Editorial

EDITORIAL - Hurricane Harvey and Irma have been bad news to all in their paths. Lives have sadly been lost, houses demolished and personal items blown or washed away. Such horrific acts of nature remind us that we are all fragile and vulnerable. The right wind and rain can wash everything away including us and people we love so much.

We love our stuff. We store it. We hoard it. We want to pass it on to our children and grandchildren. There are storage facilities being built almost everywhere in America because we love our stuff so much. Harvey and Irma remind us again that our greatest assets are our lives and the people we love. If we have our health, safety and valued people in our lives then everything is either secondary or worthless in perspective to life and people.

EDITORIAL - Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast are devastated. Never has an area been so blasted by so much rainfall in such a short amount of time. Houston has received more rainfall than other city across the United States receivea in one entire year. So far over 51 inches of rain has fallen with more rainfall to come. Everyone in America and much of the world with a Television or computer knows about the suffering of Houston. Our prayers go out to them as well as our financial support, our manpower and anything we can do to help the millions of people who are homeless and suffering.

Experts are predicting Hurricane Harvey will cost the economy 25 - 30 billion dollars because of the rain. Most of Houston is closed down due to the storm. The oil and gas industry and thousands of jobs tied to other manufacturing such as the food service giant Sysco are closed.  The Port of Houston, several hospitals and both major airports are closed.

EDITORIAL - I hear you already. All old people aren't cranky. I have a friend who is 96 years old and is the delight of all who know her. She is independent. She works in her garden every summer. She drives herself to church and the grocery store. She exercises a couple of time s a day. She lives in a very small humble house but it's her place and she takes care of her home.

Too often my wife and I are out and "hear" crotchety old people. Often they are battering the waitress about the service or the food. Often we get out of their way at the grocery store in fear of being maimed for life by a grocery cart. When visiting in Florida we look both ways when crossing the road more than once because of several occasions we've almost been run over by a senior adult.

EDITORIAL - Americans hope that President Trump and his team can resolve the North Korean tension. Nobody wants anyplace in America to be struck by an atomic or hydrogen bomb.  We are not totally clear on what North Korea can do with a missile but it is growing clearer their program has advanced and growing stronger almost day by day. Although few people seem to believe North Korea has a hydrogen bomb.

We were blindsided by Japan December 7, 1941 when they attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese killed 2,335 servicemen. An additional 1,143 were wounded. They attacked us for 110 minutes from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. Hundreds of Japanese planes sank or damaged 21 warships and destroyed more than 150 planes on nearby airfields. That was a horrendous day in our history that we never want repeated.

EDITORIAL - Should President Donald Trump quit? A large percentage of Americans voted against him and continue to dislike him. About all of the Democrats in Congress are against him and there are certainly Republicans who aren't Trump fans. I was recently in France and there are plenty of people in that country who mock Trump. I would wager transgender people in the military don't like him. The protestors who show up wherever he is to protest, some of them paid to do so, don't like him.

Most of the media hates Trump. You would think NBC would love Trump. He made mega millions for that network with his successful The Apprentice television show. NBC begins every Today show and evening nightly news with five to 15 minutes of Trump bashing. This week I timed the Trump bashing segment on the Today show at 14 minutes and some seconds. They came on at 7 and immediately began with the Russian collusion story that they pound every day almost seven days a week.

EDITORIAL - I really don't want to take my column space to write anything else about Kim Jong-un. There is so much going on in America and the world that I would rather write about. Here we are again with this idiot dominating the news in our country. I don't think anyone has ever liked this weirdo. For the past decade we have simply brushed him off as the North Korea Kook. Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman has been there to play basketball and the dictator referred to Rodman as the highest-ranking diplomat to visit North Korea from the United States. Huh? Rodman is just a retired professional basketball player. He was a great player.

In the last few years our country has had to take Jong-un in all dead seriousness. He has been test launching one missile after another with the hopes of achieving the kind of missile that would reach the United States. You see how much everybody loves America? I do think we have some friends. My wife and I visited France recently and everyone was very congenial to us in that country. Jong-un is not a friend. I wouldn't go to North Korea. Do you remember what they did to Otto Warmbier from Cincinnati? They held him captive for 17 months and sent him home 99% dead in a coma. He died shortly after being returned to Cincinnati. No American should be allowed to visit North Korea.