PTSD until 1998. I went in for a checkup, and they told me to go up and see the psychiatrist. Then I got a letter saying I has a 30 percent PTSD disability. I was furious. I thought, ‘What’s this guy doing calling me a head case?’”

But the news sunk in. “It was a fight, every day. I wasn’t myself at all, by any stretch of the imagination. But I finally could put a name on it. It made me understand that I was normal; that my behavior was normal. And that helped a lot, it sure did.”

His wife and friends also helped.

“Robin stayed on me. She’s a strong woman. She talked with me, hung in there through the craziness, and put her foot down. She got a hold of the guys. She found Sgt. Todd (an old friend from Vietnam) and made me call him. Todd’s been a big inspiration. But what helped most was the reunions, and the talking to the other guys.

Lorne Lemieux hasn’t had a drink since 1992. He sees a counselor and a psychiatrist once a month. He’s retired now. He and Robin have two grown daughters, Missy and Rachael. Missy is expecting a child in December—the Lemieux’s first grandchild.

Doris Allen: Overcoming Her Trials To Help Others

After Doris Allen returned from Vietnam, she was assigned to teach at a military intelligence school in Maryland. On her first day of class, teaching 34 males, she found their attention level falling below zero.

“I wondered, ‘Why weren’t they listening?’” she recalls. “Was it because I was black, or a woman …? Then it came to me: I was out of uniform. I’d left that morning without putting my medals on; they were still in my purse.

“So I excused myself, turned around, and put them on my blouse. When I turned back around, a most respectful hush came over the entire class.”

The medals she had forgotten to wear that day 30 years ago included three Bronze Stars, a Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, a Korean Service Medal, five Good Conduct Medals, and the list goes on. Allen had been in the Army 17 years before volunteering for Vietnam and served three tours of duty there with U.S. Army Intelligence.

That day in class wasn’t the first time others failed to listen. It happened often in Vietnam, where her superiors at first failed to act on her intelligence reports, she recalls. One of the most serious occurred with the 1968 Tet offensive, which Allen had predicted.

Allen speculates this and other reports of hers were ignored because she was black, a woman, and not an officer—in a field dominated by white male officers. Her intelligence reports proved so accurate, however, that her name began showing up on captured enemy documents, indicating her life was in danger. Still, she remained for three years.

“I was doing something I thought was valuable,” she says, “I was saving lives.”

Allen left the army in 1980, and earned a doctorate in psychology. Then, in 1991, the roof fell in.

While watching news reports of the Gulf War, old feelings of helplessness swept over Allen, and her emotional life fell apart. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) had reared its head after 20 years. For her and others, Gulf War film clips were the trigger.

“I began crying inappropriately and couldn’t stop it,” Allen recalls. “Friends helped me through the horrors.” She later was diagnosed with PTSD.

“Once you can identify the thing that’s biting you, it helps,” she says. “It oozes out every time I talk about it, but it’s still there.”

Allen has devoted her life to helping others with the troubles she’d encountered, both with bias and PTSD. She is 72 now, and “gainfully retired,” she says. In 1999, the Vietnam Veterans of America called upon her to be the keynote speaker at its annual convention.

“It was a final acceptance,” says Allen. “A welcome home.”

Up From the Bottom

Shawn Longfeather, 17 years ago, was living in a cave in a bank of the Tennessee River outside of Florence, Ala., addicted to both alcohol and drugs.

Longfeather, from the Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona, had served four tours of river duty in Vietnam as a warrant officer in the U.S. Navy. “In the brown water,” he calls it (as opposed to a blue water ocean, the navy’s preferred haunt), from 1969-74. He remained in the Navy until 1980, then worked as an electrician in Alabama for a while, but life was becoming a blur of alcohol, drugs, anger, and memories.

“I had no friends, and nobody to shoot at,” Longfeather recalls. “Even the bums wanted nothing to do with me.”

“But I didn’t have a death wish,” he says, in explaining his recovery.

In 1983, Longfeather ran into another veteran who introduced him to Alcoholics Anonymous. The long road back led him to Tennessee, helping an old Marine sergeant friend out of his own addictions. There he walked into a VA medical center.

“They turned everything around,” he recalls. “They put me through rehab, taught me how to put my Navy skills to civilian use—demolition and heavy equipment.”

He then finished college at Auburn University on the GI bill.

Today, Shawn Longfeather is married, has a master’s degree in history, and is semi-retired. Epilepsy keeps him from full-time work, but he runs a small business making Native American crafts and gets weekly counseling for PTSD.

He also volunteers two days a week at a vet center, helping other veterans out of the cave he was in.

Peter Fossel, executive editor of American Profile, served with Lemieux in Vietnam and was wounded at the battle of Con Thien on Sept. 7, 1967.

first appeared: 11/5/2000

Countdown to Veterans Day - Origins and Development of Veterans Day

From the Following Web site: http://www.emotionscards.com/trivia/fourthofjuly/veteransday.html

The Origins of Veterans Day

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, became the focal point of reverence for America’s veterans.

Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as "Armistice Day."

Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar Congressional action. If the idealistic hope had been realized that World War I was "the War to end all wars," November 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But only a few years after the holiday was proclaimed, war broke out in Europe. Sixteen and one-half million Americans took part. Four hundred seven thousand of them died in service, more than 292,000 in battle.

Armistice Day Changed To Honor All Veterans

An answer to the question of how to pay tribute to those who had served in this latest, great war came in a proposal made by Representative Edwin K. Rees of Kansas: Change Armistice Day to Veterans Day, and make it an occasion to honor those who have served America in all wars. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day.

On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified American war dead were brought from overseas and interred in the plaza beside the unknown soldier of World War I. One was killed in World War II, the other in the Korean War. In 1973, a law passed providing interment of an unknown American from the Vietnam War, but none was found for several years. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from that conflict was placed alongside the others. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, The 3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil.

A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

National Ceremonies Held at Arlington

The focal point for official, national ceremonies for Veterans Day continues to be the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns. At 11 a.m. on November 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes "Present Arms" at the tomb. The nation’s tribute to its war dead is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath. The bugler plays "taps." The rest of the ceremony takes place in the amphitheater.

Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington and elsewhere are coordinated by the President’s Veterans Day National Committee. Chaired by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the committee represents national veterans organizations.

Governors of states and U.S. territories appoint Veterans Day chairpersons who, in cooperation with the National Committee and the Department of Defense, arrange and promote local ceremonies.

Countdown to Veterans Day – Our Country, made possible by our Veterans

By Paul M. Lacayo

On November 11, for the second time in the calendar year, we honor those that fought and continue to fight for this, our country. While Memorial Day emphasizes the memory of those we have lost during conflict; Veterans’ Day emphasizes those still with us who have served and presently serve.

Let me start by saying that I have not served this country in uniform and now in my early 40’s, I guess I am too old to enlist and serve.

But I have the greatest respect and admiration for those that have and do sacrifice their livelihood, time with their families and their very lives for us, here on the home front.

Their sacrifice makes it possible for us to text message our friends, email our families, grab a cup of Starbucks during the day, walk in the mall and shop, play our Xbox 360, Playstation and Wii consoles, bet on sporting events, order the DirecTV Sports package, enjoy a day at Disneyland or a night at the movies or time at the beach, go fishing or camping on the weekends, take a cruise to Alaska or down the Mexican Coast or vacation in the Caribbean, bitch, moan and complain about our boss or job, honk the horn in frustration at being caught in traffic crush hour, protest what we think isn’t good or right with the country, burn the flag, criticize or deride our government and our country's very way of life.

Yes sir, all continually made possible by the men and women that have served and continue serving our country. For that I say an emphatic thank you!

Thank you to those in far away lands and on the high seas.

Thank you to those whose wife's or husband’s embrace you sorely miss.

Thank you to those whose babies have yet to lay eyes on their father's or mother’s face.

Thank you to those whose children long to see their parents again after months of separation.

Thank you to those whose parents ache at the thought of losing their offspring to a bomb or bullet and to those who disastrously, have already suffered this excruciatingly painful loss.

Thank you to those who have lost family members while overseas and could not be there for their interment.

Thank you to those whose families have disintegrated because the separation was too long.

Thank you to those who have fallen in order to make it possible to live our lives.

Thank you to those who still are with us.

Should one look back to the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th, the intervention of and occupation by American Military Forces in such countries as the Philippines, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama to name a few, in protecting American Interests and projecting the American way of thinking - at that time - around the world was much more belligerent than today. Last time, we checked, none of those countries are still currently occupied by American Forces. In fact, two of those countries mentioned have governments unfriendly towards the U.S.

One can guarantee you that would not have been the case if Fascist Germany or Soviet Russia would have triumphed over the respective Alliances arraigned against them and have intervened in any of these aforementioned countries.

Throughout the 20th century, the growth of American Military Power also grew alongside the idea that people and nations were free to determine their own fates, free from other nations' imposition of what they thought was best for them. With the end of the Second World War, came the end of Colonialism, the dissolution of the preeminent British Empire and its sister European neighbors' overseas territorial holdings.

American Military forces did not replace their European counterparts that had run their overseas possessions. Not one square inch of was claimed by the U.S. as its own. Our country’s military men and women came home to pick up their lives and try to live in peace.

However, one thing that many people fail in recognizing is that nation states will always look after their own respective self interest first and will ally themselves with others that can benefit or advance that interest. Those that attack American Foreign Policy as Imperialist fail in recognizing that the actions that guide it are to preserve the ideal of freedom against those that would squelch and obliterate the very criticism that is protected by American self interest in its sphere of influence. As a Superpower, that sphere of interest is worldwide.

When the U.S. President is called a dictator, the definition becomes trivialized and minimized. At the same time, the countless lives of those who perished at the hands, swords, guns, tanks and planes of callous, egotistical, maniacal and brutal individuals and governments who not for one instant hesitated in annihilating those that questioned their policies and rule are dishonored and disrespected.

Where would these same individuals be if they spoke up against an American Government that actively imitated the same policies that Hitler, Stalin, Paul Pot and Saddam Hussein implemented and Kim Jong-il, Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among others practice in North Korea, Cuba, Iran and elsewhere?

Whichever and whatever manner that a nation can achieve their best interest and maintain its sphere of influence is what the entity will pursue. It can make for unlikely bed fellows, as was the case with Communist Russia allying with Capitalist United Kingdom and America during WWII, or in more recent times when the U.S. favored Iraq over Iran.

In our present struggle, this country will do and must do to what it can to preserve the idea and the practice that people have a right to choose their own government and live their lives free from authoritarian control.

These are the struggles that have shaped us since World War I, indeed since the foundation of this, our country’s beginnings.

This is why with all our failings and with all our shortcomings, people seek our land to make their lives better. They seek it to live in dignity; to give their children an opportunity they could never have where they came from. Some of those have arrived have also put on the uniform of the United States Armed Forces and have served to make it possible not only for themselves but for countless millions seeking a better future here.

Veterans honored should also be remembered as being protectors of our way of life. Those that criticize it have the right to do so but should also be reminded that if not for these protectors, their appeasing ways would land them in the blood stained chopping block of those whom we now fight, as infidels. They would either be compelled to submit or be eradicated, period!

Turning to two statements by Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Colin Powell, I leave you with his views on American Power and the value of our Veterans:

1. “There is nothing in American experience or in American political life or in our culture that suggests we want to use hard power. But what we have found over the decades is that unless you do have hard power — and here I think you're referring to military power — then sometimes you are faced with situations that you can't deal with.

I mean, it was not soft power that freed Europe. It was hard power. And what followed immediately after hard power? Did the United States ask for dominion over a single nation in Europe? No. Soft power came in the Marshall Plan. Soft power came with American GIs who put their weapons down once the war was over and helped all those nations rebuild. We did the same thing in Japan.

So our record of living our values and letting our values be an inspiration to others I think is clear. And I don't think I have anything to be ashamed of or apologize for with respect to what America has done for the world. [Applause.]

We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we’ve done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace. But there comes a time when soft power or talking with evil will not work where, unfortunately, hard power is the only thing that works.” (1)

2. “[F]ar from being the Great Satan, I would say that we are the Great Protector. We have sent men and women from the armed forces of the United States to other parts of the world throughout the past century to put down oppression. We defeated Fascism. We defeated Communism. We saved Europe in World War I and World War II. We were willing to do it, glad to do it. We went to Korea. We went to Vietnam. All in the interest of preserving the rights of people.

And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, "Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us"? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.” (2)

Please remember to take time this November 11 – however short it may be – to thank those who have served you and I, this land, our country.

In closing, as Dennis Miller says:

"That's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

References:

1 – Responding to a question and answer session by former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, following his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 26, 2003. Source: about.com, urban legends: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-colin-powell.htm


Dispatches from Davos by Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine:
http://www.slate.com/id/2077083/entry/2077603/

2 – Responding to a question on MTV’s Global Discussion on February 14, 2002 about how he felt representing a country commonly perceived as "the Satan of contemporary politics."

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-colin-powell.htm

http://www.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2002/8038.htm

Before and after…What’s wrong with this picture?

by Paul M. Lacayo

More often than not, between episode segments of a TV show, I usually like to switch channels so I can avoid the monotony of having to sit through another hyped up commercial regarding urinary problems, erectile dysfunction, yeast infection or some other God awful physical problem that perplexes the human condition on a daily basis.

However, I hesitated for a moment and before my remote control could assist me in escaping the commercial sinkhole, the advertisement for the Bowflex Tread climber came on showing how your feeble, disgusting fat can be sculpted into a lean mean work of human muscle power that might have aided the ancient Egyptians into building the pyramids faster.

Now, I admire people that “hit the gym” on a consistent basis as well as those that will do what it takes to lose weight by exercising their hearts out for improving their health. Yet, it struck me that the people on TV pushing this work out machine always seem to be the end product result of what the machine claims will happen to you if you purchase the Bowflex.

There never seem to roll out some overweight person, ready to give the Goodyear Blimp a run for its money declaring: “I’m fat as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore! I’m buying the Bowflex!” Then come back 6 months later with the same person and show them lean and muscular end result of hitting the machine.

No! It’s always some busty woman with push up work out bra, tighter than a Hilary Clinton facial gesture at a George Bush Look-A-Like convention or an Adonis looking guy with a flat washboard stomach hunk posing for the camera as they go through the work out motions of exercising on the Bowflex.

“But Paul!” someone may say, “Sex sells!”

Yes, I know, ask anyone working in the porno industry in Chatsworth, California.

Yet, can anyone devise a true before and after testimonial? Roll out some average Joe or Jane who has had their couch cry in Ancient Hebrew Lamentation to get their fat cheeks off their cushions and get to exercising and then have their bodies looking like the end product in the Twilight Zone Episode, The Trade-Ins.

Well we know what would happen then. Probably after the first few days of hitting the old Bowflex, Joe or Jane would either be suffering from muscle cramps, pulls, a ligament or joint injury and be so disgusted that they’ll never get to look like some Greco-Roman God or Goddess, that they’ll never workout again and revert to a sedentary mass with its own orbit.

How can they not get a body like the one on TV in one week?!

They’ll yell: “What a Crock of shit!”, “What a bunch of liars!”, “I want my money back!”, “Where’s my Hot Dog?”, “Pass the mustard!”

Well it’s your own fault because if you would have paid attention, you would have realized that everyone in the commercial was pretty fit and trim to begin with while shining their pearly whites at the camera and lied about how about great the machine made them change their body shapes.

“But what about those pictures Paul?!” “Those people were really fat before they worked out and look how good they looked afterward!”

If you take a closer look, those people in the before category are not the same people as in the after pictures. They’re just an amazing likeness.

My advice to you is – and this is someone who works out occasionally and is overweight and loves to eat – is do something that you love to do in order to get exercise and no I don’t mean lifting food to your mouth or running to the refrigerator!

Take care to avoid shelving out money on an exercise machine that may have been better used instead on a down payment on a house. Also, the point of exercising is to make your body look and feel better and not laying paralyzed in your bed or on the floor because you over did it and now your muscles refuse to acknowledge movement commands from your brain.

The point is: exercise to improve your health, not exercise in manner that leaves you wishing you could steal Steven Hawking’s Wheel Chair so you can get to McDonald's!

As Dennis Miller says: “That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong”

Where a home of their own is an elusive dream

In the shadow of the Space Needle, real estate prices are stratospheric

By Mike Stuckey
Senior news editor
MSNBC
Updated: 3:10 a.m. PT Oct 15, 2007

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. - It’s no mystery to Dale and Darby Brennan why they have not realized their vision of the middle-class dream, despite seeing their income double to $70,000 in the past four years.

Like most middle-class American families, the Brennans’ vision includes owning a home. They’d like to buy in the Seattle suburbs, where they both grew up and where they now work and live in a rented house with daughters Olivia, 3, and Alicia, 2. But Western Washington, the Seattle area in particular, is one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation.

While simple geography may exaggerate the Brennans’ problem, it’s an issue faced by a growing number of young Americans. Housing affordability data, which links median home prices to median incomes, indicate they could become the first generation of the middle class to experience a serious decline in the rate of home ownership.

“We are doing all the right things with our money and I feel like the dream of owning a home is still so out of reach for us,” says Darby. “I don’t want a handout. I just feel like our middle-class income should be enough and it’s not.”

That income — from Darby’s job in technical support with a large electronics manufacturer and Dale’s position as a manager in a local produce business — is 8 percent below the median family income of $75,600 in their area, but 18 percent above the national figure of $59,400.

But the cost of a home where they live is nearly double the national median of $224,000. The Brennans’ street is the boundary between King County, where the median home price is $440,000, and Snohomish County, where it is $370,000. Even with a fat down payment in either county, which they don’t have, the Brennans wouldn’t qualify for a conventional mortgage on a median-priced home.

They aren’t alone. While the nationwide home ownership rate has remained near its record high of 69 percent for much of this decade, that could be changing. Despite sending two parents into the workforce to boost family earnings to record levels, even in inflation-adjusted dollars, the opportunity to buy a home is slipping beyond the grasp of many middle-class Americans.

The National Association of Realtors tracks the situation in its monthly Housing Affordability Index. Nationwide, the realtors group says, the ability of the average American family to buy the average home has fallen dramatically since 2004, when its index stood at 124. That number means that a family earning the median income made enough to afford 124 percent of the payment on an 80-percent mortgage on a median-priced home.

Plummeting affordability figures
But with the average mortgage interest rate up a full point, or nearly 20 percent, and housing prices up 15 percent since then, the nationwide affordability number has fallen to 106.

And that’s fat city compared with the Brennans’ neighborhood, where the affordability numbers, as calculated by Washington State University, are between 70 and 80. That means the average family there could afford only three-fourths of the payment on the average house if they could come up with a 20 percent down payment, which would be nearly $100,000 in King County.

WSU keeps a special set of statistics on housing affordability for first-time buyers. Those numbers are especially dismal, indicating that the average first-time home-buying family or individual couldn’t afford even 40 percent of the mortgage on a starter home in King County. The comparable figure for Snohomish County is less than 50 percent.

“We pay to play here in Seattle,” Darby says with a sigh. “It comes with the ZIP code.”

But inside the neat white stucco rancher that they rent for $1,050 a month, a real bargain in the area, Dale holds forth with optimism that would impress Norman Vincent Peale: “I think America is a great place to live and if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything in this country.”

It’s a perspective that Dale came to after growing up poor and in a “chaotic” single-parent household, then spending time in the military.

“The whole concept of a squeeze on the middle class just baffles me,” he says. “I don’t see it all.”

The problem for a lot of the middle class is a consumer mindset, says Dale, a devoted listener of talk radio who says he quickly transformed from a liberal Democrat to a conservative Republican after becoming a father and going to work in a small business.

“Things are to be earned, not for instant gratification,” he explains. “It’s not what you have; it’s getting there.”

It was instant gratification provided by subprime lenders, he says, that drove up home prices across the nation in a “false economy” that is now triggering mounting foreclosures and falling prices in many markets, although not yet in Seattle. “I look at what’s going on right now as a good thing for people like us,” he says.

Even so, Dale figures it will take five years for him and his wife to save enough for a down payment on a house. To maximize savings, they bake their own bread, plan every meal on a spreadsheet, take no vacations and seldom dine out.

“You can buy two pounds of oatmeal for a dollar and that makes breakfast for a month,” Darby points out. “I’m proud of what’s on our grocery list.”

Just one credit card: for gas
The family’s only credit card is used for gasoline, and is paid off each month. Their debts include $17,000 in student loans from when Dale attended a year of technical school, $9,500 owed on their nearly new Toyota Corolla and an $8,000 IOU to Darby’s mom for a car that no longer runs.

They only recently bought a second working car, a $1,400 used SUV in a deal from an acquaintance that was too good to pass up. Their days off are staggered, helping to keep child care expenses as low as possible.

Their home is neat and clean, with plenty of toys for the girls, but it’s clear they are not running up charge accounts at Circuit City and Levitz. In the living room, a couch with a worn blue slipcover is flanked by a well-used rocker and a newer recliner. The entertainment center sports a television and other electronic equipment that are modest by today’s standards.

The frugal lifestyle suits Dale. “I get more out of advancing in my job than buying things,” he says. “I get more fulfillment out of playing with my girls.”

For Darby, who had a solid middle-class childhood. “I like going out and buying things,” she admits.

“I’m looking at five years, that’s my goal,” says Dale. He thinks a nest egg of $25,000 to $30,000 that they hope to have by then and an increase in their salaries will get them into a home of their own. “We’re better off now than we were six months ago and better off six months ago than we were 18 months ago. Attitude is everything.”

But to Darby the goal sometimes seems as lofty as the summit of 14,411-foot Mount Rainier, which looms in the distance on clear days. They save a bit, then an unexpected expense pops up. They have no retirement savings and Dale says the girls will need to pay for college if they decide to go.

The Brennans' Budget

Monthly income
5,833
Monthly expenses
Rent: 1,050
Payroll and income taxes: 789
Child care: 720
Groceries: 450
Credit cards: 0
Other loans: 363
Miscellaenous: 300
Utilities: 273
Spending money: 265
Health insurance: 240
Car loan: 229
Gasoline: 200
Cell phones: 130
Car insurance: 120
Clothing: 20
Entertainment, dining out: 20

Total monthly expenses
5,169

Tracking the middle class' missing cash

Figuring out where income goes is half the battle, financial planner says

By Mike Stuckey
Senior news editor
MSNBC
Updated: 3:10 a.m. PT Oct 15, 2007

Show me the money.

That’s where it all begins for middle-class families who hire Eileen Freiburger to help them manage their finances.

“The theme I see for every client I work with is, ‘I can’t see where the cash is going,’” says Freiburger, a certified financial planner from Manhattan Beach, Calif., who says almost all of her clients are middle class, whether their income is $50,000 or $200,000.

The three families who participated in Gut Check America’s coverage of the middle class were a step ahead of the game, already on top of most of their monthly expenses, if not down to the last dollar, she says. But Freiburger says large categories such as “miscellaneous” or a supposed surplus with no money regularly going into savings indicate the need for a closer look. Likewise, a monthly deficit without an increasing debt somewhere else, means some categories aren't being accurately tracked.

Among her own clients, Freiburger says, private school tuition, ever-increasing adjustable rate mortgage payments and untracked ATM withdrawals are some of the biggest sources of “mystery” budget leakage.

Once those leaks are identified, she explains, the money can be redirected into more rewarding categories, or “buckets” as financial planners like to call them. Likewise, once a regular financial commitment such as a car payment is fulfilled, she recommends that money immediately be dedicated to something else instead of being “piddled away.”

Using herself as an example, she notes that when her daughter graduated from elementary school, a regular monthly expense for afternoon child care ended. “The second my daughter went to middle school and we no longer had to foot that bill, that $240 when immediately to her education fund,” Freiburger says.

“Once you find the cash flow,” Freiburger says her job is “helping a client recognize what’s fixed expenses versus discretionary and then filling up those buckets” that they want to fill. “Let’s find the bucket for emergency cash and start filling it. Let’s find the bucket for the 401(k) and start filling it.”

Aside from not tracking spending accurately, Freiburger says other big financial pitfalls of middle-class Americans include a lack of savings for emergencies, retirement and college educations; buying homes they really can’t afford; impulse spending on consumer goods and entertainment; and lack of clear debt-repayment strategies. She offers these bits of advice:

* Lack of retirement savings should be a special concern because “anyone of us who is not currently 55 or 60 relying on the notion of Social Security, it’s not going to do it for us.”
* Despite soaring housing prices in many parts of the country, Freiburger says exotic loans that get buyers in the door with low interest rates that soon rise sharply are almost always a bad idea. “If you can’t afford the 30-year fixed payment, you can’t afford to be in that home.”
* “I cringe when I see some of the cable and entertainment budgets. I have no idea why the cell phone numbers are as high as we’re starting to see.”
* “People are just tapping into these (credit) cards or their homes (equity loans) without realizing there’s no payoff strategy” because minimum payments do little or nothing to reduce the balance owed.

Freiburger, 43, who has 24 years experience, says most middle-class families could benefit from working with a financial planner. Her advice is to choose a fee-based consultant through the Garrett Planning Network or the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, preferably one who will work on an hourly, as-needed basis. Steer clear of advisers who also sell insurance, investments or other financial products, she advises.

None of the three families profiled in Gut Check America’s coverage of the middle class was asking for advice when they wrote to msnbc.com about their financial struggles. But they all consented to having some of their budget information shared with Freiburger, who calculated their monthly cash flows and offered these observations on their situations.

The Brennans of Mountlake Terrace, Wash.
Freiburger gives Dale and Darby high marks for their clear goal of saving for a down payment on a house. Given their current income and expenses, they should be able to accomplish it, she says. First, however, they need to establish some emergency savings. She points to the apparent surplus in their monthly budget, along with their categories for "miscellaneous" and "spending money" as the likeliest sources from which to squirrel something away.

After that, “If the family would like $20,000 to $30,000 in five years to put down on a house, the goal is accomplished with $333 to $500 a month. Set up an automatic monthly savings amount to accomplish this goal. If it is not seen, it is not spent. ING Direct makes it simple to have these monthly amounts brought over to a 4.5% savings account for forced savings.”

On retirement savings, Freiburger’s advice is to do something, even if it’s a small start: “It is encouraged that they at least find out if a ‘free’ match is being left behind. If not willing to participate in a 401(k), we would strongly encourage a Roth IRA using Vanguard Funds. If we assume someone’s salary is $40,000, contributing 3 percent of pay is $1,200 a year. At an 8 percent return on investment now through age 62, that’s $224,000. Up the annual contribution to $1,600 and it’s nearly $300,000 at age 62.”

Freiburger says that even though the couple’s $17,000 in college loans is a burden, “it’s still pretty small. I have seen several hundred thousand in some cases.” With the interest on the loans averaging 9.5 percent and the payment at $263 a month, “the loan remains open for another 7.5 years. Make sure each loan gets a minimum payment but leverage the amounts so the highest interest loan can be paid off first. Simply increasing the overall payment to $350 from $263 would reduce the schedule by two years and save about $3,000 in interest.”

The Hamakers of Hayden, Ala.
While financial planners are generally not fans of financing expenses with credit card debt, Freiburger applauds the family’s decision to help pay for Olga’s education this way. Freiburger sees very little discretionary income in the family’s budget. “The good news is that based on rate, amount, payment, all of the loans will be gone within three years. Unfortunately, Ken’s just going to need to take a deep breath and know it shouldn’t get worse and hopefully get significantly better if his wife can also bring in some additional income.”

On retirement savings, Freiburger says, “It’s never good to have an open loan in a 401(k) account that represents this large a percentage of the balance. However, it will probably be paid off in three years. But the amount in the 401(k) and currently not contributing is not good. I strongly encourage he still try to add $50 to $100 a month to principle just to keep this growing. Start with a little now, and then as soon as any loan is paid off, redirect that amount to the 401(k). As things stand, the current $23,000 balance will be only $168,000 in 25 years if it grows at 8 percent.”

Like the Brennans, Freiburger says, the Hamakers should make their top priority to establish an emergency fund.

The Suarezes of Sweetwater, Fla.
Freiburger finds Olga’s situation “very, very difficult.” Simply put, “her income with that size and age of a family is not enough” for all she’s trying to do. “Once we look at the fixed costs, there’s not that much truly left over.”

To Freiburger, Olga is “making the right choice. … It’s wonderful that she prioritized the better school district and putting the kids first. But there’s only so much the income can go toward and if it goes toward the better school and higher rent, that’s the decision. … These aren’t the parents’ faults when that’s what’s going on in our country. It’s a whole big picture situation that’s got to change.”

In the meantime, however, Freiburger says Olga might take a look at the high-interest loans she’s carrying on her car and furniture and see if there’s any way to refinance them to lower rates.

And, as with the other families, Freiburger strongly urges Olga to figure out some way to start a rainy-day fund, even though her monthly budget appears to be running at a deficit.

Go to the MSNBC article

Who or what is the middle class?

Economic data can't fully explain why so many feel financially squeezed

By John Schoen
Senior Producer
MSNBC

When politicians, economists, academics and journalists try to assess the current economic status of the "American middle class," the debate often begins with a question that some concede is all but impossible to answer: Who, exactly, is middle class in America today?

One way to find out is to ask Jerry Orzechowicz, a salesman in the hospitality industry, who lives in Merrillville, Ind., population 30,000, tucked in the northwest corner of the state, about 35 miles outside Chicago.

"I'm about as middle class as you can get," he said.

Orzechowicz and his wife, who also works, earn a combined annual income of between $70,000 and $90,000 and have two kids, one of whom is still in college. They own their own home, four cars and four TVs — including a high-definition widescreen model with surround sound.

Orzechowicz says just about anyone living on $50,000 a year can enjoy a middle-class existence in his neighborhood, which is why he says he’s puzzled when he hears that it’s getting harder to maintain that lifestyle in America.

“You can have a house and pay the bills and put food on the table and save a little and take a little vacation once a year," he said. "To me, that’s maybe lower end of the middle class, but it’s better than 98 percent of the people in the world.”

Despite income of $100,000, ‘We are squeezed tight’
But many Americans who consider themselves middle class told msnbc.com they do feel financially squeezed. One of them is Kathy McClain, a wife and mother of three teenagers in Westbrook, Maine.

McClain and her husband have a combined income of $100,000 a year, which leaves about $80,000 after paying income and property taxes. They have no credit card debt, don’t take expensive vacations, and she drives a 9-year-old car. Tuition for their oldest child, now at the state university, costs another $16,000. The family makes too much for her to qualify for work-study.

“I can tell you quite honestly that we are squeezed tight,” she said in a recent e-mail. “We live paycheck to paycheck. Yet, by all standards, we are doing well.”

The varied experiences of Americans who consider themselves middle class aren't really surprising. As economic and social forces buffet families chasing the American Dream, there’s disagreement among the experts who crunch the numbers about how just well or poorly this group is faring — or even who they are.

There is near-universal agreement that the gap in wealth between the richest American and the poorest is widening to levels not seen in nearly a century. But that doesn't tell you much about how those in the middle are faring.

Data aside, being “middle class” in America today appears to be mostly a state of mind. And there are very real sources of anxiety for those who aspire to a comfortable middle-class life in America.

Congress to the rescue?

With the campaign season gearing up, there’s a great deal of talk about the need for government to take a greater interest in this key demographic group. In theory, that's where the bulk of American voters are. So earlier this year, Congress asked its research service to come up with a definition of middle class.

The researchers started by looking at income levels. Based on 2005 Census Bureau reports, some 40 percent of the nearly 115 million households in the U.S. earned less than $36,000 a year. That represented just 12 percent of all income. The 40 percent on the next rung up the economic ladder took in between $36,000 and $91,705 — or about 37.6 percent of all income. The top 20 percent, who made $91,705 or more, collected half of all income.

But those numbers don’t adequately reflect the state of mind of those who consider themselves middle class. Surveys have shown that, while people consider $40,000 a year to be the low end of what it takes to buy a middle-class life, some people who make as much as $200,000 a year still consider themselves middle class, the researchers said.

In the end, they wrote, “There is no consensus definition of ‘middle class’; neither is there an official government definition. What constitutes the middle class is relative, subjective and not easily defined.”

For one thing, the report noted, there's little agreement on how many households above or below the midpoint should be included in the standard definition of the middle class.

Neighbor's paycheck as important as your own?
But it turns out that the size of your neighbor's paycheck may be as important as your own in determining how you view your place on the economic ladder. You may feel comfortably middle class — with two cars in the driveway and a big screen TV — until the guy across the street pulls up in his third car to install a second widescreen TV. (The researchers call this the "relative income hypothesis.")

"Being well above the bottom is a source of satisfaction," the CBO report concludes. "But when those at the upper end of the distribution fare better than (you) do, it is a source of consternation."

And with the upper end of that distribution rising further and faster than in the past, it's easier for those in the middle to feel like they're falling behind.

Another reason for middle class "consternation" is that income tells only part of the story: the cost of maintaining a middle-class lifestyle depends heavily on where you live. A family in Wichita, Kansas, where the median price for an existing home is about $110,000, has a much better shot at a comfortable middle-class life than a family in San Francisco where — housing slump or no housing slump — the median home price is $846,800.

The link between housing costs and schools

As the biggest single line in the typical household budget, the cost of housing has played another important role in the financial squeeze reported by many families in the middle. One of the key aspirations of middle-class families is to provide their children with the good education they’ll need to maintain — or exceed — their standard of living when they enter the work force. With local schools funded largely through property taxes, living in a nice neighborhood has come to mean more than having a nice house, according to Robert Frank, a Cornell economist and author of “Falling Behind: How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class.”

“You can say, 'Well, I don’t care about having a big house, I’d rather live within my budget and feel secure financially,'” he said. “If I go that route, my kids go to schools where they’ve got metal detectors, and they don’t do well in school.”

The financial security of middle-class Americans has also been strained by the rising cost of higher education, which has risen faster than overall inflation for much of the past decade.

Health care costs also have outstripped inflation; the cost of a catastrophic illness can quickly knock a middle-class household into another, better-defined economic category: poverty. And while many middle-class Americans a generation ago relied on their employers to fund their retirement, that burden has now shifted heavily to the wage-earners themselves.

The paradox behind the data

Despite these added burdens, there’s a paradox that doesn’t show up in the numbers. Though middle-class life in America isn’t what it used to be, in many ways it’s much better.

Health care may be more expensive, but modern medicine can do much more: Americans are living longer and healthier lives. Our houses, on average, are bigger (over 2,300 square feet, up 40 percent since 1980) with more cars in the driveway. Those cars are safer, last longer and are loaded with technology and features once available exclusively to the wealthiest buyers of luxury cars — from antilock brakes to GPS navigation systems.

Modern conveniences that were unimaginable a generation ago, from wireless phones to the Internet to hundreds of channels of home entertainment, are available to most Americans. The modern global supply chain brings a cornucopia of basic, affordable products — from year-round fruit shipped from both hemispheres to cheap textiles made in low-wage, developing countries.

“A middle class person today lives better than the wealthiest individual who lived 100 years ago,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Economy.com.

Americans also have more to spend. Census data show that the median income has risen steadily, with temporary setbacks, over the past 60 years as "the real reward for an hour of work has more than tripled," according to a February speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. In 1947, median family income, in 2004 dollars, stood at just $22,500, according to the Census. By 1973, that figure had doubled, and continued to rise to $57,500 by the year 2000.

Upward march of income stalls

Those advances began to stall at the turn of the millennium, for reasons that are the subject of much speculation among economists. There’s some evidence that the decline may be caused by the lingering effects of the 2001 recession. Every major recession since World War II has been followed by a drop in median income from which it has taken between three and seven years to recover. But others suggest the lull in income growth could be the result of a more fundamental shift in the economy.

One trend that is all but universally accepted is the widening wealth disparity between those at the very top and bottom. Even as incomes in the middle have gone up, the gap between richest and poorest has gotten wider — both in America and around the world. That means that those at every level see more wealth flowing to people in income groups above them. And that could help explain why, even as everyone’s standard of living is going up, many of those in the middle feel like they’re falling behind.

Though middle class status may be largely a state of mind for many Americans, some have clearly lost ground due to specific, harsh economic circumstances that have sent them falling abruptly down the ladder. The decline of unionized labor in the past several decades has given employers more flexibility to increase productivity and adapt to rapid technological change and increased competition. But it has also devastated those workers who have been displaced from high-wage jobs and don’t have the skills they need to find a new one with comparable pay and benefits.

Now globalization poses a similar threat to the financial security of American workers whose jobs are “outsourced” to lower-wage, developing countries. Much of the credit for the current strength in the global economy goes to the elimination of trade barriers and the increased interdependence of producing and consuming countries. But if the economic benefits of that global growth flow only to a smaller and smaller group at the top, the backlash from those left behind could threaten the continued expansion of global trade, according to Zandi.

“Globalization is a fabulous thing. It raises everyone’s standard of living — it’s a net benefit to the global economy,” he said. “But there are losers. And if we don’t take care of the losers — if we don’t allow their standard of living to remain within some striking distance of the winners — then they could very well short-circuit the entire process.”

The Nannification of America

By Paul M. Lacayo

Amazingly, Uncle Sam now that the “Soviet” Bear has been laid to rest and now has to deal with the Islamic Jihadists; has slowly and steadily in different ways, undergone a metamorphosis from an Uncle into a Nanny with its own citizens.

A nanny is caregiver who takes care of children in their parents’ stead. Yet, in our American Experience, the Nanny is telling the adults that basically, “you’re too stupid or ignorant to know what’s good for you so we’re going to tell you how to live so you can live longer and do as we say for that same period of time.”

Nowhere can I think of a better example of this Nannification of America, than over the issue of smoking bans imposed by state and local governments that have sprung up over the last decade.

Being a California Native, I’ll use my own Golden State as a reference where over the last couple of years banning smoking has gone beyond the state ordinance of no-lighting up the Marlboro inside of restaurants to outside! That’s right the great outdoors, where outside major cities it’s referred to as believe it or not – fresh air. If I remember correctly, in the fresh air, the wind blows the smoke away and dissipates it. Wow! Imagine that a natural filter so the smoke doesn’t get into the non-smoker’s lungs.

Honestly, I can say that I have never smoked. Well, there was a time when I was living in Nicaragua in the early 70’s when as a young kid, and celebrating local holidays there I didn’t have the patience to run to the gas stove to light up firecrackers or had the permission to strike a match to light a roman candle. Therefore I would go to one of my relatives who at the time meant most of them smoked and I could borrow an almost finished cigarette and use it to light up that explosive device.

You could say I got the most bang for the butt that I could.

However, unlike former President Clinton, I really didn’t inhale because the one time I accidentally did, I gagged for about 5-10 minutes.

Besides the fact that smoking is a disgusting habit, making its users smell like ashtrays and ultimately most of them will have their remains look like their used cigarette butts; there is one thing I will not fight them on. Their freedom to use it and enjoy it, after all it’s their choice.

Hmmm, there’s that word again choice. Pro-choice, gee, let’s think about this one for a minute. Pro-Abortionists use that argument all the time to justify and ultimately received legal protection for aborting a fetus. Pro-choice is used by Medical Marijuana proponents for alleviating chronic pain stemming from various ailments. So what is the difference?

If a woman has an abortion, she has control over her own body. Agreed, she does have that right. However if you don’t want to get pregnant, aren’t there about 20 different methods, products and ways to avoid getting pregnant? I’ll leave this issue alone for another time.

In pot’s case, certain states have legalized Medical Marijuana use but it has smashed up against Federal Law that prohibits it. Again, another issue we can discuss for another day.

I’ll agree that smoking in confined spaces while sharing a restaurant with those that don’t smoke is annoying and irritating to the bronchial spaces of the latter. However, there is one thing to consider here, what about air filters and air conditioning that could contain or prevent the smoke from reaching the non-ashtray users? Yet, I’ll concede this point to where, okay, a smoker can do without his or her cigarette for the duration of a meal or cocktail and light up when they get outside.

However, now you can’t smoke within a certain distance of restaurant and other public places.

Just this week, Beverly Hills joined nannies: Santa Monica, Burbank and Calabasas here in Southern California in banning smoking outside public places.

San Francisco, my birth city, prohibits smoking in all public places including parks! Let’s see, parks are outdoors, aren’t they? Outdoors, air blowing smoke away. How is that harmful to the non-smoker?

Well the nannies in these aforementioned communities in the name of public health have basically told their smoking “children”, that you’re no longer an adult in their eyes. See, what they’re telling you is: "You’re killing your self and we won’t allow you to take the rest of us with you with your dreaded second hand smoke!" Which by the way, I believe for you to die of second hand smoke you would have to be in a confined house living with a chain smoker for many years before succumbing to it.

Smoking, as much as I detest it, is a person’s choice.

Adults, once upon a time were children, and for the most part were brought up by adults and influenced mostly by adults. Generally speaking, if those influential adults were non-smokers, chances are their heirs won’t smoke. If they were smokers, they probably will smoke as well.

For the past 50 years we know what smoking can do for you. Armed with that information for the past 5 decades most of us do not smoke. We made that choice. Those that smoke, made the choice to smoke, armed with the very same information.

Point is, we made the choice, not Mary Poppins or Phoebe Figalilly(1) or Super Nanny.

In Mary’s case a spoonful of sugar can make the medicine go down smoother but stop ramming the utensil down the throats of the smokers. After all, they’ve got enough issues to deal with just by being smokers.

But there is something very wrong when you start dictating to people what they can and can’t do with personal habits. Because after they ban it in restaurants, public indoor and outdoor places, guess where the nannies are coming for you next?

That’s right inside your house and your car. As a matter of fact that’s already happened in the Maine City of Bangor, earlier this year, where you are now fined if the police catch you smoking a cigarette inside your car with a child inside. Arkansas, Louisiana and Puerto Rico also enacted similar bans, and at least three other states are considering them: California, Connecticut and Maine.

Seven other states with large number of smokers such as Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska prohibit smoking around foster children in homes, cars or both. Custody battles have been determined on the very fact of whether one or the other contending parents smoked(2).

Wouldn’t a better way to deal with this is to guilt trip adults into common sense with public service announcements and other ads around town about how incredibly stupid, asinine and wrong it is to slowly kill your child or at the very least handicap their health with second hand smoke inside a confined space such as a motor vehicle.

Believe me nothing works better than guilt on a person. Making otherwise law abiding citizens a criminal in their minds is just self esteem assassination. When a parent’s guilt overcomes their urge to light up, my thinking is that they’re going to think themselves a better parent when they stopped exposing their child to second hand smoke.

But of course that isn’t enough for the nannies; you’re now basically a criminal for doing something inside your own property.

Before long you’re going to look up and the next thing that you’ll be told what to do is what food you should eat.

Yes sir, it’s coming down the pipe and in some cases it’s already here. After smoking, the next thing people ingest just as much of if not more, is food.

In Putnam County, N.Y., Senior citizens protested a recent decision to eliminate donuts from being donated to Senior Citizens Centers food menus because the County Office for the Aging thought it’s bad for them!

Holy mackerel! Now we’re telling seniors what they can’t eat. Seniors, those that have lived the longest among us and have survived wars, sickness, alcohol, the Edsel, 8 Track Tapes, Howard the Duck, Michael Jackson and Boy Bands, as well as countless other full life impediments and have more wisdom than a million nannies, are being told that donuts are bad for them.

Apparently, the reasoning is because the sweets are attacked by grandpa and grandma like a corn field ravaged by locusts. Well, for God’s sakes let them! They’ve earned it. Why should they have to "walk down to the store" as one official put it when they can get it where they reside? Besides some of them can’t "walk down" to the corner store, you moron!

As one senior stated: "I'm 86, not 8!"(3)

Last but not least comes a September 10, 2007 article from the LA Times reporting on the LA City Council considering limiting new fast food restaurants in South L.A. for up to two years!(4)

Their reasoning besides the fact that much of the fast food menu can be unhealthy, and their is a high concentration of the eateries in this area, is as one Councilmember stated: "The people don't want them, but when they don't have any other options, they may gravitate to what's there,"(5)

What do you mean the people don't want them? If they didn't want them, most of them would have gone out of business by now! Pure, supply and demand at work.

Remember my friends, we better wake up to the fact that being told how to live your life as an adult by Nanny governments is not only insulting and degrading its dangerous. Remember, they work for us, not the other way around.

One day if we're not careful we'll be inserting new words in to the poem by Martin Niemöller:

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

Now if you think that this idea is far fetched; that smoking bans will lead to the Nazification or Communism in this country remember that "the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

We’ll, got to get back to my plate of beef, slice of pie, whole milk and listen to some rock and roll with my good friend outside where he happens to be taking a drag!

As Dennis Miller says: “That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong”.

Post Script: Belmont, CA City Council Votes in Nation's toughest anti-smoking law.


References:
(1) - Phoebe Figalilly was a fictional character played by Juliette Mills in the early 70's TV Show: Nanny and the Professor.
(2) - NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/us/19smoking.h
(3) - USA Today Article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2007-09-23-doughnut-seniors_N.htm
(4) & (5) - LA Times Article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fastfood10sep10,0,4559964.story

Raiders 7, Saints 0; Dodgers 1, Cardinals 0

By Paul M. Lacayo

Now being brought up Catholic, I don’t know how people in other denominations dress for Sabbath Services, but my guess is that your church/temple attire is pretty conservative/casual on most occasions outside of High Holy Days.

As you probably realize for many of us the days of everyone in attendance wearing a suit and tie, dresses only and hats to Church are long behind us. Obviously there are those that wear very nice clothes to Sabbath Services and of course I admire that because I rarely dress to the nines even for Christmas or Easter, but my attire is casual and nice if I do say so myself.

Yet, with our sports saturated society it seems some people can’t separate a Church visit from sitting around the TV rooting on their sports team or visiting the stadium, err, uh, sorry, “Temple Of The Sports Gods” to root their team to victory.

Now I’m sure that God isn’t as concerned as to what particular type of clothes you wear to services as much as he is about how you take care of your soul as well as the way you treat your fellow homo-sapiens, the animals and this beautiful rock he put you on in a caring and loving way. Nor is this the first instance of people wearing sports attire or other recreation activity related clothing to church. Indeed, it’s been going on for a long time.

However, can anyone explain the need to wear Football T-Shirts and a Baseball Replica Jerseys to Church for Mass Services? It just struck me as it always has, as a sign of disrespect.

Well that’s what happened a couple of weeks back at Sunday Mass, awaiting the start of the service, out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a couple with their son and daughter entering the Church.

While Mom and daughter were dressed nicely; Mom wearing pants and short sleeve top and daughter was wearing a white flowery dress; old Papa was wearing a white Oakland Raiders T-Shirt while his pre-teen looking progeny wore his Russell Martin, No. 55, Dodgers Replica Jersey.

Maybe I’m just and idiot or outmoded or beginning to enter the “old fuddy duddy” territory; but for those of you who can’t separate ESPN updates from Church Etiquette rules of thumb on what to wear to services, how about this:

When you come into a holy place, can you not plaster yourself with a logo of an entity that in the overall grand scheme of things is really not in life’s top five priorities? Also, how about letting the rest of us take a break from your stated priority in the circle of life? While we’re at it, can you let the rest of us here worshiping as a community and thanking the man upstairs; avoid being distracted by Bratz, WWE, NASCAR, West Coast Choppers, Tony Hawk, or any characters from the DC or Marvel Universe in between the aisles and pews.

Should we want to catch a glimpse of these lovely shirts, we’ll head down to the local Hot Topic, Pro Sports or Old Navy store where business is to church as Brittney Spears is to Mother Theresa. Now I’m not saying that Mass is as thrilling as Lebron James Slam Dunk or a Reggie Bush Touchdown run but when I’m at God’s Pad for heaven’s sakes, can I concentrate on my sins and how I’m going to atone for them rather than be reminded that the Dodgers haven’t won the World Series since 1988 or my 49ers haven’t hoisted the Lombardi Trophy since 1995.

How about worshiping those other “gods” on your own time? Huh? What you’re really saying is: “Church is an inconvenience. As long as I have to go, I don’t need to wear anything respectful …but the old number 32 will look just great when I genuflect and receive communion as well as blazing a fashion trend for all the drably clothes wearing, Mass attendees!”

Oh yeah, that ought a look just great as you do a spin move on the aisle usher, leap frog the annoying, crying 3 year old in pull-ups, poke out the stiff arm on grandma in her walker just in time to spike the ball at the feet of the Padre before saying “Amen!” to the Body of Christ!

When you’re at services, it’s time to pay homage to the ultimate Commissioner, the greatest home run hitter, court player, puck handler, pound for pound fighter in the universe, cause no one bends it like him! – God, Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, the Life Force, the Man Upstairs.

Take some of that hard earned money and next time, instead of investing $60-$150 dollars on that jersey or t-Shirt, get your self a nice casual shirt for you and junior, make sure it doesn’t scream at us. Then, when you wear it for one hour out of 168 of the week at Mass to show you have a little respect for the one who made it possible for all of us to wear our favorite teams’ logo – outside.

Now if you think that’s maybe a small, insignificant peeve on my part and I’m way off base here, hey don’t’ mind me and don’t mind the guy or gal next to you with their Misfits T-Shirt or the El Che top or even the Transformers threads on little Jack or Jill. After all it’s all about self expression and freedom of choice and what not. I guess they’ll be the ones wondering why their life went to hell in a hand basket on the way to buy their next pair of indispensable Rob Zombie neckties.

Which makes me wonder, the next ball game or concert I go to, instead of wearing a Sports T-shirt, maybe I’ll wear my “God Rocks!” Shirt, or “Jesus and the Twelve – 40 A.D. Middle East and European Tour” or “Yin and Yang then pray for delay”, “When You Vishnu upon a Star”, “Buddha has left the Building!”, “Allah for One, and One for Allah!” or “Jehovah and the Ten Commandments!”

As Dennis Miller would say, “That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.”

A mother remembers 9/11

As others talk of moving on, Carol Ashley pays her annual visit to the place where her Janice died.

By Erika Hayasaki, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 12, 2007

NEW YORK — Sitting in a chair just after 7:30 a.m., beneath the amber glow of a hallway light, Carol Ashley leans over and ties the laces on an old pair of sneakers. She slips her good shoes into her purse. She knows it will be muddy in the pit.

Outside, the sky is gray and rain slaps her windows. Six years ago on a Tuesday morning nothing like this one, Ashley's 25-year-old daughter, Janice, stood in this hallway wearing a taupe dress suit, a silver watch and her great-grandmother's pearl earrings. She carried a gym bag. She was on her way to work on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower.

"She said, 'Bye, Mom,' " says Ashley, 61, putting on a black trench coat that used to belong to Janice, before heading to the ground zero memorial. "Then she was gone."

On the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Ashley does not know if the day will bring her to tears. She does not know if it will be easier than every other year she has gone to ground zero. Each time, it was clear and sunny, like it was on that horrible day. On this morning, Ashley is happy for the rain.

This will probably be the last time families mourn inside the pit where the two towers crumbled. It is a construction site now, and city officials say it will be too dangerous to visit next year. Officials decided to hold this year's memorial service in a nearby park instead of at ground zero, allowing families to descend into the pit to pay tribute throughout the day.

In recent weeks, people have talked of cutting future remembrances short, scaling back the onslaught of public memorials, getting over it. WABC-TV in New York had planned not to broadcast the reading of all the victims' names this year, but decided against that idea after families protested.

Ashley knows all of this. She understands the public's desire to move on. But she is also terrified that people will forget that day, forget Janice. She has made it her responsibility to ensure that does not happen.

She steps into the rain, wearing a black beret and a silver bracelet on her left wrist with the inscription, "Janice Ashley WTC." It is a 45-minute train ride to Manhattan from her home in Rockville Centre, N.Y. She opens her umbrella. Her husband, William, is still sleeping. He has never gone to the ground zero memorial. It is still too hard for him.

"There are people who aren't ready," Ashley says. "Even after six years."

'My baby'The ceremony is underway when Ashley arrives at One Liberty Plaza, at 9:40 a.m. The air is hot and sticky. She flashes identification that proves she is a 9/11 victim's family member and a guard waves her through.

Firefighters and first responders stand in uniform on a stage reading the victims' names. Ashley walks past the family members wearing ponchos, hugging one another and sobbing. She ignores the bright glow from media crews' lights and cameras. She does not stop to listen for her daughter's name. What matters is visiting the pit.

She follows a trail of mourners entering a path blocked off by a guard rail. Volunteers pass out tiny packets of tissues, water bottles and roses from baskets. Ashley takes tissues and three roses, white, red and pink, for herself, her husband and her son.

She pulls a note from her purse with a photo of her daughter. It reads: "Janice, you are forever loved." She ties it around the stems of the roses with a gold string.

Ashley looks around and notices there are fewer mourners than in past years. She remembers the first anniversary memorial at ground zero. She was there with her niece, Allison Ashley, 28, and Janice's boyfriend.

She has attended every one since then by herself. Her son, Michael, 24, who was a freshman in college when his sister died, has not been down to ground zero either.

Ashley remembers making her way into the bedrock on that morning in 2002. The air was still, but suddenly it began to blow wildly. Dust and dirt swirled. She thought it felt like the wind was carrying the spirits of the dead.

She saw families scooping dust and dirt into water bottles. So many families had not yet recovered the remains of their loved ones. By 2007, many still do not have them.

People talk of moving on now, Ashley says, but what about families who have not had a chance to bury their dead?

Janice's remains arrived back in Rockville Centre three years after she died. She was buried in August 2005.

She would be 31 now, Ashley says. Married, probably, and she would own an apartment. She might have had kids already, or maybe she would have put her career first.

"She would be enjoying life," Ashley says with a pink-lipstick smile, revealing layers of laugh lines she has earned. Her hazel eyes are misty.

"Yeah," she adds, "my baby."

A 'new normal'Janice loved art and poetry and majored in English at Cornell University. She decided to work in finance, and got a job as a research associate at Fred Alger in 2000. Janice was saving to buy an apartment, and collecting furniture at her parents' home until she was ready to move out.

That morning, before the hijackers crashed planes into the twin towers, Janice drove a 1992 black Chevrolet Camaro that her parents bought her when she was 17. She parked it at a nearby train stop and rode into the city.

Ashley left her daughter's car at the station for days after the attacks, finally driving it back home one painful day. She parked it in the driveway, but seeing it reminded her that Janice would not drive it again. They put it up for sale.

"I got up and thought, 'Oh my God, my daughter is dead,' " she remembers thinking. "I don't care if I live or die."

Ashley had retired from her job as a grade-school teacher in 2001, before the attacks. She had planned to enjoy a new chapter in her life. Instead, night after night, she searched the Internet and read newspapers. She read everything she could about the U.S. government, its policies, its political track record with other nations. She read about the Middle East. She read about Osama bin Laden. She read about President Bush.

Ashley met other victims' families. She grew angrier. She joined the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission, and she testified before Congress.

She also helped create a website for Janice, as part of the 9/11 Living Memorial, a digital archive commemorating the victims, which will be available to the Library of Congress and the National Archives. In it, she included poems that Janice wrote, photos and letters from friends.

Ashley realized that she had to create a "new normal" for herself and her family. The three took trips together to places such as Hawaii, California and Cancun, Mexico. They took new family photos. It was hard, she says, "but it was the beginning."

Six years later, Ashley has set new goals, such as starting the activities she had planned to do when she retired: She wants to learn French, take piano and dance lessons, and learn to knit. Maybe she will learn how to design Web pages, she says, or maybe one day write a book.

An unexpected reunionIt is still drizzling as Ashley walks down the long bridge, into the mud. Religious counselors and clerics line the walkway to offer support. Somber-faced mourners who have visited the pit walk past her. Some have the faces and names of their loved ones silk-screened on their T-shirts.

At the bottom, Ashley comes to a wooden pool, filled with roses and floating photos of husbands and wives, daughters and sons. All around it, men weep and women pray.

Ashley gently lays down her roses and note. She kneels, pulls out a pen and writes a message on the wood: "Janice, You are always in our hearts."

She stands and turns around to face the footprint of the north tower, staring at an empty sky.

As she leaves, Ashley sees Allison, who had visited ground zero with her on the first anniversary. Her niece, who has not been back since that day, is making her way down. The two stop and hug.

Ashley lets go and looks up, her cheeks wet with tears.

erika.hayasaki@latimes.com

Our troops have earned more time

Our troops have earned more time
By Brian Baird

Special to The Seattle Times
Friday, August 24, 2007

The invasion of Iraq may be one of the worst foreign-policy mistakes in the history of our nation. As tragic and costly as that mistake has been, a precipitous or premature withdrawal of our forces now has the potential to turn the initial errors into an even greater problem just as success looks possible.

As a Democrat who voted against the war from the outset and who has been frankly critical of the administration and the post-invasion strategy, I am convinced by the evidence that the situation has at long last begun to change substantially for the better. I believe Iraq could have a positive future. Our diplomatic and military leaders in Iraq, their current strategy, and most importantly, our troops and the Iraqi people themselves, deserve our continued support and more time to succeed.

I understand the desire of many of our citizens and my colleagues in Congress to bring the troops home as soon as possible. The costs have been horrific for our soldiers, their families, the Iraqi people and the economy. If we keep our troops on the ground we will lose more lives, continue to spend billions each week, and, given the history and complex interests of the region, there is no certainty that our efforts will succeed in the long run. We must be absolutely honest about these costs and risks and I am both profoundly saddened and angry that we are where we are.

Knowing all this, how can someone who opposed the war now call for continuing the new directions that have been taken in Iraq? The answer is that the people, strategies and facts on the ground have changed for the better and those changes justify changing our position on what should be done.

To understand the magnitude of the challenge and why it is taking time for things to improve, consider what happened as the result of the invasion and post-invasion decisions. Tens of thousands of Iraqi lives have been lost and hundreds of thousands have fled the country. We dismantled the civil government, police, armed forces and the nation's infrastructure. We closed critical industries and businesses, putting as many as a half million people, including those who best knew how to run the infrastructure and factories, out of work and filled with resentment. We left arms caches unguarded and the borders open to infiltration. We allowed schools, hospitals and public buildings to be looted and created conditions that fanned sectarian conflicts.

It is just not realistic to expect Iraq or any other nation to be able to rebuild its government, infrastructure, security forces and economy in just four years. Despite the enormous challenges, the fact is, the situation on the ground in Iraq is improving in multiple and important ways.

Regardless of one's politics or position on the invasion, this must be recognized and welcomed as good news.

Our soldiers are reclaiming ground and capturing or killing high-priority targets on a daily basis. Sheiks and tribal groups are uniting to fight against the extremists and have virtually eliminated al-Qaida from certain areas. The Iraqi military and police are making progress in their training, taking more responsibility for bringing the fight to the insurgents and realizing important victories. Businesses and factories that were once closed are being reopened and people are working again. The infrastructure is gradually being repaired and markets are returning to life.

Without question, these gains are still precarious and there are very real and troubling problems with the current Iraqi political regime and parliament at the national level.

The Iraqis are addressing these problems along with our own State Department but these issues will not easily be resolved and could, if not solved, throw the success of the entire endeavor into jeopardy.

Those problems notwithstanding, to walk away now from the recent gains would be to lose all the progress that has been purchased at such a dear price in lives and dollars. As one soldier said to me, "We have lost so many good people and invested so much, It just doesn't make sense to quit now when we're finally making progress. I want to go home as much as anyone else, but I want this mission to succeed and I'm willing to do what it takes. I just want to know the people back home know we're making progress and support us."

From a strategic perspective, if we leave now, Iraq is likely to break into even worse sectarian conflict. The extremist regime in Iran will expand its influence in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. Terrorist organizations, the people who cut off the heads of civilians, stone women to death, and preach hatred and intolerance, will be emboldened by our departure. In the ensuing chaos, the courageous Iraqi civilians, soldiers and political leaders who have counted on us will be left to the slaughter. No American who cares about human rights, security and our moral standing in the world can be comfortable letting these things happen.

Our citizens should know that this belief is shared by virtually every national leader in the Middle East. There is also near-unanimity among Iraq's neighbors and regional leaders that partition of Iraq is not an option.

"You may think you can walk away from Iraq," I was told by one leader. "We cannot. We live here and have to deal with the consequences of what your nation has done. So will you eventually, if the Iraq conflict spreads and extremists bring us down as well."

I do not know the details of what the September report will contain, but I trust and respect Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. I have seen firsthand the progress they have made, and I firmly believe we must give them the time and resources they need to succeed.

Though we would all wish this conflict would end tomorrow, it will not. We are going to have to begin to withdraw troops next spring because our equipment and our soldiers are wearing out. However, even with the progress that has been made of late, we will have a significant military and civilian role in Iraq and the region for some time to come. That is the price we must all pay for the decision to invade. We cannot shirk that responsibility.

Progress is being made and there is real reason for hope. It would be a tragic waste and lasting strategic blunder to let the hard-fought and important gains slip away, leaving chaos behind to haunt us and our allies for many years to come.

Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, represents Washington's 3rd Congressional District.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

Do Guys Ever Buy Their Own Underwear?

By Paul M. Lacayo

A few days ago, I went with my wife, Jeri-Ann and daughter, Theresa to do a bit of shopping at Target in the Topanga Shopping Center.

The reason we went besides walking around to get some exercise at the newly expanded Super Mall, was to buy some new underwear for myself and another new set for my daughter.

Now I don't know about the rest of you and your underwear shopping habits but let's just say over the years, I have bought enough underwear to go about three weeks before I have to go wearing the one from the first day in the cycle. Plus, I since I had enough of them, there was no need to purchase new ones for a very long time. Of course over the years, through attrition, one by one they started going to a holey place and it was time to buy a few to keep the monthly cycle up to standard.

"Surprised?! You won't be after this week's episode of Soap!"

Once inside the Target Store, we proceeded to the Girls Department first, to find the appropriate size for a growing six soon to be seven year old. Now as soon as my daughter got to choose which pattern is the appropriate one, i.e., Polly Pocket or Hello Kitty, Barbie or Bratz, Disney Princesses or Gothic Rock Vixens; Theresa and Jeri decided on the appropriate size.

As I'm pushing the shopping cart standing off to the side while the females made their decision, a couple of young teen-age girls came into the same aisle to look at what was available for their ages.

Now if you're a guy, standing in a woman's department, especially the underwear one, may be uncomfortable enough if you're there by yourself: without your girl-friend, wife or significant other you may be viewed as either a pervert or gay by the ladies who are shopping for their "women's foundation". My experience has been with my wife is to get away from ground zero and let her finish the bra and panty shopping by herself and await her re-entrance into the world from the estrogen vault.

With this in mind, I stepped into the aisle and let my ladies finish their selection as well as give the other girls a wide berth and do their shopping without a male in the immediate vicinity.

Once Jeri and Theresa were done, we proceeded to the men's area. On the back wall of the department, was a whole section of men's underwear. Since the aisles leading to it were kind of narrow, I told Jeri to wait for me while I got the packet.

As I arrived to make my selection, next to my left and right were some other shoppers looking for underwear.

All four of them were - women!

As I mentioned before I haven't gone shopping for men's underwear in a long time. However, I do recall that the last time I went shopping for this same sort of apparel, my fellow shoppers in the aisle that day were - you guessed it! - women!

Which begged the question - Do men buy their own underwear anymore?

Did they ever? Am I the only one? Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?!

It seems to me that I have encountered a disruption in the underwear shopping space/time continuum in this corner of the planet because I'm sure men do buy their own undergarments, but just not in my neck of the woods. Apparently, ladies buy their own and their men's as well. Which explains why in the parallel universe there are guys in supermarkets discreetly buying tampons and pantyhose for their gals.

Well isn't this just great! When did this trade off occur? What unholy prenuptial sent this time line careening into the Twilight Zone?

Evidently, in our corner of the universe, men are just too embarrassed to have other men see them shopping for what type of garments are immediately pressing the flesh. Boxers or briefs? tidy whiteys or red striped plaids? Bandito or Magnum? Trickster or Deuce?

Of course there seems to be a strange paradox, many men seem to be not too keen on letting you see them what type they shop for; but there are plenty of them glad to let you see 15 inches or more of the material while they're walking around carefree at the local mall or 2 inches of the waist band along with 4 inches of their exposed backside, while performing plumbing duties in your home!

Ever since I can remember, it was not a particular concern to me what type of underwear my fellow male com padres have underneath their trousers but as a guy, you sometimes wonder what type is a woman wearing. Conversely, I'm sure the same is true for the females of the species.

So guys, please make a deal with your wives and girlfriends. Buy your own underwear once in a while and let them get their own tampons for God's sakes! Haven't men suffered through enough hellish choices of wings versus no-wings, small versus large, absorbent versus super-absorbent, "Love of my life for eternity" vs. "Spawn of evil who made me suffer through nine-months of hell looking like a fat hippo!"

It's time to set the universe into some semblance of order again.

My part is done. The three week cycle is set again. The women who shopped alongside that day will have to do it next time - by themselves and on the fly.

Richard Jeni on Political Parties

From the HBO Special: “A Big Steaming Pile of Me”

“…As soon as you start talking about political things, that’s when everybody weighs in. Yeah!

Everybody gets pissed off.

‘Cause a lot of people are very extreme.

People are very sure about what they believe. They’re either on the far right or the far left of politics.

If you’re on the far right or the far left, you know what you’ve done now?

You’ve gone too far!

‘Cause that’s where you find the extremist wackos, right out there.

Cause after that 9/11 I was so mad I said: ‘That’s it! I’m becoming a hard core, hard assed, right wing Republican Fucker!’

So you run all the way over to the far right side, and there they are! There’s your right wing crew.

A bunch of: Money Grubbing, Green House Gassing, Seal Clubbing, Oil Drilling, Bible Thumping, Missile Firing, Right-to-Lifing, Lethal Injecting hypocrites!

There they are! There’s your crew. There they are.

People whose idea of a good time is strapping a dead Panda to the front of a Lincoln Navigator and running over everybody in the Gay Parade! I can’t deal with them.

Get outta here!

I’m going over here to the left side, to be with all these Looney, lefty liberal people. And there’s the crew!

A bunch of: Bong Smoking, America Bashing, Flag Burning, Yoga Posing, Incense Burning, Dolphin Saving, Salmon Eating Hypocrites!

There they are. There’s the crew.

These are the sensitive liberal people who are always yelling about everybody’s freedom of speech and expression. Unless you say something that pisses them off!

Then they can’t wait to tie your ass to the back bumper of a Toyota Hybrid and drag you to the Berkeley Campus and drop your carcass in front of the Fidel Castro Building for the Continuing Study of Why America Sucks!

Lunatics!

The only place that makes sense to me, I think, is a little more moderate, in here, right? The Centrists, the middle, like me, yeah!

Yeah! A bunch of: Flip-flopping, Fence Sitting, Half In, Half Out, Half Assed, Non Voting, so they can bitch no matter who wins. Those are your guys.

But the ones that annoy me slightly more than all the rest of us are the Trillionaire Bleeding Heart Liberals; People who are going to change the world, if they have to spend every buck of your money to do it.

The Limousine Liberal People!

People living in a mansion that’s got twenty rooms that nobody’s in - they’re air-conditioned.

Got a pool that nobody goes in – it’s heated.

Flying across the country in a twenty person jet all by themselves ‘cause they don’t want to be late for a speech - about energy conservation.”

Watch the video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhw8DFSGzvg