So glad to see our President Obama awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but aren’t you confused as to why?  Is it the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, or is he about to bring peace somewhere we haven’t heard about yet? And why didn’t our beloved G.W. Bush qualify for that great prize?

With our beleaguered President pondering which way to go in Iraquistan, I feel it is time to share some of my own military expertise here. While I am not a retired expert general, I did serve proudly with the US Army for 3 years in the Great Cold War, with a Good Conduct Medal and a Cold War Commendation, and I have been an interested observer of all our “Hot” wars for the past 70 years, especially when my own brother and other relatives were involved. It is time for a change of strategy. We cannot expect to win any war if we let the enemy make all the rules.  Period.  And we need to read some history books.

Most military experts agree that we would not have gotten involved in Vietnam if we had consulted and listened to the French before we were “attacked”.  How many lives and how much money would have been saved if we had just given Vietnam the tire plants, windmill and textile factories they now have and gone about our business?  Why not help them out before we destroy them?

The same applies in Afghanistan.  Have we, in the past 8 years, even once asked the Russians for their expertise and experience in destroying that desolate country?  They learned the hard way before us.  What, indeed, is our purpose there?  Is it something more than the opium?  Is there anything left to destroy?

I feel we need to redesign our current ineffective war machine for the future, maybe bring in some Israeli generals and use their expertise.  Israel is the master of the quick strike; the 7-day war, none of this 9-year or 100-year nonsense.  We should be able to choose our target, hit them with everything we have (well, short of the nukes)-bombs, troops, superior firepower-and then get out and move on to battle the next oppressed nation.  In fact, in most cases we could do our bombing and destruction with unmanned missiles from the safety of our own home bases.  Then just bring in our oil experts and economic development teams to rebuild that destroyed nation to our specifications while we destroy the next one.  If, perhaps, we are unable to get the job done in one week, the UN can be standing by to end things peacefully, as they do with Israel.  Bring the troops home quickly and safely!

Ours is a lofty goal- to bring freedom, peace, and prosperity to the world, whether they want it or not, but we just do not have the manpower and resources to wage war in multiple nations at the same time for prolonged periods, especially when we let those nations set the rules.  It is time to modernize.  Let the 7-Day War be our goal.

Some may recognize my masthead (unless I have changed it again) as a photo of my Dad, a Tug Hill farmer all his life, with his team of work horses, a photo I took back in 1965 or so.  I recently heard that the Tug Hill Tomorrow Trust was looking for some photos for their annual fundraiser calendar, so I sent them a few of my favorites.  Just heard from their calendar person that they will be using this photo for their June calendar, and will be sending me a copy.  I look forward to it.  I always favored this picture. Here is a preview.  Buy a calendar.

Thanks again, Guv Paterson.  At least I can say I didn’t vote for you.  Well, actually, nobody did.  Thanks to your latest round of “Fee” increases, this Fall, after over 50 years of not missing a deer season (except for a couple of years “hunting” with my Uncle Sam), I get to sit this one out.  At least one poor little Bambi gets a reprieve for another year.

After I turned 65 a few years back, I was able to afford a hunting license once more, even on my meager Social Security budget.  Only $5 for a Senior Citizen license.  I’m not sure which governor started that, but a sincere thank you to him from all us Seniors.  I’m told it was actually free at one time.  But as of October 1 this year, that license fee will double to $10, (yes, a 100% increase), and the Senior age limit goes up to 70.  Nothing like helping out the Seniors-right, Guv? Even worse, since I am over 65 but not quite 70, my permits to hunt this year, if I could afford them, would cost a whopping $98, according to my local Town Clerk.  Is this really necessary?

So yes, I do believe I will have to sit this one out.  You won’t be getting even $5 for the “General Fund” from me.  Oh yes, if I am feeling up to it in October, I will probably join the gang at hunting camp as usual: have a few laughs and some good food; but my hunting will all be done with my camera.  I can hang around camp, cook breakfast, keep the coffee pot going, maybe wander out and take some Fall photos.  It sure will be different.  Thanks again, governor.

And don’t even get me started on driver license and registration fees!  Ya really know how to hit the unemployed and fixed income folks where it hurts the most!  Have you not heard that Seniors no longer receive “cost-of-living” pay increases?  Shouldn’t you hold the line on cost-of-living expense increases too?  Where is all that stimulus money now?  Just can’t wait until you and your do-nothing legislature run for reelection.

Whether or not you feel NY Guv Paterson is doing his job, and most polls indicate that most of us say no, ya just gotta feel sorry for the guy. After all, he didn’t ask for the job, wasn’t elected to it, fell into it by accident. Why, he even admitted to his own “indiscretions”, like his former boss.   That didn’t work.   And he gets little help from his legislature in getting  his job done.

Consider this: shortly after the Governor took office, US Senator Hillary Clinton left her job, Paterson was called upon to name a replacement. Was he able to call for a special election, as MA will do for Senator Kennedy? No, he had to point the finger himself. A short while later, our Congressman McHugh from Upstate NY was called upon by President Obama for higher office. Does the Guv have to make another appointment? No, well, this time we will call a special election.  Maybe.  This being a much more important position than US Senator, the people should have a say in hiring their congressman, right?

Can you see why your governor is confused? Why, when he noticed that New York no longer had a Lieutenant Governor (Oh, yeah, that was me!), and the NY law had no provision to elect or appoint one, just in case, he naturally felt he had the right to appoint someone, anyone, to that office? I for one am certainly confused by our confusing laws, or lack of same. Surely there is some reason for these inconsistencies in replacing duly elected officials?  Surely someone knows?  And don’t even get me started on the NY Legislature!

The law-abiding citizenry of beautiful Baldwinsville in Central New York can rest easy, now that hands-on mayor Joe Saracini has finally cracked down on that den of crime and gambling known as the Canton Woods Senior Center.  Can you imagine, those sinful old folk were gambling for as much as 50 cents on games of chance like bingo?  Rumor has it that one elderly lady got lucky and invested her winnings in a pound of hamburger at the local P&C, which she used to supplement her macaroni diet for a week.  This could not continue!  When told about it, the mayor acted quickly to put an end to this illegal and immoral bingo, poker, and pinochle activity, taking  all those illicit pennies, dimes, and yes, quarters, off the tables.  Can you imagine all this going on right in the center of town?  Another Turningstone Casino in the making!  All those potential taxes going uncollected.

Now some may argue that the mayor’s job is not to harass our Seniors, but to address the village’s many real problems with traffic, crime, trash collection, snow removal, and carp fishing, but not our Mayor Joe.  Those minor issues tend to take care of themselves.  But gambling by Senior Citizens?  Word is that there is a restaurant in town conducting football pools, and they are next in the mayor’s sights.  We wish him well come election time.

PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  Enough with Michael Jackson yet already.  Let the poor tortured soul rest in peace.  Let’s have more about the passing of Farrah Fawcett and the world’s most famous swimsuit poster.  Now there is a loss!

It is true that Jackson was a major talent at one time-if you enjoy that sort of music, but he knew, and all of us knew, that he had grown too weird even for this society, and that eventually drugs would kill him.  Maybe it happened.  Let it go.  Mark his passing, mourn his passing, but do we need a month-long tribute on all the media, with details on his favorite drugs and his physical makeover and the jackals fighting over his possessions?  What an example for our children.  What a cult hero.  And now the legends start that he is not really dead, but in seclusion somewhere with Elvis, Marilyn, and James Dean.  Enough.  Enough.   Enough.

Yes, impassioned New Yorkers everywhere are up in arms about the latest failings of this group of guys.  Ready to take a page from Iranians; to riot in the streets; to shout their frustration from the rooftops.  Well, almost.  I have heard this “team” called dysfunctional, inefficient, ineffective, selfish, unyielding, even “unable to work and play well with others”.  And rightly so, it seems.  Not only are they overpaid under-achievers; not only are they unable to accomplish the simple tasks we hire them to do, but they are even unable to look professional while doing it.  People are demanding change!  New leaders.  New members.  A new direction.  Now!

Aha, you say!  He is talking about our beloved NY State Legislature, right?  And rightly so.  Well, actually, I was referring to our beloved NY Mets “”Professional” baseball team, but yes, you’re right, all of the above applies to our state senate. I think that senate reached a new low this week when, while the democratic members were all sitting around dreaming of going home to run for re-election, a stray republican wandered thru the chamber, giving them a majority, and they quickly passed 75 bills before that republican could get to the rest room.  Amazing!  One can only wonder about the calm deliberation, discussion, and analysis that took place on those 75 bills.  For sure at least one of them involved a pay raise for you-know-who, while not one of them involved reforms of the legislature. I mean, these guys are not even pretending any more to do the job we send them to Albany to do.  “What’s In It For Me?” has become their byword.  Perhaps it is better for us if no legislation gets passed, as is the norm.  Some folks even say that nothing has changed in Albany-just more publicity.

If only we could get the average New Yorker as upset over their government as they are over their baseball team.  If only they could remember these demeaning shenanigans in November when they go to the polls, and vote the whole self-serving bunch out.  If only we could disolve the entire legislature today and replace them with unemployed New Yorkers who WANT to work.  There are a lot of us out there.

But no, that’s not “The way it works”.  If we held a special election tomorrow, most folks who bother to vote would cast a ballot for those same politicians, “because their names are familiar”.  Our media would still endorse those same veteran incumbents, because “they have the necessary experience”.  And so it goes.  I can’t really speak for the Mets, being a Yankees fan, but when it comes to political groups, New Yorkers deserve what we get.

As New York State’s economy worsens day by day, I find myself spending more and more time out along the highways and byways of this once-great state- searching for nickel cans.  Always see a lot of friends and neighbors out there too, mostly seniors and jobless folks.  Hey, you do what you have to do, in spite of what Joe Bruno says.  But it seems that we are kicking more and more water and juice bottles out of the way these days, just to get to the beer and soda bottles, where the big money is.

For those folks who may not be familiar, New York enacted a law, many years ago, placing a $.05 deposit on beer and soda cans or bottles, payable upon return.  Of course, many citizens cannot be bothered with a mere nickel, so the beer can goes out the car window for the industrious collector.  And of course, any monies for unreturned bottles goes into the state tax barrel.  Also, for mysterious reasons, our infamous NY Legislature excluded from this law many other containers, such as juice and tea, and now water bottles, so these discards pretty much remain out there-forever.  No deposit-no return.

To be fair, our mostly dysfunctional legislators have attempted, over the years, to correct this oversight in taxing bottles, especially after bottled water became popular, but Gov BrunoSilver always managed to block any changes.  Not enough nickels involved, perhaps.  But finally, this year, rumor has it that the nickel can bill has been expanded to include water bottles (but not juice cans), to take effect some time in the unknown future.

One huge flaw in this environmental bill that our legislature has not addressed, however, is that although this is a NEW YORK law, and the can labels all state “NY Deposit 5 cents”, many stores and vendors will not accept bottles sold from another store, or brought in from another county.  For instance, one cannot return to Price Chopper a pepsi can purchased at Wegman’s, or a Wal-Mart brand can.  One cannot return to a redemption center in Onondaga County with a mountain dew bottle purchased in Lewis County.  Some will refuse a can if it is smashed, dented, or has holes.  So sorry, no soup for you!  Makes no sense at all.  It might be different if they rinsed the cans and reused them, but they all go in the big grinder.  As I tried to explain at a deposit center, the label clearly says NY deposit-nothing about counties or store brands or territorial infighting.  A nickel should be a nickel.  At least that can goes home to be deposited in my trash, not his.  Let NY have that nickel.  At least, in this instance, the legislature’s intent was good, however unclear.  I think.

Oh, look, a whole 6-pack!

Kenn at An Khe 1965

Kenn at An Khe 1965

letter from ‘nam

As we enjoyed a beautiful Memorial Day holiday, I was reminded by my daughter of a copy we have of a letter sent by my brother Kenn from Vietnam back in 1965 and published at that time in the local newspaper.  She wanted me to send her a copy of it as a memorial.  Kenn made it back from that war, though many others did not, and today we honor and thank all of them for their sacrifices.  My brother later died from exposure to the dread Agent Orange, some called it “Friendly Fire”, but I know he was thankful that he was spared and was able to marry, father two beautiful children, and enjoy life for another 30 or so years. We give thanks to him and all the others whose lives were cut short in that war and all those other wars.

I had an older cousin, Herb Brant, who was always more like an older brother to my family.  He enlisted in WWII, joined General Patton in France just after D-Day, and fought with Patton’s army through the bloody Battle of the Bulge, being wounded 2 or 3 times along the way.  He made it home, and never discussed the war much, but I always remember him saying that he lost a lot of good friends in that war, and he made a vow to enjoy the life that was given to him, in tribute to those who were buried in France.  Herb lived into his 80’s, and true to his word, took joy in everything he did.  I can think of no more fitting way to remember them.

One can wish that no one else ever dies in battle, but if we are to remain free, some of us must pay for that freedom.  We thank them.

Okay, maybe I am getting a bit slow in my old age, but I can’t seem to grasp the idea of the Great Economic Stimulus Package.  Maybe someone can explain it for the rest of us.

Okay, from what I understand so far, our government is taking large amounts of our tax dollars which they will not even collect until years from now, maybe, and turning these dollars over, without restrictions, to the banking, auto, and financial geniuses, or geniusi, who, thru their own greed and blunders, have lost most of the monies they had, most of which originally belonged to the taxpayers.  Make sense?

These financial experts will take these unlimited $trillions, less what the congressmen “earmark”, and then lend some of it back to some of the taxpayers, who are already unemployed, over-extended with credit card and mortgages, and have lost all or most of their retirement and investment money.  And this will help us how? And note that most of the President’s top financial advisers have been recruited, yes, from Wall Street.  They KNOW what they have been doing wrong!

In fairness, I did hear that the President proposes to give each and every long-suffering taxpayer a Stimulus payment of $400, (spread over a year).  Admittedly, $400 is a lot of money, especially for the many who have lost their jobs and retirement money.  That amount might be enough to, what, not make a mortgage payment-maybe pay the credit card interest for a month?  Nope, that won’t do it, Mr Obama.  And here in NY, Governor Paterson has already seen to it that we will be contributing much more than $400 if we wish to stay here another year.

Could it be that we will soon be looking back on the Bush/Cheney era as The Good Ol’ Days, and not the Dark Ages?