Mark Knows It All

Whether you are a Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Independent, Labor Day marks the traditional beginning of the political season. This is when most Americans begin to pay attention to what is going on, and start to make up their minds who to support or not support. While Election Day is still the first Tuesday in November, campaign time is compressed with the advent of widespread absentee voting. Candidates are now forced to view two election days…the one in November, and the first day of absentee voting the last week of September. Some states have eliminated Election Day altogether, replacing it with a date that mail-in votes must be received. The wisdom of that type of election procedure is an argument for another day. No matter what, America owes a debt of gratitude to those who are in the trenches fighting the good fight for their point of view and/or their party. It is a thankless job for the workers, and for the candidates. Politicians are ranked in disdained professions...

Our periodic loss of freedom check has a number interesting entries. 1) TRASH TALKIN’ COMPUTER CHIPS : The City of Cleveland has just invested $1.5 million of stimulus money in garbage cans with micro chips. City trash collectors are supposed to use scanners to see who is putting out recycling cans, and who is not. If it appears that a city resident is not putting out the recycling containers with recyclable trash, the garbage collector is supposed to knock on the resident’s door and make inquiries. If the resident continues to refuse to recycle, the resident can be fined up to $500.00. City fathers claim the amount of recyclable versus non-recyclable trash directly effects their landfill cost/reimbursment rates. Maybe so, but I smell a do-gooder. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. 2) PHILADELPHIA BLOGGER POLICE : Several bloggers in Philadelphia made around $50.00 in miscellaneous Google ads (see: adsense) and foolishly reported the income on their city income tax. The city is...

Last week my wife and I, on the advice of one of the musicians in the show, drove to Salem to see Meshuggah-nuns at the Salem Community Theater. It was a fluff piece, another in the Nunsense series of musicals featuring singing and dancing nuns. The story centered around a cruise ship that was staging a production of Fiddler on the Roof , and all of the cast became ill except for the guy that played Tevya. The cruise company, in turn, hired the Little Sisters of Hoboken to join the Jewish lead in an ecumenical extravaganza of Catholicism and Jewry. The show was a lot of fun, especially the Say It In Yiddish song which compared Latin and Yiddish, the most expressive language known to man. Here’s the thing. The cast was good. The production values were good. The musicians were outstanding…and the theater was packed. I mean packed. All of the shows were pretty much sold out…in Salem, Ohio….in August….on a beautiful, sunny evening. So what gives with community theater? Why the attraction...

I went to Zoar this past weekend. I didn’t know Zoar existed until Friday night, when I mentioned to some friends that my wife and I were looking for a day trip destination for Saturday. My friend said: “Why don’t you go to Zoar?” Whoa !!! My mind was immediately filled with visions of far off planets and big breasted women, like some bad 1950’s space movie. Zoar Lives!!!; Revenge of the Zoar Women; The Attack of the Amazon Zoarites. He quickly advised me no such luck. Zoar is a village located in Tuscawaras County south of Canton. Tuscawaras? Wait a minute. Tuscawaras Bimbos v. The Mutant Zoars. Get the popcorn quick!! Is Raquel Welch anywhere? How about Jane Fonda? Watch Barbarella do here thing. STOP! So we took my friend's advice, and got in our car and trekked our way to where no man has gone before. Zoar is actually a really nice little village. It was founded in 1817 by a group of German separatists who attempted to establish a communal community ala the Shakers or any o...

Music is the great joy in my life. Songs give all of our lives time and place. Some I take with me through life, others I discard because the memories are too painful or too poignant. Carmen Ohio, for example, is bittersweet with memories of my best years at Ohio State. When I hear the Best Damn Band in the Land play chimes, I mentally turn the music off because it reminds me of one too many birthdays!!! This year, my Seraphim Chorus’ spring concert will be entitled “ 1969 – The Summer of Love .” Like the title says…where were you in 1969…and what music were you listening to? There is all sorts of wonderful music from that era. I was going to Youngstown State at the time, and white soul bands were all the rage. Lots and lots of trumpets and saxaphones! The hippie/freak music was also popular. It was the intent of the director to focus on Haight-Ashbury San Francisco flower power tunes. That music was smokin’ in more ways than one. I volunteered to look for some music from the era, and ...

I like watching television. I can remember when back in the day (for me…that would be late 1960’s and early 1070’s), we would determine our week’s schedule by what show was on when. Carol Burnett and All in the Family, to name a few, led the pack. Don’t get in my way on Saturday nights. Popcorn and television was as good a Saturday night as could be had. But as of late, with advent of a gizzilion cable stations, TV programming sunk to nothing more than a bunch of raunchy reality shows with about as much T & A as the censors would allow. The Bachelor? Big Brother? Yuk. And nothing was ever on the same night even if you found something you liked. Even the broadcast season was skewed. No new fall lineup. Any shows that were interesting started in January, and lately they actually started in late spring for a test summer run. But then I noticed a change. All of a sudden, the cable channels offered a bunch of original programming that has consistently been getting better. Even the broad...

As an attorney, and one who deals to large degree in estate planning and probate, I am often asked the best thing a person can do to plan for the financial well being of his/her family after death. The answer is simple. Die before December 31, 2010. Because after that, you’re screwed! People think that the estate tax is something only the rich have to worry about. That depends on your definition of “rich”. Ten years ago, the estate tax was 55% of everything over $1million. That’s right. 55%. Now a million dollars sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But get out of the Youngstown area, where even in down real estate markets the average price of home is in excess of $250,000.00, it really isn’t. For family farms it is even worse. And it is downright terminal for small businessmen who employ several people. In the old days, the farm and business had to be sold in order to pay the taxes. Imagine. 55% of every already taxed dollar you saved or invested taken by the government. So the Repu...

Here is the news not reported on NBC, CBS, and ABC this past week. If you can figure out why, let me know. This is the guy Attorney General Holder and the Department of Justice is refusing to prosecute for voter intimidation in Philadelphia in the 2008 Presidential election.The DOJ has been instructed not to prosecute black racial discrmination and intimidation against whites. _________________________________________________ This is the guy who is now the head of NASA. We have no space program for the forseeable future, and have to hook a ride with the Russians if we need to to the international space station. Is this the NASA that put a man on the moon? NO! This is Obama's NASA> ________________________________________________ This is the guy who is now going to head Medicare. Obama appointed him after Congress recessed to avoid confirmation hearings. Listen to this, and you will see why. If you had any doubt as to Obama's socialist tendencies, watch this...and good luck g...

My pet peeve is Columbus, Ohio. There is not a time that I visit there that I don’t become aggravated by the excesses I see in a city that hosts our state government, the two of which have joined to drain the rest of the state. It is unbelievable. It is unforgivable. Our lawmakers should be ashamed for allowing this to happen. And it is not just a Democrat v. Republican issue. The money sucking machine draining the state’s wealth to the center has been fueled by both parties for forty years. I suspect it was deliberate, fed by smart Columbus planners who wowed our lawmakers with Columbus perks. On the way down to Columbus last week, the lead story on the local news was that the City of Youngstown refused to take control of the old Paramount Theater which has been closed since the early 1970’s. It is a rat trap. It is a health hazard particularly since there are number of restaurants operating around it. Various reports say it is filled with asbestos. Those ceramic panels on the front c...

Washington, D.C., is a great city and one of my favorite places to visit. Sure, it’s a no brainer because I love politics. But it is more than that. It is beautiful city with good entertainment, great food, great shopping, and a ton of things to do. Once you get over the obvious touristy stuff, you can explore other parts of the city, as well as Maryland and Virginia, and have a great time. Shopping is great in Georgetown and Chevy Chase… and you can get some great meals in Alexandria, plus soak up some of that George Washington atmosphere. Those forefather dudes really walked those streets. Our favorite time to go to Washington is Easter. The government is shut down, and over Easter weekend itself the tourists are at a minimum. That makes for cheap hotel rates and relatively easy access to otherwise busy restaurants and stores and attractions. We like to stay at the Ritz Carlton in Arlington (but only on the cheap…normal rates would require me to mortgage the house) and the Georgetown...

This past week, I was able to experience two reasons why I choose to live in the Mahoning Valley. I have written numerous times about the extreme levels of talent in our area. For those in the arts, and for a very midland talent like myself, it gives us a chance to participate in events that would not be available in cities substantially larger than ours. For its spring concert, my Seraphim Chorus presented a full blown version of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. It was approximately three hours long, and presented with four world class soloists, a boy soprano, a chamber orchestra, a kick ass organ, and of course, the 50 member Seraphim Chorus. St. Michael’s Church in Canfield provided an outstanding venue. Attendance was better than expected notwithstanding the Vindicator’s multi-day mistake saying there was a $22.00 admission fee (it was actually a free will offering)…but that’s the Vindicator for you. Although I enjoy classical music to a degree, I have to take it in small doses. Unfortunatel...

Show business lost a real talent this past week with the death of Dixie Carter. She died at the early age of 70 after a long and illustrious career on the stage and television. Her breakthrough show was Designing Women , which aired from 1986 – 1993. It was and is one of my all time favorite television programs. Ms. Carter’s death also ends the character of Julia Sugarbaker that she played to the max with gusto. Yes, I am a male, but the character was role model for me. Although Designing Women was a story about four women who ran an interior decorating firm in Atlanta, it also managed to be gender neutral in many of the ideas that came from its very talented writers. Its story line usually centered around a group of people who tried to maintain grace and style in their lives midst a world that was a little more prone to slobbery. Dixie Carter played the feisty, responsible one, who was there to pick up the pieces of whatever fiasco befell these folks, especially her sister, Suzanne ...

One of my guilty pleasures is a television show on TLC entitled What Not to Wear. I'd like to say it is probably one of the dumbest shows on television today, because it is really kind of stupid. But so many others are worse, I don’t think it makes the top ten list. Has anyone watched Jersey Shore ? The premise is simple. Stacy London, a self appointed fashion diva, and Clinton Kelly, who used to work on a cruise ship, take nominations from the huddled masses for a person who needs a makeover. They show up at this poor soul’s job or at some other public place to “surprise” her. Of course, the What Not to Wear crew has been secretly taping the week's target beforehand to save for posterity all of this individual’s fashion misdeeds, and to humiliate her coast to coast on national television as she waddles about in over sized sweats and fairy wings. The hook: the “frumpette du jour” gets a $5,000.00 shopping spree in New York City. In exchange, she has to relinquish all of her c...

All of the talk about the recently passed health care reform act has centered on politics. The press has spent untold hours analyzing who are the winners and losers on the political scene as a result of the landmark bill. The story they are missing is the undercurrent that is reaching people who are typically apolitical. Places where political discussion had heretofore been taboo are now brimming with political dialogue. People are asking questions. People are reading about the founding of the country and the founding fathers and the founding documents. Seventeen states have sued the Federal government over a plethora of issues relating to the health care bill, including special treatment afforded to certain states in exchange for a senator’s vote and states being ordered to provide substantially more services without necessary funding to the point of bankruptcy. But the heart of the constitutional question is the individual mandate. Under the bill, all people are required to have heal...

So the hangover is beginning to lift, and America is basking in its new health care system. One of the talk radio hosts played a recording of a man describing his joy about the passage of Obamacare. He said it was like Christmas. He apparently lost his coverage 4 years ago, and was afraid that he or his family might get sick and incur thousands of dollars of medical expenses. Now he is going to have health care, and he can sleep at night. Well….not exactly. The provisions for his children will go into effect the next few months. Of course, the kids already qualified for an SChip program. He just didn’t sign up for it. As for himself, he will have to wait for about four years. But not really! His wife has a health insurance plan through her work. He just doesn’t want to pay the additional premium to put himself onto the plan. Another sob story gone a-muck! But then again, free is always better. But he is right in one sense. This is like Christmas. There are some really nice presents und...

President Obama is going to propose amendments to the No Child Left Behind Act that is either vilified or glorified, depending on whose ox is being gored. The basis of the proposed changes will be a more generalized statement of goals, with an emphasis shifting from “hard scores” on achievement tests to items like graduation rates and life skills preparation. How that is going to help achievement in Math and Science is beyond me. It looks more like looking for “feely touchy outs” for those who can cut the muster. But that is another story. Here’s the truth. I’m sure there are bad teachers out there just like there is bad everything else. But for the most part, these are good, hard working folk who really want to do a good job. Unfortunately, No Child Left Behind nothwithstanding, the powers that be work against the educators at every turn to the point where many teachers are forced into being nothing more than glorified babysitters…not by choice…but by design of administrators, the cou...

I wouldn’t want to be a newspaper owner in this day and age. With the proliferation of news sources, both national and local, the wonder isn’t that most papers have shrunk to a shadow of their former selves. The wonder is that they are still here at all. One commentator put it this way. People are going to get their news one way or the other. A recent study shows that most people can do without their morning paper and television news. What they worry about losing is their broadband access. That is the pipe through which the information now disseminates…and it goes in all directions. This past week, the Vindicator (aka the Youngstown Vindicator) introduced its new form. It’s more than evident the paper put a lot of effort into dealing with the realities of today’s publication business. It has manipulated its column size substantially reducing the physical width of the paper resembling USA Today. It purchased a bunch of new printing presses to allow it to print crisp, clear full color ph...

In case you haven’t been paying attention, network news is collapsing. The latest in a series of announced cutbacks comes from ABC News which announced that it is closing all of its physical news bureaus across the country except for the one in Washington. It will keep a minimum staff at various locations relying on the local affiliates for staff and bricks and mortar support. This follows an announcement by CBS News, until recently the gold standard for network news, that it will lay off hundreds of employees. The biggest casualty will most likely be anchor Katie Couric, whose contract is expiring. Word has it that CBS is talking to Anderson Cooper to replace her at a substantially lesser salary. The networks claim that this is the result of a proliferation of news sources including the likes of Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, other cable television outlets, the internet, yada yada yada. That, obviously, is a great part of the problem. Back in the day, Americans would gather around their televi...

Woodstock (Written by Joni Mitchell; Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) Life’s full circle comes in the most unexpected places. Sometimes I have flashbacks back to the day when I hear a song while driving my car, or when I am in a place that reminds of something from way back then; back to the glory days of bra and draft card burning, unbridled idealism, and the smell of tear gas in the air. This time I found it in my physical therapist's office at 8:00 in the morning. While doing my pelvic thrusts in an effort to rebuild my wasted hip muscles and heal my broken vertebrae, I came across a child of God who was a few years older than me, still walking along the road to Yasgur's Farm. Betty was mid 60’ish and unkempt with waste long frizzy hair, no makeup, second hand store clothes and a mouth that would sink a battleship. She was annoying, and loud, and abrasive. She was the aging hippie personified. I tried to do everything I could to ignore her, but she loved to talk ...

The Ohio 6th Congressional District is a mish mosh of a political entity put together by frustrated politicians trying to eliminate Jim Traficant. Its northern border is Boardman, Canfield, and Poland in Mahoning County, and then sprawls 300 some odd miles down along the Ohio River up to and including Sciota County. Once out of Mahoning County, cities along the way include East Liverpool, Steubenville, Marietta, and Athens, Ohio…home of Ohio University. It is stunning in its diversity, from the white collar suburbs of Youngstown, down along the heavily industrial Ohio River corridor bordering West Virginia and Kentucky making it an extension of Appalachia and its attendant poverty. This is coal country. Coal is mined on both sides of the river and shipped down the Ohio. There is mile after mile of closed steel mills and pottery factories. It is a district that seems to include every modern day horror story of de-industrialization. It is literally a rust belt around the southeastern bor...