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Some ‘adhesive’ adjectives
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By
JIM STREET Ed
& Pub We find it
somewhat amusing how an adjective can get stuck to a word and, long after it
has proven inaccurate – or even if it never was – it’s still there. The latest
adhesive adjective is “tough” with Arizona’s new law aimed at finding illegal
aliens. In fact,
people on all sides of the debate call it “the tough new Arizona immigration
law,” even though it is not tough and does not in any way change US
immigration law. It’s only about finding illegal aliens. There is
nothing “tough” about it but, like a Siamese twin, the adjective is there for
life. OPINION Years ago, I
was the public information officer at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The
inter-terminal transit system, then called Airtrans, had gone through some
really serious “teething” problems. It was a brand
new technology at the time and, like all new technologies, it had to
experience some failures in its startup phase. Vehicles went around a
“guideway” sans driver and it did fail in the early days, one time with an
NBC camera crew on board. But it’s only
by failing that a new system can tell the engineers what needs to be fixed
before it becomes reliable. Look at all the rockets that blew up on the pad
before we found a way to put objects and then humans into space. But because of
the early startup problems, the adjective "problem-plagued” became
indelibly affixed to Airtrans. We had to
laugh when, long after the early startup problems were behind us, we had a
ceremony to mark one million miles without a failure. “The
problem-plagued Airtrans system at DFW Airport marked a million trouble-free
miles,” a TV reporter gushed. If they were
trouble-free, how was the system still “problem plagued?” we wondered. And if
it’s “problem plagued,” how can it go a million miles without a glitch? Those who
oppose the Arizona law argue that the national government is in charge of
immigration, not the states, and we can’t have a “patchwork” of 50 different
immigration laws. ‘Scuse me, but
how does this law “interfere” with federal law when the several “sanctuary
city” laws do not? These are places that have passed laws saying they will
not turn illegal aliens over to the government for prosecution. The Arizona
law actually supports US law by allowing local officers to enforce US
statutes. In fact, it carefully follows US law and provides more protections
to alleged violators than federal statutes. It simply says
if an officer of the law has stopped someone for something else, he can ask
for identification papers. If the person
fails to prove his citizenship, the officer can charge him with misdemeanor
trespassing. Yes, misdemeanor. Or refer him to federal authorities. That y nada
mas. Show any driver’s license, voter registration or other ID and you are on
your way. And there is
nothing written or even hinted that because an Arizona officer asks for
papers, a federal officer can’t do his job. One usually
conservative commentator even called it “draconian.” He suggested that if
Arizona officers enforce the immigration law, they will be distracted from
enforcing other laws. How can that
be when they have to already have stopped someone for another law violation
before they can even ask for citizenship papers? The law has
been widely criticized as calling for “racial profiling” but it expressly
forbids it. Attorney
General Eric Holder said over the weekend the feds will monitor the new law
for evidence of profiling. Good luck.
The law is
anything but “tough” but the adjective is still stuck to it. It is, in fact,
a ton more protective of a suspect’s rights than the US law, which may even
encourage “profiling.” And we all
have to carry identification papers every day. Citizens are required to show
their ID when they are pulled over by police, show up for a doctor's
appointment, fill out a credit card or loan application, apply for
or renew a driver's license or passport, apply for any kind of
insurance or fill out college applications. And there are more. If legal
citizens have to show IDs, what is wrong with asking illegal aliens to do
likewise? Most people in
polls around the country have agreed that Arizona had to do something.
Illegal immigration is killing them. It was
reported over the weekend that there are 1,100 illegal aliens in Maricopa
County jail alone facing violent offense charges. These are not
people here just looking for work. They are violent offenders, as in murder,
kidnapping, rape and the like. And Phoenix
has become the kidnapping capital of the US. The Arizona
law does not interfere with federal immigration enforcement. And it’s not
“tough.” How about we
tear off the adhesive? DAYTON’S
UFO SAGA When
Ken DeFoor was with the helicopter division of the Houston Police Department
in late December of 1980, there was a report of a UFO near the city of
Dayton. “This
was a widely publicized UFO sighting,” said Ken, who now lives near Dayton in
the community of Kenefick. “We received several calls in Houston as to
whether or not we had helicopters up that night because 23 helicopters were
seen escorting a UFO over Dayton. “We
did not have any helicopters in the air that night,” he said. “It was Dec.
29, 1980. They’ve never been able to identify the UFO that was there. “When
I retired from the Houston Police Department, I became chief of the Dayton
Police Department,” Ken said. “One of the officers who spotted this UFO was
still on the force so we talked extensively about the sighting. “The
History Channel was here recently and did a report on our UFO,” he said. Numerous
accounts of the Dayton UFO sighting are on the internet and television. It
has been mentioned in books and magazines. They indicate that the witnesses
were on a two-lane road at about nine at night when they saw some light above
the trees. They
at first thought it was an airplane and then the light became brighter as it
got closer. They
said the light came from a huge object shaped like a diamond and hovered at
treetop level. It was silver and emitted a constant beeping sound. Blue
lights ringed the center and red and orange flames shot out of the bottom,
flaring outward, creating the effect of a large cone. The
resulting heat was strong enough to make the car’s body painful to touch. The
object seemed to bounce up and down a few times, then ascended over the
treetops. That’s
where the witnesses say military helicopters surrounded the UFO and flew away
with it. The
incident reportedly lasted about 20 minutes. Later,
military authorities returned to the scene, but refused to talk to anyone who
had seen the strange craft. The
military denied having any helicopters chasing a UFO. “The
people who were closest to the UFO received radiation burns,” Ken said. “The
night they saw the UFO, they became ill with blisters, their faces swelled
and their hair fell out. “When
they went to the doctor the next day, the doctor said they had radiation
burns,” he said. The witnesses filed a lawsuit against the
government, asking for $20 million in damages. After
years in courts a US District Judge dismissed the case in 1986. It is one of
very few UFO cases to result in court proceedings. The
sighting is known as the Cash-Landrum or Piney Woods incident. The
people involved were Betty Cash, 51 years old at the time, and her friend,
Vickie Landrum, age 57. Vickie’s seven-year-old grandson Colby was with them.
Betty
was hospitalized for 15 days as a burn victim. She died on Dec. 29, 1998,
exactly 18 years after her claimed close encounter. “It
never happened, as far as the government is concerned,” Ken said. Being a stand-in It’s not only the movie industry but
also radio talk hosts and television shows and even the National Football
League. In the movie industry, they are next to
the bottom because the extras are considered at the bottom and anyone can
boss them around. Stand-ins sometimes are called the
“second team” and the stars are called the “first team.” The “second team” can be called upon at
any time and for any reason, usually when one of the “first team” cannot be
there, is doing something else or is incapacitated. Those stand-ins remind me of something
in the Bible. After Jesus Christ was crucified on the
cross and was resurrected three days later, He began appearing to the
Disciples and many others (Acts 10:39 to 44, 1 Corinthians 15:6.) He taught His disciples what was most
important to Him. It was people. Jesus gave His life serving others
(John 10:11) and He wanted them to do the same (John 21:15 to 17.) Paul told the Christians to follow his
example of living for and obeying Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1.) The question is what are we doing? Are
we just living for ourselves, like to have more money, more comforts, bigger
homes, more of everything and our fun things and times? The real question is what ways can we
serve or be a servant. Maybe we are not stars but we can be helpers
(Colossians 3:23 and 24) or “stand-ins.” See you in Church next Sunday. Brother J Evening planetary show For
the past several months, Saturn, Mars and Venus have been gracing our evening
sky, although they have been widely spaced. But
now, as they are closing in on one another, they're in the early stages of an
evening sky show you won't want to miss. Venus,
the dazzling "Evening Star" in the west, is hard to miss but Mars
and Saturn can easily be confused with stars – so let's see how to figure out
what's what. First,
we'll identify some other nearby objects that are part of the show. Two
bright first magnitude stars in the area are Leo's Regulus and Virgo's Spica.
Planet
Mercury makes an appearance near the horizon and the crescent Moon glides by
over several nights. Making
it easier to find and sort out all the objects is the fact that they are
generally aligned diagonally with Venus and Regulus at the lower right and
Spica at the upper left with all the rest between them except Mercury. Venus,
of course, is the star of the show, becoming visible soon after sunset well
before any of the other players. As
the sky darkens, watch for Regulus to become visible a little to Venus' lower
right. Regulus
is a bright star, yet much dimmer than Venus. Then
each night thereafter, Venus gradually moves toward the upper left, pulling
further away from the star. To
find Mars, make a fist with your left hand and hold it at arm's length. Mars
is about one and a half fist-widths to Venus' upper left appearing slightly
reddish and as bright as Regulus. Now
go one more fist-width to the upper left and you'll find Saturn, looking like
a creamy-colored star a bit brighter than Mars. Finally,
another two and a half fist-widths to the upper left is Spica, a white star
about the brightness of Saturn. While
those are the main characters, they're not the entire cast as the crescent
Moon makes a cameo appearance. Early
Tuesday evening, a thin crescent was near the western horizon a fist-width
below Venus and Regulus. Then
over the next several evenings, as its crescent thickened, it passed by the
others. Wednesday
evening it was to Venus's lower left, making for a beautiful pairing. Then
Thursday evening, it formed a triangle with Mars to the upper right and
Saturn above. This
evening, July 16, it is a fist-width to the left of Saturn and Mars. And
tomorrow, July 17, nearly at its first quarter phase, the Moon is half a
fist-width below Spica. The
shy and elusive little Mercury is easy to miss. Orbiting near the Sun, it is
never seen far from our star's glare. When
in the morning sky, Mercury appears low in the east a little before sunrise
and, when in the evening sky, as it is now, it is low in the west for a short
while after the Sun goes below the horizon. About
15 minutes after sunset, start looking for a surprisingly bright star-like
object just above the west northwestern horizon two and a half fist-widths to
Venus' lower left. It
creeps slightly higher each evening over the next couple of weeks, edging
closer to Regulus which it finally catches July 27. As
you watch Venus, Mars, and Saturn over the next couple of weeks note that
they are closing in on one another, preparing for some dramatic pairings
which we'll talk about next time.
Sunday,
July 18, the Moon is at first quarter. Sunday,
July 25, the full Moon is called Hay Moon and Thunder Moon.* Saturday
morning, July 31, the Moon is above Jupiter high in the south.
Evenings,
see above. Mornings, Bright Jupiter, rising after midnight, is in the
southeast.
July
20, 1969, US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans
to land and walk on the moon. Bet you remember where you were. Stargazer appears every other week, space
permitting, Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact
him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com. Movie Reviews : Ed Layton ‘Robin
Hood’ reviewed If you’re
looking for the romantic tale of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, Friar Tuck
and Little John with the wonderful Maid Marion, her soft yet remote
affections drawing at Robin’s emotions, don’t go see this movie. Legend is a
solidly formed series of myths that have emanated from the oral stories that
were repeated for hundreds of years by a specific ethnic or social group of
people. Robin Hood is
such a legend. It
started at the end of the Crusades and the fall of the Roman Empire in
the 1200s and 1300s. Robin was a
sole adventurer for 300 years, robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Friar Tuck,
Little John and Maid Marion entered into the story more than 300 years later
as writers continued to expand on the legend with enthusiastic literary
license. Enter Ridley
Scott, director of “Gladiator,” with screenwriter Brian Helgeland, deciding
to create a story of Robin Hood’s humble beginning before the legend. A
prequel, if you will. Robin Hood’s
legend is tampered with, where legend becomes further fictionalized and
passed off as authentic. This is a
movie that will dazzle with battles, blood and gore. Robin’s
character, played by Russell Crowe, is not the affable, likeable man played
by Errol Flynn in 1938 or Kevin Costner’s 1999 portrayal. This Robin
Hood is a serious, brooding, battle-weary veteran of the Crusades who wants
nothing more than rest and distance from battle. The story
really begins when a dying knight makes Robin promise to return his sword,
illicitly taken from his father, to go to war as a young man. Robin agrees
to this dying man’s request and thus the plot develops. Robin, a
yeoman archer well below knight status, and his men don the uniforms of
deceased knights and return to a hero’s welcome in England. In his quest
to return the sword, he meets Maid Marion Loxley, the dead knight’s widow,
and father-in-law Sir Walter Loxley, to whom the sword belongs. So, in this
story, Maid Marion, played by the forever anemic looking but stunning beauty
Cate Blanchette, is of lower nobility, unfortunately downgrading her from the
original legend. The story
continues and Robin is asked by the old Sir Walter Loxley, played by the very
capable Max von Sydow, to take his son’s place in the family as his son who
has returned from King Richard’s wars. Robin is
amused and Maid Marion scoffs at the idea but both acquiesce for the sake of
the family and the lands. The feudal
Lords of England have been taxed to their limit and a rebellion is stirring
only to be averted as the nation unites to repel an invasion by King Philip
of France. This brings
you to the final climax of the movie and you’ll have to go see it to find out
what happens. Two pleasures
for me, not to mention the fair Cate Blanchette, in this movie was Yes, I liked
the movie. Yes, I recommend it. Yes, go see it. Ed’s rating is three
out of four stars. ««« “Robin Hood”
came in at $37.1 million, which is a very respectable showing against a power
house like “Iron Man,” which takes the weekend with $53 million The next
highest movie was “Letters to Juliet” bringing in $13.9 million. “Letters” is a
very sweet chick flick that will do OK dollar wise, But “Iron Man” and “Robin
Hood” will dominate the money until “Prince of Persia” debuts on the 27th
with Jake Gyllenhaal. “Sex and the
City 2” also will come out that weekend but it will fizzle at the box office. ‘Clash of the Titans’ "Release the Kraken." Zeus (Liem Neeson) orders Hades
to punish the rebellion by men against the gods. Hades has an agenda of his own, go become leader of all the gods and reign hell on man. To the rescue comes Perseus, played by Sam Worthington, the heroic Jake Sully from “Avatar.” Perseus is the unknowing illegitimate son of Zeus. The action begins when
Perseus begins his quest to defeat the Kraken
and send Hades back to the depths of darkness. There are great action scenes that will have you white knuckling the
armrest of your theater seat. Sam Worthington as Perseus gives a visual feast of action scenes throughout the movie. Medusa, played
by an unknown, Natalie Vadianova, will strongly
repulse and captivate simultaneously with her head of undulating snakes. The computer graphics are superb and border on the quality we saw in
Avatar. A PG-13 with no nudity and no vulgar language, the plot may have
been weak but, then again, this is a mythological story. So far,
grossing in at $125-plus million, I'm sure we'll see more
mythology movies. Who knows what Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon or Aphrodite will be up to
next? If you like action movies, go ahead, see or rent this one. You won't
be disappointed. Ed's rating is three and a half stars. «««1/2 ‘Date
Night’ funny “Date Night”
is a very funny, if not hilarious, movie. Rated PG 13, I was a little
uncomfortable with the numerous sexual innuendos and double-entendres. There was no
nudity and negligible foul language, which, I'm supposing makes the
sexual dialog more acceptable. I can only say
I wouldn't take my 13-year-old daughter to this movie. I felt it should
be PG-17. Having said
that, as an adult, I enjoyed the movie. Phil and
Claire played by Steve Carell (The Office, The Forty Year Old Virgin) and
Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, Sarah Palin impersonator) depict an ordinary
couple from the New Jersey "burbs" who become involved in a case of
mistaken identity. The premise is
formulaic but this movie makes it work. The mistaken identity results
from them stealing a restaurant reservation. The adventure
begins while they're enjoying their dinner, thinking they've been busted when
two thugs approach them and ask them to step outside. Well, that’s
not quite what happens. They end up being chased by mob thugs and corrupt
police. The ensuing
chase and evasion scenes become the hilarious mainstay of the movie. You will laugh
at the mishaps and turn-arounds that occur. There is an
obligatory car chase that has a new twist and will leave you holding your
stomach in uncontrollable, raucous laughter. The Hollywood
staple, Mark Walberg (Four Brothers), makes a surprise appearance as a by-
chance person who reluctantly assists them out of their potentially fatal
situation. I enjoyed the
Phil and Claire characters. Steve Carell and Tina Fey work well together and
played out the mayhem superbly. I'm
recommending this movie as a PG-17. I give it three and a half stars
out of four. Enjoy. «««1/2 Supports Bill
White To the Editor, Some years ago, I had the
great privilege of representing the people of Sanderson and Terrell County in
the US House of Representatives. While I later served in the US
Senate and as US ambassador to three different nations, no position in public
life ever gave me greater satisfaction than being your congressman in the
1970s. I am writing now
to tell you about Bill White who, at age 19, took a semester off from college
to work in my congressional office. Today, 35 years later, he
seeks to be governor of Texas. If elected, I feel certain that he will be one
of the greatest Texas governors in the last 100 years. When Bill and I worked
together in Congress, federal regulations prevented Texans from receiving the
same prices for the oil and gas we were producing as was paid to producers in
Canada, Mexico or the Middle East. Bill helped me draft new
energy policy to end that unfair discrimination. "There was no one in the
House of Representatives who knew energy better [than Bob Krueger because he
had] as tutor, a Harvard senior named Bill White," the New York Times wrote at the time. My House colleagues then voted
me "The most effective new member of Congress" among 92 new
members. Bill White made that possible. And 17 years later, he was
named US deputy secretary of energy, that department's second-highest
position. Bill has recently completed
two terms as mayor of Houston, being elected by Republicans, Independents and
Democrats, and securing roughly 90 percent of the vote against five
opponents. He has received the
"Profiles in Courage Award" from the Kennedy Foundation for working
successfully to meet the needs of 250,000 American citizens displaced by
Hurricane Katrina. When the federal government
failed to respond, the City of Houston under Bill's leadership marshaled the
forces - educational, housing, and job creating - to meet the needs of these
hurricane-battered Americans. The son of schoolteachers, Bill has achieved
exceptional success in academics, law, business and government. But he has always sought to do more with his
life than simply achieve financial success. He gave up lucrative careers in law and
business in order to serve the people of Houston and now wishes to serve the
people of Texas. He is absolutely among the most thoughtful,
caring, down-home and capable people I have ever met in public service. He has the vision to see the real needs of
our state in education, job creation and responsible budgeting and
understands how to forge opportunities for success throughout all parts of
the state and all portions of our population. I hope and expect to be
traveling with Bill in the months ahead as he reaches out to meet and listen
to people of Sanderson and Terrell County and the entire state. I urge you to meet him if you
can and to support him if you will. I have never known any person better equipped
in mind, body and spirit to serve the urgent needs of our state and people
than Bill White. I thank you in advance for your consideration
of him. Robert “Bob” Krueger New Braunfels |
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Helen
Gates Barry ROCHESTER –
Funeral services for Helen Gates Barry, mother of Marcia Kneeland of
Sanderson and Penn Yan, NY, will be at 4 p.m. Monday at Crawford Funeral Home
here. Burial will be in Furnaceville Cemetery. She died at a
hospital here July 10 at age 91. Barry retired
after working 25 years in food service at Kodak. She was a member of the
Charlotte Starlite Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star for 50 years and
a member of Zama Temple Daughter of the Nile and Patrol and the Cedaretts. She is
survived by one son, James Barry of Fairport, NY; one daughter Marcia
Kneeland and Ed Leyton of Sanderson and Penn Yan; three grandchildren, Jordan
and McKenna Barry, Julie Dolben and Kitty Spedding; two nieces, Beverly
Westerman and Linda Barry; three nephews, Russell Gates, Alfred Ulrop and
Matt Barry; one brother–in-law, John Barry; cousins and her cat Buddy. The family
asks in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society at
Lollypop Farm or a charity of choice or online condolences at www.CrawfordFuneralHome.com. |