Let’s be clear from the outset. I’m a capitalist. I’m a filthy lucre loving product of the democratic, free market system of capitalism much ballyhooed by fellow travelers all along the political spectrum. I will say though that those at the top of the economic dog pile tend to offer their unreserved love of the system while those farther down the economic food chain may still make cooing noises but are somewhat restrained by their own personal reality. As always, it’s probably a good idea to define some terms before opining. I’ll warn you this is more complicated than it seems at first glance. Capitalism, is an economic...
I posted on September 1, 2009 a somewhat whimsical piece titled “Getting Old is Not For Sissies”. Read it again if you like, but a short summary is that I was whinning about the things I could do in my youth that are now far out of reach, and the subtle, and not so subtle, changes in the landscape of my body. Every thing I said then, I double down on now, three years later…and more. No, I’m not going to give you an itemized list of the things that are going awhack in my physiology, but I will tell you that the pace is accelerating. I know there’s a word in the English language that means “to accelerate at an accelerating...
I am numbed by the tragedy of gun violence that, yet again, took so many innocent lives. This time it claimed the most innocent of all. Our precious, young children and their teachers. I first wrote about the issue of gun violence on March 24th of this year in a piece entitled Do Guns Make Us Safer. I recommend a reread if you read it before. It’s a good place to start this discussion. The only difference is that now, like Joe Scarborough this morning on Morning Joe, I’ve had it. I know it’s not worth it. I don’t care if your view of the right of our citizens to possess weapons of mass homicide arises from a broad view of the...
There are words and phrases that sneak into our every day lexicon, and before you know it, like Johnson Grass and Tea Partiers, they have invaded our consciousness. Let me give you a few examples: …main stream media …partisan, non-partisan, or bi-partisan …the arab street …on/off the table And the one that makes my eyes glaze over and mind slam shut… …on the ground (and its many derivatives) I’m sure you and I could come up with a much longer and even more revolting list, but I’m going to stop here and give you some thoughts on some of those listed above. Let’s start with main street media (MSM), or as my...
I posted my first piece on immigration June 17, 2007 and titled it In Diversity There is Strength. If you’re a glutten for this kind of stuff you can click on Immigration in the tag cloud and it will take you there for a reread; otherwise, I will just say that it covered one hundred fifty years of our immigration law history….and it’s not a pretty picture. Recently President Obama announced that by exercising his executive powers he was changing our policy with respect to certain young people who had been brought by their parents in to the US illegally as minors. Actually, that’s not quite right because about half of all Illegals came...
Baksheeh is a Persian word widely used throughout the Arabic world as well as in south east Asia and India to describe tipping, charitable giving and certain forms of political corruption and bribery. Think of it. With the same word, one can be said to be inducing someone to conduct illicit behavior or giving them alms. Isn’t language wonderful. I come to this subject because of the landswell of press reports about that poor, struggling retailer, Walmart. You know them, they are the ones who have killed small town America by offering low, low prices on poor quality goods they acquire anywhere but America made by anyone but Americans and sold to those...
After 30 years in the world of big business, Gary “retired” to pursue long ignored interests. While continuing his involvement in the corporate world by serving as a director of several public companies, he has, among other things, traveled the world in pursuit of the perfect bird photograph, served national and local charities as a director and donor, developed a personal web site as a platform for his writing on subjects of personal interest, and, occasionally, taken time to smell the roses.
Gary and his wife Sandra, shuttle between their condo in Dallas and their farm in Fannin county, Texas where they indulge themselves in organic gardening, long walks and entertaining friends and family.
