8/5/09
Headlines I'd Like to See
Recent front page headlines have used bold type to inform us about what’s happening in the city, state, country, and world. We are reminded on a daily basis of the hurting economy, scandals, murder and mayhem, war, worry, and woes.
What if you could compose the headlines or read about some events you'd like to see reported on your wish list of headlines? Here are some of mine:
Cancer Cure Found - Scientists develop vaccine that stops cancer cell reproduction and eradicates existing ones
Conflicts Cease in Iraq and Afghanistan - All troops home as calm settles over the Middle East
U. S. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Soars - GM rebounds, leads way with auto reliability and 45 MPG average
Health Care Reform Acclaimed - Doctors, hospitals, insurance and drug companies, and the general public all delighted with costs and services
Longevity Secret Revealed - Proven at last, Chocolate the key ingredient, birthday of Milton S. Hershey (Sept.13) proclaimed National Holiday
Fairhope Mayor and City Council Accord - Record set in unanimous voting for third consecutive year
Robot Generated Marketers to Pay Listeners - Three minute call will credit 36 ¼ cents to owner (using the new $7.25 wage minimum)
Snowbirds Vow to Dine at Night - Promise to not solely frequent “Early bird specials”, restaurateurs elated but skeptical
Premiums Lowered on Beach Properties - Volume of insured plus years of being hurricane free lead to reduction
“Ear Pollution” Threats Made Avoidable - Persons saying “like”, “awesome”, or “actually” more than once in a sentence are mandated to wear their cap backwards to warn unsuspecting listeners
Puppy Mill Establishments Confiscated - Properties sold with proceeds donated to animal “no kill” organizations
World Agrees in Declaring a Day of Unity - Unanimous agreement of worldwide day where each person cares for another, the expectation of expanding duration to a week seems possible. Tranquility on Earth a first.
And Some I would not care to see:
Cell Phone Companies Receive Stimulus Incentives - In addition, profits from the extra time they charge telling you to “Hang up when finished” and similar intuitive phrases will not be curtailed but increased
Limbaugh and O’Reilly Recipients of News Objectivity Award - Pledge to continue “unbiased” reporting stating, “And that’s the way we want it!”
Obama, Jong-IL, and Ahmadinejad Toast at Beer/Tea Summit - Leaders then agreed not to discuss the subject of mental health reform for Two Wild and Crazy Guys
Movies will Include More Bathroom Jokes to Attract Wider Pre-teen Audience - Demographics prove lavatory mightier than the bedroom for affluent twittering tweeners
*****************************************
On a Personal note
Readers of this column may have experienced deja vous reading the title of this Tri-O. It is the same as the one 99 columns ago.
During the course of penning these ramblings of observations from the whimsical to the factual, of imaginary perceptions to actual current events I have been asked by several folks from where my subject matter comes. The two responses given are quotes: the first is from Red Smith, a Pulitzer Prize wining sports writer for the New York Herald-Tribune and The New York Times who said, “Writing is easy; I just open a vein and bleed” ; and Gay Talese, acclaimed author and The New York Times writer, "I am alone all day producing prose with the ease of a patient passing kidney stones." Enough said.
The time has come (al least for me) for a re-charging of batteries and a break in routine. So, dear reader, I am off on a sabbatical of undetermined length. I may pop up from time to time as the muse strikes, and the editor agrees, in a similar or perhaps a different format.
I have enjoyed this bi-weekly get-together writing for you for almost four years and am grateful to the Fairhope Courier and the Gulf Coast Newspapers who have given me the opportunity to vent my mental meanderings.
If you are so inclined, feel nostalgic (or masochistic) all the Tri-O’s columns can be viewed on www.tri-os.blogspot.com/
That’s about it for me. I hope we meet again somewhere, sometime in the near future.
Http://WWW.baldwincountynow.Com/articles/2009/08/06/columnists/doc4a77af3d23d89162168306.txt
Friday, August 07, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
7/25/09
Celestial Perspectives .... Again
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
Here we are again observing the roundtable in the sky where four legendary guests from the past sit and schmooze. We hover above the celestial caucus where we listen in on the spirited conversation of the participants utilizing their diverse backgrounds, knowledge, intellect, and experience from their times to critique and conjecture as they exchange ideas on contemporary issues. Let’s see who’s there and eavesdrop on their conversation, as we have done in the past.
Seated around the table are: Giacomo Casanova, a writer, adventurer, spy, and renowned “kiss and tell” womanizer; Charles Dickens, English novelist whose works have never gone out of print; Mae West, star actress, screenwriter, master/mistress of double-entendres; and Pinoccio, the wooden puppet longing to become a real boy, a fictional character created by Carlo Collodi.
Casanova: I see that there are more flare-ups in the U.S. Political world about the dalliances of some elected officials. In my day such affairs would have been taken for granted and merely gossiped about at court. Was it like that in your time, Charles?
Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times as this was the Victorian Era. We experienced a long period of prosperity even though we had wars in the Crimea and later the Boer War. Indubitably there were royal intrigues but I chose to concentrate on the plights of the poor and the reformation of labor conditions, especially those of children.
West: Charlie, there may have been a bad set of circumstances at that time, but between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.
Pinoccio: I remember when I was a performer in a puppet show. I was forced to perform and was held prisoner in a birdcage. I’d still be there if I wasn’t saved by Jiminy Cricket and the Blue Fairy. I was the very best top super star of that show [nose grows longer].
Casanova: My parents were both actors as was I. Because of my gambling debts I was imprisoned but there was no Blue Fairy to rescue me.
West: For the record, I’ve got a record. I was sentenced to 10 days in jail on obscenity charges. Would you believe I was out in eight for good behavior? Me! Who said, When I'm good I'm very, very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better.
Dickens: Strange, my father was sent to debtor’s prison and I performed in many plays as well as doing my stage readings on tour. We all may be kindred spirits despite our many differences.
Pinoccio: Differences? I’ll say! Before I became a real boy, I was only wood and does your nose grow when you tell a lie?
West: Oh! And here I thought it was just because you were glad to see me.
Casanova: You jest, but this nose growth should be an attribute imposed on every politician. Then you could vote for those who are able to don a pull-over sweater with ease.
Dickens: Indeed sir, most politicians are pompous and spend most of the time speaking sentences with no meaning in them. One need look no further than most recent times at some past presidents, governors, and senators.
West: Chuck, we all know you’ve had your flings, but were more discreet; Casanovas’ exploits are well known; and our lumber lad here has no strings but he can make tooth-picks. As for me I say to gals everywhere- Don't let a man put anything over on you except an umbrella.
Pinoccio: Hey, that lumber gibe hurt!
West: Sorry, my little chickadee nest.
Pinoccio: If every politician had Jiminy Cricket as their official conscience they would not need oversight committees and special prosecutors.
Casanova: Bravo! We could then appoint a Commissioner of Love to make everyone happy and let Nature take it‘S course.
Dickens: Gracious, sir! That is what caused the scandals!
Casanova: Ah, yes! Then everyone would see that it is inevitable and accept it
West: That is what I’ve been saying for a long time, that love conquers all things except poverty and toothache.
Pinoccio: Pardon me, I may have a wooden brain, but didn’t we go full circle from condemning extra-marital affairs to now condoning and even encouraging them?
Casanova and West: So?
Dickens: Oh, my! Then we will have little great expectations about future leadership deportment?
West: Right on, Chuckie! It all started with Adam and Eve because it takes two to get one in trouble.
Casanova: I have done and been many things in my lifetime: a lawyer, clergyman, secretary, soldier, spy, actor, the person who introduced the lottery, manufacturer, writer, and violinist. With all these achievements I am remembered only for my adventures with women as lover extraordinaire. So it just goes to show that history has a selective memory and that people will recall only the peccadilloes rather than their accomplishments.
West: What is, is, big boy and that’s how it always was. And you, my little wood-pecker friend, can come up and see me sometime; and don’t be afraid to tell lies.
Pinoccio: Boy! And I thought I was the only woodenhead!!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
7/11/09
Of Viruses, Communication, and TV
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
My computer recently got infected with a virus that warned me on a black screen with big red letters “WARNING Yourr’re (sic.) Computer is infected with spy ware” and they ask you to pay for a download to fix the problem. If you click “no” the messages go into a loop and the same messages keep appearing until you press the power button to reboot and you get into the same situation again after you reboot. *
I asked Rick Burdick, Owner of Computing Solutions in Gulf Shores about this. He responded, “There are currently several “fake alert” virus threats looking for victims on the Internet. The most prevalent is Antivirus 2009, which acts like a free antivirus, but is really a virus in disguise. It really wants your credit card. It comes in many different packages, and acts as though it has discovered malware infections on your computer. It will remove them for you… for a price. Once they get your credit card, then nothing is really done. Since most of these companies operate overseas, there is little that local crime enforcement can do about it. President Obama recently announced that he is going to appoint a “Cyber Space Czar” to look into these types of crimes. These white collar criminals are getting away with Internet Robbery, and there currently is no one out to get them.”
These programs are tantamount to criminal extortion and cyber-napping. They are holding you up for ransom for something they don't have, giving you nothing in return, and setting you up for the next hijacking!! In fact this will be a topic brought up internationally when President Obama visits Russia and at the U.N. In November. There are several plans to combat this thievery and global cyberwar, but it’s an uphill battle as criminal elements and governments wishing to do us harm need not abide by such treaties.
That Cyber Space Czar will be most welcome.
***********************************************************
Besides using the Internet for communication, information and entertainment lets focus on TV as the medium where we switch channels instead of clicking ‘delete’.
Although we don't have the instant gratification of searching on Google we can speculate on some past and present programs and personalities seen on the tube.
There continues to be much talk about conservative right-wing broadcasters such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, etc., but the pioneer of confrontational talk shows was Joe Pyne in the ‘50’s and 60’s. Both on radio and TV. He would usually make his guest defensive by first angering them with something derogatory and get them flustered. He also had a wooden leg from service in WW2. The famous interview between him and musician Frank Zappa started: Pyne: "So I guess your long hair makes you a woman." Zappa: "So I guess your wooden leg makes you a table!" He was also the guy who dismissed guests with whom he disagreed by telling them to "Go gargle with razor blades!" Not even Rush is that derisive.
The recent passing of Billy Mays, the TV pitchman, conjures the picture of him ascending to heaven with snow white wings while expounding cleaning power of Oxi-Clean.
Other infomercials tend to exaggerate, if not mislead. Take for instance the upside down tomato one that claims to yield the red fruit (yes, I know they are in the vegetable section of the supermarket) in pounds . However I harvested only a single tomato from my upside down plant following all the directions with careful watering and fertilizing. That was one expensive salad ingredient!
How about that ice cream maker that sells on QVC and HSN; my attempts never match the quality of the store bought desert. It stretches the credibility of the “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” of delight by the hosts of those shows.
If you have some extra time on your hands you can listen to an iPod with 60 GB memory. It can hold 15,000 songs. If an average song lasts three minutes it would take 750 hours (over one month listening all day) to go through all of it. Not to mention the time spent downloading. Talk about excess!
On the lighter side, with reference to current events and personalities- if they were TV programs here is what they could be:
The Fairhope mayor and City Council “The Bickersons”
Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and his lover in Argentina: “Married …… With Children”
Obama administration takes over General Motors: “Big Brother”-
North Korea ruler Kim Jong-IL: “Deal or No Deal”
Macaulay Culkin: “Growing Pains”
Hillary Clinton, Silda Spitzer, and Jenny Sanford: “Lie To Me” or “Survivor” or “Desperate Housewives”
All this electronic gadgetry, from computers to the first radio set with cat’s whiskers have had pitfalls and shortcomings. I guess the last remaining perfections are our grandchildren.
END
* I fixed mine by starting Windows in the “Safe Mode with Networking” (see your manual) and downloading a free anti-virus program.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/07/12/columnists/doc4a57a29533bb5153301298.txt
Of Viruses, Communication, and TV
Tri-O's
Oddities, observations, and opinions By Herb Kandel
My computer recently got infected with a virus that warned me on a black screen with big red letters “WARNING Yourr’re (sic.) Computer is infected with spy ware” and they ask you to pay for a download to fix the problem. If you click “no” the messages go into a loop and the same messages keep appearing until you press the power button to reboot and you get into the same situation again after you reboot. *
I asked Rick Burdick, Owner of Computing Solutions in Gulf Shores about this. He responded, “There are currently several “fake alert” virus threats looking for victims on the Internet. The most prevalent is Antivirus 2009, which acts like a free antivirus, but is really a virus in disguise. It really wants your credit card. It comes in many different packages, and acts as though it has discovered malware infections on your computer. It will remove them for you… for a price. Once they get your credit card, then nothing is really done. Since most of these companies operate overseas, there is little that local crime enforcement can do about it. President Obama recently announced that he is going to appoint a “Cyber Space Czar” to look into these types of crimes. These white collar criminals are getting away with Internet Robbery, and there currently is no one out to get them.”
These programs are tantamount to criminal extortion and cyber-napping. They are holding you up for ransom for something they don't have, giving you nothing in return, and setting you up for the next hijacking!! In fact this will be a topic brought up internationally when President Obama visits Russia and at the U.N. In November. There are several plans to combat this thievery and global cyberwar, but it’s an uphill battle as criminal elements and governments wishing to do us harm need not abide by such treaties.
That Cyber Space Czar will be most welcome.
***********************************************************
Besides using the Internet for communication, information and entertainment lets focus on TV as the medium where we switch channels instead of clicking ‘delete’.
Although we don't have the instant gratification of searching on Google we can speculate on some past and present programs and personalities seen on the tube.
There continues to be much talk about conservative right-wing broadcasters such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, etc., but the pioneer of confrontational talk shows was Joe Pyne in the ‘50’s and 60’s. Both on radio and TV. He would usually make his guest defensive by first angering them with something derogatory and get them flustered. He also had a wooden leg from service in WW2. The famous interview between him and musician Frank Zappa started: Pyne: "So I guess your long hair makes you a woman." Zappa: "So I guess your wooden leg makes you a table!" He was also the guy who dismissed guests with whom he disagreed by telling them to "Go gargle with razor blades!" Not even Rush is that derisive.
The recent passing of Billy Mays, the TV pitchman, conjures the picture of him ascending to heaven with snow white wings while expounding cleaning power of Oxi-Clean.
Other infomercials tend to exaggerate, if not mislead. Take for instance the upside down tomato one that claims to yield the red fruit (yes, I know they are in the vegetable section of the supermarket) in pounds . However I harvested only a single tomato from my upside down plant following all the directions with careful watering and fertilizing. That was one expensive salad ingredient!
How about that ice cream maker that sells on QVC and HSN; my attempts never match the quality of the store bought desert. It stretches the credibility of the “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” of delight by the hosts of those shows.
If you have some extra time on your hands you can listen to an iPod with 60 GB memory. It can hold 15,000 songs. If an average song lasts three minutes it would take 750 hours (over one month listening all day) to go through all of it. Not to mention the time spent downloading. Talk about excess!
On the lighter side, with reference to current events and personalities- if they were TV programs here is what they could be:
The Fairhope mayor and City Council “The Bickersons”
Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and his lover in Argentina: “Married …… With Children”
Obama administration takes over General Motors: “Big Brother”-
North Korea ruler Kim Jong-IL: “Deal or No Deal”
Macaulay Culkin: “Growing Pains”
Hillary Clinton, Silda Spitzer, and Jenny Sanford: “Lie To Me” or “Survivor” or “Desperate Housewives”
All this electronic gadgetry, from computers to the first radio set with cat’s whiskers have had pitfalls and shortcomings. I guess the last remaining perfections are our grandchildren.
END
* I fixed mine by starting Windows in the “Safe Mode with Networking” (see your manual) and downloading a free anti-virus program.
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/07/12/columnists/doc4a57a29533bb5153301298.txt
Saturday, June 20, 2009
6/19/09
A world without people
Tri-Os
oddities, observations, and opinions
oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel
From Shakespeare's Hamlet, “What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!/how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”
Poor Hamlet, here again he can't make up his mind and is torn between mans closeness to divinity and the baseness of the people who are in his life.
The words are delivered melodically in the new revival of the recently Tony winning rock musical “Hair” to a toe-tapping staccato beat.
Whether mankind is angelic or somewhat less on the evolutionary scale it makes no difference to the premise of the new 10 part series currently being shown on The History Channel called “LIFE AFTER PEOPLE“
The Series begins in the moments after people disappear from planet Earth. The cause is not addressed - only the aftermath. As each hour, day, month, and year passes, the fate of a particular environment, city or theme is disclosed. With the aid of numerous special effects, and interviews from authorities in the “fields of engineering, botany, biology, geology, and archeology provide an unforgettable visual journey through the ultimately hypothetical.”
Humans may not be around forever, and now we can see in detail the world that will be left behind in 'Life After People.' Click on any particular episode to explore what would happen to our world after we are all gone at once. No body (‘body’ in the literal sense), be they embalmed, mummified, or cryogenically frozen will last. There will be no electrical power to sustain the temperature and humidity necessary for their preservation. Domestic pets and surviving animals will roam and revert to savagery as lethal viruses will doom them and plant life weaves its carpet over all things. Pythons battle alligators, plants strip oxygen from lakes, corrosion is rampant, all colossuses collapse and crumble.
Atlanta becomes buried in kudzu (no kidding!). Semi-tropical Houston reverts to the swamp. Miami is submerged. Phoenix is swept by sandstorms. Shanghai sinks. Las Vegas has roaming rat packs, not the entertaining kind.
Devoid of mankind, there is no one to provided maintenance, repair, and replacement of worn and deteriorating materials (i.e. concrete, wood, and steel). The weather, water, heat, freezing, with their constant expansion and contraction, will eat away at skyscrapers, bridges, and everything will yield to the force of gravity; to become more surface for plant life to blanket. There goes the Washington Monument, the Liberty Bell, all of the national treasures. The Mona Lisa and The Sistine Chapel ceiling dissolve with mold.
The series extends to centuries and then millions of years into the speculated future. It is fascinating, thought provoking and brings out the genius of the generations of mankind. “What a piece of work is Man”, indeed!
In a not so gloomy a vein let’s consider some lighter aspects of “Life After -----”
Life after shoes - Sure our soles would become callused from the terrain but don't the Kenyans win almost every marathon having practiced barefoot in their rugged country? What would my BH (Better Half) do? She would certainly gain a lot more closet space and money in her bank account.
Life after TV - A long time ago someone said that “radio was TV without a picture”. True enough. When you listen to radio the pictures in your head are usually more vivid than a Technicolor movie or plasma screen. Who knows……the art of conversation may return again.
Life after Twitter - People may expound ideas exceeding the 140 character limit. Who is interested in someone picking up a six-pack at the grocery or searching for a bathroom while on a new city visit? Why are the airways and broadbands cluttered with this garbage? Think of the time saved for both sender and receiver.
Life after cockroaches - I really can't imagine that! They may be the only creatures moving on earth millenniums after man’s existence.
Life after politics - No more pesky robotic telephone calls, mean-spirited TV and newspaper ads, no more un-kept promises or juicy scandals.
Life after Lehman Brothers/Chrysler/ Pontiac/analog TV - Hey - that’s what happening NOW!
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/06/20/columnists/doc4a37a4d1ae836981221515.txt
Thursday, June 04, 2009
6/3/09
Flip the tassel, 2009 grads
TRI-Os: Oddities, observations and opinions
TRI-Os: Oddities, observations and opinions
Thank you once again, Ye Olde School of Hard Knocks, for the invitation to address the graduating class for this, the fourth time. We have trudged together from your days as freshmen, or for political correctness should I say “fresh people”? Be that as it may, I will again try to stay on point and speak on subjects loud enough to keep the sandman at bay and you awake, alert, amused and a-thinking.
Life’s experiences qualified you for the credits toward your degree, your BS, Batchelor of Survival. It was earned by hard work traversing through life events of employment, home and family. During your and my tenure much has happened to gain our grade points leading to this commencement.
It seems like yesterday when the Danish newspaper published cartoons of Mohammed and incensed the Muslim world, when Donald Rumsfield resigned, when Ariel Sharon had a stoke and slipped into his present coma, when 12 miners died trapped in a mine in West Virginia and when Saddam Hussein was executed. Yes, and I’m sure you’ll also recall it was the mayor of Las Vegas who proclaimed Aug. 29, 2006 Paris Hilton Day!
This past year you have endured, and are currently experiencing, other major events: the downfall of Wall Street giants, major corporations downsizing and even declaring bankruptcy, a switch of political party majorities, a new history-making president, and the continuing war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Had anyone ever imagined that GM and Lehman Brothers would be candidates for extinction? That unemployment may go into double digits? Add to this the threat of global warming (implied or real). And then there’s your kid with thumb muscles bulging with all the tweeting and texting! Our plates are full!
It’s time to again to put common sense into practice. Recall the story of King Solomon who sought a magic ring that makes the happy wearer fail to remember his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows. When he was presented a plain gold ring it had the engraved words “This too shall pass.” It was then Solomon realized that all his wisdom, wealth and immense power were fleeting and temporary. It is best to concentrate on the “now.” Let us do the same.
All things change with time. SUVs will morph into fuel-efficient hybrids and Facebook into encrypted personal journals for the writers’ eyes only. Those pesky pixels and Googled electrons last a long time so be mindful of what goes onto Internet sites. Eyes around the world and for future generations will be able to dredge them up at a click , swipe, or touch or perhaps even a mentally transmitted command. “Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the newspaper” is an old adage that is as fresh as a newly hatched slick wet yellow chick. Remember, there-are no secrets in this world, so you are at the helm (for the most part) when it comes to personal privacy on the Internet.
You new grads of YOSOHK know to be wary and cautious of the many seemingly innocent offers, like extended auto warranties from robot phone voices, and you know to wait patiently for the end of the pitch when that voice says, “ Press ‘one’ to speak to a representative or press ‘two’ to remove your name from our call list.” And you press ‘two’ before you hang up. You toss the weekly tempting letters offering Zero APRs for new credit cards. You wait till tomorrow to order that item seen on QVC or HSN today to test if you really need it (instead of thinking “what should I buy?” You think, “what do I have that can be used?”). You compare prices on major purchases by computer checking. You combine chores so as not to make numerous shopping trips. You Turn off the PC if you won’t be using it for an hour or more. You lose a beautiful earring, so you put the one you have on a chain and wear it as a necklace. You turn off sprinklers when it rains and leave them off for at least two days following a heavy rain. You re-visit days of your youth as you forgo the clothes dryer to savor again the smell of the outdoors from the fresh crisp bed linen dried by the sun. You are pragmatic with almost all expenditures with the exception of your extraordinary, beautiful and talented toddler or grandchild. Right on! Way to go!
In closing, the words of legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden, “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
And from me, “Remember to floss.”
Congratulations Class of ‘09.
Herb Kandel is an entrepreneur and a former human resources executive who lives in Fairhope. He can be contacted at hekand@gmail.com.
http://baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/06/04/columnists/doc4a25739f47275102101084.txt
It seems like yesterday when the Danish newspaper published cartoons of Mohammed and incensed the Muslim world, when Donald Rumsfield resigned, when Ariel Sharon had a stoke and slipped into his present coma, when 12 miners died trapped in a mine in West Virginia and when Saddam Hussein was executed. Yes, and I’m sure you’ll also recall it was the mayor of Las Vegas who proclaimed Aug. 29, 2006 Paris Hilton Day!
This past year you have endured, and are currently experiencing, other major events: the downfall of Wall Street giants, major corporations downsizing and even declaring bankruptcy, a switch of political party majorities, a new history-making president, and the continuing war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Had anyone ever imagined that GM and Lehman Brothers would be candidates for extinction? That unemployment may go into double digits? Add to this the threat of global warming (implied or real). And then there’s your kid with thumb muscles bulging with all the tweeting and texting! Our plates are full!
It’s time to again to put common sense into practice. Recall the story of King Solomon who sought a magic ring that makes the happy wearer fail to remember his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows. When he was presented a plain gold ring it had the engraved words “This too shall pass.” It was then Solomon realized that all his wisdom, wealth and immense power were fleeting and temporary. It is best to concentrate on the “now.” Let us do the same.
All things change with time. SUVs will morph into fuel-efficient hybrids and Facebook into encrypted personal journals for the writers’ eyes only. Those pesky pixels and Googled electrons last a long time so be mindful of what goes onto Internet sites. Eyes around the world and for future generations will be able to dredge them up at a click , swipe, or touch or perhaps even a mentally transmitted command. “Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the newspaper” is an old adage that is as fresh as a newly hatched slick wet yellow chick. Remember, there-are no secrets in this world, so you are at the helm (for the most part) when it comes to personal privacy on the Internet.
You new grads of YOSOHK know to be wary and cautious of the many seemingly innocent offers, like extended auto warranties from robot phone voices, and you know to wait patiently for the end of the pitch when that voice says, “ Press ‘one’ to speak to a representative or press ‘two’ to remove your name from our call list.” And you press ‘two’ before you hang up. You toss the weekly tempting letters offering Zero APRs for new credit cards. You wait till tomorrow to order that item seen on QVC or HSN today to test if you really need it (instead of thinking “what should I buy?” You think, “what do I have that can be used?”). You compare prices on major purchases by computer checking. You combine chores so as not to make numerous shopping trips. You Turn off the PC if you won’t be using it for an hour or more. You lose a beautiful earring, so you put the one you have on a chain and wear it as a necklace. You turn off sprinklers when it rains and leave them off for at least two days following a heavy rain. You re-visit days of your youth as you forgo the clothes dryer to savor again the smell of the outdoors from the fresh crisp bed linen dried by the sun. You are pragmatic with almost all expenditures with the exception of your extraordinary, beautiful and talented toddler or grandchild. Right on! Way to go!
In closing, the words of legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden, “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
And from me, “Remember to floss.”
Congratulations Class of ‘09.
Herb Kandel is an entrepreneur and a former human resources executive who lives in Fairhope. He can be contacted at hekand@gmail.com.
http://baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/06/04/columnists/doc4a25739f47275102101084.txt
Thursday, May 14, 2009
5/13/09
Letters: here and beyond
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
My Dearest Son:
As you know from my past letters I am becoming more incensed. Correction, I am outraged that our leadership rewards those who cause of our misery. Everything is disproportionate with taxation and wealth distribution. The middle and lower income classes are losing power and have little say in running the country. They are the groups that pay the most tax while the elite and high income bracketed impose edicts allowing themselves to escape assessments. Property seizures are reaching all time records, farmers who produce the crops are becoming fewer because of excess taxation and regulations. More of the newly created factory workers, artisans, and journeymen are unemployed as demand for their goods and services shrink.
Meanwhile methods of communication are expanding and news spreads more rapidly informing the populace of the inequities between the wage earner and those higher on the income scale. There appears an impending class division and the rumblings of discontent grow each day. The increasing ranks of the middle and lower echelons feel they have no say in running the country. I fear that soon there will not be enough income for the government to do its job.
The government has spent an extraordinary amount of money on that unpopular overseas war, and the newly elected president is having a difficult time in adjusting to and coping with inexperienced situations. He will probably be unable to restore to our treasury the huge deficits we now have and which continue to increase; this due to our coming to their aid in their time of crisis. The heads of state claim they are trying to right the shortfall that they inherited from their predecessors. The banking system is not able to cope with the fiscal problems to which they themselves had contributed.
Terrorism is the feared outcome if we are not wary. Some of the most radical fanatics are preaching “Virtue without terror is impotent” and seek to incite hostilities on the leaders who do not think the way that they do. They have new methods and weapons of killing. There is much trepidation that they will try to impose their radical new order on the infuriated citizenry and this will reign upon us.
Tomorrow we rally at the Bastille. I know not the outcome, but whatever happens, know well that you are always in my heart.
Your father,
André Paris July 13, 1789
*************************************************************
FAST FORWARD
*************************************************************
Dear Great-Great-Great Grandfather ,
I read your final letter from our family archive. It has been 220 years, things have changed ……..yet much has not. Allow me expound on your comments and their modern day counterparts.
You speak of the Monarchy, Nobility, and the Clergy who were the taxing and tithing powers. Taxes now are levied only by elected governments (local, state, federal). The communications you mentioned was getting the news in days, from north to south, instead of weeks due to your new roads and pamphlet printing. Today worldly events are conveyed and seen globally within moments by the press of a button.
The war you financed helped gain America’s independence from Britain and our new President Washington was untested in many areas. He proved to be a farsighted leader establishing many precedents. France later bestowed him citizenship.
The improved weapons you referenced were cannons, muskets, pistols, along with new battlefield tactics and the introduction of the guillotine. Now current arsenals can annihilate human existence if left unfettered of proliferation and regulation.
The Reign of Terror you experienced has descended upon us many-fold and continues to wreak chaos worldwide. It is contained by mighty forces constantly vigilant. Security is the number one priority in major nations.
A minority of world citizens and fanatics seek an uprising such as yours, they too want to punish those whom they feel are responsible for their hardships. Your lessons have taught us that change through anarchy does not last as long as change through the ballot box.
Economically, in contrast to the government policies you experienced, we now have more safeguards in place. The bread you bought cost a half day’s (or more) wages; now it is had for less than an hour’s pay. Federal insurance, stimulus packages, unemployment benefits, tax incentives, and specified bailouts (even with some excesses), help cushion our crisis.
We like to consider ourselves, with modesty, more enlightened, benevolent, tolerant, compassionate, and worldly when perusing your history. I hope this is so.
May this message brings you solace along with my love.
Your Great-Great-Great-Grandson,
Andy Fairhope 5/13/2009
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/05/14/columnists/doc4a09c2c8ee941735979644.txt
************************************************
Attention animal lovers: Click your mouse and feed a dog
Herb
Click your mouse and feed a dog
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Letters: here and beyond
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
My Dearest Son:
As you know from my past letters I am becoming more incensed. Correction, I am outraged that our leadership rewards those who cause of our misery. Everything is disproportionate with taxation and wealth distribution. The middle and lower income classes are losing power and have little say in running the country. They are the groups that pay the most tax while the elite and high income bracketed impose edicts allowing themselves to escape assessments. Property seizures are reaching all time records, farmers who produce the crops are becoming fewer because of excess taxation and regulations. More of the newly created factory workers, artisans, and journeymen are unemployed as demand for their goods and services shrink.
Meanwhile methods of communication are expanding and news spreads more rapidly informing the populace of the inequities between the wage earner and those higher on the income scale. There appears an impending class division and the rumblings of discontent grow each day. The increasing ranks of the middle and lower echelons feel they have no say in running the country. I fear that soon there will not be enough income for the government to do its job.
The government has spent an extraordinary amount of money on that unpopular overseas war, and the newly elected president is having a difficult time in adjusting to and coping with inexperienced situations. He will probably be unable to restore to our treasury the huge deficits we now have and which continue to increase; this due to our coming to their aid in their time of crisis. The heads of state claim they are trying to right the shortfall that they inherited from their predecessors. The banking system is not able to cope with the fiscal problems to which they themselves had contributed.
Terrorism is the feared outcome if we are not wary. Some of the most radical fanatics are preaching “Virtue without terror is impotent” and seek to incite hostilities on the leaders who do not think the way that they do. They have new methods and weapons of killing. There is much trepidation that they will try to impose their radical new order on the infuriated citizenry and this will reign upon us.
Tomorrow we rally at the Bastille. I know not the outcome, but whatever happens, know well that you are always in my heart.
Your father,
André Paris July 13, 1789
*************************************************************
FAST FORWARD
*************************************************************
Dear Great-Great-Great Grandfather ,
I read your final letter from our family archive. It has been 220 years, things have changed ……..yet much has not. Allow me expound on your comments and their modern day counterparts.
You speak of the Monarchy, Nobility, and the Clergy who were the taxing and tithing powers. Taxes now are levied only by elected governments (local, state, federal). The communications you mentioned was getting the news in days, from north to south, instead of weeks due to your new roads and pamphlet printing. Today worldly events are conveyed and seen globally within moments by the press of a button.
The war you financed helped gain America’s independence from Britain and our new President Washington was untested in many areas. He proved to be a farsighted leader establishing many precedents. France later bestowed him citizenship.
The improved weapons you referenced were cannons, muskets, pistols, along with new battlefield tactics and the introduction of the guillotine. Now current arsenals can annihilate human existence if left unfettered of proliferation and regulation.
The Reign of Terror you experienced has descended upon us many-fold and continues to wreak chaos worldwide. It is contained by mighty forces constantly vigilant. Security is the number one priority in major nations.
A minority of world citizens and fanatics seek an uprising such as yours, they too want to punish those whom they feel are responsible for their hardships. Your lessons have taught us that change through anarchy does not last as long as change through the ballot box.
Economically, in contrast to the government policies you experienced, we now have more safeguards in place. The bread you bought cost a half day’s (or more) wages; now it is had for less than an hour’s pay. Federal insurance, stimulus packages, unemployment benefits, tax incentives, and specified bailouts (even with some excesses), help cushion our crisis.
We like to consider ourselves, with modesty, more enlightened, benevolent, tolerant, compassionate, and worldly when perusing your history. I hope this is so.
May this message brings you solace along with my love.
Your Great-Great-Great-Grandson,
Andy Fairhope 5/13/2009
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
George Santayana
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/05/14/columnists/doc4a09c2c8ee941735979644.txt
************************************************
Attention animal lovers: Click your mouse and feed a dog
Herb
Click your mouse and feed a dog
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Thursday, April 09, 2009
4/4/09
A tear for FRHS
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Chances are folks hereabout have likely never heard of Rockaway Beach in New York City. That said, they wouldn't know about Far Rockaway High School either. This should no longer be the case in weeks to come. FRHS which served the area from ninth through twelfth grades will be getting national attention by dint of only a single past graduate.
Rockaway Beach is a nine mile peninsula barrier island to the south of the borough of Queens. It is similar to Alabama’s Gulf Shores/Orange Beach (fondly called the “Redneck Riviera”) in that it has a large oceanfront and is sometimes referred to as the “ Irish Riviera” (because of a high population of Irish-Americans). Another parallel is that the locals are small in number in comparison to the crowds that swell it during the summer months. It’s sands are not the fine sugar white quartz kind of Pleasure Island but rather more coarse and tan/gray in color This is place where I was born and grew up.
Several miles to the east of Rockaway Beach is the town of Far Rockaway and FRHS. I am an alumnus of the school. It is for that reason only that I, along with fellow graduates, have received several e-mails pertaining to it. One was from the PBS series FRONTLINE for the purpose of a documentary film. The other was from a writer for Harper Collins Publishing. Both sought any background of the school during the times we attended and in particular any memories we might have of Bernard Madoff.
Let me hastily state I never met the man. It seems my time there preceded his by several years. He met his future wife, Ruth Alpern there. I've since learned that he was on the swimming team and she was a cheerleader.
About two score and seven years ago I said goodbye to that northern sandy beach where the Atlantic laps the shore. Inevitably, just as time takes its toll on the body, changes overcame FRHS, all to it‘S detriment. The school, after 110 years, is being phased out by the Department of Education and renamed The Far Rockaway Educational Campus. In the future it will consist of up to four small specialized schools.
Some say it’s closing is deserved. Only 30% of the students graduated in a five-year period and 34% barely met standards on standardized tests. A recent survey reported “only 23 percent of the students, teachers and parents who responded believed that there was a culture of safety and respect in the building.” In other words it has become a virtual ‘blackboard jungle’. According to one report from an educator who asked anonymity for obvious reasons, “They haven't graduated anybody but felons for years,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had called it,in 2004, one of the 12 most dangerous schools in the city.
The downturn probably got it’s start when Board of Education initiated magnet schools which replaced the zoned schools thus leaving students at the school who could not matriculate elsewhere. Those who could avoid going there sought other places. The student population shrunk from more than 2000 in the 1950’s and 1960’s to just over 800 recently. This impaired situation was not always the case. There was a time when FRHS was an academic and athletic showcase. They had won city football and baseball championships on several occasions. Included among the alums are Nobel Prize laureates Richard Feynman (Physics-1965), Baruch Bloomberg (Medicine-1976), and Burton Richter (Physics-1976). There is also financier Carl Icahn, Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers, basketball great Nancy Lieberman, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, John Warren former member of the New York Kniks, comic actor Stubby Kaye, and singer Mary J Blige.
Many former grads are saddened that this school, as reported by School Library Journal “needs metal detectors at every entrance, video surveillance cameras, and 16 uniformed guards employed by the New York Police Department patrolling its halls. And it’s still the kind of school that has its own health and dental clinic because parents can't or don't provide such basic needs for their kids.”. However, we past alumnae are grateful that we attended at the time we did. We also take pride in the fact that up to 1976 FRHS was the only high school in the U.S. To have produced three Nobel Prize laureates ( Since then four New York City and one Urbana, IL high school has had three or more Nobel recipients).
Hey, with three Nobel winners and one world’s master criminal -------three out of four ain't bad for an “out in the boondocks” beach town!
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/04/06/columnists/doc49d66e4c0f8f6567393283.txt
A tear for FRHS
Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel
Chances are folks hereabout have likely never heard of Rockaway Beach in New York City. That said, they wouldn't know about Far Rockaway High School either. This should no longer be the case in weeks to come. FRHS which served the area from ninth through twelfth grades will be getting national attention by dint of only a single past graduate.
Rockaway Beach is a nine mile peninsula barrier island to the south of the borough of Queens. It is similar to Alabama’s Gulf Shores/Orange Beach (fondly called the “Redneck Riviera”) in that it has a large oceanfront and is sometimes referred to as the “ Irish Riviera” (because of a high population of Irish-Americans). Another parallel is that the locals are small in number in comparison to the crowds that swell it during the summer months. It’s sands are not the fine sugar white quartz kind of Pleasure Island but rather more coarse and tan/gray in color This is place where I was born and grew up.
Several miles to the east of Rockaway Beach is the town of Far Rockaway and FRHS. I am an alumnus of the school. It is for that reason only that I, along with fellow graduates, have received several e-mails pertaining to it. One was from the PBS series FRONTLINE for the purpose of a documentary film. The other was from a writer for Harper Collins Publishing. Both sought any background of the school during the times we attended and in particular any memories we might have of Bernard Madoff.
Let me hastily state I never met the man. It seems my time there preceded his by several years. He met his future wife, Ruth Alpern there. I've since learned that he was on the swimming team and she was a cheerleader.
About two score and seven years ago I said goodbye to that northern sandy beach where the Atlantic laps the shore. Inevitably, just as time takes its toll on the body, changes overcame FRHS, all to it‘S detriment. The school, after 110 years, is being phased out by the Department of Education and renamed The Far Rockaway Educational Campus. In the future it will consist of up to four small specialized schools.
Some say it’s closing is deserved. Only 30% of the students graduated in a five-year period and 34% barely met standards on standardized tests. A recent survey reported “only 23 percent of the students, teachers and parents who responded believed that there was a culture of safety and respect in the building.” In other words it has become a virtual ‘blackboard jungle’. According to one report from an educator who asked anonymity for obvious reasons, “They haven't graduated anybody but felons for years,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had called it,in 2004, one of the 12 most dangerous schools in the city.
The downturn probably got it’s start when Board of Education initiated magnet schools which replaced the zoned schools thus leaving students at the school who could not matriculate elsewhere. Those who could avoid going there sought other places. The student population shrunk from more than 2000 in the 1950’s and 1960’s to just over 800 recently. This impaired situation was not always the case. There was a time when FRHS was an academic and athletic showcase. They had won city football and baseball championships on several occasions. Included among the alums are Nobel Prize laureates Richard Feynman (Physics-1965), Baruch Bloomberg (Medicine-1976), and Burton Richter (Physics-1976). There is also financier Carl Icahn, Psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers, basketball great Nancy Lieberman, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, John Warren former member of the New York Kniks, comic actor Stubby Kaye, and singer Mary J Blige.
Many former grads are saddened that this school, as reported by School Library Journal “needs metal detectors at every entrance, video surveillance cameras, and 16 uniformed guards employed by the New York Police Department patrolling its halls. And it’s still the kind of school that has its own health and dental clinic because parents can't or don't provide such basic needs for their kids.”. However, we past alumnae are grateful that we attended at the time we did. We also take pride in the fact that up to 1976 FRHS was the only high school in the U.S. To have produced three Nobel Prize laureates ( Since then four New York City and one Urbana, IL high school has had three or more Nobel recipients).
Hey, with three Nobel winners and one world’s master criminal -------three out of four ain't bad for an “out in the boondocks” beach town!
http://www.baldwincountynow.com/articles/2009/04/06/columnists/doc49d66e4c0f8f6567393283.txt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
