A "Heaven Sandwich"

We have just returned from what I can only describe as a "heaven sandwich" - defined as, "a six day slice of heaven, with a slice of hell on each side". I will explain...

Every year we take our six grandchildren on a trip. This year it was to be a cruise to the Western Caribbean which we organized a year in advance. The plan was to fly to Ft. Lauderdale arriving at dinner time, have a nice evening swim and dinner, enjoy the morning in the pool, and board the "Princess Caribbean" cruise ship in the afternoon for a cruise to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Everything went according to schedule as we arrived at the airport at 6 am Saturday for our 7:40 flight. Everyone was on board, ready to take off, and the pilot announced "We have a problem and have to go back to the gate for just a minute". The minute turned into five hours. We then missed our connecting flights to Ft. Lauderdale, and finally were booked on the last flight that night at 10:30 pm. But sadly that flight was 1 1/2 hours late, and we arrived at Ft Lauderdale at 1 am, tired, but ready to go to our hotel and still excited about our cruise! But surprise - only 4 of the 8 bags we checked made it to Ft. L, and Delta informed us that the other 4 bags went to San Diego - yes, just 40 miles from our takeoff airport. And to top off this first slice of hell, they told us that they could not get the bags to us before the ship sailed on Sunday afternoon.

So after collecting 4 of our 8 bags, we arrived at our hotel at 2:30 am - a bit late to have a nice meal and go to the pool. The missing bags belonged to myself and three of our teenage grand daughters who had planned on this trip for almost a year. Since all four of us had only the clothes on our back, no choice but to go shopping for clothes before the cruise - but the "trip through hell" continued when we found out that none of the stores opened on Sunday until 12 noon, and we had to board the boat between 1 and 4 pm at the latest. So the race began - hire a van to take us shopping, come back to pick us up, then back to the hotel to get bags, and then to the boat. I shopped by myself and was able to get enough to get me through the first few days, but my wife had three teenage girls to shop for - a dress, underwear, bathing suit, etc., and
1 1/2 hours to do it in. A monumental job for girls that are used to taking an hour to make a decision. High stress stuff for grandma, but we did it. Our van driver picked us up at the mall (in a blinding rain and lightening storm - just another side note of this trip through hell), then off to our hotel for bags, then to the ship, with 30 minutes to spare. Thus ended the first slice of hell on the "heaven sandwich".










We then checked our group of eight onto the boat, and Princess took over - they gave us all the toiletries we needed, free laundry and dry cleaning with one day turnaround, and even provided me a full tux for the first formal night on Tuesday. They also assigned one person to track our bags and update us every day. Three days later in Jamaica, our bags finally caught up with us, and we were happy campers. The rest is history. The vacation was great and our grandchildren had a trip they will never forget.


















But after a week, it was time to go home and we again went "from heaven to hell".

Princess was very efficient checking us out the following Sunday, and we arrived at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale at about 10 am with a 3:40 flight out to Atlanta, connecting to Orange County, CA. I checked for earlier flights, but, everything was booked. So the eight of us relaxed at the airport waiting for our 3:40 flight. But yes, it was delayed an hour, then another hour, and so it looked like we had missed our connection to CA. But when we arrived at Atlanta, lucky us, our connecting flight was also delayed, so we were on our way home! Unfortunately this next flight was delayed also, and after getting on board at 9:30 pm (instead of 8), we were "ready to go". But the plane didn't move, and we sat at the gate for another 1 1/2 hours waiting for a co-pilot! He finally arrived and we were off, and everyone was happy.

But the happiness didn't last long...after taking off the pilot informed us that we had missed the curfew at Orange County (airport closes at 11pm) so they would have to fly us into Ontario and bus us back to Orange County airport. Lots of unhappy people, but by now everyone was numb and looking forward to arriving at Ontario , getting our bags, then on the bus and off to Orange County where our family was to meet us. But...remember this is the trip from hell.

We arrived at Ontario at midnight, and the first announcement made was, " Sorry about the delay, unfortunately the buses will not be here for another 1 1/2 hours". Now Delta almost had a riot on their hands. We were so exhausted, we just called our kids and had them come to Ontario to pick us up (an hour each way). The trip ended at about 3:30 am in bed...ironically almost exactly 24 hours after we got up on the boat and prepared to travel home. So the "final slice" of the sandwich ended, and we are now all home and will hopefully soon catch up on our sleep.

In closing I will say that if you cruise - go Princess, their customer service was outstanding. If you fly be ready for anything, and if this trip was an example of what the US airline industry is coming to, they are about to hit rock bottom.

Grandchildren - what a blessing

I normally write political blogs, but as we get ready to leave on a Caribbean cruise with our six grand children, I am reminded of what is really important in this life.

We have six great children and they have blessed us with six "great" grandchildren. Many years ago our grandchildren started visiting us every summer for a week or more (without parents), at our ranch here on the Central Coast of California. At that time they were young - ages 5-9, and we spent our time with scavenger hunts, trips to the beach, the county fair, and we just let them play. Then over the years they grew up and we became more than grandparents, we became their friends.

Four years ago we felt they were old enough to start seeing more of the world and we took them on a week vacation to the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington State, and it turned out to be the vacation of a lifetime for them. So we decided to dip into our savings and create some memories . Since then we have been to Hawaii, and last year a trip to New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Niagara Falls and my birthplace, upstate New York.

In three days we leave on a one week cruise to the Western Caribbean with these "close friends" - just grandma, grandpa and the grand kids. They are now ages 15-19 and still love spending time with their grandparents - go figure...but we love it.

There is something about a family that more than any other thing represents the best in our lives. I don't know how other families interact, but I do know that ours is special. I read something once about families that I have never forgotten:

"The family is the primary unit of social life. For many it is the primary source of satisfaction as well, but nothing guarantees this. To the extent that a household consists of people whose lives are lived primarily apart, there are few satisfactions to be had from family. There is nothing magically satisfying even about having children. If I am the father of a child whom I abandon at birth, I may be pleased if the child turns out well despite my absence, but that happy outcome can give me no meaningful satisfaction. If I pay all the bills for my children's upbringing and delegate the work wisely to good nannies, teachers, physicians, and housekeepers but otherwise have little contact with the children, I now bear theoretical responsibility for how things turn out, and perhaps I can take some pallid satisfaction in my role. But that level of satisfaction is trivial compared to that of the parent who has stayed up all night with the croupy infant, overseen the homework, imparted the discipline, dried the tears, and shared the daily discoveries of growing up. If you want the profound satisfaction from raising children, you have to pay the price, which means spending time with them."

Better words were never spoken...you have to pay the price, and that price is time sharing their lives with them. My wife and I have often discussed this subject. It really isn't money, it is time spent with children, and now grand children, that counts, and when that window in their lives closes, it is gone forever. An hour playing or working together, or even just talking at the dinner table, can have a greater impact than a week of television or videos games. Yes, the parent-child relationship will always be there, but the close bond, the feeling of satisfaction and the sense of accomplishment watching that child go into the world can only come from spending the time with them when they are growing up.

It's a simple formula, but in today's world of upward mobility, high-stress careers, constant push to increase material wealth and endless activities, the important thing to remember is that family is the basis for everything else.

Abandon ship!

The rats are starting to abandon George Bush's "Iraq War Ship", but the skipper has the sails pulled in tight, and so far he is holding his course.

Ten GOP senators are now moving toward the side of the Democrats who are pushing for the U.S. to begin redeployment's. Who knows what effect a vote in the Senate to "redeploy" will have. The House may follow suit, but what will happen then? I was a young man when the drums of defeat were beating in the press over the Vietnam War...there are definitely some parallels now. What baffles me is that General Petraeus was confirmed in the Senate 81-0, and the Senators knew he would be in charge of the "surge". They knew it would take until late spring to get all the surge troops in place, and all General Petraeus asked was, "Give me until September". Here we are in early July and the rats are ready to jump ship. Iraq is a mess, no question about it...but why won't these so-called congressional "leaders" give this brilliant general until September as they promised?

The pundits on each side have different theories...


The Democrats want out of Iraq immediately saying that: "The war is lost, violence is getting worse, the Iraqi military and police forces are not trained yet, the Iraqi government is not stepping up, and one more loss of an American life is too many". They may be right.


The Republican Bush supporters (plus the lone independent Joe Lieberman) are saying: "It will get worse before it gets better, but the surge is working. They point to the fact that many Sunni tribal leaders are turning against Al Queda, and the insurgents are moving to much "softer" and geographically remote targets, because of US army and Iraqi army pressure . The Republicans say the mainstream press and the Democrats are "invested in defeat" in Iraq, and they hate Bush so much they will do anything to see him lose. They also say the Democrats will suffer a huge political defeat if General Patraeus turns around the situation in Iraq". They may be right.


So the skipper of the ship is sailing into some very strong headwinds and rough water, and some of his crew are lowering the lifeboats and want off. If you look at history, this is when some presidents have looked around, and no one was there. A true test of leadership. As I say above, "Both sides could be right"...so George Bush may be a lonely man on this issue.


The few people that read this blog know that I am a Conservative Republican and most of the time a Bush supporter. Surprise...I was against the Iraq war from the beginning - I did not feel that Saddam Hussein's life was worth one American, and I thought the last thing this country should do was to spend 500 billion dollars to send this guy to Allah. I felt we could control him as a "tin pot" dictator using "the no fly zone", and our superior air power, which could destroy any new suspected military or nuclear research targets. Ask my son Mike, he was on the USS Ranger during the first Gulf War which was a total victory with almost no loss of life, but using a lot of cruise missiles.


But we are in Iraq, it is a mess, and what is done is done, so what should we do? Anyone that thinks terrorism is "overstated" has their head in the sand. We saw an example of that just last week in England. And my wife and I, and our grand kids saw the results of Islamic terrorism when we visited the World Trade center site in NYC last year. These terrorists will not leave us alone, even if we "jump ship" in Iraq.

So rather that throw "political bombs' at each other, let's pray that George Bush, General Petraeus, and all the decision makers that will plot this ships course the next few months will have the wisdom and fortitude to get it right in Iraq.

Pardon me

Pardon me...but I can't help but comment on this "Scooter" Libby situation.

Here is Hillary Clinton's comment on the pardon: "Today's decision is yet another example that this administration simply considers itself above the law". I wanted to respond immediately, but I was laughing so loud that my fingers could not work the key board.

Bill Clinton pardoned over 200 people including 147 "under the table" on his last day in office.

Today I heard this comment by a left wing pundit: "OK Clinton pardoned over 200 people but none were involved directly with him"...give me a break. Let's look at a few of them...

Marc Rich pardoned - he was wanted by the US government for evading over 45 million in taxes, and just by coincidence his ex wife donated over a million dollars to the Clinton library a few months before the pardon.

Henry Cisneros pardoned - Clinton's former HUD secretary who pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal officials

Roger Clinton pardoned - the Presidents half brother who was convicted of cocaine distribution in Arkansas

Susan McDougal pardoned - former Clinton business partner in jail over the Whitewater scandal.

Plus countless drug dealers, and other felons that in one way or another "supported" the Clintons. So you decide if none of the above "Were directly connected to the Clintons"

The beauty of our constitution is that it allows all citizens to speak freely...that's why I love Blogs. But for the Clintons to speak about "cronyism" in the Bush administration is laughable. The Clintons have written the book on "cronyism" and the book could be cast in bronze - Rodin would be proud.

Sometimes Democracy works

The Immigration Bill failed today...and is dead for at least a year or two.

Just a few weeks ago this was a bill negotiated in private and guaranteed to become law. It was drafted by Teddy Kennedy and our great Republican (?) Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, and strongly supported by George Bush and the White House. We were told that it was a significant improvement over the present situation, and it was "the best we could do". We were told it would move through Congress fast, and they said "trust us, it is a good bill". No review of the details, no committee reviews, no financial reviews of the cost to the American public - just "trust us". And some of the floor votes on this bill were made even before the final version was written!

The American people did not buy it.


Shortly after debate started and votes were scheduled in the Senate the people started asking questions...the more information that came out about this bill, the worse it looked, and then a silent revolution started. We do not riot in the streets, fly Mexican flags, or cry "racism"... it's not our style. We do what a democracy is supposed to do - let our Representatives and Senators know that if they don't follow the will of their constituents, they will lose their job.

This bill was stupid, a waste of time, and could lead to a "cleaning of the house" in Washington. It's good that George Bush does not have to run for re-election...if he did, his fate would be the same as his fathers. What a disappointment he has been. And this whole exercise showed how out of touch with the people Congress is on this issue.

Here are some of the highlights of the bill that failed:

- 12 million people would have been 'legal" within 24 hours, after a background check. It takes 90+ days to get a passport now, and the government tried to convince us they could check the background of 12 million people within 24 hours after they register. These 12 million would have been eligible to bring in additional family members increasing the "new legal immigrant" total to 20-30 million people depending on whose estimates you believe.

- These new "legal" immigrants would not only get access to social benefits, but even "in state" tuition rights to our colleges. Which means that if an "American" wanted to go to an out-of-state college, he or she would pay a higher tuition than an illegal immigrant.

- These new "legals' would have access to legal representation if they needed it, paid for by the American people.

- Illegal convicted felons would not be deported, and could have easily become legal. If a gang member signed a document that he or she would no longer be involved with gang activities, they would become legal. What would you do if you were a gang member?

I could go on, but this is just a snapshot of this crazy bill...but you the public came alive. Our family personally wrote over 20 letters to Senators and Representatives...not angry letters, just explaining our position and also pointing out that many of our Democratic friends felt the same. This was a bipartisan bill, and it had significant bipartisan opposition.

So we won this round, but it is just the start...in the end, all we citizens have is our vote, so even those that are not politically active need to think about the future. We have a lot to do to get this country back on track, and security is the most important thing. This bill should have been a security bill - close the borders first and stop the influx, then figure out who is in the country illegally, and then deal with those folks in an orderly fashion. The USA is still a country of immigrants, but let's do it the right way.

Congratulations to the American people.`

We are not a "Mosaic"

The latest "politically correct" spin by the liberal society in this country is that the USA has become a "Mosaic"...defined as a blend of people from around the world that speak different languages, have different cultures, and we should respect and accommodate them. I read recently that some school administrators have even discouraged teachers from using the well known term "Melting Pot", as it may sound discriminatory.

Europe is a mosaic, we are not. As a businessman I traveled throughout Europe for more than 30 years. What is interesting is that the European "mosaic" society of many languages uses English as their official business language. Throughout our history, the USA has been known as, and proud to be, a "melting pot". Here is Websters definition of that term:

Melting Pot: noun: A place where a variety of races, cultures, or individuals assimilate into a cohesive whole.

Note the key words: "assimilate into a cohesive whole". The USA has always been a place where people could come to escape repression, religious persecution, political persecution, and join a society that was a melting pot of people that wanted a better life, the freedom to pursue their dreams, and become part of something much larger than a mosaic society...known as "The American Dream".

The "mosaic" dream is a country that speaks all languages and everyone lives somewhat isolated within their own culture . That is not the United States of America. We are Americans, we speak English, and immigrants came here to escape, live a life of freedom, and to "assimilate into a cohesive whole". Our national language is English, if you want to speak another language why did you come here? This is not discrimination, it is who we are...our ancestors came here speaking other languages, but when they came here they spoke English (or tried to), and were proud to do it. My wife tells the story of her grandparents arriving here in the early 1900's from Norway and refusing to allow their children to speak anything but English in their home, "If you want to be an American, you will learn the language". It seems to be the opposite now...in fact we even educate immigrant children in their native language,"to respect their culture".

So when you hear the term "mosaic", it may sound better than "melting pot", but it is code for - lets print voting ballots in many different languages , print all government forms in other languages, teach in other languages..."to accommodate and respect other cultures". The tragic aspect of this is that when children are isolated from "English only" teaching, and encouraged to speak their own language, they become second class citizens with no hope of achieving the American dream. Without being fluent in our "national " language they are destined to live a life without much of a future, and quite often requiring government assistance.

In 1963 Martin Luther King made his famous "I have a dream" speech, as he preached for equal opportunities for African Americans and their desire to live the American dream.

I have a dream also. I dream that some day I will phone my bank, and instead of the recording saying, "Dial 1 for English", I will hear; "This bank only does business in English, the national language of the United States of America. If you wish to conduct business in another language, please visit one of our local branches and bring an interpreter with you that can convert your native language into English. We look forward to assisting you and welcome to America. Have a nice day".

It's Amnesty

Well...how do I write this without sounding like a bigot.

The new proposed immigration bill is apparently a "bipartisan" agreement between Congress and the White House. The 12 million "undocumented aliens" (code for illegal immigrants) in this country would immediately become "legal", and if they chose to, would get a path to legalization along with their families - (an estimated additional 6-8 million). Each "illegal" (let's give them the proper description) would get a "Z Visa" which would give them a green card + welfare benefits, college tuition benefits, social security benefits, medicare benefits....I could go on. And if someday they wanted to become a citizen, they would have to pay a fine and make a "touchdown" trip back to their country of origin. But why would they want to become a citizen when they get all the benefits by just being "legal"?

It's not the intent of this blog to debate the details of this proposed 1000 page new law. On the contrary the situation is simple as I see it. These people came here illegally....why should anyone be rewarded for breaking the law. I have heard several conservative Senators say "It was the best we could do, and politics require compromise to get things done". Bull sh--. Any way you slice it, it is amnesty.

It is estimated that 60% of the 12 million are high school dropouts, and if you believe the statistics, each illegal immigrant costs this country $19,000 per year in health benefits, welfare, education expenses, etc. You do the math.

The proponents assure us this bill includes a strong provision for border security - 300 miles of new fencing (what happened to the 700 miles that was approved last year). A fence will help, it did in my home town of San Diego, but eventually the millions in Mexico will find a way to a better life here. And let's not even talk about security from people that want to kill us.

This country simply cannot keep absorbing millions of new residents, especially those that cannot pay their own way or even speak our language. The social security and medicare systems are already broken and those of us with children know that our children and grandchildren will have a future financial burden that doesn't add up. And that is before the addition of 15-20 million new "citizens" that will be mostly poor and not only straining, but maybe even "breaking" our way of life.

I predict we are reaching a boiling point in this country. Maybe the citizens will finally rise up and stop things...elect new Representatives and Senators. And of course with the Democrats promise of free benefits for everyone, the end result of this bill could be a one party system here, with tax rate of 75% just to pay the bills.

The bottom line is simple, these people are here illegally and that's the end of it. Secure our borders - then figure out how to solve the problem with these 12 million people, and give those folks that are "legally standing in line" first shot at the American dream.