Kahleej Times

Here's a good editorial by Eric Margolis that I found on line this morning. I wish it had been published in the New York Times, or Wall Street Journal instead of the Kahleej Times - where ever that is!

THE US mid-term congressional elections are often humdrum affairs that usually produce low voter turnouts. But this November 7th’s vote is shaping up as the most exciting and important mid-term election in modern American history.
The upcoming vote has generated extraordinary interest around the globe. Polls in Asia, Europe, and Latin America show the widely expressed hope American voters will deliver a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration and its end its war in Iraq. Last week, a senior State Department official finally spoke the truth about administration policies in Iraq, calling them ‘arrogant and stupid.’ He later retracted his statement, but the damage was done.
Illustrating this point, the increasingly out of touch Vice President Dick Cheney just assured Americans the catastrophic war he and the neoconservatives engineered in Iraq was going ‘remarkably well.’ President Bush ordered the powerless US-installed government in Baghdad to ‘get tough’ with powerful Shia militias.
Panicked by the looming spectre of defeat in Iraq, George Bush suddenly declared his cherished mantras — "we won’t cut and run" and "stay the course" — inoperative. The new party line is ‘flexible response.’
Meanwhile, John McCain, the current Republican frontrunner for the 2008 presidential election, is daftly calling for doubling of US troops in Iraq, which would mean reinstating national conscription. But Bush’s new motto looks more likely to be ‘fudge and flee’ as he scrambles for a face-saving way out of the disaster in Iraq. Things are so bad that the Bush administration is actually pleading with ‘axis of evil’ members Iran and Syria to help it out of the Iraq mess. Yet many Republicans still keep hoping their politics of stupidity will continue to fool American voters. Wiser Republicans are swiftly backing away from the increasingly unpopular president.
Republicans and demagogues of the Christian far right have joined to promote fear, religious and racial hatred, and the crassest jingoism to America’s most gullible, poorly educated, voters in the Midwest and South.
Staggering subsidies for farmers, tax breaks for big business, doubling military spending, and unlimited support for Israel, won Republicans more support from key voter groups. Today, however, Republicans have sunk to their lowest point in memory. Only 16 per cent of Americans approve of the job the Republican-run Congress is doing.
The US Constitution established Congress as America’s premier arm of government. George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their neoconservative allies used 9/11 to turn Congress into a rubber stamp like the old Supreme Soviet. Look at the embarrassing Republican leaders in Congress, the world’s greatest legislature, and the heir to the great Roman Senate:
The shambling Senate leader, Dennis Hastert, was a wrestling coach. The once feared House leader, Tom Delay, was a cockroach exterminator before going to Congress. They were barely worthy of political office in Dogpatch, Texas, never mind Washington.
Both Republicans and Democrats are steeped in Washington’s endemic corruption and influence peddling due to the constant need to raise campaign funds by kow-towing to special interests. Members of both parties voted like clapping seals for the Iraq War. But Republicans took the lead in promoting and sustaining that totally unnecessary conflict, now estimated to likely cost upwards of $1 trillion before it is lost.
Senior Bush administration officials responsible for the Iraq disaster — Dick Cheney, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz, and Colin Powell — made astounding fools of themselves before the world by chorusing a litany of grotesque lies.
It’s hard to think of another administration in modern history that has done more grave damage to US interests and reputation abroad, or so grievously undermined the system of Constitutional government at home. None of America’s foreign enemies have ever inflicted so much damage.
Politicians are all too rarely punished for their egregious misdeeds and dishonesty. But this 7 November, Americans will have a golden opportunity to deliver judgment on the politicians and officials who misled them and the nation.
Voters will be able to punish many of the Republicans and spineless Democrats who voted for the illegitimate war in Iraq, and supported President Bush’s violations of the Constitution by spying on citizens, illegal wiretapping, and overriding laws made by Congress.
All American legislators who voted this month to ignore or violate the sacrosanct laws of the Geneva Convention and the basic right of habeas corpus, and who disgracefully voted to legalise torture, should be ousted. American voters will hopefully ignore all the fear mongering they have been subjected to and remember the basic and most important tenet of democratic politics: ‘Throw the rascals out!’
Eric S. Margolis is a veteran American journalist and contributing foreign editor of The Toronto Sun.

Hello, My Name is Tom

Let's see, I've been helping at the cafe for about 6 weeks now. So why does Jean keep calling me, Tom? I don't get it. At least I'm not alone. She calls wifey, Sharon. At first I thought it was funny. Now, not so much. When she was little, I wonder if she brought friends home to meet her family with: "This is, uh, uh, uh...." "I'm your MOTHER!!!"
Wifey and I were busy at both cafes all week. Business at the old cafe was dismal, so it was easy to get away and go work at the new place. Wifey scrubbed petrified grease off the kitchen floor while I installed chair rail around the dining room and started painting the kitchen floor.
Since there are no lights in the dining room at the new place, our work hours are somewhat limited to mid-day. By 4:00 in the afternoon, it's too dark in the dining room to see nail heads, pencil lines, etc.
After studying the pattern of empty fixture holes in the ceiling, I mentioned to Jean that she should consider buying 23 ceiling fixtures to adequately light the dining area. She hopes 16 will do it. I added that I had seen some nice looking 100-watt pendulum fixtures at Lowe's on sale for $40 each. Her response surprised me... but maybe it shouldn't have. She said, "Forty dollars?! Oh no. That's too much. The dentist wants to do this right. I'm going to see what I can find at the recycled building materials store. The fixtures might not match, but that will be okay, don't you think?" (Uh oh. Is that an iceberg I'm beginning to see through the fog up ahead?)
By the way, soy bean oil in the deep fat fryer has been a big success! The fries are less greasy and seem to taste better. Isn't that interesting?
I keep telling myself to keep my mouth shut unless my... er, Tom's input is requested. I'm only a volunteer. Getting involved in decision making can only lead to frustration or heartbreak. Just show up, do stuff, and go home. All that... and keep a life vest handy.

Sometimes it Rains and sometimes it Pours

Poor Jean.
1. She and her husband broke up for good last weekend. He moved out - although a lot of his personal belongings are still in the house. He took money out of their joint account without telling her and he took the computer that contained some of the business records.
2. Sunday, she bought 23 bud vases to put little flower arrangements in at the new restaurant. But when she got home from the store and opened the car door, 13 vases fell out on the driveway and broke.
3. Monday, when she arrived at the old restaurant, she found that the soda/juice/bottled water cooler had failed over the weekend.
4. When I got to the old restaurant, at about 7:30, she was already at work changing the oil in the deep fat fryer. When she told me about discovering the cooler had failed, she said that she, "lost it for a little bit and cried for awhile".
5. At 9:00, she left to go see her banker. She needed to find out if there was any money left in her account and secure her account before her ex-husband cleaned it out completely. Fortunately, there was still enough in the account to cover her checks - she hopes - and the banker put a flag on the account so her "ex" can't clean it out without her knowledge.
6. She asked me to refill the deep fat fryer with oil while she was gone. There was a big unlabeled plastic container of clear oil sitting next to the fryer. It was only about 1/3rd full, but I guessed it might be enough to fill the fryer. I poured it all in. It wasn't enough. I found another big container of oil in the storage area. This one was still in the box. The label on the box said it was, "creamy". Hmmm. I called Jean on her cell phone. I told her that the first container of oil didn't fill the fryer and the other container I found said "creamy". She said that "creamy' was fine. So I poured about 2/3rds of the container of creamy oil into the fryer to fill it up. The creamy and clear oils didn't mix. Hmmm. The creamy oil settled to the bottom and the clear oil stayed on top. I didn't like the looks of it. I waited until Jean got back before heating it up. When Jean got back, I told her that the creamy oil didn't look right. She said it would be fine and that it would clear up when it was heated. So I turned on the heat. Sure enough, the oil cleared and it looked fine.
Later in the day, Jean asked if I knew where the salad oil was. She couldn't find it anywhere! Salad oil? Uh oh. Suddenly we both realized why I was confused about filling the fryer. Jean had used the container of salad oil to hold the fryer door open while she drained it. When she asked me to fill the fryer, I assumed I was supposed to use the container of oil sitting next to the fryer! None of the plastic containers are labeled - which I think is strange. The boxes they come in are labeled, but after you take the plastic jug out of the box, you have to remember what kind of oil is in it. She laughed it off, saying that it wasn't the first time; it would be okay; salad oil works in the fryer but it just gets used up a little faster; she had more salad oil... and so forth. I felt bad (although not entirely at fault) and I apologized. I have no idea if salad oil costs more than fryer oil, or if they're entirely interchangeable, or what. One of these days I need to find out. I may have dumped a day's-worth of profit into the fryer. I hope not.

Movin' On Up

Wifey and I took our Explorer and a 14' U-Haul over to the storage unit, 20 miles east of here, at 7:00 yesterday morning. There we loaded up our old washer and dryer, 8 book boxes full of our son's old car magazines and papers, a dresser, the biggest TV box you've ever seen, 100 feet of garden hose, and a collection of empty flattened boxes. We left the storage unit and drove 100 miles south to our son's apartment where he and three buddies were waiting to start loading all the rest of his and his wife's stuff. Unfortunately for those of us who were loaders, his apartment was on the third floor and the closest I could park to the apartment building was a church parking lot half a block away. Sheesh! I got tired just going empty handed UP the stairs to his apartment! I had to rest before carrying each load DOWN the stairs! At least we weren't carrying up and going down empty handed.
It took about four and one-half hours to load the truck, a pickup, our Exlorer, and two cars with stuff. We got all the "big" stuff, but there is still quite a lot of "little" stuff yet to be moved. Fortunately, they have until the end of the month to get the rest moved. We'd still be loading if the three other guys hadn't been there.
We got to their new house at about 4:30 and had the truck unloaded by 5:45. Then we turned the truck in to the nearest U-Haul location and went back to help unload the other vehicles.
After everything was unloaded, son and daughter-in-law took the whole gang out to dinner at a really great Italian restaurant. I was positive we would have to wait for an hour to be seated but we got right in, got great service and excellent food. Thanks kids!
Wifey and I decided to head for home after dinner so at about 8:00 we headed back north and we were home by 10:00. It was a long and exhausting day but at the same time, I had a lot of fun being with all those folks.
The new house is gorgeous and the landscaping is fabulous. The original owner must have put thousands and thousands of dollars into landscaping. The interior of the house looks brand new. The woodwork is clear, the walls are spotless, and the window treatments are top drawer. Daughter-in-law said the house is already worth $20K more than they paid for it ...and they haven't even moved in yet!
Happy house-warming kids! It's beautiful!
Today I need to keep moving before my muscles have a chance to cramp. It's not easy being old! Ya gotta be tough or, like me, take lots of Ibuprofen, rub on layers of Theragesic, and carry around a hot water bottle all day!

10-20

I haven't posted anything for so long, I feel like I may be losing my audience! Ha! All one of you! I still don't have anything to write about other than my adventures at the cafe, but since I decided not to elaborate on those adventures, not much else remains to elaborate on!
I suppose I can tell you about a catering run I made last week. The boss and her husband broke up again yesterday, so talking about my adventure with him shouldn't hurt any one's feelings. We had an order for 66 lunches to be delivered to one of the refineries at 11:30. The boss's husband and I went together. He drove. I rode shotgun. Since it was such a large order, I went along to help carry stuff from the van to the designated dining area. When we got to the refinery, the husband went in to the front office to find exactly where we were supposed to deliver the food. He came back out with one of the refinery employees. He said the employee would meet us on the other side of the security gate and escort us to the site. BUT... When we pulled up to the security gate, the guard said, "You can't come through this gate! Contractors go through the other gate (about a quarter-mile down the road)." Hubby said, "But so-and-so is right there - on the other side of this gate - waiting to lead us to the..." The guard said, "I'll tell him to meet you at the contractor gate."
So we backed up, turned around, and headed for the contractor gate.
DON'T GET AHEAD OF ME NOW...
When we got to the contractor gate, the guard came out and said, "You can't go through this gate! You're supposed to use the main gate!" The boss's hubby said, "Look, I went through this same routine yesterday! The guy at the main gate sent me here and you sent me there and they sent me back here and this is the gate I came through yesterday." Then the guard looked at me and said, "Do you have a pass?" I said, "Pass? No! I'm just here to help with the delivery." The guard said, "You'll have to go back to the main office and get a pass."
By this time it was 11:45. We were already 15 minutes late for our delivery. Our "escort" was waiting on the other side of the gate and made no effort to intervene in our behalf. Three large trucks were lined up behind us waiting to go through the gate. Finally, I said to hubby, "Look, I'll just get out and wait here. You go make the delivery and pick me up on the way out." Hubby said , "okay". The guard let him through. I stood outside the gate, in the drizzle and wind, for the next 30 minutes. I was not happy.
When hubby came back, I asked him if he had much trouble making the delivery by himself. He said, "No! Several guys came out to help so I only had to carry one dish!" GRRRRR! I said, "So how come it took 30 minutes?" He said, "Did it take that long? Gee, I don't know! It didn't seem like 30 minutes." GRRRR!

Sing Along with Carl

There are several songs that I have loved over the years. I remember who recorded them, but it never entered my mind to discover who wrote them. I suppose I should not have been surprised to discover recently that many of those songs were written by the same person: Carl Sigman. Carl who?!! How could I be this old and not know about Carl Sigman? Here is what Wikipedia has to say about him:
Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was a major American songwriter.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York. Instead of law, encouraged by friend, Johnny Mercer, he embarked on a songwriting career that saw him become one of the most prominent and successful in American music history.
Although Sigman wrote many song melodies, he was primarily a lyricist who collaborated with songwriters such as Bob Hilliard and Duke Ellington. He also wrote English language lyrics to many songs which were originally composed in other languages, such as "Answer Me," "Till," and "What Now My Love." During the big band era he composed works used by top band leaders such as Glenn Miller and Guy Lombardo. His songs were also hits for individual singing stars. Some of the best known include "My Heart Cries For You" which was recorded by three different artists in 1951: Dinah Shore, Guy Mitchell and Vic Damone. Two years later Sigman's song "Ebb Tide" was a top hit for Frank Chacksfield and was a Billboard Top Ten hit in 1965 for the Righteous Brothers.
Tommy Edwards scored a No. 1 hit in 1958 with "It's All In The Game," with lyrics by Sigman set to music Vice President Charles Gates Dawes had written in 1911. He is most widely remembered for writing "Where Do I Begin" that was the theme song for Love Story, the top grossing film of 1970. The song would become a major hit record for crooner Andy Williams.
In 1972 Carl Sigman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. His catalogue includes over 800 songs written before his death at age 91.
"Arrivederci Roma"
"The All American Soldier"
"Answer Me"
"Ballerina"
"Buona Sera"
"Careless Hands"
"Civilization"
"Crazy He Calls Me"
"A Day In The Life Of A Fool"
"The Day The Rains Came" (1957)
"Ebb Tide"
"Enjoy Yourself" (1948)
"Fool"
"It's All In The Game"
"Music From Across The Way"
"My Heart Cries For You"
"Pennsylvania 6-5000" (collaboration with Glenn Miller)
"The Saddest Thing Of All"
"Shangri-La"
"Till"
"What Now My Love"
"Where Do I Begin (Love Story)"
"(Over And Over) The World We Knew"
"You're My World"

Leslie Kendall's version of "The Saddest Thing of All" (with Percy Faith's orchestra) is one of my all-time favorites. "Ebb Tide", and "My Heart Cries For You" are high on the list as well. Tommy Edwards' version of "It's All in the Game" is perhaps my favorite slow-dance song from high-school days. When I read titles, "Till", Where Do I Begin", "What Now My Love", "Answer Me" and "Arrivederci Roma", the melodies pop back into my brain like someone playing an old juke box.
So, who was Carl Sigman? He was a heck of a song writer and someone worth remembering.

The Law

Our phone rang at 12:30 AM last Sunday morning. It was Jean, from across the street calling. She said, "I see a police car parked in front of your driveway and another in front of your neighbor's house. Are you alright?" We were alright, in fact we had been asleep! But her call got our attention.
I looked out the window and saw a police officer walk from his cruiser to our nut-job neighbor's house. Ah ha! Nut-job Junior was in trouble! Yippee!
Mrs. Nut-job had gone away for the weekend with her boyfriend, so Junior decided to have an under-age drinking and who-knows-what-else party in her absence.
The police were there for the next two hours as, one-by-one, parents arrived on the scene to transport their kids back home. I thought it was pretty funny to see these punks with spiked hair being escorted to the family mini-van by mommy. Ha!
The last parent showed up at 2:30. As they were leaving, one officer walked out to his cruiser with Nut-job Junior and hand-cuffed him before putting him in the back seat. That was the last we saw of him until Sunday afternoon. I was surprised to see him being cuffed. Is that normal procedure for "minor in possession" offenses? Maybe he was serving something besides booze to his under-age guests.
Mrs. Nut-job is back now. So is Nut-job Junior. I can't wait to read the police report in tomorrow's paper! I wonder when his court date is? Bwahahaha!