I LOVE THIS NEW TV CHANNEL

I don’t know how may tiers Comcast has as an option for their viewers; we have 9 TV’s including the workshop in the garage and my ‘man’s’ room over the garage. We get a lot of channels, most not worth the time to watch them, but I guess on two of my sets, one in the downstairs family room and my ‘man’s’ room we get the channels missing from the basic plus package.

Use to be when cable first came out you at least got the first 13 channels, then Comcast got greedy and took off channels 4–8-9 and 12. Channels 6 and 13 are both CBS and channels 10-11 are NBC, so with basic cable you don’t get much.

I didn’t use the downstairs den unless we have company, (our home has 3 levels) instead I use the TV in my office which doesn’t carry the four missing channels in the lower tier package.

One day I was downstairs because the bride was watching her favorite show, the re-runs of Law and Order, so I flipped through the channels and came upon channel 9.

WRDE out of Rehoboth/Salisbury carries RTV Classic Network which carries old favorites, not movies but the good ole clean sit-coms.

They include Kojak, The Hulk, Rockford, Magnum, Ironside, Knight Rider, Adam 12, Dragnet, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and others and westerns like The Rifleman, and The Virginian.

The channel makes for good daytime viewing if you’re not a soap opera or talk show fan. Some of the shows are so awkward I wonder how I ever watched them, but TV stunts have come a long way since my boy hood days.

I’m not a wrestling fan, but if you are they have that too as well as professional sports.

If you want a change from forensic shows, nudity, and violence, WRDE is the place to go.

SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION:SAVINGS OR NOT?

State Auditor Tom Wagner has raised the ugly issue of school district merger or that nasty word, “Consolidation” saying the state could save $50 million a year; not exactly something to ignore especially giving the finances of the state.

Already the superintendents concerned about losing their empire and possible jobs, are screaming it can’t work.   The teacher’s uknion is up in arms. This time the united front of administrators is, by the time you level out teachers salaries you won’t save any money.

One superintendent stated when districts merged in NCC teachers salaries were not leveled up to the highest-paid-district 3,000 of the 3,900 teachers went on strike, despite this state doesn’t allow striking.

I have been a promoter for years in my writings for consolidation but now with money being tight elected officials are beginning to support consolidation in education.

State Den. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton introduced a bill this year that calls for 4 districts in Wagner’s report. Peterson commented to the News Journal, “A little state with a population less than Philadelphia needs less than 19 districts,: adding, “It doesn’t make sense to have 19 sets of everything – superintendents, deputy superintendents, directors of food service.”

She concludes with a common sense approach to the issue saying, “We’re throwing all of our money at doing things 19 times instead of putting the money in the classroom.” How can you argue with that?

In 2007 Gov. Ruth Ann Minner”s adminilstration identified between $46 million and $71 million in savings from consolidating services such as transportation, purchasing, energy and human resources.

The study also found about 70% of the administrative staff in district offices could be shared without sacrificing quality or customer service.

The school administrators remind me of the Republicans in Congress; instead of coming up with hard numbers to support their argument, or present an alternative they just say “NO”.

Governor Jack Markell says he will continue to study the potential impact of a full-scale consolidation, but wants to see districts consolidating in areas such as purchasing and professional development now.

It’ll never happen governor; schools fear a loss of local control; they ain’t sharing nothing.

Enough already of studies; take action!

LOOK FOR HIGHER GASOLINE PRICES

If you can’t sell enough gas at the pumps causing profits to drop what do you do? You create a shortage so you can raise the price.

Refineries around the country are shutting down plants or reducing output because of the eroded demand for gasoline and diesel. Remember when diesel was much less than regular gas; not anymore.

Valero Energy Corp announced the closing of their Delaware City plant recently; now they are also reducing the output by about 5.5 million barrels while they do maintenance at their N.J refinery.

The reduction will cut output by about 8 percent on the East Coast.

Sunoco’s Eagle Point refinery in NJ was idled this month because of low demand, and if all else fails, because of foreign competition.

Doesn’t anyone believe in cutting prices, less profits so people can afford to purchase gas, clothes, food, cars, etc.?

Profits are a double-edged sword; Companies need profits to keep stockholders happy and their stock prices higher; lower profits?????

BRETT FARVE IMPROVED OR BETTER TEAM?

I’m a died in the wool Green Packer fan; loved Vince Lombardi not only for his coaching ability but the discipline he brought to his team and the respect he received in turn from other teams.

They always played gutsy football, running the ball, good blocking, and great defensive players, not the flashy quarterbacks of today and their passing game.

Brett Farve is a true football player who plays for the love of the game; how much he made wasn’t his top priority, winning was.

So of course I teared up when he retired, breathed a sign of relief when he returned to the Packers, and fumed when he signed with the NY Jets, and now the Packers next door neighbors and bitter rivals the Minnesota Vikings.

He’s having one of his greatest years in the sport. Sports commentators said earlier in the season to wait until November, that’s when he usually tires, but he continues to thread the needle in passes long and short between defenders throwing 3 touchdowns Sunday and a season high of 392 yards, and no interceptions a demon that has plagued him the past few years. The Vikings are 10-1.

During many of his final years with Green Bay, Farve’s offensive line left a lot to be desired. As a result Farve had to rush his passes resulting in a lot of interceptions. His last pass before his first retirement was an interception in the final minutes of a close Packer loss.

I don’t subscribe to the Sunday sports package so I rarely see the Packers or Vikings play on TV.

Sunday the Bears-Vikings game was televised and I watched the entire game. Farve was unstoppable because he was untouchable. The Vikings offensive line was outstanding in giving Farve all day to look for open receivers.

The few times the Bears penetrated the Vikings backfield Farve rushed his passes and all of them either fell short of the intended receivers or were overthrown.

I recalled games when the Packer line held while Farve was on the team he completed passes all day.

With the taste of sour grapes still in my mouth, and looking at the schedule, which to this date has not been that challenging, the Vikings have played, I’d say the jury is still out on Farve.

And I hope he wins another Super Bowl; what he has done for football, he deserves another ring.

SHOULD TIGER WOODS TELL ALL?

Whenever a celebrity has a fender bender its national news. Among the first things people want to know if drugs or alcohol was involved. Usually speeding is a factor in the arrest report along with a drug and alcohol test.

Actually that’s more information than I care to know or even the public should know.

Take the latest celeb incident; Tiger Woods the renown pro-golfer. Golf is my least favorite sport but I love watching the competitiveness in Tiger; the come-from-behind courage.

Last week in the early morning hours he backs his car out of his driveway and into a tree. He was moving at such a low-speed his airbags didn’t even deploy.

First thing on the airwaves; alcohol was not involved; second question; why was he leaving his home at 2:30 in the morning; did he have a dispute with his wife? Well if he had when his wife busted the windows with a golf club to get him out of the car I would have belted him once on the head. But she didn’t pulling him safely out of the car.

Now the rumor is he slipped out to see another female who the National Enquirer reported was seen with Tiger.

Tiger has refused to give further information than he has which was required by law. Nothing says he or anyone else should give more details about any accident.

Nor should he. People think because they purchase their product, buy tickets to their  concerts that they are entitled to know every single detail about their private lives. Some celebrities thrive on the gossip, especially if their career is going down the toilet.

Tiger with his multi-million dollar endorsement contracts seems like the perfect rags to riches story. No one’s life is perfect. I say we should respect his privacy. What goes on in his bedroom is between he and his wife.

THAT’S WHERE SANTA CLAUS LIVES

Finally, after 4 week-ends and a bad back the outside Christmas decorations have been completed, well except for a few decorations which needed the use of a 24 ft ladder which I am not prepared to drag around this year.

Seems like the more our family grows, the less help there is; grandson #1 was available to help me put up the dozen inflatables and neighbor Shawn Miller offered to pitch in. Thanks goodness for that because that requires kneeling and screwing in the anchors. With a bad back I can get down, but getting up is another matter.

My bride gets on me for not  calling the kids, but they all have their schedules; they work all week, and the week-ends are theirs.

Now we’re working inside; today I brought in 7 containers of houses for the downstairs den. My bride unpacked some of them because we are cutting back on what we display. We have decided not to do the houses upstairs in the dinning room; another 6 containers.

We have collected numerous of Christmas ornaments during our 45 years of marriage. As with other families you hope your kids would want to take them off your hands as you grow older.

But kids today, including ours have other ideas for decorating or lack there of. I find it more difficult, especially this year with a back that gave me 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off, to decorate.

Looks like our little fortune in Christmas decorations will end up at Joe O’Neal’s auction when both of us give it up for pennies on the dollar.

At 71 years of age, I am driven to continue doing our decorations by a parent who told me many years ago what her child said about our outdoor decorations; “Mom that’s where Santa Claus lives.”

Worth every minute of pain.

DELMAR WILDCATS ADVANCE IN TOURNAMENT

Congratulations to Delmar Wildcat coach Dave Hearn and his determined group of football players as they advance to the finals in Division 11 after a convincing defeat over the Laurel Bulldogs, 33-13.

Delmar has the smallest enrollment of any public school in the state yet under coach Hearn continues to be in the play-offs on a regular basis. That says alot about his coaching ability and his handling of his players.

After losing their first three games, Delmar bounced back with 9 straight wins.

I hope they will their divisions title.

Not to be forgotten is the outstanding coaching job by Laurel native, graduate,  and first year coach Clarence Giles. Giles who was assistant coach at Laurel was named coach this year after the head coach abruptly resigned to take a similar post at Woodbridge.

Giles had only a few weeks to mold his team, and what an excellent job he did.! Congrats to the staff and players at Laurel.

SO MUCH FOR PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY

President Obama is not only the first black president elected, but the first president in modern history that anyone has crashed a White House state dinner and were in the same room as the president, the first lady and Indian Prime Minister for whom the dinner was held.

The couple, aspiring reality-TV stars from northern VA, hope to nab a possible role in the forthcoming “The Real Housewives of Washington” just walked in with invited guests and were not check for an invitation.

Which raises questions about  presidential security. Not only did they slip by security but the couple rubbed the incident in the security forces noses by posting a video on ABC and Facebook. And pictures are all over the newspapers.

This incident reminds me of the time Jimmy Carter came to Georgetown as a candidate for President. I had just been elected Democrat County Chairman and he asked to meet with a group of us at the Tunnel Law Office.

For several days Secret Service was on the phone to me asking questions and putting me through the ropes.

When we left Tunnel’s office to walk to the circle, secret service people around us and Carter; I even had to wear a button showing I had been cleared.

When out of nowhere Herb Dayton a local barber at the time, walked right up beside me and paraded with us to the circle; I have a photo of the moment showing a secret service person right behind me, and no one approached him, or probably knew he was there.

Stop and think what if they were terrorists with a bomb, weapons, or both. Heck Disney does a better job of checking you out than our government. Scary.

DID I FORGET MY TEEN-AGE DAYS?

Whenever I come down hard on today’s younger generation for their moral views, I have a classmate who reminds me that I have forgotten what it was like growing up.

Thinking back to the home-made leather strap my dad made out of shoe leather, (I still have it) no way do I forget growing up and I know me and my generation didn’t do the things we witness today.

Adam Lambert a handsome and talented young singer who was runner-up in the “American Idol” contest did a racy American Music Awards performance that embarrassed ABC so much they canceled an appearance on their Good Morning America program.

While singing his song at the awards performance Sunday, Lambert who has stated he is gay, kissed a male keyboardist, fondled a dancer and had another dancer briefly stuff his face in Lambert’s crotch, which prompted the phones at ABC to ring off the hook with complaints.

Seeking to gain much-needed TV ratings, CBS quickly snatched Lambert to appear on “The Early Show” the following morning.

Do you think there would be people outside the studio with signs protesting Lambert’s performance the Sunday before; NO!

Perhaps one of their larger crowds of kids and adults showed up screaming support for Lambert.

In an interview on the show Lambert said he just got carried away emotionally during the performance. Yeah, like Michael Jackson grabbing his crotch, Madonna locking lips with another female performer during another awards show and like Michael Jackson’s sister having her top ripped off during a super Bowl halftime show.  

And we wonder what’s wrong with this generation and today’s morality?

Yeah, I remember growing up, there were a couple of words we were taught that seems to be missing from the dictionary; RESPECT AND HONOR!!!

MONEY AND CHINA-THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

Regardless of your political affiliation just about everyone in this country knows our future is controlled by big business and big money.

Wars are for the rich and wars are where our loved ones die for the rich.

Both political parties preach civil liberties and human rights but when it comes to the almighty dollar all of that goes out the window.

Two weeks ago on 60 Minutes, and subsequent reports since then are troubling stories of China and Russia trying to find ways to put viruses in our computer systems that could shut down the entire country without electricity, water and the ability to furnish transportation for food and other products.

Another words shut down this country weapon systems as well and make us vulnerable to an attack. 

Our government has knowledge of this although they claim they don’t have absolute proof. Our government also knows the human conditions of how people are treated in these countries contrary to our beliefs.

We punish our industry for polluting the air and streams, yet we say nothing of China and Russia’s smoke stakes bellowing pollutants in the air which eventually come home to us.

However, when you open your Christmas presents next month 99% of the product, consumer safe or not, will have been made in China.

Many Americans who open their gifts will be out of work because the gift they purchased from China is the reason they are out of work.

Yet these violations are over looked, even though the safety of our country is in jeopardy, but because the American manufacturers are making the almighty dollar on foreign soil at our expense, our government turns their head; both political parties.

Why? Simply put because our industrialists fill the campaign coffers of our politicians with millions. Don’t think we can change this. I’ve been around politics since I was 18 and the cancer worsens each campaign. That’s why you hear elected officials say they need one more term to finish their unfinished business.

Translated that means I don’t have enough to retire in the fashion I want to.

When then President Bill Clinton proposed the Foreign Trade Bill NAFTA, saying  it would benefit Americans I had my doubts, but when the Republican Party, the party of big business signed on, I knew we were knee-deep in horse dung; and we are.

Even if the Obama administration is successful in pulling this country out of this deep recession, American will never be the dominant figure worldwide it once was. She has been severely wounded.

Meanwhile, you all have a very enjoyable Thanksgiving from my family to yours!!!