Top Ten Predictions For 2019

As the curtain falls on another year, the spotlight shines on the beginning of the Prediction Season.  Self-proclaimed experts forecast the outlook for the stock market, economy and which Hollywood stars are headed for divorce court.  Most prognosis are bunk.  But this one is the genuine article.

How can you be certain?  Your journalist ditched his ancient crystal ball this year and decided to consult the Chinese Zodiac sign.  This is the year of...wait for it...The Pig.  The animal, according to the horoscope, represents honesty, trust and bravery.  That bodes well for the New Year.

But there also is a dark side to The Pig.  The animal also has characteristics of self-indulgence, naivete, stubbornness and laziness.  Ah, forget all those attributes.  All you need to remember is that the animal ends up as bacon on your plate.  Hmmmm.  Bacon!  Now there's a reason for optimism.

The piggish forecast for 2019 is not as slovenly as the pessimists among you expect:

1.  Despite gloomy forecasts from the likes of Goldman Sachs and other money firms, strong consumer spending spurs an annual gain of 2.9 percent in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), after posting two quarters of 3+ percent growth early in 2019, outperforming most world economies.

2.  With its stock market sinking and its economic growth underperforming expectations, China signs a trade deal with the United States but before the ink is dry the CIA reveals the Asian country has launched a cyber intrusion on our government that approaches a Category 1 attack.

3. Federal Reserve interest rate hikes in the new year continue to be an anchor on the U.S. stock markets as the Dow enters bear territory, igniting a very public feud between President Trump and Fed chairman Jerome Powell. The tension ends in Powell's resignation, calming markets.

4.  Special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed in March 2017, finally issues his report on Russian interference in the 2016 election after the new Congress is sworn in.  His report is littered with innuendoes about Trump campaign conduct but offers no proof of collusion with Russia.

5. The Democratic Party-controlled House launches a series of investigations aimed at President Trump and his campaign associates, using the Mueller report as its excuse for additional probes.  At the urging of Speaker Pelosi, the House takes up articles of impeachment against the president.

6.  With a March deadline approaching, a disheartened Prime Minister Theresa May calls for a public referendum on the Brexit deal she negotiated with the European Union after failing to get approval from Parliament. Voters reject the exit settlement, leaving the plan to leave the EU in limbo. 

7. Electric car manufacturer Tesla fails to fulfill its commitment to produce 500,000 cars, sending the firm's stock in a nosedive and forcing CEO Elon Musk to give up the company reigns to an executive with auto experience to quiet the financial crisis.

8. Despite most political pundits debunking her chances, Hillary Clinton announces she will run for the presidency igniting a wild scramble among Democrats to come up with a more electable candidate. Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro throws his hat in the ring, becoming the favorite.

9. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently underwent cancer surgery, attempts to hang on to her seat on the High Court despite failing health before succumbing to the disease.  President Trump nominates former Notre Dame law professor Amy Barrett as her replacement.

10.  As the cost of health care and insurance continue to climb, industry giants Goggle, Amazon and Apple jump start more research and development on the use of virtual intelligence for applications in drug development, health diagnosis and personal health care, gaining a new revenue wellspring.

I can hear what your are thinking.  These predictions are pig-headed, the figment of a bacon-lover's imagination.  You could be right.  But the good news is that when 2019 ends, you won't remember these forecasts. So go ahead.  Have a wiggly piggly New Year!

Santa's Crisis: Deer In The Headlights

A highly contagious virus known as political correctness has infected the reindeer at the North Pole leading to a near mutiny.  Some reindeer, wearing yellow vests, even tried to set fire to the elves' workshop, forcing Santa Claus to mobilize the Polar National Guard.  Tensions remain high.

The discontent began innocently enough about a month ago.  The reindeer were practicing pulling a sleigh piled with toys when Mrs. Claus piped Christmas music over the loudspeaker.  When the song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" began playing, the reindeer Blitzen took a knee.

The other reindeer, including their leader Rudolph, joined the protest.  A shocked Mrs. Claus summoned Santa, who was checking one of his famous lists.  "It's scandalous," Santa yelped.  "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is the North Pole's national anthem," he pointed out.

Santa confronted Blitzen, a former walk-on as a linebacker with Marshal University's Thundering Herd football team.  "What's your beef," Santa asked gruffly.  Blizten cast his eyes downward and pawed the ground.  "I find offensive the line 'Bring us pudding,'" he answered.

"Why on earth would you object to that?" a dumbfounded Santa inquired.  Blitzen flicked his tail and replied: "It smacks of White Beard Privilege.  No reindeer has ever eaten pudding.  That's for rich folks like you.  We are lucky to have a few leafy greens or arctic char," Blitzen pouted.

To keep the peace, Santa reluctantly agreed the reindeer could remain on bended knee during the playing of the song but only at the North Pole.  That seemed to placate the reindeer and Santa left relieved.  However, tranquility lasted only two days.   Another Christmas song rattled the peace.

When "Baby It's Cold Outside" blared over the loudspeaker, Cupid went berserk.  She bolted from the reindeer games and locked herself inside the gender neutral restroom.  Tears flowed and wailing could be heard for miles.  Santa was alerted and rushed to find out what was wrong.

The bearded man with the ample belled softly knocked on the restroom door.  "Go away," Cupid sobbed.  A perplexed Santa tried soothing Cupid.  "I hate that song," Cupid shrieked.  "It is sexist and demeaning.  If Mrs. Claus plays it one more time, I will quit the reindeer team."

Santa threw up his hands.  "Ok, Ok.  No more 'Baby It's Cold Outside.'  Now can you come out into the cold, baby?"  Cupid pranced out of the restroom into the snow and sauntered past Santa without acknowledging his presence.  After the dust-up, Santa ordered Mrs. Claus to burn the loudspeaker.

For a solid week, toy production was humming, the reindeer were practicing wind sprints and the sleigh had received a fresh coat of red paint.  Then it happened. A North Pole merchant erected a billboard in an empty lot with the words to the song "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."

Dasher, who participated in the Million Reindeer March several years ago, was apoplectic.  "How come no one dreams of a Black Christmas?" he demanded of the merchant with the Russian accent.  "Why does Christmas always have to be White? This smacks of racial discrimination."

The worried merchant telephoned Santa, interrupting the jolly old man's afternoon cocktail, a Frozen Daiquiri.  "You're kidding me?" an exasperated Santa said in a shrill voice.  "That's A Christmas classic.  It has nothing to do with race.  It's about white snow for goodness sake."

Santa tried his best to explain the origin of the song to Dasher, who was clearly annoyed to have to listen to such dribble.  After several hours of back-and-forth barbs, Santa shook his head in surrender. "I'll tell the merchant Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that billboard," Santa promised.

A few reindeer weren't mollified.  Donner donned a yellow vest he found in a suit shop on North Pole Avenue.  He urged the other reindeer to follow suit and before you knew it the herd was clomping to the elves' workshop with torches before the Polar National Guard barricaded their progress. 

Order seemed to be restored after that incident.  With Christmas a week away, serenity reigned among the reindeer.  They appeared to never have been so content to mill around and eat bird eggs and mushrooms.  A relaxed Santa held one last dress rehearsal for the reindeer before Christmas eve.

After the drill, Santa made the mistake of asking the reindeer if they had any questions.  Dancer, the deer with the happy feet, stepped forward.  "I was just wondering if you're going to shout: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night" this year."

Santa rubbed at the bridge of his nose.  "Of course!  Surely no one can object to that," Santa said.  Dancer frowned, a first for a reindeer. "Not everyone celebrates Christmas, Santa.  Can't you just say, "Happy Holidays to all and to all a Good Night?"

Santa glared at the assembled troop of reindeer.  He was treading on dangerous ground here.  Who would pull his sleigh if all his reindeer decided to remain at the North Pole in protest?  Santa pondered Dancer's question.  The reindeer began to shift from hoof to hoof awaiting an answer.

"Tell you what," Santa huffed.  "There is a herd of moose south of the North Pole, who are larger and stronger than any of you puny reindeer.  Their antlers are huge and they cut a striking figure.  I think I'm going to replace all of you.  Moose are a happier than this bunch of complainers."

Rudolph was first to speak.  "Oh, come on Santa.  Moose don't have red noses."  Santa laughed.  "Reindeer don't have red noses either, you ninny.  You had a nose job when you were just six days old. I know a plastic surgeon who specializes in Moose nose jobs."

Suddenly, the herd appeared nervous.  There was whispering among the reindeer.  Comet seemed unusually aggravated.  Santa watched with his arms folded, thinking the group had that "Deer In The Headlights" look.  Rudolph eased to the front of the herd.  His nose was blinking red.

"Moose would ruin Christmas for the kids," Rudolph complained.  "They will likely be frightened by those huge antlers. Children expect us to show up.  They know every one of our names.  Plus, can you imagine a herd of moose landing on the roof of a house? It could collapse under the weight."

Santa smiled.  "Then you will show up Christmas eve and forget all your grievances?"  Rudolph turned and saw the other reindeer nodding.  "Yes," Rudolph said in a barely audible voice.  And that's how Santa saved Christmas and stopped the spread of political correctness.         

My Journey Into Journalism

Standing in line at Wharton County Junior College in 1964, a bespectacled professor was quizzing each incoming freshman about the choice of a major.  My only goal at the time was to spend as little time as possible in class.  Now I was supposed to select a career?  And before the first class?

My best friend stood ahead of me in the queue.  When he approached the professor, he uttered those now famous words, "I want to major in journalism."  Listening, I thought to myself.  Writing.  Hmmm. How hard could that be?  I had watched a chimpanzee bang on a typewriter in a movie.

That is how I wound up in journalism.  What began as a fanciful notion, soon turned into a passion for reporting on the news  My initial foray into my freshly minted major was as a writer for the college newspaper.  I soon received my first lesson about ethics and journalism.

After some investigation, I wrote a story about our dear college president, who was secretly assisting a local manufacturing plant break a strike by hiring students.  It was hush-hush but I uncovered a couple of students who volunteered to be whistle blowers.  Now they call them unnamed sources.

The day the story appeared in the college paper my journalism professor was hastily summoned to the office of the president.  The president ordered my dismissal.  This brave journalism professor balked.  He promised to have a stern talk with me about my obvious disregard for authority.

Somehow I survived the dust-up.  Soon after, opportunity knocked.  The publisher of the local Wharton newspaper had seen my writing and wished to meet.  I figured he wanted me to do obituaries because I had almost buried a college president with a single article.

To my surprise, he showed up for the meeting with a crude radio transmitter.  The publisher also owned the local radio station.  His play-by-play sports announcer had just quit.  And the junior college had a basketball game that evening.  Would I be interested?  Well, I was a journalism major.

After a 15-minute lecture on radio transmitting and on air broadcasting, I was ready for my first radio gig.  I ended up broadcasting basketball and baseball games.  That's when I learned not everything in life is preparation.  A lot of what happens is just sheer luck no one can foresee.

Two years later I was working in the Sports Information Department at East Texas State University, my next stop on my college career path.  I needed money to pay for college and I liked sports.  Perfect match.  Then I wound up being offered the job of editor of the college newspaper.

Trouble followed.  I turned one entire edition of the paper into a buzz saw against the student government.  I skewered the student body president, tagging him a pawn of the administration. The burly guy accosted me one day on campus and threatened to dismember my body, organ by organ.

Before long, I had a call from the Greenville Herald Banner, a daily newspaper located not far from Commerce.  Their sports editor had gotten drunk and fled town.  Would I consider being sports editor for the summer?  It seemed like fate kept nudging me on the shoulder.

One day the editor raced to my desk and told me to hotfoot it to a small town a few miles outside of Greenville where a horse had broken from its rider and was racing through downtown causing general havoc.  It sounded like a yawn to me, now a big time sports editor.

When I arrived, the police were trying to corral the horse.  The boy who owned the animal was trailing behind shouting, "Whoa, Dammit!" Turns out that was the horse's name. Dammit.  It was a reporter's dream.  The headline on the front page howled: "Boy Tells Horse: 'Whoa, Dammit."

The article won an Associated Press award for feature writing.  My career in journalism was galloping along.  After I graduated college, I landed a job with United Press International, a wire service news organization with far flung offices.  I was offered Little Rock, a global hotspot.

Newly wed, I drove into Arkansas in the summer of 1968.  Within weeks, race riots erupted in the city.  I was dispatched to the epicenter of the action.  I was phoning in my report from a pay booth when an angry mob of folks surrounded the cubicle.  My life of 21 years flashed before me.

I bolted from the pay phone booth and sprinted like Jesse Owens.  I never looked back as I darted for the National Guard contingent manning barricades nearby.  I practically collapsed into the arms of a guardsman.  When I glanced back, all I saw was darkness.  Journalism was a risky business.

A few years later, the Dallas Times Herald offered me a job on the city desk.  The Times Herald was locked in a circulation battle with The Dallas Morning News.  Competition was fierce and the Herald wanted some more firepower.  That would be me.  Mr. Firepower.

One day I decided to sneak into the newsroom early to write a story for the paper's afternoon edition.  The newsroom was empty, eerily silent except for the clattering of news wire machines.  I was absentmindedly checking a few headlines when suddenly my heart went thud, thud, thud.

The Associated Press carried a story about the shooting of four sheriff's deputies in Dallas County.  The incident had happened at 2 a.m. after The Morning News had already printed its final edition.  I glanced at my watch.  It was 4 a.m.  I raced for a telephone and called the news editor at home.

The editor began summoning a crew of reporters and photographers while I sped to the Sheriff's Office.  By noon, we had wrapped up the biggest story in Dallas in years.  The Times Herald published an expanded edition that arrived at homes that afternoon.  It was a stunning scoop.

For my Herculean efforts, I was awarded a $10 a week raise.  That was the beginning of the end of my journalism career.  We wanted to start a family and the key to journalism would never unlock financial security. I decided to switch careers, despite my love of writing and reporting.

I admit goosebumps rise on my arms every time I hear breaking news.  I want to be smack in the middle of the action.  But the news business turned out to be cheap, cruel and often ethically challenging. I discovered journalism was a business, not pure as the driven snow.

I am glad I divorced journalism when I did.  It depresses me now to watch a once proud profession wallow in mediocrity and disgrace.  But I survived journalism's alluring embrace with some great memories.  I will cling to those in my golden years like a warm blanket.   

Pessimism Influences Our Viewpoint

Studies dating back several decades reveal a phenomenon unique to prosperous nations.  People tend to be pessimistic about their country and their world but optimistic about their own lives.  This dichotomy may appear at first glance to be a conundrum but experts have an explanation.

Many point to a 2013 groundbreaking study conducted by a Swedish statistician and public health expert Hans Rosling.  He surveyed 1,005 Americans on the issue of world poverty.  He was astonished to find only five percent of Americans correctly estimated the level of poverty.

In his research, Americans were asked if world poverty had almost doubled, almost halved or stayed about the same in the last 20 years.  The correct answer is extreme poverty has been reduced by one-half.  Most Americans estimated it was much higher, influenced by what they had read or heard.

The statistician's conclusion, supported by many other studies, is that people's pessimistic views often are unsupported by facts.  This is especially true in developed countries, where people generally have higher levels of income, increased security and  benefit from healthier living conditions.

Consider recent data from the University of Michigan, Haver Analytics and Deutsche Bank Global Research. For the first time millennials are less optimistic than those aged 55+ about the future.  Just 37 percent of people believe today's children will be better off financially than their parents.

Researchers concede there are depressing issues confronting the world: terrorism, conflicts, failing economies, drugs, student debt and many others.  However, these problems are often the subject of news reporting that inflates the risks and danger to attract viewers, readers and listeners.

Psychologists point to the media's infatuation with bad news.  Murders, accidents, bombings, natural disasters and scandals dominate the news.  The emphasis is on tragedy, despair and disturbing behavior. Is it any wonder Americans believe the world is crumbling beneath their feet?

Meanwhile, good news is usually ignored because the media is convinced people aren't interested.  Unfortunately, there is evidence to suggest the news cabal is correct.  Studies show Americans prefer gore and scandal to news about a good Samaritan, unless the individual is famous.

In 2014, McGill University conducted studies using eye-tracking equipment to discover what news stories their subjects preferred to read.  The results were eye-opening, pardon the pun.  The subjects preferred to scan bad news, although they professed to be more interested in good news.

To illustrate how news coverage impacts our view, think about airline crashes.  When a plane goes down, it generates a torrent of news coverage.  The result is that a sizable percentage of Americans believe air travel is risky (include me in that number.)  But the facts argue otherwise.

The National Transportation Safety Board estimates the odds of dying in a plane crash at one in 29.4 million.  By comparison, you have a one in 144 chance of being involved in a fatal car wreck. Air disaster news reports focus on fatalities without adding perspective on the relative safety of flight.

There are other influences beyond the media.  Many public advocacy groups have a vested interest in convincing Americans there are looming catastrophic consequences from pollution, climate change, social inequality, etc. etc. etc.  Frankly, their job is to scare daylights out of you to trigger a reaction.

Even well-meaning, non-profit organizations are guilty of overstating problems.  If you want to raise money, the issue to be solved must rise to a critical level to motivate people to part with their money. A tug on the emotional strings, alarming statistics and unsettling images are the grist of non-profits.

People might be reluctant to donate money to help poverty-stricken children.  But tell them millions of kids go without food every day and show videos of babies with swollen bellies and people are more sympathetic.  Often perspective is missing in the message.  People are being manipulated.

A better example may be economists and stock market analysts.  They are unrivaled pessimists.  Even with the economy improving, they now worry about wage hikes.  Shouldn't that be good news for workers?  Not in their view.  More pay means higher prices and inflation, they grouse.

No wonder Americans and people around the globe are pessimistic about their world.  They are being bombarded with distressing news, gloomy predictions, worst case scenarios and an endless list of problems.  We all need to gain more perspective and obtain factual evidence to better assess reality.

One solution is to stop watching, reading and listening to the news around-the-clock.  Being informed is healthy, but being saturated with woe and torment is a prescription for depression.  We should all strive to be rational optimists, adopting a view that no problem cannot be solved over time.

The alternative is to wallow in our agony as we are reminded daily that our planet is in a mess.  This world and nation of ours are far from perfect.  But our planet has survived devastating wars, famines, natural disasters, genocides and epic diseases.  That should give us hope for a bright future.

Anti-Semitism: The Scourge That Won't Subside

The world cannot seem to shake more than one-thousand years of Anti-Semitism.  Despite determined efforts to stamp out all hate crimes, persecution of Jews continues unabated.  Even in America, Jews are being targeted in larger numbers than ever for their religious beliefs.

Recently, many Americans recoiled in horror after a gunman mowed down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.  They were marked for assassination by their executioner for practicing their Jewish faith.  The victims were innocent people whose "crime" was their Jewishness.

Coincidentally, within days of the slaughter, the FBI released data showing Jewish people and institutions were most frequently targeted, accounting for 58.1 percent of all religious based hate crime.  Muslims ranked a distant second at 18.6 percent.  The FBI data is for the year 2017.

The mainstream media as expected needed a scapegoat for the increase in violence against Jews.  To no one's surprise they blamed the rhetoric of President Trump for the murderous rampage.  That may be the most nonsensical, unsubstantiated charge ever leveled against this president.

The president's son-in-law Jared Kushner is Jewish.  Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka, who is married to Kushner, converted to Judaism.  The couple's children are being raised in the Jewish faith.  Mr. Trump has been the most pro-Israel president in history.

Name just one anti-Jewish statement uttered by Mr. Trump.  Or a Anti-Semitic tweet.  You can't do it because none exist.  The media and politicians know that too but they are never, ever going to expose the No. 1 Jew Hater in America. 

The truth is that the mainstream media, politicians and black leaders are afraid to point the finger at the prime source of Anti-Semitism in this country.  His name is Minister Louis Farrakhan, an 84-year-old African-American who bills himself as the leader of the Nation of Islam.

Despite his decades-long openly Anti-Semitic crusade, no one dares condemn him.  He has the ear of powerful politicians.  He has been photographed with everyone from Barrack Obama to Democratic senators and representatives  Their silence is tacit endorsement for his poisonous hatred.

When he is not denigrating Jews, this pseudo minister rallies his followers to support his favored politicians.  In 1988, he exhorted his disciples to back Jesse Jackson's bid for the Democratic Party nomination.  He was back in the news in 1995, helping organize the 'Million Man March,"

These activities give him a certain cache among politicians, especially Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus.  But make no mistake about his putrid ideology.  This man is a Jew hating psychopath who at times has all but called for genocide against Jews.

In his latest rant, Farrakhan compared Jews to "termites," borrowing the same description the German Nazis used during their bloodthirsty campaign to exterminate the Jewish race.  Not a single African-American senator or representative had the guts to castigate this vile man. Not one.

The Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Jewish group, cited a recent report that social media harassment of Jewish Americans increased during the latest election.  While social media platforms regularly censor conservative views, Farrakhan is treated with kid gloves.  He is The Untouchable.

Imagine if anyone was preaching this same kind of hatred against Muslims.  The national uproar would be deafening.  Why does this nation and others tolerate blatantly anti-Jewish hate speech? There is only one conclusion to draw.  Anti-Semitism exists because we allow it. 

A few Swastikas spray painted on synagogues is treated as a prank.  A smashed widow at a Jewish shop is just a petty crime.  Even the horrific Pittsburgh murders did not generate the same level of inflamed news coverage as school shootings or the most recent carnage at a California bar and grill.

As long as the Louis Farrakhan's of the world are freely allowed to spew venom about Jews without any retribution, the level of violence against Jews will only increase.  If our politicians won't stand up against this wretched evil man, then the American people must take matters in their own hands.

A nation that condones anti-Semitism is destined to follow the road that leads to Nazism.  That may sound like hyperbole to some of you, but remember the German people refused to raise their voices while Hitler's goon squads rounded up Jews and sent millions to their deaths.  Silence is consent.

Raise your voices.  We are Americans.  We don't condone hatred of any religious group. Those who embrace hatred do not deserve a public platform despite our First Amendment guarantee of Free Speech.  It is time to muffle Farrakhan and banish this religious bigot from the American stage. 

Grateful For A Strong Texas Lady

Don't let Dorothy Anderson's grizzled age and lingering gait fool you.  The 91-year-old is stronger than she appears  This spunky lady has survived a near fatal car crash, cancer, a heart attack, two knee surgeries and three floods.  The mother of five has even endured an irksome son-in-law.  Me.

Dorothy announced her arrival in the world on April 29, 1927, in Belmont, Texas, a tiny community about 20 miles east of Seguin.  Like many in that era, her schooling was in a cramped one-room wooden building.  She married John W. Anderson on November 26, 1944.  She was 17 years old.

The couple settled in Seguin and moved in with John's mother for a brief spell.  Both would end up working at Southwestern Bell and Hexcel manufacturing.  Children followed in rapid succession. Even with a job, she cooked meals, washed clothes and cared for her kids with passionate energy.

She protected her children with the heart of a lioness. Once her daughter Dianna injured her finger in PE volleyball.  The school nurse ignored Dianna's complaints of piercing pain.  When Dianna arrived home, Dorothy whisked her to the doctor.  The diagnosis: Dianna's finger was broken.

The next day the school principal and nurse got an earful from Dorothy.  Every child yearns for a stand-up Mom.  One who will back her kids no matter the consequences. That describes my mother-in-law.

Eventually, Dorothy and John settled on the family farm outside Seguin. They built a home on land dotted with pecan trees.  Growing, harvesting, shelling and selling pecans became their passion after the children were grown.  Most folks thought it was man's work, but Dorothy ignored convention.

She worked along side her husband in the pecan groves. She hefted irrigation pipe to water the trees, shelled pecans by hand, drove a tractor and sold pecans to locals and folks just passing through.  She built an successful retailing operation, selling from a store on a local highway.

Three devastating floods interrupted their tranquil lives.  In 1972, 1978 and 1998 torrential rains triggered rising waters that spilled over the banks of Mill Creek near their country home.  The last flood swamped their two-story house, sweeping away treasured photos and mementos.

Their house in ruins, they built a raised home on higher ground nearby. During that time, they bunked in a small room in the pecan store.  Dorothy managed to make it a home in the midst of a retail building crammed with sales displays and shelling equipment.  She was resilient and unbending.

After they moved into their new home on the farm, another tragedy struck far greater than any she had faced.  Her husband John was diagnosed with crippling Alzheimer disease.  Despite being in her late 70's, Dorothy became a full time caregiver for John.  It sapped every ounce of her strength.

She endured until her husband's disease worsened, reluctantly agreeing to place him in a nursing home. Every day without fail, she drove to the facility each morning and evening to sit patiently and hold John's hand.  She shed many tears as her world shrunk to the size of a nursing home room.

When John passed away in 2012 at age 85, the family naturally worried about how she would hold up. She had been married 68 years and no one could imagine her life without John.  Somehow, this strong Texas lady carried on after her loss.  She found a church home and renewed faith.

Always an independent woman, Dorothy drove herself to shopping, her weekly hair appointment and the local book store even into her 90's. She became a voracious reader, tended her flower garden and fussed over her pecan trees.  Her life finally had a serenity she had not experienced in years.

Then one day recently she fell and suffered cracked ribs and bruised vertebrae.  After so many setbacks, this one seemed particularly cruel.  But she went through rehabilitation determined to resume her life on the farm. However, doctors decreed she needed round-the-clock care.

That meant living in a nursing home, raising the ugly memories of John's days in a similar facility located nearby.  Yet she refused to mope and hold a pity party.  Dorothy rose again to the challenge and has adapted to her new season in life. She finds joy where some see only the infirm and weak. 

I have many fond memories of her.  Each summer my two sons Dean and Derek would spend a week or more with John and her.  They learned about raising cattle, chickens and pecans.  They fed bales of hay to the cows and feasted on their favorite meals lovingly prepared by their grandmother.

For me, this final thought sums up Dorothy Anderson.  I was fishing once in the creek when I hooked a catfish.  (I refer to my fishing skills as gentlemanly.  Translation: I don't bait my hook, take the fish off the line or eat aquatic animals.)  I was desperate for help.  Then I spotted Dorothy.

She came to my rescue, fetching the hook out of the catfish's mouth while holding the monster in one hand.  I watched squeamishly. When she was done, I shook my head in amazement.  There is nothing this woman can not do.  I am thankful for that moment and many others shared with her.

Dorothy will blush reading this.  She's not the boastful type. She doesn't view herself as a victim or courageous, despite the hardships she has overcome.  She is a survivor who relishes seeing her grown children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Even today, she considers herself blessed.

Her life lesson is simple: be grateful for the goodness in life but do not retreat from the bad times, no matter the duration or the pain.  That is wisdom we could all live by.  Thank you Dorothy not only for being the best mother-in-law, but teaching us grit and tenacity by your life's example.     

Midterm Elections: The Important Numbers

In the rush to analyze the midterm elections, most media and political pundits have stuck to a partisan script.  They have zeroed in on party control of Congress, the Trump factor and the impact on the 2020 presidential election.  Their interpretations missed some eyeopening numbers.

Voter turnout was the biggest surprise of this midterm.  Despite declining voter turnout in previous midterms, there was a sharp reversal of form.  According to the U.S. Election Project, an estimated 113 million voters cast ballots, making it the first midterm to exceed 100 million votes.

If those projections are verified, it means nearly 48 percent of eligible voters exercised their right in these midterms.  In the most recent midterm in 2014, the turnout was a paltry 36.4 percent.  The last time voter turnout reached 49 percent was in the 1966 midterm elections, more than 50 years ago.

Political forecasters were stunned by the size of the early balloting results in many states.

For instance, by November 1 the number of Texans who cast an early ballot had exceeded the state's entire turnout for the 2014 midterm.  Another 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, recorded higher early voter turnout than the entire total for the last midterm.

In previous years, early voting had no influence on total turnout. This midterm was clearly an exception to that rule.  One difference from previous midterms is that more than 3.3 million voters aged 18 to 29 voted via early ballot, a whopping 188 percent increase from 2014.

However, seniors were the largest demographic to vote early.  By some estimates, seniors aged 65 and up comprised more than half of those who cast ballots before November 6.  Voting early is a trend that is likely to mushroom as people decide to skip the dreaded lines on election day. 

Turnout for this midterm hopefully signals a renewed desire for people to become engaged in democracy. America, forget the political parties, wins when people vote.  America needs citizen participation for democracy to succeed as the founding fathers intended.  

More women were elected to Congress and state legislatures than ever before.  There were 3,379 females running in midterm races nationwide, according to a report from Rutgers University's Center for American Women and Politics.  That represents a 25 percent increase from the last midterm.

As a result of these midterms, more women will serve in Congress than at any point in our nation's history.  There will be at least 118 females in the House and Senate.  The total includes 31 first-time House members, seven more than the previous high established in 1992.

The majority of the women in the House are aligned with the Democratic Party--84 of the 96 females that will represent state districts.  And 30 of the 31 female newcomers in the House are Democrats.  But the first Korean-American ever elected to Congress is a Republican from California.

The House and Senate will be the most diverse in history.  That bodes well for a country that embraces diversity.  These midterms ushered in a new era for women in politics. And it portends a day when a woman soon will occupy the White House.

The 2018 midterms were the most expensive in history.  The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the two political parties raised a record-breaking $5.2 billion.  That smashed the previous mark of $3.7 billion in fundraising in the 2014 midterms.

Democrats benefited from the numbers of retiring Republicans.  The media tried to pin the blame on President Trump for Democrats flipping the House.  However, Republicans had the largest number of congressional retirements since the Brookings Institute began tracking the statistic 88 years ago.

There was an exodus of 39 before the midterms.  Most of them were House members.  Many, but certainly not all, represented suburban districts where the demographics have changed in favor of traditional Democratic voters.  GOP newcomers faced steep odds to hold these districts.

Incumbency is a sizable advantage in any election.  As a result, Republicans lost 31 seats in the midterms against well funded Democrats.  Historically, the party of the sitting president loses the House and Senate in midterms, however, the GOP survived a catastrophic defeat.

In 1994, President Clinton lost 54 House seats in the first midterm after his election.  President Obama suffered an even worst fate as his party surrendered 63 seats in 2010.  Measured against those midterms, Mr. Trump's party fared better than previous first-term presidents.

Although Democrats will control the House and Republicans will be the majority in the Senate, there are 14 Congressional races that remain unsettled a week after the polls closed.  This may be the most contests hanging in the balance in election history.

As of this writing, Democrats will have a 227 to 198 majority.  There are still 11 House races that are awaiting final tabulation of votes.  Despite all the advances in technology, counting votes remains a labor intensive process that often leaves neither political party satisfied.  This must be addressed.

In the Senate, there are three races undecided, all likely headed for recounts.  For now the Republicans hold a 51-46 majority.  The Democrats had more seats to defend in battleground states that President Trump carried in 2016, giving the GOP the upper hand.

By now your head is spinning with numbers, so here is an antidote for data overdose.  In Nevada, a dead man won a seat in the state assembly.  Republican Dennis Hof, owner of a brothel, passed away a month before the midterms.  Officials ruled it was too late to scratch his name.  It didn't matter.

Voters overwhelming elected Hof.  Apparently, having a pulse is not a requirement for election to the state assembly in Nevada.   Truly a sad state of affairs.  But nothing should surprise anyone after the tumultuous midterm elections of 2018. 

Trump: More Than Tweets, Bathrobes And Soda

The New York Times, The Washington Post and establishment media have conjured the image of President Trump spending his days tweeting, guzzling Diet Cokes and stumbling through the White House in his bathrobe.  This burlesque portrayal is a deliberate attempt to demean his presidency.

In particular, the Times and the Post have used anonymous sources for the most scandalous, outrageous stories lampooning Mr. Trump.  To be clear: this is not a blanket endorsement of everything Mr. Trump has uttered or tweeted, but the media has painted a one-sided picture.   

Consumers of exclusively mainstream news have become so biased by this reporting, many refuse to believe the president has any redeeming qualities.  Viewed through their prejudiced lens, Mr. Trump's achievements include dividing America, throttling minorities, suppressing females and immigrants.

However, facts have a stubborn way of interfering with this deceptive narrative.  The president has spurred economic growth, created record numbers of jobs, boosted median income, slashed red-tape regulations, improved security at the border and raised America's foreign policy prestige.

For the skeptics, here is a list of accomplishments in just 20 months for the Trump Administration supported by facts and figures, most of which were gleaned from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internal Revenue Service, Council of Economic Advisers and Commerce Department:

The Economy

Four million new jobs have been created since the presidential election.  More Americans are now employed than ever before in our history.  Unemployment claims are at a 50 year low. African-American and Hispanic unemployment rates have reached historic troughs.  Female unemployment has plunged to its lowest level since 1953.  Median household income has risen to $61,372, a post-recession high water mark.  American workers enjoyed the biggest leap in pay since 2009 as the average hourly earnings for private workers advanced 3.1 percent this quarter, compared to 2017. Nearly four million Americans dropped off the food stamps rolls. In the latest quarter ended in September, the American economy grew a robust 3.5 percent, exceeding analysts projections.  Most economists credit the Trump tax cuts for the boom.

Business

Investment is flooding into the U.S. after Congress lowered tax rates for businesses.  America's corporate tax rate was the highest in the developed world.  More than $450 billion has pored into the country from overseas businesses owned by American companies. Manufacturing has bounced back after decades of decline, reaching its highest level in 14 years.  More than 400,000 manufacturing jobs have been added since the election. Retail sales have surged 6.4 percent since July of 2017, reflecting rising consumer confidence and increased disposable income.  Last year job satisfaction among American workers hit its peak since 2005. Real wage compensation paid by businesses has risen 1.4 percent over the past year after eight years of stagnation.

Health Care

This ranks as the most under reported area of improvement for Americans.  Mr. Trump enacted changes to the Medicare program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs this year.  The Federal Drug Administration, under prodding from the president, set a record for generic drug approvals, saving consumers an estimated $9 billion. The administration enabled small businesses to join together to offer affordable health insurance to their employees by removing restrictions to form Association Health Plans.  Legislation signed by the president repealed the infamous "death panels" created by Obamacare.  The Department of Agriculture funded more than $1 billion in initiatives to improve access to health care in rural areas for 2.5 million people.

Border Security

Stopping drugs, human trafficking and violent gang members from flowing into the country has been a priority of the administration.  Statistics document the success: Arrests of 796 members of the Central American gang MS-13 in 2017, an 83 percent increase from 2016. ICE rescued or identified more than 500 human trafficking victims in 2017 and more than 900 child exploitation victims.  ICE agents seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin. In a related area, the administration secured $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic, arrested 28 medical professionals and revoked 147 registrations for physicians over prescribing opioids.

Foreign Policy

President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and imposed tough sanctions on the rogue regime.  In the wake of sanctions, Iran's currency has plummeted, international companies have pulled out of the country and the Treasury Department has levied sanctions against key regime individuals.  The president opened negotiations with North Korea in an effort to denuclearize the totalitarian nation. Despite the media influenced image of Russian coddling, the administration has expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers, sanctioned oligarchs and their companies and enhanced support for Ukraine's Armed Forces to defend against Russian aggression.  In addition, Mr. Trump demanded European countries increase financial support for NATO, the military alliance between Europe and North America.  The result was a hike in 2017 of 4.8 percent in defense spending by member states, amounting to $42 billion. Of course, the piece de resistance was the renegotiation of the flawed NAFTA agreement.

Mr. Trump is constantly savaged because he doesn't stick to the script of past presidents.  The media and Democrats are aghast at his nonconformity.  Many elitists believe a president should be measured on style not substance.  Being "presidential" matters more than getting things done for Americans.

The U.S. had eight years of presidential style.  The country was hungry for  change.  The media has never gotten over the fact American voters chose an outsider over its favored career politician.  Irregardless, the media has an ethical obligation to report good news along with the bad.     

Sizing Up the Midterm Election

Leading up to the November midterm election, the most hackneyed headline is: "Democrat Voter Enthusiasm Surging." Virtually every mainstream media propaganda machine has churned out stories predicting a Blue Wave sweeping Democrats into power.  Forecasters are ignoring the past.

In the last midterm election in 2014, the country recorded the lowest voter turnout in history.  Even by midterm standards, turnout was a clunker.  An anemic 36.4 percent of eligible voters bothered to go to the polls.  That was five percent less than 2012, another disappointing year for turnout.

Going back to 1916, midterm voter turnout has been significantly less than presidential election years. Since 1970, midterm election turnout has been sinking.  In every single one of those years, both political parties claimed voter enthusiasm was soaring off the charts.  Reality always bites.

Midterms since 1970 have generated turnout in the 40-percent range.  By comparison, presidential election years historically attract higher turnouts, mostly in the 60-percent range. The highest voter turnout in the midterms in recent history was the 1962 election with 47.7 percent.

The 2014 midterm is a likely predictor for the upcoming election.  That year was the most expensive midterm in United States history with an estimated $3.7 billion lavished on election campaigns.  Even gobs of cash failed to nudge the enthusiasm needle.  Turnout was the worst in 72 years.

Experts have analyzed midterm elections and written weighty tomes about why voters stay home. Voters lack interest.  Midterms don't have the sizzle of a presidential campaign.  There are fewer candidates on the ballot.  There are more excuses than votes cast.  (That's hyperbole by the way.)

So why will this midterm be different?  Because the media tells us so?  New polling data indicates that despite all the  media hype, this midterm may see an uptick in turnout, but mostly in Blue states. The rest of the country may follow the midterm norm. Expect frosty voter interest.

Already the two parties are hyperventilating about the long lines of early voters foreshadowing a record turnout.  However, analytics have shown there is no correlation.  In fact, a Pew Research analysis of past elections concluded that heavy early voting indicates a reduction in total turnout.

Early voting is billowing because growing numbers of people prefer to skip the long lines on election day. In the 1996 election, Pew found an estimated 10.5% of voters cast early ballots.  By the 2012 election, the number had zoomed to 36.6%.  In some states, more than 50% of people vote early.

There is no scientific evidence that early voting signals an inflated turnout, regardless of media claims to the contrary.  None.  Nada.  Perhaps this election will prove to be an outlier.  But claims that swollen early ballots is a precursor to heavy turnout should be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism.

Millennials may be a better barometer of turnout.  A poll released by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic found that only 28 percent of young people aged 18-29 say they will "certainly vote."  That compares with 74 percent of seniors.  Midterms are a snooze for Millennials.

Latinos, another reliable Democrat voting bloc, normally sit out the midterms. A Pew Research analysis found a record 29 million Latinos are eligible to vote this year.  However, Latino turnout in the midterms has declined every year since 2006, tumbling to a historic low 27 percent in 2014.

Despite all the hubbub over the influence of the Latino vote, no one mentions that 71 percent of Hispanics who are eligible to vote live in six states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona and Illinois.  At least three of those states are traditionally Blue Dog Democrat strongholds.

In recent elections, the media point to the power of suburban professional women voters. Democrats traditionally do well with this group.  But even with this geographic solidly in the Blue corner, Democrats have to energize young and Latino voters to gain a clear advantage.

History may turn out to be the Democrats' best friend.  The president's party has lost seats in Congress in 40 of the 43 midterm elections held in the United States.  It's almost impossible to buck the trend.  The exceptions to the rule occurred in 1934, 1998 and 2002. Will 2018 follow the script?

One unknown factor is  the rising voter approval for President Trump.  In the most recent national poll his approval scaled a peak of 47 percent.  Going into the 2014 midterms, former President Obama's approval stood at 43 percent.  Will that three-point gap made a difference?  No one knows.

Pundits are making predictions based on outdated forecast models.  Put no faith in them because their sophisticated tools have been proven wrong too often. (See 2016 Presidential Election.) Tell me which voters will turnout and I will be able to forecast the winning party with 100 percent accuracy.

Ignore the polling, excessive campaign spending, targeted voter appeals and the media hype and party evangelism. This midterm will hinge on how many people actually go to the polls.  It's that simple. The rest is just mind-numbing political mumbo jumbo.

Tribute to The Passing of an Old Friend

It is with melancholy that I mark the passing of an old friend.  This companion was in my home when my children were born.  The friend clothed my family, delivered Christmas presents and even mowed my lawn.  That's why I despaired when the news broke about the demise of iconic retailer Sears.

Our relationship began when I was a child.  The arrival of the Sears Christmas Catalog in our home was met with shrieks of joy.  My siblings and I pored over the toy section, dreaming of Santa Claus and Christmas morning.  By Christmas day, the catalog was dog-eared and tattered from use.

After Princess Dianna and I were married, one of our initial purchases was a Kenmore washer and dryer.  It survived two babies in the era before disposable diapers, chugging almost nonstop to clean cloth diapers.  Those sturdy machines, like many Sears appliances, lasted 15 years.

I acquired my first lawn mower from Sears after buying my first home.  The first set of tires I purchased came from Sears.  When the battery died in my car, I made a trip to Sears for a DieHard.  The first tool box and tools I owned were Sears' Craftsman.  (I never did learn how to operate them.)

Sears products were the gold standard for reliability.  If an appliance ever stopped working, there was a local store with a repair person to fix it.  Even small towns had a Sears outlet.  At the height of its retailing empire, there were nearly 1,000 Sears stores stretching from coast to coast.

The retail Goliath was born more than a century ago when a former railway station agent (Richard Sears) and a watchmaker (Alvah Roebuck) partnered together to become Sears, Roebuck and Company. They launched a catalog of watches and jewelry in 1888 and incorporated in 1893.

From those humble beginnings, Sears branched out from watches into a full blown retail company, offering clothes, appliances and products for cars.  Its beloved catalog ballooned to 532 pages, serving as a consumer Bible.  Not to mention that it was used as toilet paper in the era of outhouses.

The firm sold stock in 1906 in the first initial public offering for an American retail firm.  The same year it opened a 40-acre logistics center in Chicago, then called the Seventh Wonder of the World by admiring business leaders.  Sears became a symbol of America's burgeoning economic strength.

As consumers tastes changed, Sears altered its business model launching its first retail stores in the 1920's.  By 1931, Sears stores surpassed the cherished catalog in sales and revenue.  Sears introduced its own brands, including Craftsman, DieHard and Kenmore and began selling Allstate insurance.

These were the glory days when Sears topped $1 billion in sales in 1945, which equates to $14 billion in today's dollars.  The company even debuted a mail-order automobile in 1952 manufactured by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation.  It was named the Allstate.  A year later lagging sales caused its death.

By 1969, Sears claimed the title as the largest retailer in the world.  To crown its achievement, the innovative company began construction on the world's tallest skyscraper, the 110-story Sears Tower, in Chicago.  It was completed four years later, dominating the Windy City's skyline.

Like the soaring corporate building, Sears was rocketing into the retailing stratosphere.  However, its meteoric rise in the world of retail became a giant bullseye for a teeming gaggle of competitors eager to enter the lucrative sector.  Sears' leaders ignored the threat and embarked on a buying binge. 

In the 1980's, Sears expanded into everything from stocks, real estate, credit cards to a pre-Web portal known as Prodigy.  During this stage, the company lost focus on its core retailing business as an upstart competitor Walmart began to syphon customers with lower prices.

The downward spiral was officially recognized in 1991 when Walmart supplanted Sears as the nation's top selling retailer.  The final chapter was written on October 15 when Sears Holdings Corporation filed for bankruptcy.  The firm listed $6.9 billion in assets and $11.3 billion in liabilities.

Sears downfall is a cautionary tale for today's Herculean companies.  No business is too big to fail. Sears reacted too slowly to competition, lost touch with its loyal customer base, expanded into businesses far afield from its core strength and failed to invest in its retail stores and product lines.

I admit, like many former Sears customers, I haven't peeked in one of its retail stores in decades.  However, I still mourn its passing.  Sears was part of my childhood and adulthood.  Now that its gone, all that remains are cherished memories of trusted products that made our family's life better.

Rest in peace old friend.   

Dogs Have A Nose For Detecting Cancer

Cancer researchers are finally going to the dogs.  After decades of anecdotal evidence, studies now confirm that canines' keen sense of smell can detect cancer in humans. The challenge for scientists is to figure out how to harness dogs' ability to sniff out cancer to detect the disease in its earliest stages.

Over decades, many stories emerged about dogs discovering cancer in their owners.  Scientists mostly dismissed the accounts because there was no research to validate the episodes.  However, a growing number of studies have verified that trained dogs can indeed spot many types of cancer.

That finding doesn't surprise dog owners with first-hand experience with the phenomenon.  For instance, a San Antonio woman noticed her golden retriever began drooping his head in her lap.  He repeated this every day.  The women went for a check up and was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

A Rochester, Minnesota, woman was studying for a university test when her golden retriever-St. Bernard mix-breed began nosing at her left side.  The dog became agitated.  When the woman wiped away the dog's slobber, she felt a lump.  She was later diagnosed with breast cancer.

A Hollywood actress reported a similar experience with her German Shepherd.  She discovered that she had breast cancer too.  So what enables a dog to be able to sense the disease?  The answer is dog gone simple.  Canines have a nose for it.

Dogs have about 300 million odor receptors, compared to about six million for humans.  They also are equipped with a second smelling apparatus, the vomeronasal organ.  It has sensors near the back of the nasal cavity that detect certain chemical substances.  But dogs have another advantage.

The section of the dog's brain devoted to analyzing smells is 40 times larger than a human's brain capacity.  By some estimates, scientists claim that the dog's sense of smell may by 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than we lowly human beings.

Law enforcement officers may have been the first to employ dogs to sniff out illegal paraphernalia.  They trained canines to find hidden drugs and contraband using their sense of smell. Dogs have been deployed by security and the military from airports to war zones to detect concealed bombs.

A few years ago scientists began investigating another application: using dogs to detect cancer in humans. Oncologists generally agree that cancer tumors emit unique odors, which cannot be recognized by humans or even the latest detection technology.  Could dogs smell cancer?

That question triggered a series of studies in the United States and abroad.  Among the most exciting was an Italian study which showed that two German Shepherds analyzing urine samples from nearly 900 patients correctly identified cancerous specimens with almost 100 percent accuracy.

The findings generated headlines but also skepticism among some scientists, who can be stubbornly resistant to new ideas.  They needed more convincing.  Veterinarians came to the rescue.  The Penn Vet Working Dog Center the University of Pennsylvania demonstrated the power of dog's nose.

Dogs at the center were trained using what they refer to as a "scent wheel"--a round table hung with bread-loaf sized, perforated steel boxes around the perimeter.  The boxes are stuffed with odor samples.  A few boxes include cancerous urine, tissue and blood samples.

If the dog smells cancer, it sits in front of the box.  As part of the training, researchers put decoy boxes with blood samples that are noncancerous.  After intensive training, the dogs learn to spot cancer with surprising accuracy.  The demonstration convinced even some skeptics.

Other trials have quantified that dogs can be trained to sniff urine, blood and even biological samples to detect a range of cancers, including bladder, breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, prostate and skin.  Dogs can't identify the particular cancer, but do smell the presence of the disease.

Scientists are warming to the idea of training dogs to sniff cancer screening samples.  However, the humans in the white lab coats consider it a logistical nightmare to train thousands of dogs.  But what if a machine that could mimic a dog's sense of smell?  There must be an app for that, right?

The Monell Chemical Senses Center, a nonprofit that collaborates with the University of Pennsylvania, has begun to tackle the issue of designing a computer chip with enough capacity to match the canine's olfactory ability.  Scientists admit it it may be an impossible feat.

However, there are devices (i.e. electronic noses) that are already used in breath tests administered by law enforcement officers.  Other devices have been engineered to detect one particular smell.  But to be effective, the new technology must be able to distinguish hundreds of different smells.

In the future dogs, perhaps will work along side instrument-based cancer detectors. This approach may yield earlier detection for some cancers.   If it does, dogs will no longer be just a human's best friend.  Canines could be a humanity's best chance for surviving cancer.

Born To Be The King: New Rules For America

Envision a dystopian America.  The Constitution has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.  Congress has abolished the government.  Angry mobs roam the streets. In desperation, America returns to its colonial roots and elects to be ruled by a king once again.

Your writer is retired, has plenty of free time, so I am anointed The King. Why me, you ask? I have a regal surname.  My ancestors migrated from France.  Roi was the original spelling of the family surname.  The word means "king" in French.  That settles the issue of legitimacy.  Get over it.

With my coronation looming, I am outfitted with a jeweled crown and purple silk robes flecked with 14K gold and ascend to my throne in Bald Knob, Arkansas.  After entertaining my fawning court with tales of my golfing prowess, I turn to serious royal business.

My subjects are anxious to know what I consider the priorities for America, the greatest nation on Earth. I consult my astrologist and a couple of former Enron executives.  I scale a mountain seeking solace and wisdom, sitting alone gazing at the stars and watching funny cat videos on my iPhone.

After forty days, I return to my anxious Earthly subjects and issue the following decrees that will greatly remake America:

1.  Tea Spoons Are Required In Every Restaurant.  Too many eating establishments serve ice tea with a plastic straw.  No tea spoon to stir in the artificial sweetener.  A straw is no substitute for a thin, long spoon.  Stirring with a fork or knife is gauche.  Where have all the tea spoons gone?  Why is there a shortage in restaurants?  A special prosecutor will be appointed to find the answers.

2.  No Subject Is Allowed To Use the Phrase 'No Problem.' Your King has grown weary of hearing those two words.  Compliment a restaurant waiter for the service and he will answer: "No problem."  Tell a dental hygienist your appreciate the cleaning and she likely will say: "No problem."  This is a problem.  The correct answer is "THANK YOU." When did "No Problem" enter the lexicon as a substitute for a simple "Thank you?" Getting rid of 'No Problem" will be no problem for your King.

3. All Men's Slacks Must Be Made With Elastic Waistbands.   Nothing chafes your King more than having to pay a tailor to let out his slacks after every meal of a burger, fries and a milkshake.  Then after a couple weeks of diet and exercise, the pants need to be taken up.  This back-and-forth fluctuation in waist size costs thousands of dollars each year.  Elastic waistbands are as American as bottled water or tofu.  No pants can be sold without elastic waistbands. It's a weighty decision

4. No Plastic Tops Will be Permitted on Pharmacy Prescription Bottles:   After a certain number of birthdays, many of my loyal subjects complain they can no longer open their medication bottles.  The damn caps are senior proof.  You need a pair of pliers and a blowtorch to remove the plastic top so you can gulp your medication.  Pharmacies will now be required to give seniors pill bottles with no tops.  No problem, right? Thank you.

5. Barbecue Will Be Added To the Food Guide Pyramid.  The Department of Agriculture erred by not including barbecued meat as essential to a healthy diet. Because of the agency's oversight, many people are made to suffer unnecessary guilt when consuming heaps of barbecued ribs and beef brisket.  The new Food Guide Pyramid will suggest every individual requires at least two servings of barbecue each day. By the way, this explains why men need elastic waistbands.

6. All Cars Must Be Equipped With Texting Sensors.  Every state in the union has laws that make texting and driving a violation.  Problem is no one enforces it.  Millions of drivers can been seen every day with their wireless device propped on the steering wheel, both thumbs tapping the screen.  This dangerous situation requires stern measures.  This edict will require car manufacturers to retrofit their vehicles with sensors that trigger an explosion if the driver is texting. The blast will blow off the driver's thumbs but he or she will be otherwise unharmed. This is a thumbs up winner.

7.  No Person Will Be Allowed To Hold Up The Line At Any Public Place.  This order applies to grocery stores, banks, the post office, Department of Motor Vehicles and retail stores.  My subjects waste too much time standing in line when they could be home texting or eating barbecue.  Persons who knowingly hold up a line of fellow citizens while they fish for grocery coupons or a credit card, ask the postmaster for a single stamp or return clothes to the rack after the cashier rings up the sale will be guillotined.  I will not put my neck on the line for those who ignore this edict.

8. Bradley Cooper Movies Will Be Outlawed.  Face it, actor Bradley Cooper is a man-hunk.  He takes off his shirt in a lot of movies to show off his chiseled physique.  It intimidates your king and makes his queen's legs quiver. Conversely when the king strips off his shirt, the queen giggles.  Removing the actor's image will make men, including The King, feel better about their lumpy bodies.

Clearly, being king is no laughing matter.  There are life-or-death issues that require royal solutions.  Now, if someone could just find my crown. Shockingly, I  misplaced it in one of the 50 rooms in my palace.   Surely, a humble subject can develop an app to locate it.  Let's hope she has both thumbs.

Washington: No Town For A Fair Hearing

Fairness, decency and decorum were nowhere to be found in the halls of the Senate building in Washington last week.  Those principles were shredded in the name of partisan politics.  The conduct of some senators turned a serious subject, sexual misconduct, into a farcical circus.

No matter whether you believe Christine Blasey Ford or Judge Brett Kavanaugh, everyone should be chagrined by what they witnessed during the Senate Judiciary hearings.  Instead of collegial etiquette, they were treated to political grandstanding, bickering and backbiting  What a national disgrace.

Normally,  confirmation hearings are somber and sober affairs even in the worst nomination battles.  But not this time.  On opening day, 70 screaming, unruly hecklers were arrested for interrupting the proceedings.  The unprecedented rowdiness set the tone for the remainder of the hearings.

The so-called protest was orchestrated by Democrat activists.  Several were caught on camera paying the demonstrators.  Each person who showed up was paid $50 to disrupt the hearing, received free breakfast, lunch and was given money for bail, according to news sources.  It was a blatant charade.

Despite the obvious theatrics, California's Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein praised the protesters for their outburst against the nominee.  Senator Feinstein, 85 years old and seeking another six-year term, should have condemned the outrageous behavior.  But she was just warming up for her hit job.  

After days of contentious hearings, it was clear Judge Kavanaugh had emerged unscathed.  That is when Senator Feinstein sucker punched the nominee with allegations of sexual misconduct.  She had kept the allegation secret since July, hiding the information from Republicans and Judge Kavanaugh. 

In spite of denials, Senator Feinstein or her proxy leaked the sexual abuse charges to news outlets. No one else had knowledge of the bombshell. She knew the salacious details would ignite a media frenzy that would put her in the national spotlight and boost her campaign.  Shameless political pandering.  

Judge Kavanaugh and Republicans were caught flat-footed.  The nominee and Senator Feinstein huddled privately prior to the hearings.  Never once was the issue of sexual assault raised during the meeting.  Her scheme was to back stab the judge and torpedo the nomination.  Fair play be damned. 

Once the alleged victim's story was made public, it was a matter of time before two unsubstantiated  charges followed.  It was obvious to all but the most partisan Democrat these were orchestrated to create a narrative that Judge Kavanaugh is a serial abuser.  Yell rapist enough times and it sticks.

The stories of abuse have a couple of things in common.  The alleged incidents happened 32-36 years ago.  There are no corroborating witnesses or sworn testimony to support the charges  Democrats cared nothing about the presumption of innocence.  Women should be believed, they bellowed. 

Every victim--male or female--has a right to be heard.  But in America, allegations are just that--allegations--until proven.  Democrats tried to turn the country's standard of due process on its head.  As a result, the hearings devolved into a Kangaroo Court with the accused convicted by the mob.

Democrats attempted to justify their lack of fairness by comparing the hearings to a job interview.  Really?  Please raise your hand if you have ever been on a job interview where you were unexpectedly confronted by a sexual abuse charge?  Waiting.  Still waiting for a show of hands.

As a delay tactic, the Democrats brayed for an FBI investigation.  Senator Feinstein in July could have demanded and been granted an FBI inquiry the moment she received Ms. Ford's letter.  Why didn't she? The senator contends she wanted to honor Ms. Ford's request for confidentiality.

Her claim is not credible since the story including Ms. Ford's name was surreptitiously leaked to the media.  Additionally, the committee chairman offered to fly to California to interview Ms. Ford privately.  The invitation was declined.  Senator Feinstein wanted to engineer a spectacle.

At the eleventh hour the committee majority agreed to ask the FBI to investigate the matter.  Democrats know this a red herring.  The FBI will interview the judge, Ms. Ford and witnesses.  That's it.  The agency will NOT issue an opinion or evaluate the truthfulness of statements.

Democrats know full well the FBI's role.  This is just another stall tactic. Expect Democrats to claim a one-week investigation is not long enough.  Anticipate more baseless allegations to drip...drip..drip into the overflowing bucket of media slime.

Democrats announced minutes after Judge Kavanaugh was chosen for the high court that his nomination was dead on arrival.  Party financial backers and their liberal base demanded it after Judge Neil Gorsuch won Senate approval.  Democrats have every right to vote against this nominee.

But Democrats have no right to irreparably damage a once collaborative process of advice and consent for political gain.  The have perpetrated an injustice on both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. The Democrat Party will one day reap what it has sown.  That day can't arrive soon enough.  

China: Top Threat To American Secuity

Russia, Russia, Russia. Americans have been spoon-fed a diet of news about Russian election interference, cyber attacks and military incursions. As a result of the frenzied coverage, most people are convinced Russia is the chief menace to America.  However, China stands as a far greater threat.

China's aggressive military spending, its extensive cyber spy network and its burgeoning economic dominance make the nation of 1.3 billion people a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future.  The Asian superpower dwarfs Russia economically, technologically and militarily.

While Russian hackers have intruded computer networks, no country has compromised U.S. government and business security to the extent of the Chinese.  Most experts agree the Chinese have stolen more secrets than Russia to the detriment of America's security and industry.

Just this year a Chinese government hacker invaded the computers of a Navy contractor, stealing massive amounts of highly sensitive data related to undersea warfare.  The theft included secret plans for the development of a supersonic anti-ship missile for deployment on Navy submarines.

Website Security Today concluded that China is the number one culprit in stealing business intellectual property of U.S. companies.  By some estimates, countries pillage almost $600 million in American intellectual property annually.  Most of that economic damage is perpetrated by China.

Four in ten cyber attacks on American government agencies, defense and high-tech companies originate or can be traced back to China.  While Russia and North Korea are also prowling cyber space, the Chinese have been the most active and most successful in hijacking America's secrets.

Economically, China ranks second only to the United States.  China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a measure of economic output, is $24 trillion.  However, many economic experts believe China has already surpassed America if the statistics are adjusted for purchasing power.

China's manufacturing output overtook the U.S. almost a decade ago. Its exports are more than a third-larger than America.  Since 1978 when China initiated economic reforms, the GDP has grown tenfold.  The country has a work force of 806 million people, compared to 129 million for the U.S.

China's economy is averaging almost seven percent real growth per year.  The annual growth rate from 2015 to 2017 was 6.9 percent, 6.7 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. During the same period, U.S. growth averaged less than three percent.  Russia's economy was virtually flat by comparison.

The China boom has allowed the nation to expand its global influence by investing in virtually every country worldwide.  By CIA estimates, China had direct foreign investment of $1.34 trillion in 2017. These investments purchase political and economic influence in a host of nations.

Using its new economic wealth, China has pumped up its defense budget.  Today its military spending is almost four times larger than Russia.  The Chinese are producing more weapons, buying the latest military technology and increasing defense research and development.

Even increased military spending by America will not close the gap soon.  That's because about one-half of America's defense budget goes to military personnel.  By comparison, soldiers' pay makes up a tiny portion of the military budget for China.  The lion's share goes to purchasing new weaponry.

China already boasts a powerful military and it is expanding rapidly.  The Chinese are building more aerial combat fighters, attack submarines, destroyers and are developing a super carrier for its Navy.  According to the CIA, China ranks first worldwide in combat aircraft, battle tanks and submarines.

While Russia has interfered in Ukraine and Syria, the Chinese have been on an island-building spree in the South China Sea to spread its military footprint. China has constructed port facilities, military buildings and airstrips on the man-made islands located more than 500 miles from the mainland.

The island buildup has become a major point of contention between the U.S. and China.  The installations pose a potential threat to about $1.2 trillion in bilateral trade that flows through the South China sea. The islands also enable sustained Chinese air and sea patrols far from its border.

In addition, the Chinese are the main sponsor for the rogue regime in nuclear-armed North Korea. Without China's purchase of North Korean coal and other products, the dictatorship would collapse.  No wonder Kim Jong Un doesn't mind kissing the ring of China's benevolent leader Xi Jinping.

Russia, under Vladimir Putin,  will always be on the threat radar.  But China represents the bigger challenge because of its growing military, economic and foreign influence.  The Chinese goal is to become the world's top superpower.  If achieved, American and global security will be at risk.

Immigration: The Changing Face of America

Americans are deluged daily with tearful stories and alarming statistics about illegal immigration. It creates a perception that most immigrants come to the country by sneaking across the border.  This narrative obfuscates the reality that the overwhelming majority of immigrants arrive here legally. 

Activists and the politicians claim oppressive waiting requirements, high costs and excessive paperwork 'force' newcomers to skip the legal process.  That's baloney.  The majority of foreign-born immigrants (75%) in this country played by the rules and survived these pseudo barriers.

The truth is America's process for accepting immigrants is less stringent than many countries.  Foreign-born individuals who wish to live in the United States have a straight forward path to lawfully enter the country. While it requires diligence, it is not overly burdensome. 

Without diving into the weeds,  the procedure begins with an application for a visa or green card, the first step toward becoming a lawful permanent resident.  Visas are available for immigrants with family members or relatives residing in the U.S.  Businesses also sponsor visas for immigrants.

After living in the country for five years as a legal resident, foreign-born nationals can apply for citizenship.  Each circumstance is different, but it can take anywhere from six months up to two years to complete the naturalization process and earn citizenship.  The cost is about $725.

If that process is so cumbersome, how do critics explain the fact that the U.S. welcomes approximately 680,000 new citizens during naturalization ceremonies every single year?  And applications for citizenship are increasing.  There were 239,628 requests in the most recent quarter.

Despite spurious complaints about the process, America remains the top destination for immigrants worldwide since at least 1960.  One-fifth of the world's immigrants today live in this country.  That evidence suggests America's immigration rules are not a deterrent to foreigners.

According to Current Population Survey (CPS) , more than 43.7 million immigrants resided in the United States in 2016, accounting for 13.5 percent of the total population estimated at 323.1 million.  The foreign-born population increased by 449,000 from 2015 to 2016.

To illustrate the dramatic growth, in 1970 immigrants represented 4.7 percent of the population. By 2000, the proportion of immigrants reached 11.1 percent of America's residents.  That means the number of immigrants living in the U.S. has zoomed upward 78 percent in the last 46 years.

Mexican nationals are the largest slice of the immigrant population pie chart with 26 percent. There are an estimated 11.6  million Mexican immigrants living in the country.  However, the percentage of Mexicans is lower than the peak of 30 percent in 2000 as more nationals arrive from other countries.

For example, India was the leading country of origin in 2016 with 175,100 individuals entering America.  China and Hong Kong followed with 160,200 immigrants.  Mexico was third on the list with 54,700. Cuba ranked fourth with 46,600. About 1.5 million foreign nationals arrived in 2016.

While Mexicans outnumber other immigrant populations, a glacial shift is occurring below the surface. Indians now comprise nearly six percent of immigrants with Chinese (including Hong Kong) representing five percent.  Filipinos are at four percent with Cubans and Vietnamese close behind.

Many immigrant adults today are better educated than their American counterparts.  For instance, 51 percent of Asians have at least a college bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent for the total U.S. adult population.  By comparison, only six percent of Mexican immigrants have a college degree.

A Pew Research Center analysis found that immigrants accounted for nearly one-fourth (23%) of babies born in the United States, yet represent only 13.5 percent of the population.  This baby boom is driving overall population growth.  Without immigrants, the U.S. birth rate would be declining.

If current trends hold, immigrants and their descendants are projected to account for 88 percent of the population growth through 2065. Those figures underscore the importance of legal immigrants to the vibrancy of the American economy, boosting the labor pool and increasing economic activity.

Many of the new arrivals are doing better financially too, especially those from Asia and India.  A Pew Research analysis found that Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Indian immigrants have fewer family members living below the poverty line than those from Mexico and Central America. 

Immigrants have been a positive force throughout American history. That remains true today.  The media should extol the inspiring stories of successful legal immigrants instead of spotlighting only illegals.  America's face is changing.  And that is good news that should be celebrated.

How We Can Insure World Peace

Who doesn't favor World Peace?  Beauty queens, pacifists, politicians, preachers and even proctologists clamor for earthly bliss.  Everyone claims they desire tranquility, a world free of strife.  We daydream of the human race holding hands around a blazing campfire signing Kumbaya.

Not going to happen.  Forget North Korea, China, Russia or the mullahs in Iran making nice with any nation.  Peace starts at home.  How many families do you know where everyone gets along?  I thought so. Why do we think World Peace is attainable when blood feuds exist in families?

Think about it.  It's Thanksgiving and two bald uncles, your peevish parents and a few aunts are perched at the dinner table waiting to carve the turkey.  Instead they began slicing up each other over hurt feelings from three decades ago.  Families hold onto to grudges like a drumstick.

These people are related for goodness sake.  They are supposed to share some common DNA.  Perhaps, a few character traits or Elephantine ears like Uncle Neanderthal.  Bloodlines don't matter when families huddle in the same room for more than a few minutes.  Turbulence ensues.

Remember when your cousin Billy Bob called you fat and ugly?  That was 33 years ago.  And now you are svelte and tanned and sport a new face lift.  Shouldn't that relieve the sting?  No way.  You suffered through high school and college.  Now it's payback time.

Tragically, family conflicts have been with us since the dawn of humanity.  Grab your bible and flip to Genesis, Chapter 4, verses 1-16.  Cain, the first born son of Adam and Eve, becomes enraged with his brother Abel and murders him.  Jealousy was Cain's downfall and much of humanity's.

Know any families where siblings are jealous of each other?  Just pray they are not packing heat at the next family Christmas social.  I know your brother appears docile.  But after a few toddies, he flings a tumbler of gin at you and gripes about how Mom always liked you better.  Better duck!

Dysfunctional families are the norm today.  Grown ups can't move pass the emotional stress of Dad's tongue lashing about their choices in teenage boyfriends.  Must have felt like the end of the world 20 years ago. News flash: Parents makes mistakes, too.  Your pity parties are boring.

Today families are even more complicated with divorce and same gender marriages.  Imagine being told your mother is your dad and your aunt is your biological mother.  Urge your children and grand kids to pursue careers in psychiatry.  There is a fortune to be made.  Lifetime financial security.

Add to this blended mix the toxic nature of politics and family.  Any talk of political issues or figures ignites a fiery kitchen debate with your sister-in-law Susie Mae.  Before too long, you are shaking fingers at each other and digging deep into your vocabulary for pithy insults.

Those kind of heated arguments lead to estrangement.  You decide to no longer speak to ancient Uncle Frankenbeans. When he calls, hang up. Dispatch a note telling him that you no longer plan to attend his funeral.  Find someone else to read from Paul's gospel about peace at the church service.

Yet people still wonder:  "Why can't we just get along?"  Really?  Isn't it obvious?  Humans are an emotional tribe. The truth is that we are 98 percent emotions and about two percent rational thinking.  Emotion never healed a personal wound.   Bitterness creates feelings of lasting resentment.

My advice is to stop pining for World Peace.  You will be happier just knowing it is an impossible fantasy.  It won't happen until every family on the globe is reconciled, contented and grateful for each member of the circle.  The chances of that occurring are one in 7.6  billion (the world's population).

If you really want World Peace, sow seeds of harmony in your family.  Forgive those who have hurt you. Apologize to those you have harmed.  Love those who are unlovable.  Assign the past to the past. That will make the world a better place.  And you will be better off too.

An Open Letter To Pope Francis

Dear Pope Francis:

Not since the Reformation has the Catholic Church endured the scathing censure is so richly deserves.  With the latest revelations about hundreds of Pennsylvania priests abusing minors, the church's already unholy reputation has been left in scandalous ruins.

No amount of mea culpas will suffice for the morally reprehensible conduct of pedophile priests and church leaders who covered up the widespread abusive behavior in Pennsylvania.  Your expression of "sorrow" for the victims does not erase the heinous nature of the sinful conduct.

According to a two-year grand jury investigation, priests groped, raped and performed oral sex on minors as young as nine-years-old. More than 300 priests were involved in decades of child abuse.  Meanwhile, Pennsylvania church hierarchy hid the crimes and shielded guilty priests.

It is unconscionable for you Pope Francis to assume your remorse suffices for your gross disregard for moral accountability.  In any other setting, secular or religious, those who condoned the transgressions by their silence are guilty. They deserve swift judgment and punishment.

You can no longer pretend these priestly scandals are rare. Despite the covert efforts of your church managers (i.e. the archbishops, bishops and cardinals) to coverup the misconduct, wave after wave of credible reports have surfaced over the last couple of decades exposing the abhorrent behavior.

And the incidents are not isolated.  Diocesan leaders across the U.S. have been exposed for harboring sexual predators.  The allegations are worldwide, having spread to Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Austria, German, Belgium and Mexico, to name just a few countries.  It is an epidemic.

Under your leadership, the church continues to dither.  Catholics are growing weary of the same broken promises to clean up the sordid mess.  You keep talking about change and accountability but from the view in the church pews we Catholics are convinced the situation has grown worse.

There was hope when you assumed the role of Pope that you would not repeat the same mistake as your predecessors, who disregarded vows of a no tolerance policy.  You pledged the same.  Yet the man who presided over the Pennsylvania dereliction today remains a cardinal in Washington, D.C.

Quit listening to church apologists and your lawyers.  Act now or watch your once holy church be relegated to a footnote in religious history.  Claim what tattered moral authority remains invested in your office and boldly decide the buck has been passed long enough. It stops at the Vatican.

And order your surrogates to cease trying to mitigate the damage by pointing out pedophilia is not exclusively a church issue.  Of course, it's not.  But no one cares.  People expect the church to set an example of Christian behavior.  Words no longer matter.  Only actions will make a difference.

First, open all the records of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania to the authorities.  Defrock any pedophile priests who are still living.  Demand the bishop who presided over the scandal resign immediately.  In fact, fire him.  That's not church protocol, but don't stand on ritualistic formality.

Secondly, announce from this day forward any priest accused of abuse will be immediately suspended.  Law enforcement will be called in to investigate.  Any bishop or other senior official who fails to report an incident to the authorities will be summarily fired.  No exceptions.  Period.

Thirdly, you can no longer evade your obligation to review the church's policy of priestly celibacy.  It is not wholly to blame for the sickening behavior, however, therapists who have worked with clergy are convinced it contributes to sexual immaturity which may help explain the deviant tendencies.

Do more than study the issue to death.  Do something.  Priests should be allowed to date, marry and explore their sexuality.  Clinging to the past will only ensure the problems of today will be the same ones tomorrow.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth among traditionalists.  Remain firm. 

The church stands at a crossroad.  It can no longer weather the legal, financial and criminal storms gathering outsides its doors without disastrous consequences. This is your moment to display moral leadership.  Your responsibility cannot be delegated.  Take decisive action or resign your papacy.

A Disillusioned Catholic,

Drew Roy

Socialism: Make America Venezuela

A shocking new poll by the non-partisan Gallup organization should vex all Americans.  In a nationwide survey, the firm reported that Democrats are more positive about socialism than capitalism. While the results are astounding, the findings help explain the party's leftward surge.

The research, which included a sample of 1,505 adults aged 18 and older, signals a sharp turn in attitudes about socialism. Fully 57 percent of self-identified Democrats and independents who lean Democratic hold a positive view of a system once considered anathema to most Americans.

By comparison, 48 percent of Democrats and leaners approve of capitalism.  Looking at the demographics, older Americans from both parties have a dim view of socialism.  Young people, aged 18-29, are the most ardent supporters with a majority (55%) approving of socialism. 

For decades, Americans associated socialism with Marxist Communism, a Utopian theory of a collectivist society characterized by the equal distribution of wealth, property housing and other goods.  While the theory captivates the naive, in actual practice socialism has a record of utter failure.

But many who should know better, including politicians, Hollywood glitterati and economists, now are openly embracing socialism.  Perhaps that has swayed Democrats' opinions on the allure of a thoroughly discredited system.  Fortunately, their views do not reflect the majority of Americans.

In the Gallup poll, about 37 percent of all Americans have a rosy view of socialism.  By an overwhelming majority, nearly 70 percent of Republicans favor capitalism.  Only 13 percent of Republicans and those who lean Republican are in favor of socialism. 

Those who believe socialism will make America great need to look to Venezuela, once one of the world's richest countries now wallowing in despair. The South American nation is on the brink of collapse after jettisoning capitalism two decades ago, replacing it with socialism.

The country, with the largest proven oil reserves in the world, has squandered its wealth by heavily spending on government subsidies for residents, including 'free' health care. Experts believe the nation's inflation rate may hit one million percent by year's end.  (One million is not a typo.)

The Venezuelan Central Bank has stopped issuing economic data in an effort to hide the country's chronic decline.  Before it halted the practice, the bank's statistics showed that in a single year (2015) the per capita income plunged from $15,929 to $6,042.  People are suffering in extreme poverty.

Venezuela's currency is in shambles, tumbling to an all time low.  At the end of July, country's currency, the bolivar, was practically worthless. It took 115,000 bolivars to equal one U.S. dollar.  Venezuelans lug pallets full of currency to the grocery store just to buy essentials.

As a result of hyperinflation, there are dire food and medical shortages.  The country ran out of toilet paper and was forced to dispatch army troops to a paper manufacturing company occupied by angry residents.  Recurring electricity blackouts and growing thug violence are a common occurrence.

Food riots erupt with alarming regularity.  Hospitals have no running water.  Thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing the country, escaping into neighboring Columbia.  In response, the government has cracked down on dissent, jailing opponents and ratcheting up propaganda.

Dunderhead Hollywood nabobs like Sean Penn, Oliver Stone and Michael Moore once pointed to Venezuela as a shining example of the benefits of socialism.  They have been strangely silent as Venezuela plunges into economic and societal oblivion.  The media has been mum too. 

In the face of his nation's crisis, President Nicolas Maduro is continuing the practice of his mentor Hugo Chavez, looting the private sector, seizing companies and taking over farms, while fattening his personal fortune at the expense of his poverty-stricken people. This is what socialism looks like.

Democrat Bernie Sanders, a self-avowed Democratic Socialist who enchants young people with his message of free college and free health care, has been the standard bearer for socialist policies.  Now Democrats candidates for elective office are openly endorsing the same ideals.

Those Americans who shill for socialism should be exposed as charlatans.  They are peddling an economic and social solution that ruins the lives of people and bankrupts countries.  The only equality socialism guarantees is shared misery.  That's reason enough to soundly reject socialism.