Up, Down and Around Our Town

The Ides of March. Whatever an ide is. Anyway, the two months of winter are now behind us and the sneaky winter weather will now be in front of us. Funny, we remember the March snows because they tend to be big ones. Here's hoping our memory is not stocked with new thoughts in 2009.

Big loss over the weekend with the death of Paul Harvey. If you have ever been a disciple of radio, then Paul Harvey was in your inbox. From the early days when Earle Nightengale preceeded him on the national cut-ins, Paul Harvey and his voice were part of your adulthood from the early days till now. He left us at the age of 90 and had been on the air just recently. His pithy comments on the lay of the land, the people who made the news and his clever way of finding out unique things about people that we didn't know. His beloved wife Angel left him last year and I hope their reunion was a good one.

By the way, my favorite "Rest of the Story" was his discussion of a WW2 Veteran who risked his life on behalf of other fellow Marines. Shared the intense struggle that was the essence of most wars and WW2 certainly qualified. As he described the heroic thoughts and deeds that the "rest of the story" was building to, it wasn't until the very end that the obvious was shown. That was the fact that the hero was one Bob Keeshan; our generation knew him as the gentle Captain Kangaroo. And now you have heard the Rest of the Story.

On the national front, GM and AIG are back to the trough for more money. And why not? There appears to be a never-ending pool of money and these big companies might use it to make sure that their cash flow continues. But - and here's a big but - there has to be a limit on how far all of this will actually go. In other words, it is about time that we actually learn that in a capitalistic country (if we are still that) you have to actually produce something. I'm not real sure where the "if I screw up, the government will bail me out" ideas started to occur, but this seems to be every business's contingency plan. But for how long?

Roland Burris is our Illinois Junior Senator. But for how long is up to others. While he didn't lie on his testimony, it is now obvious that he didn't share the entire story. Face it, he was a tainted nominee from a corrupt governor. It is time for him to go and reflect on his own misgivings. Corruption is everywhere; stamp it out when you can.

Gas prices are up and down. Why? Supply is down and demand continues down. The simplest reason is this: economies all over the world are feeling the effect of our greed and corruption that stemmed from the housing industry. More people on unemployment, houses being foreclosed and prices will soon go up again. The President wants change; he will soon get such.

When people don't save, they have no cushion. When they save and don't buy, the push inventories to a level that producers don't produce. When producers don't produce, employees lose their jobs. With no jobs, people don't buy cars and houses. Follow the money trail and it all makes sense. And it all ends up with a sense of self-preservation that is still lacking due to the tremendous hole that has been dug by those that we once trusted. Trust and confidence. Supply and demand. They are almost interchangeable.

An interesting discussion about the plight of the American people with the sounding of a"one strike and you're out." That one strike is an illness or accident, the loss of a job, the house that cannot be lived in and the desperate search for an option. Interesting note that the dental profession is seeing an increase, mostly due to folks losing their jobs and using their benefits until they expire. Funny times.

But, baseball will soon start, grass will soon grow and the better weather will be with us. Will the creative and innovative powers that have always sustained us be with us in this time of need? Will the stimulus package be our own personal lottery win? Doubtful. It will take the tearing down of many of our accepted ways of doing business before it gets better. But, perhaps relief is somewhat on the way. Or not.

Yet, in discussing the real job market with this year's college grads, there appears to be a market for these young people. Their lack of experience makes them a good buy; networking never goes out of style and there will be an opportunity for them to get in the game. For how long, that remains a secret.

After having seen both Slumdog and Benjamin Button, it amazes me that the Hollywood left chose the former over the latter. While an interesting film, it pales in comparison. Just one opinion.

And a big Happy 7th birthday to my grandson, who celebrated with cake, Wii and lots of family and he also found time to entertain my little hero on his birthday. Even his freshly tanned Grammy was part of the action and she had a ball watching it all. Good thing such never goes out of style.

We're back on the trail; send us a note if there is something on your mind. Till next week and as always, I remain.....