Taking One at Face Value

I've met the guy on more than one occasion. He's likable in person. But when it comes to his politics - sheesh!

This former Democrat is speaking about Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D).I've always thought he disguised his liberalism quite well. He's for veterans. Can't be a bad guy then, huh?

Most recently, in response to the bums that are being called "Occupiers" his campaign website quotes him saying "It's time to fight back!) He asks you to stand with him as he fights for working families. Fine, stand with them Senator but just what the hell do these people have to do with the working class?

They have defecated and urinated on NYPD cruisers and spat on officers. Now the Congressman is smart enough not to reference these specific acts, or, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer is all to eager to point out, is he in any of the pictures of these acts. But he HAS said, per the Plain Dealer, "T think the energy coming out of the Wall Street protesters is always a good thing."

I sure hope ALL voters and workers take into consideration the party that Brown represents. Look around you and understand what is going on. Or else, as the Bugs Bunny cartoons used to end with, "That's All Folks!"

How Should We See Each Other or the Double-Edged Sword of Hyphenated-Americanism

Living in Cleveland, Ohio, our town has been called Ethnicity - ETHNIC CITY. We grew up here with large enclaves of Poles, Hungarians, Irish et al. It has given me an appreciation of the various cultures and the friends I have always made among them. In the case of what I see as Mexicans in America, it appears to be a different story - unless our major media outlets are attempting to divide us.

I relate to the case of American High School boys at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, California. They wore American flags and/or colors to school on Cinco de Mayo, May 5th. It is a day celebrated for differing reasons, depending on where you reside.

In the U.S. it is a day when those of Mexican heritage celebrate their pride. At least that what's it's supposed to be. The actual day of celebration marks Mexico's unlikely victory over French forces at the battle of Puebla on that date in 1862.

The boys were sent home from school for wearing the American red, white and blue colors while those of Mexican heritage, wearing displays of their Mexican heritage, were not. And now a Judge has ruled in favor of the school authorities.

I have seen ethnic pride here in northeast Ohio. Those of Irish heritage celebrate St. Patrick's Day even though many of those partying are unaware of where in Ireland their ancestors came from or even know exactly who came over. The exceptions however, like many southern Irish I have met, ALWAYS know they are of Irish heritage.

Those of Italian heritage celebrate Columbus Day with a parade and a day in which their display their Italian pride. There is a Polish Legion of American veterans, Jewish War Veterans, Catholic War Veterans, Italian War Veterans and Irish American War Veterans to name but a few ethnic-related groups. The other ethnic groups are too numerous to mention.

My point here is celebrating your ancestry is a good thing. Retired Ohio Senator George Voinovich said he has always found that those close to their ethnic heritage have been the best citizens. What is not acceptable, through my eye, is the what appears to be the wrongheaded views of both the American boys and the Mexican-Americans.

I think the difference is what comes first in their lives. In Cleveland I believe I can speak for the many hyphenated-Americans by saying their identity, before anything else, is American. If I can believe our mainstream media, that is NOT the case with those of Mexican descent in California.

I don't fear someone celebrating their heritage. I do fear if they are not American first. If the latter is the case at Live Oak High School and elsewhere, they are dangerous. I would hope that both sides see Cinco de Mayo through the same eye - as a simple day of celebration and happiness.

On St. Patrick's Day last year a TV host interviewed a young girl at the downtown parade. When asked what she liked best about the day she simply replied, "All the people smiling." And that should also be the spirit of Cinco de Mayo.

Rocky Colavito's Foul Ball

As a youngster, our father introduced my brother Rodger (Red) and me to sports. We were already young fans before most kids knew who the Cleveland Browns or Indians were. In those days it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy a ticket. Red and I always got the cheap tickets to get in and them moved around to find better, unoccupied seats. And we roamed Cleveland Municipal Stadium at will, learning every nook and cranny.

Sitting in Right Field one day with our friend Jerry Szabo, we watched as Cleveland Indian right fielder Rocky Colavito came up to bat. He swung at the first pitch and we saw it fly upwards behind him and onto the stadium roof. I was immediately inspired.

“Rodger, I know how to get on the stadium roof. Let’s go get the ball!” Red didn’t take much coaxing after he learned I really did know how to get onto the stadium roof. I had previously seen the ladders that led to hatches to the roof in highest echelon of the upper deck seats. Sometimes they were open, sometimes closed. Szabo, citing discretion being the better part of valor, opted to stay where he was. Red and I took off.

In the Right Field upper deck we saw an open hatch. Climbing up and through the opening we gained access to the roof. Like Marines landing at Iwo Jima, we immediately began to sprint in the direction of home plate. Quickly arriving behind the plate, we spotted the baseball, about a foot from the edge. Red crawled over and picked up the ball. We immediately began our return sprint back to right field.

Red was always the better athlete of the two of us. About halfway there I got a pain in my side from running and yelled that I had to stop. He got upset at me and kept running. When I pleaded, he stopped, looking at me in a disgusted fashion. He must’ve had a vision because as we walked past another open hatch a Cleveland Police Officer stuck his head through it and yelled, “Hey, you two, Come here.”

Hindsight, they say, is 20-20. What we had done was calmly surrender to the policeman. What we should’ve done is run like bats-out-of-hell. Now, come on, what cop can catch a couple of young teenagers who are running for their lives? And we also should’ve looked for an open hatch that was closer to the home plate area!

We were taken to the Stadium Security Office where we knew we were in deep doo-doo. We let it be known that our father was also a Cleveland Police Officer, figuring we might get a reduced sentence. They called him and I imagine dad’s response, after hearing a description of our antics that day, said something to the effect of, “Send those two idiots home!”

By this time it was late in the game, when the entry gates became unattended. Although we were booted out of the stadium, we went to another gate and re-entered. We found Szabo where we left him in Right Field, wondering if we were ever going to come back.


I’m sure Dad silently contemplated which head doctor he should send his sons to. When we got home he read us the riot act, of course. But we didn’t suffer any just consequences. And after all we had been through, we didn’t even get to keep the baseball.

IT'S MONEY OUT OF YOUR POCKET any way you look at it.

Any way you look at it, it's money out of our pocket. And there's no end to their deviousness. I'm talking about the guy that used to be called Uncle Sam. That name had a nice connotation to it at one time. Can't you picture a soft spoken, gray-haired guy that really cared about us? The uncle we could go to for answers and problem solving? That Uncle Sam has died, replaced by a look alike. The new Uncle Sam is a fake.

I don't know about you but I always look for the ways the fake Uncle Sam wants to keep the money of ours he already has while, at the same time, looking for ways to get more without our noticing it. Our fake uncle is considering a new method of measuring inflation that would increase taxes for most families. Who would lose the most? Try those with low incomes.

His latest ploy is the xChained Consumer Price Index (CCPI).It's a measure that shows a lower level of inflation. Yearly adjustments to the tax brackets would become smaller. This would push more people into higher tax brackets.
Others whose wages would rise faster than the new inflation would have increases in their standard deductions and personal exemptions.

It's estimated this would take $60 billion more dollars out of our pockets over the next ten years. The rub is it would push more people into higher tax brackets. Their wages would rise faster than the new inflation measure. It would result in annual increases in our standard deductions and personal becoming smaller.

An example was used that if you buy beef and its higher than the last time you bought it, and the price of pork has stayed level, you will buy more pork. This decreases the amount of inflation we experience.

This action would let our fake uncle gradually cut benefits and increase taxes in a way that might not be readily apparent to us.

We have CPAs running our economy and they ain't looking out for us.

Another U.S. General "fired"

A political General named John Allen is the commander of an "International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), whatever that is, has said U.S. Army General Peter Fuller has been "fired." His crime? He has spoken out against the Afghanistan government. Way to go General! But I thought you were a UNITED STATES ARMY GENERAL, not an ISAF General!

As reported in "Politico," Fuller said Afghan government leadership are "isolated from reality." He was reacting to AFghanistan President Karzai's statement that Afghanistan would side with Pakistan if it were to go to war with the United States. "Why don't you just poke me in the eye with a needle! You've got to be kidding me … I'm sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you're telling me, 'I don't really care?"

"You can teach a man how to fish, or you can give them a fish," Fuller said. "We're giving them fish while they're learning, and they want more fish! What they're telling us, according to Fuller, is "' like swordfish, how come you're giving me cod?' Guess what? Cod's on the menu today."

Washington's reaction to all this can be summed up in Allen's remarks. "The Afghan people are an honorable people, and comments such as these will not keep us from accomplishing our most critical and shared mission - bringing about a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan."
They and their neighbors are getting prosperous for sure.

Add $20 million to the figure quoted above for a Pakistani Sesame Street. Maybe there's a motive in firing the General. He is now free to produce the show!

How about the streets in my neighborhood Washington?