Mark Knows It All

Remembering America's Bravest

Being the rich, elite snob that I am, I belong to a private club. Six or seven years ago, it decided to do a major “renovation” to its golf course to the tune of...let's just say it was a lot of money. The club was close to being mortgage free, and the golf course, as it then existed, was a classic golf course designed by a major course designer of historical repute. But the members of the club decided they wanted the best golf course and best club in Ohio. Visions of professional golf tournaments danced in their heads. At the club meeting to vote on the project, I opined that perhaps the figures ought to be re-examined and perhaps we ought to save some money first. This isn’t Palm Springs, and many of our members, contrary to popular belief, aren’t wealthy. Sooner or later, I said, we would have to assess the membership, and we would lose members, leaving those who remained holding the bag, so to speak, and paying the mortgage. I was booed. I was told that those who can’t afford t...

Here is the problem with education. Ward Churchill is a tenured professor at the University of Colorado who gained his 15 minutes of national fame by comparing pre 9/11 Americans to Germans following the Nazis and calling American leaders little Eichmann’s for the genocide promulgated against the citizens of the middle east. He is clearly a left wing whacko, and his obscene rhetoric initiated an investigation as to just how this guy became a tenured professor at a major state university. It turns out that Professor Churchill lives in a glass house and shouldn’t be throwing stones. He claimed that he was a member of an American Indian tribe, and that he was a descendent of same. He lied. In subsequent work, he misrepresented facts relating to the treatment of American Indians by the federal government; wrongfully claimed that Captain John Smith introduced smallpox into the Indian population during the 1600’s; and claimed that certain work done by a Canadian environmental group was done ...

When did being a conservative become a vice? How come people like me are treated like an adjective? He is a “conservative”. We read “conservative” publications. We watch “conservative” Fox News. He belongs to a "conservative" think tank. And horrors of horrors, we listen to the dreaded “conservative” talk radio. We are cold, uncaring, money grubbing, probably wealthy but maybe a red neck. Our houses are filled with guns and our women are barefoot, pregnant and subjugated. Most of all, we are morally and intellectually deficient for failing to be sufficiently insightful into the dreadful human condition and how it is aggravated by our economic and political system. Anna Quindlen, in her Newsweek editorial this week, unwittingly demonstrates the arrogance of those who consider themselves to be liberal. David Halberstam, a Pulitzer prize winning liberal guru, was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 73 several weeks ago. Ms. Quindlen used her editorial entitled “Still...

May is here and the temperature locally will be up in the 80’s tomorrow. Below are my recommendations for summer movie viewing. A word to the wise, these movies all pop up periodically on broadcast and cable channels. Watered down, cleaned up versions don’t cut it. Spend the 5 bucks and rent the movies. Happy viewing!! MEATBALLS (1979): Bill Murray as the camp counselor you hope your kids never experience. Light on the raunch and heavy on the laughs, Murray is the man in charge of the “counselors in training” and their attendant hi-jinks. I like the movie because of a sweet sub-plot about a scrawny kid with problems who ends up saving the day at the inter-camp Olympics. But mostly, it has three great songs: Mary MacGregor's “ Good Friend”, Terry Black's “Moon Dust,” and David Naughton's "Makin' It". The first two were composed by Elmer Bernstein . Summer movies don’t come any better. CAPOTE (2005): Philip Seymour Hoffman deservedly won the Best Actor Osc...

The following statistics, or various versions of them, have been bandied about relating to illegal immigration in Los Angeles County. 1) 40% of all workers in Los Angeles County are working for cash, paying no taxes. 2) 75% of the people on Los Angeles County’s most wanted list are illegal aliens. 3) 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans paid for by Medi-Cal and the taxpayers. 4) 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are illegal aliens. 5) 300,000 illegals in Los Angeles County are living in garages. 6) The FBI reports that ½ of gang members in LA County are illegals from south of the border. 7) 60% of the occupants of HUD properties in Los Angeles are occupied by illegals. 8) There are 5.1 million people whose primary language is English in Los Angeles. There are 3.9 million people whose primary language is Spanish. 9) There are 21 Spanish only radio stations in Los Angeles. 10) 90% of the current population growth in California, New York a...