Mark Knows It All

Okay. So I had to go to Panera’s in Canfield this morning to deliver some papers to a client. I dutifully packed my baliche and drove in the AM traffic and parked my car and strolled into the coffee shop. And what to my wondering eyes did appear but a whole bunch of people sitting around drinking coffee, eating bears claws, and having a good time. But was I drinking coffee? Was I eating bears claws? Was I having a good time? Nooooo. I was delivering papers to my whacked client who may or may not pay me. Then I had to go to work. I had to get my coffee to go…and all of the coffee urns were empty. The ladies who worked there had to confer about what to do. I think they must have exceeded the 8 – 9 AM quota. Where do I sign up for that life? When do I get to wile away the morning sipping java and eating pastries? What am I doing wrong? There are two phenomena in American culture that are a real hoot. The first is the mall walkers, of which I am one. That is a subject for another day. T

THE DAD' GUM GUV'MENT from the Tony Award Winning Musical BIG RIVER Query me this. Do you really think the government is good for you? Do you really believe # 3 of the three big lies: 1) The check is in the mail. 2) I will respect you in the morning. 3) I'm from the government and I am here to help you. Has the government made your life better? Forget whether you are right wing or left wing, or Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street. Look at the people that go into politics. There are folks who view it as a "job". Don't call them after 4 or ask them for anything.  Then there are the folks who have an axe to grind. They are dogmatic with a point of view that more likely than not is as whacky as they are. Case in point: the global warming brigade. Then there is the anti-salt brigade. Then there are the right to lifers and the pro choicers. It goes on and on. It's no wonder we are so messed up. Our political system is geared to bring out those who think the

Simon and Garfunkel is among my favorite groups from the 1960’s. They take me back to the days when I took my date to see The Graduate while my parents were out of town. Scandalous!!! The soundtrack of my life was Scarborough Fair and the Sounds of Silence. The Beatles were going through their classical period, and styles of music melded together in ways that have yet to be replicated. It was a magical time. That was when I began to get passionate about things. Everybody around me oozed passion about everything from politics to love. Today, I am involved in a lot of activities. And I am passionate about all of them. Nothing is ever accomplished with apathy. Nothing is ever accomplished with ignorance. One of my favorite Simon and Garfunkel tunes, The Dangling Conversation, deals with apathetic relationships. And you read your Emily Dickinson, And I my Robert Frost, And we note our place with bookmarkers That measure what we've lost. Like a poem poorly written W

When my grandmother arrived in the United States in 1905, they asked her where she was going. “I’m-a gonna Yoongs-a-town,” she replied. The industrial revolution in American paved our streets with gold. More than 100 years later, all roads are “gonna Yoongs-a-town” once again. In another stunning statistic, the Vindicator reported last week that Youngstown-Boardman-Warren leads the nation in percentage increase of exports…up 30%. The figures are staggering. Exports make up 15 % of the area’s economy, those exports equaling $2.9 billion (with a “B”). That makes the area 75th in exporting areas in the list of top 100 metropolitan areas in the United States, which is remarkable because media statistics dropped Youngstown out of the top 100 ranking on anything several years ago. The article pointed out metal products accounted for 27% of exported goods, and the bulk of those metal exports are due to RTI International Metals in Niles. The article failed to mention is that Youngstown is als

Yet another of Barack Obama’s green initiatives has hit the skids with the production stoppage of the Chevy Volt. You remember, this is the “all electric”…no…sort of all electric car…that was supposed to revolutionize how we drive. In theory, it was supposed to get 40 miles on a 12 hour battery charge, unless you decided you needed some things like heat or a radio or a windshield wiper, in which case the mileage would drop dramatically. Let’s not forget the huge government subidy given by Obama to General Motors to make the car, and the even larger tax credits given to those that bought it. Notwithstanding rising gas prices, it’s an idea whose time is yet to come. An article in Business Week this past week has said conventional gasoline engines are more efficient than ever, with models like the Chevy Cruze getting better mileage per gallon than a Prius and other hybrids. Good for our valley!!!! And good for General Motors!!!!! This past week the Vindicator ran a story about a compan