Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is, I believe, a common ailment affecting those who are involved in war. I don't know if I had (have) PTSD or not. But, I do know the horrors of war remain embedded in your brain for a long, long time.

During WWI soldiers were diagnosed with "Shell Shock". This continued through WWII. It wasn't until after Viet Nam that PTSD was considered a rather common occurrence in those who served.

I was in Viet Nam in 1966.....46 years ago. I remember upon my return to civilian life that I often had nightmares about things that happened. I know that my service during war time changed my outlook on various matters. Even today, I experience the occasional nightmare.
As General Sherman once stated, "War is hell." That is an absolute truth. War is hell for the participants as well as the non-combatant civilians living in the country where the war is occurring.

War causes those in the military to do things totally prohibitive in society. Killing people, and treating everybody including women and children as if they want to kill you. War means overlooking those dead and maimed to accomplish the objective regardless of how unimportant the soldier thinks it is. Those coming behind will pick up the dead and evacuate the maimed and wounded. "Accomplish the mission" is the task at hand.

War means putting your own forces in peril; having to sacrifice forces to save many more. I do not think commanders suffer any less psychological trauma than those carrying out the orders. In fact, commanders may suffer more in those instances where it is impossible to provide the support the troops need because the command is aware of the lack of support before the troops on the line experience it.

War attacks your basic psychological need for safety. You are constantly at peril. According to psychologists, persons in our society must feel safe before adequate attention can be paid to other more complicated needs. That is not true in war. In war you are expected to perform at the best of your ability at all times. The stress is almost unbearable. Once a task starts, you have no idea how long it will last. You just know, the job must be done. You trust your life to the person ahead of you, beside you and behind you and they do the same.

I never shot at anybody. I never was involved in actual combat. My duty was on a Hospital Ship in Viet Nam. It was a 750 bed hospital cruising the coast in support of the U.S. Marines in the "I" Corps area which ranged from Chu Lai in the South northward to North Viet Nam. We usually figured we would have casualties arriving via helicopter about 30 minutes after a firefight started. We never knew how many we would get at a time. Normally a helicopter would carry between 6 and 14 casualties at a time and they always flew in pairs. There were times when we would have a steady stream going through triage for several hours with choppers making several round trips.

I was fortunate to have worked in a surgical ward in a land based hospital before being assigned to the ship. The vast majority of my patients had been sent back to the States from Viet Nam. Many on our ship had never experience those type of casualties and especially before they had been cleaned up. During the first week we had numerous sailors literally throwing up at the horrific sights they saw.

After 45 years, I still recall several I took off the helicopters. It seems the memory is as vivid as the day I experienced it. But I don't think my experience is near as bad as those who were exposed to enemy fire. I can't imagine the nightmares they might experience.

Regardless of what you call it, PTSD is real. It affects some more than others. I have always felt blessed to be able to lead a normal life following my experience. Others have not been as fortunate. "War is hell" long after it is over. It never really leaves you.

Memorable Christmas Celebrations

I am fortunate to have many wonderful Christmas memories of great food, wonderful family gatherings, and lots of gifts.

The celebrations I most cherish are those where there was no family, no great food, and no gifts. They all occurred while I was on military duty with the Naval Reserve.

The Navy trains its reservists by job duty rather than training a whole unit at one time. As a reservist, I was required to do two weeks of active duty each year. Generally, in each instance, I was able to pick from a list of dates and missions. Since I joined the Reserves at age 17, I decided to try to do my training during the Christmas holidays so I could work uninterrupted during the summer.

The first Christmas I spent away from home and family was when I attended the two week “boot camp” at Great Lakes, Illinois. There were about 80 of us in our company. It was terribly cold and we marched in formation everywhere we went. On Christmas Eve we went through training as if it was a regular day. The guys in the company were excited about Christmas even though it would be kind of barren. That evening after taps, after our drill instructor was comfortably out of range, we decided to read the Christmas story from Luke. I had a Bible and several volunteers provided light from their Zippo cigarette lighters. (We were forbidden to turn on lights after taps.) With the flickering light, I read the passage from Luke. Then the lighters were closed and we all went to our “racks” (bed) to sleep the evening away. As things settled down, someone suggested we sing “Silent Night”. So we did. A group of 80 young men lying in their racks were singing. It sounded wonderful to us. In reality, it was probably more comfortable than beautiful. Then we slept the night away knowing our training would continue as normal on Christmas Day.

The next two times I spent Christmas away was at Pensacola Naval Hospital. My “rate” (job) was Hospital Corpsman. So I would go to the Naval Hospital for hands on training. I learned a lot while there. In each instance, I would volunteer to pull extra duty on Christmas Day so one of the regular staff could spend Christmas with their family. I would venture to the Episcopal Church in downtown Pensacola for midnight Mass, drive back to the base and get up early to report for duty at 0700 hours. When I finished that shift, I stayed on for the next shift and got off around mid-night. It was a good feeling to give someone time off and a good feeling to be of comfort to those were ill.

The last time I spent Christmas away from home was when I was in Hospital Corps School at Great Lakes, Illinois. I could have gotten leave for Christmas, but elected not to take it because my fiancé and I planned to get married when I finished the school and had a permanent duty assignment. I was able to volunteer at the huge Naval Hospital located there and allow somebody to enjoy Christmas with their family. Again, it was a feeling of giving.

In each instance, the giving of myself, the Christmas celebrated with religious services and no presents or family was more satisfying and enjoyable than most other Christmas’ I have experienced.

Oh, I did celebrate briefly with my family before departing in the first three instances. But to have a Christmas Eve and Christmas day concentrated only on others allowed me to experience the true meaning of Christmas….giving thanks for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Maybe, Just Maybe

Haley Barbour is not dumb. He almost had me confused on Initiative 26 when on national television he expressed that he thought the language was to ambigious and caused him concern. Then a day later on Mississippi television, he said he decided it was best to vote for the initiative and did so.

That left me scratching my head. I've known Haley Barbour for over 40 years. He has never been one to back down from a fight. Yet, he tripped all over himself on this particular issue. Why?

Well, I've got a theory on that. It's a known fact that Senator Thad Cochran is ready and willing to step down under the right circumstances. Perhaps Mr. Barbour has cut a deal with Mr. Bryant to appoint him(Barbour) to fill Cochran's unexpired term if the Senator decides to step down before the election. And maybe, just maybe, Bryant called Barbour's hand on Initiative 26 to the point that if Barbour didn't change his mind, then Mr. Bryant would look to appoint somebody else to the Senate seat i.e. Greg Harper.

Then tonight it was Barbour who spoke just before the Governor Elect and said nice things about Bryant before Bryant delivered his victory speech. That was interesting in that Barbour and Bryant have never been the closest of allies. But all of a sudden they act like lifelong pals.

As I said, it's just a theory. But anything can happen in the wacky world of politics.

1937 Chevrolet

It was sometime in the fall of 1951. School had started and I was in the first grade. We didn't have a car and there were no school buses operating inside the city limits, so I walked to school and walked home. For the first week or so, Momma would walk with me and then she turned me loose to go on my own. I guess we lived about a mile and half from the school. If you are from Vicksburg, you can figure it for yourself since we lived on Belmont Street and the school was on Bowmar Avenue.

In those days things were not as complicated and it was safe for a six year old to walk on the sidewalks to and from school.

One day after class I began my normal walk home. There was a long walk from the school to the street. Just after I got to the street side walk, a person in a big black car honked his horn. I looked but kept on walking. Pretty soon I heard a man calling, "Butch, Butch". I turned around and it was my Daddy. He had bought a car and was going to give me a ride home.

Wow! We had never owned a car before! It was black, big and beautiful! A practically new 1937 Chevrolet in 1951.

It had cloth seat covers, acres of leg room, and big headlights attached to the front. It was amazing!

I can remember Daddy taking us downtown on Washington Street and parking in front of the Valley department store. We would roll the windows down and just sit in the car speaking to people as they passed by so they would know that the our family had a car. We took it 10 miles north to Redwood to see my Aunt Pat. That's the first time I can remember leaving the city limits.

A young preacher, an evangelist named Billy Graham was scheduled to speak at the LeTourneau plant about ten miles south of town. Mr. R.G. LeTourneau owned the company. He was a religious man and took great care of his employees. Anyway, now that we had a car, we were able to venture south and listen to Brother Billy Graham bring a message. I don't remember anything Rev. Graham said, but I do remember the event and the huge crowd that had gathered outside.

Those big black headlights were particularly useful. Daddy would let me sit on the fender with my feet on the bumper while holding on to the headlight while he would drive ever so slowly around the block. That was great fun! And since the car had running boards big enough to stand on, he would roll down the windows, let me stand on the running board with my arms around the door post so I could ride "side saddle". Yessir, that was fun too.

So as you can tell, I liked that car and I liked the idea that we could venture out of town on occasion. Daddy sold that car in 1953 when he bought a 1951 Plymouth with vinyl inside door covers.

Do Unto Others

A very contentious issue is on the ballot this year in the general election in Mississippi. It is an attempt to legally define when life begins. Proponents and opponents are avid in their views. Some religious leaders are for the proposal, and some are against. Ditto for some doctors. There is no room for compromise.

A blog that I participate in has brought people together from all over the State. Some are liberals. Some are conservative. All are Americans. While I don't think the issue has been discussed on the blog, it has been discussed on Facebook. Since most members of the blog are "friends" on Facebook it is very likely that a stated opinion is known by all the other members.

Members of the blog are a diverse group. There are workers and retirees of various ages from different geographical areas. We come from different backgrounds. Yet, we pray for each other, ((hug)) each other, and encourage each other as we face the trials and tribulations of this life on earth.

Every now and then, we have an actual get together where we can meet and talk in person. Such occasions tend to solidify the relationships.

But because of different views on the proposed ballot issue, some of the bloggers have left the group for one reason or another. Perhaps they feel those with opposite views were not Christians and they don't want to affiliate with them in any way. Since no reason was given for their departure from the group, it is not possible to know exactly what hurt their feelings or turned them away from the group.

As I stated earlier, we are all Americans. We all have the rights, privileges, and freedoms that come with citizenship. That includes the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. Whenever someone has an opinion they have a right to express it. Others will agree or disagree with the opinion, while some will just ignore it. But nobody can control your view point, your feeling, or your religious beliefs. Obviously we will all disagree sometime on some issue, action, or point. That's just part of being human.

One area which I will disagree with is any attempt to judge a person's belief in God or his or her religion. I think all of us on the blog are Christians. "Christian" is a title that is earned, not given.

With that in mind, I quote two passages of scripture. In the 22nd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV)
This passage is often referred to as the Great Commandment.

The second passage is an all time favorite. It is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."(NIV)

Neither of those passages includes the word "except". They are all inclusive. To me, that means it is not your opinion of an issue that is important, it is your Christian belief that is most important. In this world, we have many "Christian" religions. I think all of them agree on the issue of eternal life and salvation with slight degrees of differences in how we express that belief.

And so, dear friends, I promise I will not question your faith if you express a different opinion on a political issue and I hope you will extend the same courtesy to me. May Christ's peace be with you.

Initiative 26

This is going to be a long post. It's my perception of Initiative 26 which will be on the General Election ballot in Mississippi in November.

In 1981, Republican Jon Hinson was forced to resign from the U.S. Congress. A special election was to be held to fill the vacancy. The Republican party decided to hold a caucus to fill the party candidate slot. Several people, including me, jumped into the race.

As part of the campaign, we would go to various parts of the state to meet with caucus delegates for a question and answer session. At every stop some common questions were asked, "Who will be your chief of staff? Will your staff be integrated? What's your position on (name a topic)." I could artfully dodge some of the questions and answer the rest.

The question always arose as to my position on abortion. My answer was that I am opposed to abortion with three exceptions: rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is threatened. I think the woman should have the option of having an abortion when those situations exist. It wasn't a made up answer. It was my position then and is my position now.

Did it satisfy everybody? Heck no. The "Right to Life", anti-abortion right wing extremists exhibited outright anger at the answer. My response....you asked the question, you got an honest answer. What more do you expect?

Fast forward to January, 1986. I was serving in the Mississippi House of Representatives when a very strict abortion bill came up for a vote. There were only four nays cast on that bill. The four included the two females serving in the House, another male Representative and me. Interestingly, the two male Representatives were adoptive parents. Because of my stand on that issue, I was bombarded with dozens of phone calls from irate Pro-Lifers. I was told and so was my wife told that my entire family including our children will burn in hell.

On January 28, 1986, I was discussing the abortion issue with a constituent on the telephone. I was standing my ground and she wasn't budging an inch. Finally, I proposed this scenario; what if I was trapped in foxhole in Viet Nam and was being overrun by Viet Cong and certain to be killed; would it be acceptable in her eyes for me to kill my aggressor to save my life. Her answer was a shocking, "NO!" I told her that I thought it to be a very irrational answer. About that time, the Challenger blew up and we abandoned the phones to watch television. I have never forgotten that conversation because it showed me how adamant those people are about the issue.

In 2004, the medical providers were backed against the wall. They couldn't get medical malpractice insurance because of Mississippi's lack of tort reform laws. The Legislature commenced work on medical tort reform to help address the problem. Insurance companies were abandoning the Mississippi market, emergency rooms were shutting down, and OB-GYN physicians were leaving the state. Many counties were suddenly without medical assistance for births.

The Legislature passed far reaching legislation to help curb the ridiculous medical malpractice class action suits that were being filed daily. In addition to passing the law, the Legislature passed bonding and created a state run insurance company to help keep our medical doctors from moving away. The big class action suits ceased. The medical malpractice insurers began to ease back into the state. The state run insurance company was sold and the bonds were paid off. Since then, legal activity as regards the medical field has been minimal.

Now in 2011, the Pro-Lifers are pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions and have life be considered to exist at the moment of conception. Even those pushing the amendment admit the language is not perfected and the Legislature will have to fine tune it if it passes.

The medical profession has responded with a warning that they cannot endorse the proposal because of the legal uncertainness it generates. So here we go again. OB-GYN physicians will be most affected and will likely become uninsurable again. Emergency rooms and clinics which reopened after the last crisis will probably close again. The medical delivery system in Mississippi will be adversely affected.

Initiative 26 is a mean piece of legal mumbo jumbo. Here's my take on it.

1. It will not necessarily prevent any abortions because abortions will still be available in neighboring states. (Hello! Does anybody remember prohibition?)

2. It will put the lives of expectant mothers at risk because in a life or death situation the baby must be delivered even if the mother dies in childbirth. So what if it is the mother's second, third or fourth child? I think the mother should be given the choice of which action she prefers.

3. It will put pharmacies and doctors at risk of intensive litigation.

4. It will adversely affect the health care delivery system in Mississippi.

These are not all the reasons to vote against the proposal, but they are enough for me to make up my mind.

My take? It's bad law and detrimental to the general population of the citizens of this State. I'm voting, "No".

Day Sailor

Anybody who has known me for very long, knows I absolutely love to sail. I owned a sailboat from 1981 to 1995. It was an O'Day Day Sailor, light blue hull, wooden side boards, wooden floor boards, jib, mainsail, spinniker, and lift up center board. The boat was very sturdy, 17' long, 6 feet wide and with the board down had a draft of 3.5 feet.

This is not my actual boat but one just like her.


I bought the boat having never sailed before in my life. I bought a book and a friend and I headed to the reservoir for a trial run. Everybody was rigging their boats at the dock. I thought it would be easier to rig it while still on the trailer, then back it into the water and be prepared to sail away.


So we put the mast up, rigged the lines and the sails. Boy, she looked pretty. Then I started backing down to the ramp by the pier. All of a sudden I heard "zin, zipp, zipp, zing". I looked back and saw the sails falling into the boat. I had hit an electrical line. Well needless to say, we didn't get to sail that day.


But fast forward. That boat and I became soul mates. Often I would hit the water at sunrise and come in about midnight. My wife would ride with me for a few hours and then she would get tired. I sailed that boat through storms and rough water, in lakes where there was a current, and on days where the wind was consistent enough to allow for some significant heeling. I sailed her with a main and jib, just a jib and just a spinniker.


I did not use a motor but rarely had any trouble bringing her aside the pier under sail.


Sailing for me was a way to totally relax. Give me a cooler of drinks and some fried chicken and I was set for the day. I learned to read the waves, read the clouds, and to drop the sails when coming aside the pier if the wind was too high. I never turned her over but was in winds that turned a lot of other boats over both large and small.


Around 1998, I put her up for sale. When her new owner pulled out with my happy little boat, I actually cried. I hope they took good care of her.

It Happened!

(Note: This a longer than usual blog)
It happened! I had an accident on my motorcycle. I was headed east on Hwy 80 with plans to turn onto Trickhambridge Road and then home. A small foreign model white car was in front of me with two young men in it. He had to stop for ongoing traffic and so did I. When he could make the left hand turn, I looked and followed him up a small hill. He was going about 7 or 8 miles per hour and I was right on his bumper trying to keep the motorcycle upright. As he got to the top of the hill, he began to speed up and I followed suit. By this time we were probably going about 12 mph. Then, all of a sudden, for no reason at all, he slammed on brakes and stopped. I swerved to the left hoping not to hit his car. The next thing I knew, he was speeding away and they were laughing as I was thrown off the motorcycle.

Just as I was about to hit the pavement I remember either muttering to myself or yelling for the world to hear, "Aw shit!" Then I felt a crunch and found myself laying on my left side right on the center line of the two lane road. I immediately felt my clavicle and could tell it was broken. A mini van going the opposite direction stopped and two young ladies ran over to see if they could help me. A man in his yard came running too.
I got on my feet and saw my motorcycle laying perfectly on its right side. The handle bars were straight, both tires were about six or eight inches off the ground. The highway bar had caught the front end of the bike while the hard saddle bag held up the rear. With the help of several people we righted the motorcycle and rolled to a man's driveway. I gave the ladies my cell phone with my ICE number highlighted. The call was made to my wife who didn't answer the phone. The man and the lady whose driveway I was using got a wet towel as my left arm was rather bloody. Then the lady called 911.

In the meantime, I checked the bike and determined it could be ridden. Everything appeared operable except for the rear brake pedal which was blocked by the bent highway bar. Since I only lived a mile away, I thanked the people and told them I would just ride it on home. The two ladies in the minivan turned around and followed me to the house. My wife was in the basement and when I opened the back door I gave a firm shout for her to come up quickly. She must have sensed the urgency as she ran up the stairs. We went to the car and began heading to the hospital which is located about 4 miles from our house.

The hospital was able to check me in rather quickly, and wheeled me back to a receiving area. Shortly a local policeman came in and said I had fled from the scene of the accident. I told him that was not even on my radar. I just wanted to get home and have my wife take me to the hospital. He said that is why the city has emergency vehicles. I recounted the incident to him. Then he said he would not give me a ticket but also could not file an accident report. Somehow he found out who I was, went to our house and saw the bike, then came to the hospital. To give you an idea of how fast things happened, my wife and I passed the scene on the way to the hospital before any emergency vehicles had arrived.

I was a lucky boy. I have a broken clavicle, road rash on my left arm and knee, and somehow a badly bruised big toe. And when the clavicle broke, it caused the left pectoral muscle to bruise. I told somebody it looked like I had the mammogram from hell.

The bike has relatively minor damage. There is a two inch by 1/4 inch scratch on the front fender. The outer chrome rim around the headlight is bent. The highway bar is scuffed and bent from the force of hitting the pavement. The saddle bag on that side of the bike encountered some pretty tough scuff marks but is still very usable.

I was glad to have a full face helmet on as there were some rather deep grooves running from the temple area to the chin. The helmet did exactly what it was supposed to do.

This was a tough way to learn a lesson on safety. A few weeks ago, a biker was killed when he couldn't stop short enough because he was following too closely. I was following too closely and had no margin for error. I thought the kids were tapping the brake light requesting me to back off. I certainly did not expect them to come to a complete stop.

I have proper gear...a protective jacket, gloves, helmet and boots. I was only wearing the helmet. From now on its all the protective gear or no riding. I'm not sure if the jacket would have stopped the broken clavicle but I am certain it would have prevented the road rash down my left arm.

Will I ride again? Absolutely! Just let me get the fracture healed and replace a couple of bike parts and buy a new helmet. Then its zoom, Zoom, ZOOM!

A Troubling Trend

There's a trend in politics these days that I find troubling. Having once been in politics on a state level, I know what it is like to run for office, to get elected, and to serve. I know when I was in the Mississippi Legislature, I cast an average of 3,000 votes per year covering almost any issue you can imagine. Granted, most of the votes were rudimentary on items that passed with 95% yea votes. But there were others that generated great debate and passed or failed by only a few votes.

As a state Representative, I always felt I was there to vote the way the majority of my constituents would vote if they were sitting at my desk in the Capitol. I went to great effort to talk to people about the issues trying to get a feel for their views on important issues. I think in 8 years in the Legislature, I only cast two votes that were opposite of my own personal feelings because my constituents wanted me to vote that way.

There were others in the same office as I who felt they were elected to cast votes as they deemed fit regardless of what the constituents wanted. They reasoned that they were the one who had the most facts on the issue and therefore could make an educated vote. That approach is fine if your constituents realize what you are doing.

A prime example of that occurred in the Mississippi Electoral College when Ronnie Musgrove was elected Governor. There was a tie in the Electoral College vote which threw the final vote into the House of Representatives. Several Representatives voted contrary to the popular vote in their districts to allow Musgrove to be elected. I thought it was wrong then and still do. And please note, it doesn't matter who the candidates are or were, to blatantly vote opposite of your constituents is haughty behavior.

I learned long ago that there are a lot of "single issue" constituents out there. I also learned that the public is not as dumb as some politicians believe. The "single issue" constituents are garnering power by using "pledges" to tie the hands of their Congressional representatives. By "single issue" I am referring to those with a pro-life stance, those who are against any kind of gun control, those who want to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman, those who do not want any tax increases ever, those who are against the federal highway system, and the list goes on and on and on.

If I were still active in politics, I would personally refuse to sign a pledge that takes away any room for compromise on an issue. Issues become intertwined and thus complex. Often there is not a clear yes or no vote. A politician may only be presented a bill which contains several issues of which one is a popular "single issue". It may be that the other issues will override the "single issue" as regards legislative benefit to the district or the country as a whole. But, because he or she signed a "pledge" they feel inclined to honor the pledge regardless of how many others are adversely affected.

Pledges may sound great to "single issue" constituents. I remember someone telling me they were going to vote against me because I voted to allow horse racing in Tunica County. As a subcommittee chairman, I bottled that issue up for two years and finally allowed it to go to full committee only after lengthy conversations with the FBI on the role of organized crime in horse racing. My response was to tell him I am sorry he feels that way because I cast over 3,000 votes in the legislature that year and he only disagreed with me on one vote. Apparently he agreed with me on the other 2,999 votes I cast.

I think that is effective representation.

It Finally Happened

My motorcycle is named "Boule" (Bully). I've had Boule for almost seven weeks now and we have logged just over 2,000 miles together.

I told my wife the other day that "It finally happened". When I first started riding, I was not comfortable with such a big bike. Yeah, yeah, 800cc is not a big bike. But, if your first bike was 250cc and a shade over 300 lbs, the 800cc at 650lbs is pretty big.

Boule and I have had our moments. I'm ashamed to say it, but I have dropped him four times; twice coming out of our driveway, once in the garage, and once on the street at a stop sign. The lesson I have learned is that the slower a motorcycle goes, the more dangerous it is. Motorcycles require momentum to stay upright. They can fall very quickly, especially if you get off of it without putting the kickstand down!

Yet we have put up with each other. Boule has taught me much more than I have taught him. We've ridden, and ridden, and ridden and seldom really go anywhere except in a big circle. It's kind of like life. We leave the house, do what we have to do....shop, work, church......and then return home. I do hope that Boule and I will be able to take a trip soon where we spend a night or two on the road before returning home. It will take some planning because my wife will not ride with me.

Back to what I said earlier, "It finally happened". One day this past week I realized it. Riding Boule became extremely pleasurable. You see, Boule and I have bonded. We are as one when we are going down the road, making turns, and stopping and starting. Oh I still have to concentrate on what I am asking the bike to do, what gear I am in, and what's ahead, beside, and behind me. But when it comes to making a turn or taking a curve, or reacting to a bad road condition, Boule and I just hang together and make it a smooth event. It's a comfortable feeling.

Yep, it finally happened.

BOOM!!

I’m among the first of the “Baby Boomers”…..children born during or immediately after WWII.

As a child I mostly attended new schools which were being constructed to accommodate the huge group of “Boomers” which follow me. Ditto for college. New classrooms, new laboratories, new dorms and new libraries and cafeterias were constructed just as I began my college years.

Most of the planning for the huge surge of population was done on the local and state level. The federal government may have watched and probably ran countless studies. But most of all, Uncle Sam was wallowing in the expected increase in taxable income.

That money was spent with reckless abandon. While other world countries still count dollars in millions, we’ve spurted past that to make “trillion” a normal word.

Now that we “Boomers” are reaching retirement age, our incomes stabilize or even decrease, Uncle Sam is wringing his hands trying to figure out how to fund those programs it pushed on the country while plenty of money was available.

Yes, Medicare is one of them. Seniors are not given a choice. At age 65 you must be covered by Medicare and pay for it. It doesn’t matter that we have been taxed all these years for Medicare via payroll deduction.

But, Uncle Sam thinks he may have made a mistake and would like to make changes to the program by reducing coverage. Hey isn’t that about the same as a price hike? You have to pay for medical care either from Medicare or out of your pocket. Usually it takes both sources.

Consider Social Security. Due to the surge of covered population, it appears the funds may be inadequate to fund the program past a certain date.

My goodness, we “Boomers” have been “Boomers” for 65 years. Why is the federal government suddenly recognizing that there are a lot of us old farts out here and plenty more to come?

2011 Elections

2011 Elections will shape the future of Mississippi politics for years to come.

There is a leadership vacuum in both houses of the Mississippi Legislature.

In the Senate, Lt. Governor Phil Bryant is running for Governor, while President Pro Tempore Billy Hewes chose to give up his Senate seat and run for Lt. Governor.

Over in the House of Representatives, Speaker Billy McCoy is retiring as is Speaker Pro Tempore J.P. Compretta.

Once elected, those filling the vacant positions will inherit enormous powers. The Lt. Governor and Speaker of the House appoint every member of every committee along with naming the committee chairs and vice chairs. They will assign bills to committees and guide favored legislation through the process.

They will serve on the powerful Legislative Budget Committee to hear monetary requests from every facet of state government and, with the Legislative Budget Office, will develop the budget for the State.

In addition, they will have the option of naming the staffs of the Senate and the House.

You can bet there is a lot of internal polling going on with those wishing to be in leadership positions trying to line up support in return for important committee assignments.

Basically there will be new leadership throughout the Legislature from top to bottom. Consequently, some issues which were never given the time of day, may get some traction: i.e. radar for sheriffs, university consolidation, zero budgeting, etc. Of course if legislators get hung up with party bickering, very little will get done.

I’m hoping for a fresh new beginning in both houses of the Legislature. It will be an interesting time in the State’s history.

My Mistake

My new (used) motorcycle is named "Boule" (Bully). I love that rascal! It's smooth, fun to operate, peppy when I want it to be, and quite user friendly. I'm hoping Boule and I have a long friendship.

My driveway is on a slight uphill slant. When riding Boule onto the street, I start in first, look left and right, and shift into second just as I enter the street while making a left turn. I have time to shift to third before I come to the stop sign at the end of the street. Then I usually ease it back into second (a rolling stop) and ride down the street making as little noise as possible.

The gears on the motorcycle are in this order: first, neutral, second, third, fourth, and fifth. They are controlled by a shift lever. You lift the lever up with you foot to change gears for speed and you press down on the lever to change gears as you reduce speed.

Whenever you are making a turn on a motorcycle, you must be applying some acceleration. The worst position to be in is to be making a turn and losing too much speed. The motorcycle will become unstable and will just lean right over on it's side.

The other day I was coming out of the driveway and shifted into second just as I hit the street all while making a left turn. One big problem, the motorcycle shifted from first to neutral. I rolled the throttle. Boule didn't respond but came to an unplanned stop. And you guessed it. Boule assumed an undignified prone position laying on his left side with my leg underneath. I got my leg out and found I could not lift 650 pounds of machinery by myself.

A neighbor, there are only four of us on the street, saw me and came over to help right the cycle. I almost cried. After getting Boule upright, I noticed two obvious areas of damage. The clutch lever now has an end curled outward which really doesn't look that bad. The left rear turn signal which is all plastic broke. I've been able to do a temporary fix on the turn signal using plastic glue and very clear packing tape. The signal still works and the repair is not really noticeable from a distance of just a few feet.

Now those acquainted with motorcycles know that a green light shows up when the cycle is in neutral. It shows on mine too, but with a full face helmet, I cannot see my speedometer and the associated warning lights without looking down. It's difficult to look down when you are watching for traffic from two directions. Still, it is my mistake and I don't ever want to make the same error again.

The metal clutch lever costs about $18. The plastic turn signal costs $68! I've ordered both and hope to erase the obvious damage soon. In the meantime, Boule and I are still friends eagerly exploring the world around us.

On Two Wheels--The First Week

This has been an interesting week. Last Friday my motorcycle, a used Honda Rebel, was delivered. For a few days I rode it in our neighborhood practicing turns, stopping, starting, and shifting. Then on Wednesday of this week, I took and passed my test for a motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license.

Late Wednesday afternoon I left the neighborhood and rode down a fairly well traveled road to Highway 80 and back...a distance of 5 or 6 miles. Got the cycle up to 50 mph for a short period but mostly drove at about 45 mph. It was exciting to be on the road for the first time.

On Thursday I rode to the bank and did a transaction at the drive through window. Then I drove on to the post office to mail a package that I carried in my saddle bags. That brief trip put me in real traffic for the first time. Overall I did pretty good but stalled out trying to start up in traffic. That happened twice. Note to self: practice dude, practice, practice.

Then on Thursday afternoon I drove out to a local park that has huge parking lots. I practiced turning to the left, turning to the right and starting. I started on level ground and on an incline, over and over and over.

Feeling good about my practice, I left the park and headed down Shiloh Road about ten miles to Shiloh Campground and returned to the park. It was a nice drive as I had nobody behind me and nobody in front of me going and only two vehicles in front of me on the return and they both turned off leaving me with an open road. I drove 45 mph for the most part but did touch 50 a couple of times.

That evening I decided I should get some experience in traffic at night. So I drove from my house to Trustmark Park in Pearl and returned using Highway 80. Traffic was medium with cars in front, behind and beside me. There were about a dozen stop lights in each direction and a couple of stretches where the speed limit was 55 mph. I did not experience any problems. The only time I felt uncomfortable was following a car that would speed up and then slow down and speed up and slow down. I didn't feel comfortable trying to pass the car due to traffic in the outside lane. So I just carefully followed.

In my first week of ownership, I have put 114 miles on the little Honda. It's been an exhilarating experience. I've named the little bike "Casper". Casper and I have bonded this week and I'm looking forward to sharing many more experiences with him.

Getting There

As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm about to become a biker. There's a lot of steps to this: Safety training, motorcycle license, equipment, tag, safety sticker, insurance, and purchasing a bike.

This weekend I will go through my safety training. I'm really looking forward to it.

I have my gear.

A helmet

A jacket

raingear

boots

And now I have a bike:
It's a Honda Rebel 250. Not a go fast interstate machine, but it should be a lot of fun around town and on country roads. It's a 2006 model and is supposed to get excellent gas mileage.

Vroom

A couple of months ago I decided I would buy a motor scooter. I've always wanted one to putt putt around on. As a adolescent, many of my friends had motor scooters and motor bikes. They were kind enough to let me ride with them and, on occasion, let me take a spin on my own. For the past several years I've looked at scooters, read reports on scooters, and daydreamed about them.

I went to the local scooter store and looked at the Genuine brand. They are known as good dependable scooters.

In Mississippi to operate a scooter with an engine larger than 50cc one must have a motorcycle endorsement on the driver's license. That means you must take a written test, a driving test, and plop down some dollars and you are in business. Since I really have no experience I decided I should sign up for a motorcycle safety course which will exempt me from the driving test.

Still shopping for scooters, I started making the rounds of all the motorcycle dealers in the Jackson area. That was a mistake or maybe it was good. When I went to the local Yamaha dealer, I found a small motorcycle that had a 250cc engine. I sat on it. It felt comfortable...more comfortable than the scooters I had been sitting on. The cost was just a shade more than a scooter, but it has much more flexibility.

That got me interested in small motorcycles. I searched the internet to find out which were good starter bikes. All the information seemed to point to the venerable Honda Rebel and the Yamaha Star 250. Both engines are the same size. The spec's for both bikes are almost identical. They are both comfortable to sit on. So I inquired of a friend who has a Rebel and is getting a bigger, faster bike to see if the Rebel might be for sale. The answer was in the affirmative. So I went to see the bike. I liked it.

But, everything has to fall in place before I can purchase and ride it on the streets. I need to get a motorcycle endorsement for my driver's license so I sought out and signed up for a motorcycle safety course where they teach new riders the proper way to handle a bike.

In order to take the safety course, I have to have a helmet, a protective jacket, gloves and boots. So I went on the web to do my research. I purchased a helmet locally about a week ago. I have been trying to order a jacket in high visibility yellow which looks like neon green. Lo and behold I cannot get high visibility yellow in any of the jackets I like. So today, I purchased a red one and I purchased a pair of gloves from a source on the internet. For boots, I plan to use my old Army combat boots which are still in good enough shape to pass inspection.

Now all the pieces are starting to fit together. I'll have the protective gear in hand by the end of next week. I'll take the motorcycle safety course the weekend after. Then comes the license and, hopefully, the bike will be delivered the weekend following Easter. The bike presently lives in a town in South Mississippi and the owner has graciously offered to bring it to my house via a pickup truck.

Then, that exciting sound, "Vroom, Vroom, Vrooooooom".

What Did They Do?

In August of 2010, I retired. That’s right; I quit going to work every day. It’s been an adjustment I have yet to conquer.

As the legislative season grew closer and closer, I found myself having serious withdrawal symptoms. For thirty years I have walked the halls of the Capitol. I started in 1980, as an elected Representative from Warren County. In 1988, I left the Legislature on my own accord and began a lobbying career that has kept food on the table until my retirement.

There’s something about being around the Capitol. You learn about issues and hear both sides in debate. You see the TV cameras and have a very good idea of what is going to be on the local news. When you read about an issue in the paper, you know far more about it than the average citizen and usually more than the reporter. I guess it’s being on the “cutting edge” of government actions that makes it so interesting to me.

So I began to think of how I could still be around the Legislature without the intense pressure of lobbying. Over the years many people have asked me to do reports for them. I usually declined unless they were willing to pay me. So, I decided I might be able to round up a client or two interested in knowing what’s going on but not able to be at the Capitol all day, every day.

Fortunately, I found such a client. They pay me to go to committee meetings and listen to the floor sessions. I text them of immediate actions and give them a weekly report on the issues of interest to them. I also call them right away if I sense they need to talk to a particular Legislator on an issue. It is working well for both of us. I can be involved in the process without any pressure. I do not talk to Legislators about any issue and quite honestly I don’t care if a bill passes, gets amended or fails. It is not my concern. My only concern is to keep my client advised.

You may be wondering why someone would hire me to just listen and report. First of all, my actions allow the client to continue working with minimal disruption. When I call them for action, they can usually talk to a Legislator on the phone. If testimony is required, they can prepare it, deliver it and go back to work. If the testimony only concerns their business and they do not otherwise attempt to influence a Legislator they do not have to register as a lobbyist. Consequently they can “fly under the radar” because their competitors will not be totally aware of their involvement in the issue.

You might say, well they could hire somebody at a lesser cost to listen and report. Yes they could, but will that other person have the technical expertise required. Does the other person know about the Legislative rules and deadlines? Will they know the difference between the subcommittee rules, the committee rules, and the floor rules? Will the other person know the pros and cons of dealing with particular legislators? Will the other person be aware of all the other players and their concerns on the issue? Will the other person know precisely when and how to take effective action on an issue?

Yesterday as I was listening to the House, I noticed committee chairmen moving to “lay the bill on the table subject to call”. They were doing that to protect their bill which would have been bumped to the heel of the calendar if a motion was not made. Rather than do that, the chairmen could have moved to “have the bill considered read for the third time”. It would allow the bill to retain its place on the calendar without placing it on a different calendar which has higher priority. It’s early in the session. After about an hour of floor action, the chairmen remembered the “proper” way to deal with the bill. By the way, the rules on calendar placement and placement retention are different in the House and Senate.

Another example of technical knowledge is to know the difference between “the usual motion” on the floor and “the usual motion” in committee. When made on the floor it means that "the rules be suspended, the bill considered engrossed, read for the third time and placed on final passage”. That motion requires a 2/3 vote. When made in committee, the motion is made after a bill receives approval and has the effect of moving to reconsider the vote whereby the bill passed and tabling the motion to reconsider. Once that action is taken, the bill is no longer the property of the committee and is placed on the calendar for floor action. The “usual motion” in committee only requires a majority of those voting, not the majority of a quorum.

A client asked yesterday what “TSDP”, “TSDPAA” and “TSDPCS” means when shown as a committee recommendation. It means "Title Sufficient Do Pass", "As Amended", "Committee Substitute". And each recommendation requires a different action on the floor of the House or Senate. You get the idea. There's a distinct language and a different set of rules to play by when dealing with the Legislature.