815. Mayday, mayday! It's a National Emergency!

Jeff Noble

 

I'm enjoying the glee with which my "conservative" friends are celebrating the president's declaration of a National Emergency to spend billions of dollars that he first promised Mexico would pay for and then couldn't get the Congress, including members of his own party, to buy into. So he's declaring a National Emergency to build his wall, something I told my friend Paul Schmidt I fully expected him to do when he didn't get his way with Mexico or the Congress. This will be the fourth National Emergency he's declared. We're presently living under 28 others besides his three, 12 of Obama's, 13 of W's, and some dating back as far as the Carter presidency. 

Under such an "Emergency," there are some 123 statutory powers the president can use to address the "Emergency." The one distinguishing difference between all 31 of the current "Emergencies" and this new one the president is proposing is none of them spend any money which hasn't already been appropriated by the Congress, something required by the United States Constitution - see Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 of America's Bible on that matter. The president's plan is to expand Executive powers and usurp the fiduciary authority of the Congress by spending money which hasn't been duly appropriated. Hell, we don't even have it.

Under the current "conservative" president, tax revenues are flat, spending is up 9.6%, the deficit has risen 41%, and the National Debt has grown by $2,000,000,000,000.00. That has to be a "conservative" record. So while my "conservative" friends are celebrating this "conservative" victory, the smart thing for the Democrats to do is back off and let him do it.

There will come a day that a National Emergency will arise over climate change or gun violence or our crumbling infrastructure or the opioid crisis, the latter two something the president has promised to address but hasn't, and as long as there is a Democrat in the White House it won't matter if Mitch is still the Majority Leader. We'll have President Trump's precedent of expanding Executive Powers and usurping the fiduciary authority of Congress as established by this current "National Emergency." We should let him do exactly what he wants to do which, to be honest, is one more brick in the wall of destroying both the United States Constitution and the Republic in general.

And the "conservatives" rejoice at this destruction.

798. Trump's one solid rock - Putin.

Next weekend President-Elect Trump becomes President Trump. It will be interesting to see what else he flip-flops on between now and then. Since the campaign there have been a number of things. He's flipped on prosecuting Hillary. "Lock her up" was just for show. He's flipped on Obama going from "he's the most ignorant president in history" to "I have great respect and will seek his counsel." He's flipped on gay marriage changing his mind as to appointing justices who might flip the current law. He's flipped on illegal immigrants from throwing out all 11 million to working on the 3 to 4 million who are proven criminals, something I agree with him on. He flipped on his feelings for the Electoral College calling it "a disaster" before the election and, well, afterwards understandably calling it "genius." He flipped on settling the Trump University case, saying in March "I won't settle" but settling nonetheless for $25M in September. He's even flipped on Obamacare, going from "It has to go on Day One" to agreeing with Sen. Rand Paul that it should not be repealed until there is something to replace it with. Incidentally, Day One was last week. And the big one, the Wall. Mexico was going to pay for the Wall - not just a fence, but a Wall, a big Wall. Now Americans are going to pay for it at a cost of about $10.7M a mile and we're going to beg Mexico to reimburse us. Oh brother. But there is one thing the President-Elect has never wavered on - his undying support and alliance with Vladimir Putin and the Russian state. He continues to defend Russia even against our our intelligence and military officials. As Andy Rooney would say, "Why is that?"

785. As to my predictions - the promised report.

Last week, prior to the Election, I made a bold set of predictions for the Alison Grimes - Mitch McConnell race for the United States Senate.  At Entry #784, posted at 9:07 the night before the election, I predicted Mitch McConnell would receive 4,400 votes fewer than Alison.  Although the number does not appear in the post, my notes indicate that my prediction was for McConnell to poll 788129 votes to Alison's 792529. Despite my wishful thinking we all know that 4,400 margin of victory didn't happen and it didn't happen in a big way.  

In my defense (and this entire entry is "in my defense") McConnell's numbers were, relatively speaking" close to my prediction.  He outperformed my expectations by 2.36%.  That's pretty close.  I like it that I predicted the number I did for McConnell.  What does it tell us?  Mostly that his voters were very traditional, very reliable, and rather unmovable.  I have often described my style of "doing numbers" with the phrase "birds of a feather vote together." In Mitch's case, that is exactly what happened.  He did not receive an outpouring of new voters, people upset with Obama or Alison or Steve Beshear or anyone else.  He got 2.36% better than he should have gotten by my numbers.  That's no big deal.

Here's the big deal.  My prediction for Alison was 792,529 votes.  She polled 584,698, a deficit of 207,831, or only 73.77% of my predicted number for her.  Again we must ask, as everyone has been asking, why? Most people are blaming her loss on the president and his intense unpopularity in the Commonwealth. That can't be denied.  But there is more to it than that.

I'll be the first to admit (now that it is over) my predictions for her, unlike those for McConnell, were loaded in her favor.  I really wanted her to win.  She is a friends and her parents are dear friends who have been supportive of me in many ways.  My predictions numbers included some "seeded clouds" intended to make supporters recognize that a GOTV effort on Election Day was paramount in obtaining a victory, and pointing out as I did in the original post the importance and difficulty of getting those voters out especially in the two most populous counties, Fayette and Jefferson.  She didn't in either and the national networks called the race as soon as they could as that last poll closed in the Central Time Zone.  Alison had to do in Fayette and Jefferson what had never been done before and didn't.  My predictions in those two counties were, quite honestly, extraordinarily wishful thinking.  More than a few people through the night seemed to know that.

Sticking to traditional conservative values did not help where it might have - in the east and the west. Sticking to those same values or avoiding others, especially with regard to the president didn't help in Louisville and Lexington.  Would it have made a difference or do most people who always vote Republican continue to do so and do most people who always vote Democratic continue to do so?  Again, birds of a feather.  

In summary, Alison failed to move more than a few Republican-voting Democrats over to her column.  She also failed, in a large way, to give Fayette and Jefferson's non-traditional voters - those who only vote in presidential years - a reason to come out in her favor.  That was a needle we had to move and didn't. Doing those two things might have made the difference.  

But, back to those abysmal predictions of mine.  Other than my McConnell number which was marginally correct, my best predictions came in adjoining counties, Simpson where I missed the mark by 51 votes, and Warren where it was 89.  Grayson was the next closest at 95. Others close enough to brag about were Cumberland and Marion - each at 101, Nelson at 120, McCreary at 133, Robertson at 145 - and honestly I shouldn't include Robertson as it is hard to be off by 145 as opposed to easy, Monroe at 149, and Butler at 188.

Arguably my best prediction came from Fayette given its size where I was off 659 votes.  My worst, of course, was Jefferson at 33025.  I suppose that should be embarrassing.  The entire list is below.

Takeaway? Simple - running on traditional Republican values didn't move anyone and may have alienated some.  Let's see how those considering a 2015 statewide run respond to that. 


Below are my original predictions with the actuals to the right of those and occasional notes.

ADAIR - (2100) - (777)
ALLEN - (2100) - (435)
ANDERSON - (600) - (1406)
BALLARD - (100) - (926)
BARREN - (2100) - (1077)
BATH - 700 - (587)
BELL - (1400) - (2151)
BOONE (17000) - 3588 - Boone's deficit was 3588 lower than my prediction.
BOURBON - 200 (387)
BOYD - 200 - (233)
BOYLE - (1100) - (445)
BRACKEN - 100 - (577)
BREATHITT - even - (368)
BRECKINRIDGE - (300) - (990)
BULLITT - (4000) - (1870)
BUTLER - (1600) - (188)
CALDWELL - even - (1346)
CALLOWAY - (1800) - (787)
CAMPBELL - (6100) - (536)
CARLISLE - even - (609)
CARROLL - 400 - (366) - Carroll's win was 366 lower than my prediction.
CARTER - 900 - (169) - Carter's win was 169 lower than my prediction.
CASEY - (2100) - (425)
CHRISTIAN - (2500) - (1301)
CLARK - (1400) - (849)
CLAY - (2500) - (772)
CLINTON - (1900) - (418)
CRITTENDEN - (600) - (730)
CUMBERLAND - (1200) - (101)
DAVIESS - (1600) - (3195)
EDMONSON - (800) - (561)
ELLIOTT - 500 - (245) - Elliott's win was 245 lower than my prediction.
ESTILL (600) - (693)
FAYETTE - 5600 - Note - 4322 more votes than Conway got over Paul, not an easy task. - (659)
FLEMING - 400 - (1343)
FLOYD - 2300 - (3480)
FRANKLIN - 4000 - (1795) - Franklin's win was 1795 lower than my prediction.
FULTON - even - (283)
GALLATIN - (100) - (402)
GARRARD - (1700) - (502)
GRANT - (1700) - (488)
GRAVES - (1500) - (2506)
GRAYSON - (2400) - (95)
GREEN - (1000) - (744)
GREENUP - 100 - (799)
HANCOCK - 500 - (675)
HARDIN - (3800) - (1776)
HARLAN - (1300) - (2952)
HARRISON - (300) - (685)
HART - (500) - (548)
HENDERSON - 500 - (1140)
HENRY - (200) - (699)
HICKMAN - even - (449)
HOPKINS - (2700) - (2618)
JACKSON - (1200) - (1499)
JEFFERSON - 69000 - Note - 40050 more votes than Conway got over Paul, not an easy task. - A note here - Alison beat McConnell by 35975 votes.  I had hoped/prayed/predicted against all logic that she would win by 69000, a difference of 33025.  I noted in the prediction that she needed a 40050 vote bigger win than Jack got over Randy.  Jack got fewer votes than Alison as Rand got fewer than Mitch.  Jack's margin was 28950.  Alison got 7025 more votes than Jack.  I really need to break Jefferson down by legislative district.  (33025) - Jefferson's win was 33025 fewer than my prediction.
JESSAMINE - (3300) - (1955)
JOHNSON - (2300) - (1156)
KENTON - (13500) - 1864 - Kenton's deficit was 1864 fewer than my prediction.
KNOTT - 500 - (1417)
KNOX - (2500) - (1526)
LARUE - (800) - (558)
LAUREL - (7100) - (1516)
LAWRENCE - even - (1286)
LEE - (400) - (530)
LESLIE - (2500) - (329)
LETCHER - (300) - (1992)
LEWIS - (1600) - 168.  Lewis's deficit was 168 less than my prediction.
LINCOLN - (600) - (1375)
LIVINGSTON - (200) - (785)
LOGAN - (1800) - (213)
LYON - even - (671)
MADISON - (2500) - (2565)
MAGOFFIN - 700 - (1839)
MARION - 900 - 101 - Marion's win was 101 fewer than my prediction.
MARSHALL - (1100) - (1809)
MARTIN - (1200) - (952)
MASON - 300 - (1387)
MCCRACKEN - (4400) - (2381)
MCCREARY - (2100) - (133)
MCLEAN - even - (760)
MEADE - (400) - (930)
MENIFEE - 900 - (792) - Menifee's win was 792 fewer than my prediction.
MONROE - (2600) - 149. Monroe's deficit was 149 fewer than my prediction.
MORGAN - 700 - (1113)
MUHLENBERG - 1000 - (1943)
NELSON - (900) - (120) - Nelson's defeat was 120 fewer than my prediction.
NICHOLAS - 400 - (258) - Nicholas's win was 258 fewer than my prediction.
OHIO - (200) - (2024)
OLDHAM - (7600) - (297) - Oldham's defeat was 297 fewer than my prediction.
OWEN - (300) - (812)
OWSLEY - (500) - (384)
PENDLETON - (800) - (611)
PERRY - (700) - (2381)
PIKE - 200 - (5509)
POWELL - 600 - (734) 
PULASKI - (8400) - (1947)
ROBERTSON - even - (145)
ROCKCKASTLE - (1600) - (1081)
ROWAN - 1200 - (986) - Rowan's win was 986 fewer than my prediction.
RUSSELL - (2600) - (494)
SCOTT - (1700) - (934)
SHELBY - (2700) - (995)
SIMPSON - (800) - (51)
SPENCER - (1500) - (821)
TAYLOR - (1000) - (1848)
TODD - (700) - (488)
TRIGG - (1000) - (563)
TRIMBLE - even - (396)
UNION -200 - (1547)
WARREN - (6700) - (89)
WASHINGTON - (400) - (480)
WAYNE - (1000) - (889)
WEBSTER - even - (1342)
WHITLEY - (3700) - (694)
WOLFE - 600 - (554) - Wolfe's win by 554 fewer than my prediction.
WOODFORD - (100) - (1003)

758. Kerry and Cuba

Opening the doors of Cuba is something I have believed in for over three decades. I have never understood America's stance on the matter, from either the left or the right, and especially after the fall of most of the world's Communist states. Anytime there is a glimmer of hope, it gets my attention. It was one of the two things I thought George W. Bush got right and he came close. But then the powers-that-be got to him and he backed off. The other was his green-card-to-freedom program for immigrants working in America. It, too, has been met by a deaf ear from the current administration, much to my dissatisfaction. I'm hoping a lame-duck second term and a different Secretary of State will allow the president to realign his priorities in these matters.

681. Brief Thoughts - The Modern Day Confederacy

The Confederacy is alive and well in Kentucky and many other states which have a powerful-enough Tea Party influence in their state's Republican Party, as we do in Kentucky.

I have members of the Confederate Army in my family's lineage and have visited their graves, not because I revere them for their politics, but because they are flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood. I do not know if they were racist in their time or if they were simply young men in need of a paycheck and their destiny threw them in with the CSA.

I do know that the modern day Tea Party and Republican Party is full of people with beliefs I find abhorrent and un-Christlike, beliefs which are antithetic to many of my friends who are either non-white, non-Christian, non-American, or any of the many of other non's that most of us have come to accept as simply friends.

The American dream was built upon a melting pot of cultures and creeds. Those who would deny those same opportunities to the next generation of newcomers are simply un-American. America, the USA, defeated and put an end to the CSA in 1865. Long live America. Don't let these modern day Confederists, people President Lincoln called "elements in rebellion," destroy what is left of the good and great America.

670. I was seven years old in 1968; Reflections on January 8, 2011

I was seven years old in 1968. As such, I do not remember a lot of it. Unlike my little brother, who can cite incidents from memory with the accuracy of blue-ray technology, my memory is rather faded and shaded for a great number of my earliest years.

I began 1968 as a second grader at Blue Lick Elementary School in southern Jefferson County. My teacher was Miss Hoagland. I rode Bus #402 to and from school each day catching the bus at the foot of my street, where Whippoorwill empties into South Park. Afternoons in my neighborhood, that period after school and before supper, consisted of bike-riding, tree climbing, playing in the woods behind our house, or just hanging out.

There were a few places where the "just hanging out" took place. At the dead-end of Mason in front of the Rogers' house was a gum tree. I'm not sure exactly what kind of tree it was but it had a clear gooey substance oozing from various points in the tree. At the other end of Mason, in the Riddle's front yard, on the southwest corner with Walter Avenue (where Walter was (and remains) one lane wide) were two trees that, at the age one is in second grade, was about as far as I was suppose to travel away from home, about 750 feet from our side deck.

Eventually, every evening about six it was time to come in and eat. We ate breakfast and dinner, called supper, religiously at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. For the record, our dining room was a formal room in which, until my grandmother's passing in 1976, we rarely ate other than at Christmastime. At this kitchen breakfast bar on one side sat me and my grandmother; on the other was my grandfather, my brother, and my mother. Opposite the end of the bar was an oversized portable dishwasher on top of which sat a Zenith television set. That's what you called them back then, a television set.

And it was at the breakfast bar, after we had eaten, that we all five sat and watched the national news learning the events of the day from across the Republic and around the world. We watched NBC and its newscast, which I remember being called The World Tonight, but I wouldn't bet more than a nickel on that memory.

Whatever it was called, it was on that black-and-white TV that I watched most of 1968 pan out, a melodramatic year which, thankfully, has not been equalled during my fifty years on the planet. Of great interest was the War in Vietnam. I recall that I had older cousins and a few friends and neighbors who were serving in Vietnam. I learned of other places too, called Laos and Thailand and Cambodia. If there were comments on the war, I do not recall them. It was from that berth as well that I watched the news of the assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee. I honestly had no idea who Dr. King was although my grandparents found his assasination to be horrific. I was mostly interested because I had just a few summers before that been to Memphis and was anxious to see if I could remember any of the locations now being played and replayed on the television screen.

It wasn't that TV but another larger one, an old big brown box of the Motorola brand, in the living room that I do clearly recall the assasination of Senator Robert Kennedy, late in the night. Politics has always been an integral part of my family and Kennedy's ascension in the Democratic Party was being followed as he had spent time in eastern Kentucky making friends with people from our state. My uncle had supported Senator McCarthy and I do not remember if my grandparents were Kennedy people or not. I do know that after his death, we strongly supported Vice President Hubert Humphrey in his bid to become president.

It was only from stories in the years to come that I learned more and more about 1968. When I was 14, one of my first jobs was working in a men's clothing store in Okolona operated by Mr. Howard Klein. Mr. Howard, as he was known in the neighborhood, was a wonderful man, my first real boss. He had moved his store to the Silver Heights Shopping Center location in 1968. He formerly had operated a shop at 28th and Dumesnil in Parkland but his business succombed to the riots which took place in the city that summer. He told me stories of how that area basically ceased to exist as a business center during the summer of 1968.

I also learned about the 1968 Democratic National Convention from my Uncle Don and my grandmother Hockensmith, both of whom were Democratic operatives. Don was from the left side of the Party while my grandmother was more of a moderate to center-left person. I remember scenes from the convention from watching TV.

Many years later while in college, I learned even more of the summer of unrest for our country, the summer of 1968. I learned about a government and response to the government of acronyms from SNCC to the HUAC, which became the HCUA, as well as SCLC and SNCC. I learned about CORE, the NAACP, events at UC-Berkeley, and something called the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, which many folks called the Black Panthers.

It seemed to me then, as a child living in a nearly-totally white suburban neighborhood, that most of the problems associated with 1968 were related to tension between whites and blacks. And as I became more educated, I learned that what I believed to be the truth was in fact the truth. A great number of Americans had not quite accepted the amagalmation of African-Americans into the general society, something that was in part a result of a civil war which had been fought in this country, and in my state, more than 100 years earlier.

Through my lifetime the tensions have seemed to either go away or just became more acceptable. Few people today work or shop or attend school in places that are solely white or solely black. The exception to that, as has been noted for many years, is during the worship hour on Sunday morning. In that place, we have remained quite largely segregated. Even in my rather liberal congregration of Episcopalians, I can think of only one African-American who attends on a regular basis.

But, on the whole, the blacks and whites of our country have lived more or less harmoniously for many years since the tensions of 1968. But that changed to an extent in 2008 with the election of a bi-racial president, Barack Obama. President Obama handily defeated the incumbent president winning states which Democrats had not carried in many years, perhaps since 1968. And that win began what has been seen as a strong decline in the civility between the races, a decline which can be heard most any day on AM radio.

And many ugly things which had never been said before were and are now being said regularly without much recrimination. Talk show hosts have all but called for a revolution. There has been a great rise in the number of hate groups springing up across the country. Places like the Knob Creek Gun Range in western Bullitt County have allowed their premises to be used to sell merchandise which could easily be described as racist and alarming.

Certain talk show hosts have been far more incendiary than others and no one who is listening cannot believe that these folks do not know that the words they are using can and will lead to violence.

The non-violent nature of our country, a nature fostered by Dr. King in the early 1960s before his assasination in 1968, was shattered today in Tucson, Arizona where a 22 year old gunman opened fire in a grocery store parking lot, killing six persons including a nine year old girl and a federal judge, and sending thirteen others to the hopsital, many with life-threatening wounds, among them a member of the United States Congress.

This was an assasination with great and grave results. I believe, unfortunately, that it is only the beginning. Our country is civilly broke. The confraternity of men and women which has sustained us for 235 years is no more. We have become a nation of I's - you's and me's - we've forgotten that we were a nations of we's. We've forgotten that the first and most important word of our Constitution is We, as in "We, the people."

I am a partisan person and I feel there is blame to be placed at the feet of certain individuals and certain political parties. I will not lay that blame here. At this point I will close, hoping that when America wakes up tomorrow morning we will reflect on the tragic events of January 8, 2011 and make a united effort at changing course. The alternative is civil war. This is where we are headed. And that is sad.

CIVIL WAR (1990)
Written by Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, and Slash.
Sung by Guns 'n' Roses

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land
And

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Ow, oh no, no, no, no, no

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

"WE PRACTICE SELECTIVE ANNIHILATION OF MAYORS AND
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FOR EXAMPLE TO CREATE A VACUUM
THEN WE FILL THAT VACUUM AS POPULAR WAR ADVANTAGE
PEACE IS CLOSER" **

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no uh-oh-uh, no uh-oh, uh no
I don't need one more war

I don't need one more war
No, no, no, no uh-oh-uh, no uh-oh, uh no
WHAZ SO CIVIL 'BOUT WAR ANYWAY?

646. Americans

A group of us from the office went over to the WorldFest today for lunch. This two-day festival draws together all the cultures to be found in Louisville and anyone who knows the city knows we have quite a few. From eastern Europeans to Indians and Asians and Africans and, mostly, Latinos from throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Today we got 371 more. Walking back to the office, I cut through the Kentucky Center for the Arts where a ceremony had just concluded with United States Judge John Heyburn administering the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America to these 371 new fellow Americans.

Here is the standard Oath:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

Although I missed the actual ceremony today (by just minutes) I have witnessed these ceremonies in the past. I recall one in the Federal Court House on Broadway and another in Jefferson Square several years ago. This is the fifth year in a row that such a ceremony has taken place during the WorldFest celebration. They are among the most emotional of events I've ever attended. And there are no words to fully express the jubilation in the room afterwards. Cameras flashing, videos rolling, and phones flicking of the new Americans holding their Certificates of Naturalization and Citizenship. These new Americans and their families spilled out the back doors of The Center into the WorldFest, and out the front doors onto Main Street, the main street of a city, state, and nation they can now call their own, most carrying a small version of the Stars and Stripes alongside their Citizenship papers. I congratulate them one and all.

And, just for a minute, take the time to re-read the oath these new Americans took. It is an oath of words which none of us born within the boundaries of America have probably ever uttered. Most of it would be second nature to most of us, but there is that one line - "that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law . . ." Would all of us answer such a call were it made? "Civilian direction" I suppose (and I am strictly guessing) means a call by the mayor or governor or president to do some duty in times of need. My only recollection in recent memory of such a call was from President Bush after the events of September 11, when he told us all to go shopping, to keep the business of America going. While he was ridiculed at the time for such a menial request, it probably was in the national interest.

We all take our citizenship for granted. We shouldn't as these 371 new Americans demonstrated today. To them I say congratulations and welcome to the family, welcome home.

509. And the connection is what ?

You never know when a conversation is going to take an odd turn. A semi-regular Friday night habit is joining friends for food, conversation, and - importantly - half priced bottles of wine at Carly Rae's, a sprawling eating and drinking establishment in Old Louisville on the northwest corner of Oak and First streets.

Of these two regular friends for the occasion are first one who is just slightly older, a Fine Arts graduate from Murray State University and employed as the executive director of a quasi-governmental agency charged with a number of duties all related to the promotion of downtown Louisville. My other companion is considerably younger, African-American, and a graduate of some small college in the South followed by a prestigious law degree from Vanderbilt. He is a high-priced corporate attorney who I am confident is worth every penny he makes.

Our conversations typically center on politics - imagine that. While all three of us are Democrats, we represent different places on the spectrum, the executive director and I occupying varying roles left of center of the Party, and the attorney filling a libertarian, corporate and, shall we say, rather conservative slot to the right. As I said before, our Party is housed under a big tent.

Tonight's conversation was rolling along after several glasses of a Lindeman's Pinot Noir of 2008 vintage, along with, at least for me, a plate of Town-and-Country crackers slathered in old-style beer cheese. We had talked about the governor's race as well as his accent. We touched on Richie Farmer and Trey Grayson. There were comments on the Louisville mayor's race in 2010, whether or not this July 20th or 21st's widely expected announcement would bring on a cavalry charge of candidates, to use the words of our mayor in an interview last week on WFPL's State of Affairs radio program, should he decide not to run again, one which, in my opinion, would in all likelihood be won by a sitting councilmember who is already assembling a stellar group of supporters and staffers; or if only Tyler Allen would be competition for His Honor the Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro, something Allen indicated in a recent LEO article.

At some point, referencing back to the governor's accent, which I attributed to his hometown of Dawson Springs, a town I've been through on several occasion where the Beshear name is readily applied to a number of businesses and even the nearby state park lake, our discussion turned to western Kentucky and even far western Kentucky, where at length we spoke of how that land, west of the Tennessee River, came to be purchased by Andrew Jackson in 1818, hence the name The Jackson Purchase.


If you do not know the story, there was always a problem with Kentucky's (and Tennesse's) claim to this land, shown at least in Kentucky at right in the picture, which was home to and controlled by the Chickasaw tribe. After many attempts, negotiations between the tribe and the United States arrived at an agreement. The negotiators for the United States were Andrew Jackson, who would in two years become president, and Isaac Shelby, who earlier served as both the first and fifth governor of the Commonwealth. The land itself covered the territory east of the Mississippi River, south and west of the Tennessee River, and north of the the state of Mississippi, commonly known in Kentucky as the Jackson Purchase and in Tennessee as West Tennessee. Agreed to in 1818, it became law when the Treaty of Tuscaloosa was signed into law by President James Monroe on January 7, 1819.

So there we were discussing the Jackson Purchase when my one friend, the older one, responding to a comment by the other one, said, "Oh, that's like Michael Jackson."

Michael Jackson, really? WTF. We were a little dumbfounded as there was no real segue between the two, really none at all. We both allowed the third to make that connection, wild as it was, after which the conversation left the confines of Jackson's Purchase and turned to the life and times and untimely death of the singer all three of us seemed to like.

The question for my six faithful readers is what is the connection between The Jackson Purchase and Michael Jackson, other than the common surname involved, which had nothing to do with tonight's discussion. Until tonight I could not have dreamt of any. But, at least in the mind of my one friend, there is. If you have an idea, leave a comment. There are no prises for getting it right, just the idea that such a connection could be made.

491. Pruebas de los Conductores

My friend Paul Hosse writes a blog called Another Opinion which he posts at www.hosse.blogspot.com. Paul and I differ on many subjects not the least of which is Immigration, where he is, admittedly, more in tune with the sentiments of the nation than I. I am to the left of most everyone including our congressman John Yarmuth. Ironically, the political leader (used ever-so-loosely) with whom I find the greatest agreement on the subject, is the now thankfully-former president, George W. Bush.

In a very recent entry of mine on the languages of the Feast of Pentecost, as recorded in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, I mentioned that the event recorded therein reminded me of Governor Steve Beshear's decision to reverse the decision of the Kentucky State Police regarding the offering of Kentucky's Drivers Tests in languages other than our beloved Mother Tongue, the governor's decision being one with which I concur.

Paul offers another opinion on the matter. I have entered a comment on his blog in Spanish, which with the free help offered on the internet, I have translated into English.

First, below, is my comment in Spanish and then, below that, its English rendering. But first I would ask my six faithful readers to visit Paul's blog and read through his entry. Again it can be found at www.hosse.blogspot.com.

*****

Paul (o Paulo),

Apesadumbrado falté la 100a edición. Ofrezco enhorabuena. En esto, su 101o, diferenciamos en nuestras opiniones, algo que no es nuevo.

Usted se refiere sobre nuestra prueba de conducción que es ofrecida en veintidós idiomas, decir debe ser ofrecida solamente en una. A título de indicación, ha sido y continuará siendo ofrecida en el de su lengua preferida, Inglés.

Su discusión, entre otras cosas, se refiere sobre las que pudieron pasar la prueba en una cierta lengua Arabe, y entonces dado una licencia de conductores, entonces no pueda discernir las muestras de calles cuáles están, por supuesto, en Inglés.

Ese me lleva a preguntarse si la preponderancia de accidentes es causada por todos estos extranjeros que no entiendan que los medios rojos paran y los medios del verde va amarillear medios quizá. Ciertamente hay un número de conductores de habla Inglesa que tienen problemas con esas distinciones.

Usted, en su entrada, consigue eventual alrededor al núcleo verdadero de su preocupación, una cuyo usted ha escrito en muchas veces, y apenas tantas veces, he discrepado cortésmente. Esa preocupación es inmigración, legal y más pronunciado, ilegal.

Usted pide específicamente, "¿En cuanto a ésos aquí ilegal, necesitamos darlos de fácil acceso a nuestros caminos dándoles una oportunidad de conseguir una licencia de conductores de Kentucky también?"

La respuesta, que no es específica apenas a tomar los conductores prueba, es sí. Debemos hacerla más fácil para que estos ilegals lleguen a ser legales. Debemos hacerla más fácil para las que quieran trabajar, y ésa es la razón la mayor parte de que están aquí, poder hacer así pues, y de tal modo permitiendo que paguen en las cajas del impuesto.

Oímos repetidamente que los polticians y los bloggers quejarse por los illegals del coste imponen ante los pagadores de impuestos de la nación. ¿Es más que el bienestar corporativo del paquete del estímulo? No sé. ¿Está más que hemos pagado guerra de George Bush en Iraq? No sé que tampoco.

Sé que si proporcionáramos una trayectoria del mas facil para todos estos extranjeros, y usted tiende a significar ésos del sur de Tejas, sentir bien a ciudadanos - y así a pagadores de impuestos - de los Estados Unidos, una gran carga sería levantada como sus impuestos ocupacionales se podría entonces utilizar para tratar las preocupaciones más verdaderas que hacen frente a nuestra nación, tal como pobreza, falta de vivienda, cuidado médico, y educación.

Jeff Noble

*****

And, in English:

Paul,

I am sorry I missed the 100th edition. I offer congratulations.

In this, your 101st, we differ in our opinions, something that is not new. You talk about our drivers test which is offered in twenty-two languages, and say it must be only offered in one. For the record, it has been and will continue to be offered in that of your preferred language, English.

In your discussion, among other things, you write on those who might pass the test written in a certain Arab language, and then upon being issued a drivers license, that same person may not be able to discern the variety of streetsgins which are, admittedly, in English.

That leads me to wonder if the preponderence of accidents are caused by all these foreigners who do not understand that Red means Stop and Green means Go and Yellow means Maybe. Certainly there are a number of English-speaking drivers who have problems with those distinctions.

You, in your entry, eventually get around to your true concern, about which you have often written, and then for as many times, I have politely differed. That concern is immigration, legal, and more pronouncedly, illegal.

You ask specifically, "As for those here illegally, do we need to be giving them easy access to our roads by giving them an opportunity to get a Kentucky drivers license too?"

The answer, which is not specific to just taking the drivers test, is yes. We must make it easier so that these illegals may become legal. We must make it easier for those who wish to work, and that is the reason most of them are here, to be able to do so legally, thus allowing the payment of their taxes into our tax coffers.

We hear repeatedly of politicians and bloggers complaining about illegals and of the cost they impose upon the taxpayers of our nation. It is more than the corporate welfare of the Stimulus package? I do not know. It is more than we have paid for George Bush's War in Iraq? I do not know that either.

I do know that if we provided an easier path to citizenship for all these foreigners, and you tend to mean those of the south of Texas, and thus they become taxpayers as well - of the United States - a great burden would be lifted given all the occupational taxes they would then pay - occupational taxes which could then be used to address the truer and greater concerns facing our nation, those of poverty, homelessness, healthcare, and education.

Jeff Noble

*****

I invite your comments as always.

403. Rednecks for Barack

I got an email from one of my Shelby County cousins, one of those “you might be a redneck if” analyses. At the end, there is a line that explains “if you got this email from me, it is because I believe that you, like me, have just enough Redneck in you to have the same beliefs as those talked about in this email.”

My Shelby and Franklin county cousins, which are numerous, think of me and my brother as city kids, as we are from Louisville, and they are from places like Waddy, Graefensburg, Bridgeport, Bagdad, Choateville, and North Benson. Then my friends from Louisville keep a wary eye on me, given that they are from Louisville, while I am from Okolona, South Park, or even Fairdale. It’s all relative. The particular cousin who sent me this is just a few days older than me. And we are affiliated with the same political party. So it stands to reason we have similar views.

One of the lines in her “you might be a redneck if” analyses reads “You know what you believe and you aren’t afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.” I’ve been accused of such thinking for most of my life, so I guess I qualify. But in the litany of “you might be’s” are several others and I’d like to comment on them, vis-à-vis the upcoming election. I think this is important since one of the reasons these emails are being passed about may be political.

So, first I’ll list the “you might be” as received in the email followed by my comments.

You might be a Red Neck if it never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase “One Nation, Under God.” This is an easy one. I’m not offended at all by that statement. I’ve written many times about my beliefs in God, God as creator, God in general. I also know that phrase is officially fairly recent in America’s history. The idea originated with the Knights of Columbus in 1951. After attending a sermon delivered by the Rev. George McPherson at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. on February 7, 1954, President Eisenhower agreed to take up the cause. The picture at right was taken that day. A bill adding these words was signed by the president on Flag Day, 1954.

You might be a Red Neck if you’ve never protested about seeing The Ten Commandments in public places. This one is different. I’ve never personally protested. I do belong to the ACLU and the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, both of which do protest such things. I have a problem with state-sponsored support of religion. I take it seriously. When I was a candidate for the Metro Council, one of the questions I was often asked was how or if I would support so-called “faith-based” programs for the needy. My response was I wouldn’t. Giving money to churches is not something a government should do, under whatever auspices. I do believe in government sponsored welfare of needy individuals; I do not believe in government sponsored welfare for churches, who then determine who is and isn’t needy. So, by extension, I have a problem with The Ten Commandments as an official government posting or in an official government placement. That doesn’t mean I’m anti-Ten Commandments. Nor does it mean I’m anti- people who support The Ten Commandments, of which I am one.

You might be a Red Neck if you still say Christmas instead of Winter Festival. Like Barack Obama, I am Christian. I do still say Christmas, and I never use an “X” as in abbreviation such as “X-mas.” I also keep track of solstices and equinoxes, and full, waxing, waning, and new moons, which probably makes me suspect.

You might be a Red Neck if you bow your head when someone prays. Another easy one. I pray and I believe in prayer. And I bow my head when I do or when someone else does. I've prayed for any number of things including the current presidency. I've prayed for successes in plans and help with the weather. I've prayed for good health and good jobs, both for me and others. At least once a week I pray the Lord's Prayer, which includes the line "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Take note of that measurement, asking for forgiveness in the measure which we personally dole it out.

You might be a Red Neck if you stand and place your hand over your heart when you someone plays the National Anthem. Another gimme. And I love to go to baseball games and do it with a whole bunch of other people at the same time. I even tend to do so when it is played on TV. One of the greatest feelings in the world, literally in the world, is when Americans win medals at the Olympics and the whole world gets to hear my national anthem.

You might be a Red Neck if you treat our Armed Forces veterans with great respect and always have. I was raised by my maternal grandfather, a World War Two United States Navy veteran. He served in Europe and the Pacific. When I learned to play the piano as a kid, he made sure I learned all the service branch-hymns so I could play them for his buddies up at the Okolona VFW Post 8639 on the old piano in the original hall. I still play them. I still respect him, his friends, and those who have gone on to serve in his place since he is no longer here. Just last week I went on Secretary of State Trey Grayson’s website where he has a program where you sign up to get a button saying you are voting for a Veteran. I signed up, listed my grandfather and his service in the 114th Battalion of the Seabees, WW2. I got my button in the mail and will wear it Election Day.

You might be a Red Neck if you’ve never burned an American Flag not intend to. Well, I have properly burned one, actually several, to dispose of them. But I’ve never burned one myself. But, like our hopefully outgoing United States Senator Addison Mitchell McConnell, Jr., I support our United States Constitutional right to do so. And I oppose a Constitutional Amendment to change that right, thereby abridging one’s freedom of speech.

You might be a Red Neck if you know what you believe and you aren’t afraid to say so, no matter who is listening. That’s what I am doing here!

You might be a Red Neck if you respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same. I’ve only fulfilled one-half of this obligation as I have no kids. But, I’ve tried not to impose my beliefs on my nieces and nephews, even though I have helped in their raising from time-to-time. And I say “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am” to most everyone as a rule, irrespective of their age.

You might be a Red Neck if you’d give your last dollar to a friend. I’ve been down to my last dollar a few times, so I’ve had that opportunity, but I’ve never actually had to give it away. But, I think I would. Others, many others, have been helpful to me. And, as Saint Paul tells us in his First Letter to the Corinthians, in Chapter 13, “And now faith, hope, and charity abide, these three; and the greatest of these is charity.” Charity is often translated as love in this passage, and the same holds true. Jesus said we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. He didn’t put any limitations on it. There were no suggestions that we limit our love to our spouses, significant others, children, or the people next door; nor to Americans, or English-speakers, or our softball friends; nor to UK supporters, left-handeds, or fraternity brothers.

On the whole, as I stated at the beginning, I qualify for the "you might be a Red Neck if." Now, does the fact that I am fairly liberal, like the idea of spreading the wealth, believe in a program of Universal Healthcare, and am committed to voting for Barack Obama next week nullify that?

I think not.

401. KFTC's Voter Guide

In an entry on October 23, 2007, after receiving my Kentuckians For The Commonwealth Voter Guide, I commented on some specific answers given by a Republican candidate in last fall's election, naming that entry "Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due." This year's guide offers yet another opportunity for me to mention a Republican whose views on immigration I find enlightened and appropriate.

As I said last year, as a member of the governing body of the Kentucky Democratic Party, I have an obligation to vote for and help elect Democrats throughout the commonwealth. The Sixth Congressional District, which at one time began just a few miles east of Louisville at the Shelby County line, but now doesn't do so until just past the 48 Mile Marker on Interstate 64 upon entry into Franklin County, pits the incumbent Democratic Congressman Albert Benjamin "Ben" Chandler III against Republican Jon Larson, who, quite frankly, I did not know was running until receipt of my KFTC Voter Guide.

To be honest, Ben has suddenly grown more Democratic this year, endearing him to a wider swath of voters than may have been enchanted by him back in 2003 when he was a candidate for governor. This is most noted in his early endorsement of United States Senator Barack Obama in the Democratic Primary earlier in the year. Ben's Republican opponent has the proverbial snowball's chance in Hell of being elected. That gives Ben the freedom to make endorsements like Barack Obama and Mr. Larson the freedom to part with his Party on issues like immigration.

The following is the KFTC's question and candidate Larson's answer on the subject of immigration.

KFTC: Undocumented immigrants are a growing part of Kentucky’s workforce, culture, and communities as they are for many states across the US. This has caused friction in many areas. Some Kentuckians think that undocumented workers are problematic because they take jobs and government services needed by citizens. Other Kentuckians say that immigrant communities make substantial positive contributions to our state and that their needs are just as important as citizens’ needs – and furthermore our economy couldn’t function without them. What is your stance on immigration and undocumented workers?

MR. LARSON: Too many Republican politicians have publicized impractical anti-“illegal” immigrant proposals. In contrast, I want to express a few common-sense reasons why our government should offer amnesty (non-quota, non-“touchback” paths to citizenship, with immediate issuance of easily renewable federal identification cards). As a true conservative, an anti-bureaucrat, valuing financial welfare for other Americans, I must state the obvious: There is no realistic way to detain and deport more than seven million undocumented Hispanic workers and their dependents.

Our immigration laws are like a discouraging maze, fostered by years of racial (“Chinese exclusion”) and anti-Southern and Easter European, anti-Irishmen, and lately anti-Hispanic prejudices. America is the “Land of Immigrants,” but we have allowed the tired, hungry and poor of the world to become disappointed by our bureaucratic roadblocks. Historically, Liberty (Ellis) Island did not send immigrants back to their birth countries to wait 5-14 years, to be solicited to pay bribes, just so they could legally re-enter our “Home of the Free.” We should never be afraid to welcome fresh blood into our National melting pot.

Please understand that the negative publicity unreasonably frightens immigrants and irritates our American-born Hispanic citizens, discouraging border cooperation. Many hard working and admirably productive undocumented immigrants have been financially victimized, some raped (and more than 450 have dies, some horrifically) along our Southern border. These same individuals, still fearing deportation, cannot obtain basic identification documents, to their disadvantage and our ultimate loss (of insurance and safety protections).

Turn these people into 100% tax payers who can use their ID’s to bank, cash checks, shop and purchase medical and automobile insurance.

*****

Let me add that I concur with Mr. Larson's response.

309. An Open America

General Colin Powell receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Wilson Reagan.

I have just left the Kentucky Convention Center in downtown Louisville where tonight the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana (http://www.wacaky-in.org) had as its guest speaker former United States Secretary of State General Colin Powell. Secretary Powell spoke for about an hour in a very comfortable style to the several hundred of us seated in the audience, giving us a little history about himself, and offering insights into some of the world playing fields on which he has had the opportunity to serve the United States, both in the field of the military as well as that of diplomacy. He indicated that diplomacy is the better of the two in solving the problems of the world. More than once he anecdotally referred to immigrants who had come to America to find a better life, including his own parents, of Jamaican heritage, who arrived in Brooklyn eighty-one years ago. He affirmed his belief that America is a safer place due to safeguards put in place after September 11, but offered that he spoke to the president not long after those events, warning him that America seemed to be putting up the "Not Welcome" sign at our front doors, turning away especially students whose time in America may have lead to a better future for either their country of origin, or if they stayed here for our our sovereign land, and that he felt and still believes that is wrong, as do I. He spoke of several foreign leaders to whom he referred as personal friends, telling of how they each arrived where they were in the diplomatic intercourses which have changed the political face of the earth over the last twenty years, especially his dealings with former Soviet President Michael Gorbachev while he served under President Ronald Reagan. He went on to talk, at length, about education, economics, and the ascension - an opening up - of democracies and peace throughout most of the world. He spoke especially of Africa, India, China, and Japan, and then of our own Western Hemisphere where only Cuba remains as an anomaly. He spoke affectionately of France, saying America and France had been in a marriage for 230 years, albeit one which now and then needed marriage counselling. Whether or not he was aware that the naming of our town here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606 was inspired by LaFayette's help for America by France in the Revolution he did not make clear, although he did reference it. (By extension, even the name of this blog is French inspired). An additional by-the-way, he referred to Louisville [correctly] as a "town" and not as the 16th Largest City in America, a title erroneously bestowed upon it by the Mayor of Louisville-Jefferson County Metro, who was in attendance to here the General refer to our town). He spoke mostly of openness, openness for opportunities not only for the people of America, but for those outside of America who look to us as a beacon and leader. It was a thoroughly enjoyable speech.

I was given tickets to the speech by my friends David and Mary Pat Sexton. I work with David in the County Attorney's Office and I have known his wife Mary Pat since college. Thanks to both of them for this educational opportunity.

HB70, the Gospel of Saint Luke, and Leviticus

I found myself in Frankfort yesterday seeking about the legislative corridors for evidence of some constructive work coming out of that building on the last scheduled legislative day. What remains, at least in the People’s Branch of the General Assembly, are some details in the budget to be worked out, a period for the governor to consider any items he might veto, and a few final days for the General Assembly to override any vetoes the governor might offer. I can not offer any insight as to the workings of the Senate led by Republican President David Williams.

The House, under the leadership of Speaker Jody Richards, finally convened around 4:30 in the afternoon with the news that the Democratic House caucus would be meeting again today to work out some details in the budget. Those details probably include finding a number of legislators willing to vote for it. Today’s papers indicate the Speaker believes it is passable, but it will take some work.

In non-budget business, there were introductions and pictures taken, as well as a somber remembrance of the man known as Mr. Wildcat, Bill Keightley, the long-time UK Basketball Manager, who died at the age of 81 attending an Opening Day game of the Cincinnati Reds. Mr. Keightley is pictured at right with UK Coach Billy Gillespie. The House adjourned in honor of the man who had served at the University for the last 48 years. Many, including me, were teary-eyed.

Following that and some other business was discussion of HB70, a proposal introduced by Lexington Democratic State Representative Jesse Crenshaw to amend the Constitution of Kentucky to allow, if approved by the voters, certain felons to regain their voting rights upon completion of the sentences (including probation and parole) imposed on them by the judicial system. Kentucky, Virginia, and Florida all have laws of some nature requiring pardons from the governor before reenfranchisment. The other 47 states do not. There are exceptions in HB70 for certain heinous crimes such as murder, manslaughter, or sexual crimes involving a minor.

This is a good proposed Constitutional amendment and one I support and have supported for many years. Of course, given that it arose on the last working day of the Session, it is unlikely the Republican end of the building will pick up the issue and run with it. Maybe - hopefully - Senator Williams will prove me wrong. He would do well to heed the comments of one Republican member of the House, State Representative Lonnie Napier of Garrard County. Up until yesterday, I do not ever recalling applauding anything Representative Napier has said or done. He and I differ on a number of issues.

That changed yesterday. In explaining his support of HB70, Representative Napier first identified the measure as one which wasn’t a Democratic or Republican measure, but rather was a Kentucky one. He then went on and quoted from the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke, and specifically the latter half of that chapter, which is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Many of us (who are Christians) first learned this story in Sunday School as little kids. For a non-rural kid like me, I always remembered the phrase “the fatted calf” which served as the main entrée of the feast served up by the father upon the return of his younger son who had sinned against both him and heaven. As someone who went “home” for family reunions, where “home” meant the countryside of rural western Franklin County, and reunions meant an abundance of “fatted calves” and other rural-type foods, I understood the importance of a feast featuring the “fatted calf.” In the parable, the father rejoiced, even to the point of arousing the ire of his older and loyal son, who protested against the joy the father found in the younger son’s return.

The parable, as Representative Napier explained, is a story of compassion. It is the type of compassion I write about in my profile attached to this blog, the kind I and others are seeking in our sometimes seemingly futile search for the social justice of Jesus Christ in our governments and in our personal lives. It is a true telling of hating the sin but loving the sinner. That is a line we liberals often hear when conservatives speak in describing why they vote for certain issues. They say they aren’t voting against the people who live with those issues day in and day out, they are simply voting against the issue itself. It is usually a hollow and frankly false argument.

Yesterday, however, Representative Napier’s use of the story as the explanation of his vote upon the measure proved that even some of the prodigal sons in the legislature – those who often wrap their legislative logic in and with the pages of the Bible, can indeed return to the true meaning to be found in the stories of the Bible, which generally speaking can be summed up in the golden rule, first explained in the Bible in the Old Testament verses of the Nineteenth Chapter of Leviticus, rather ironic since Leviticus, and in some instances this very chapter of Leviticus, serves many conservatives as a basis to ignore the golden rule in respect to certain people or groups of people. I’ve written on this before in an entry on immigration.

The King James Version of Leviticus 19:18 reads

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.”

Later, in the same chapter, the writer expands those included in this love of neighbor from just “thy people” to everyone, including strangers, which in some versions is translated as aliens. Leviticus 19:34 reads

“But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

Jesus expands on these ideas in Matthew 7 and especially in Luke 6. Luke 6, Verse 36, begins “Be ye therefore merciful.”

Yesterday, with their passage of HB70, the House of Representatives proved their capacity to be merciful. Thanks Be to God – and especially, yesterday, to Representative Napier and his use and living out of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

306. Areas Codes

Let us say that if you wanted to place a call to Papa Hemingway whilst he was lounging about his favorite city in the United States, you would use the Area Code 305 to place the call. That was the significance of the previous entry's number to the previous entry's subject matter - the Area Code. Florida was one of the first states that put the North American Numbering Plan, designed by AT&T, into use. The original area code for Florida was 305. Florida now has seventeen. 305, then as now, serves Key West as well as other parts of far-southern Florida.

Area Codes were created in the late 1940s and first came into use in 1951. Kentucky's original area code was 502. We presently have four codes (270, 502, 606, and 859) and we are scheduled to get another one (364) in the far western part of the state next year. The original list of codes for all of the United States, Canada, and Mexico had a zero, and then later a 1, as the center digit. Codes for higher populated areas had all low numbers. This was in the days of rotary telephones. If you are under 40, you may not have any idea what a rotary telephone is. Suffice it to say that the two largest cities in the land have area codes of 212 and 213, which requires the least number of rotary clicks to make a long distance call. None of the original codes began or ended in a 1 which is still the case. For that matter, none of them begin or end in 11 either.


Of course now that the number on a phone is representative of an electronic signal, and not a rotary click, any number can pretty well be assigned anywhere. It seems to be with the advancement of cellular technology that, in all honesty, there should be no such thing as a "long-distance call." But then, those are money makers for telephone systems and I doubt they will go away.

One final note on Area Codes which bothers me. Calls can be made between Canada and the United States using the 1+the Area Code format. But, since 1991, there has been a wall erected between the United States and Mexico. To call "south of the border," one must use the International Calling Codes of 01+the Country Code of 52, as if calling from El Paso, Texas, USA to Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico is a lot different than calling from Detroit, Michigan, USA to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. You have to wonder why one is treated differently from the other.

*****

Bridget: Death in the Afternoon, but I've never had one. In my drinking days, I drank beer, except on payday weekends when Old Forester Bourbon was my drink of choice. In The Sun Also Rises, there is lots of alcohol consumed, mostly beer, but also liqueurs made with Absinthe, which is made with Anise. Death in the Afternoon is made with Absinthe.

Ben: Is that all you ever think about? Wait, I know the answer to that.

281. Good News

First, State Representative Harry Moberly, a Democrat from Richmond who is the Democratic point man on budget matters, gets it. Good news. He is proposing tax increases here and there. One is a cigarette tax; another is an increase in corporate taxes; thirdly, some revenue enhancements in the indivudual tax code. Mr. Speaker Jody Richards says Moberly's plan is doable - at least in the House.

There are lots of ways for Moberly to go. They've been cutting taxes and exempting classes of folks for thirty years. Finally, at least there is acknowledgment that change is needed. Of couse the Senate end of the building is controlled by people who live in the fantasy land that "no government is good government," led by State Senator David Williams of P. O. Box 666 in Burkesville in Cumberland County (while his wife lives over in Russell County, which is not a part of his senate district). Senator Williams will direct the Republicans in the Senate (and probably a few of the Democrats) to vote against any of the proposals sent down by the House.

It is the intention of the Republicans to get people used to idea that Democrats are "tax and spend" types - as opposed to Republicans who are "borrow and spend" types. And, unfortunately, in the short run, he will probably succeed, which will eventually lead to the shutdowns of various parts of state government. I'm not sure when that will happen, but when it does, I am hopeful the KDP will buy some TV time and show pictures of when the Federal government was shut down under the Republican controlled United States House of Representatives, replete with pictures of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich being morphed into the current State Senate President David Williams. It is going to be a long and winding process and it will not be without some suffering on the parts of most every Kentuckian. And while Senator Williams and his Republicans (along with some Democrats) will be largely responsible, anyone who calls upon their legislators to "cut taxes" is also part of the problem.

Onto some better news. Here in Louisville, two items have crossed the newswires of interest to immigrants and those who believe that America should heed the words carved on the base of the Statue of Liberty about taking in those in need.

First, a storefront church in the Iroquois Manor Shopping Center on S. 3rd Street is offering free meals in this area which is heavily populated by immigrants from as many as 27 different countries. The Iglesia Cristiana He Visto La Luz , which translated means I Have Seen The Light Christian Church, serves the meals on Fridays from 12 noon to 2:00 pm. This is what is meant by doing God's work; not all the face-time a lot of politicians put in because they are giving away your tax dollars on their pet projects.

The other good news came from the Muhammad Ali Center yesterday where 195 formely non-Americans became Americans, including one, Jose Valdez, who has already served two tours of duty for what is now his country. Anyone who ever has the chance to witness one of these Swearing-Ins will never again take for granted the importance of being an American.

Thanks Be To God.