May 8,1886

One hundred twenty-five years ago today, in Atlanta, Ga, a momentous event took place. The after effects are still with us in ways that could never have been envisioned by James S  Pemberton or the customers of  Jacobs Pharmacy. For those untold millions whose thirst has been quenched by a ” Co-Cola” as my wife famously said after the birth of our first child, and Mello- Yello lovers everywhere, it should almost be  a holiday. Yep, it was the day in which the first Coke was served.

I don’t really care much about the secret formula or if somebody has actually published  it somewhere. I have very little interest  in knowing that   the beverage actually had cocaine for a time. I just know that there have been many times that nothing but a Coke would satisfy or quench  my thirst as jingles have proclaimed. It has settled my stomach many times, has smoothed the way for many a hot dog and hamburger and still does. In the interest of disclosure I  would be remiss if I failed to mention that Mello-Yello shares the top spot now. But it is  a Coke product, of course.

It is interesting that an NC native, the home state of Pepsi, would be such a loyal  Coke consumer, but there you have it. I well remember in my hometown of Leaksville, NC as it was known then, watching the Coke bottles go round and round at a bottler? or distributor and thinking how cool that was.

But in the interest of history as I remember it I recall that while living in Columbus, Ga in the late 70′s and early to mid 80′s that there was  the John S Pemberton house located on  a brick paved street near the Chattahoochee River where I often indulged my then affinity for running. There was a  plaque on the grounds identifying that house as being that of one John S Pemberton who concocted the formula for Coke and then rushed off to the big city.

Actually he probably refined the formula  after moving to Atlanta where the product was not well received until being bought by Asa Chandler with the rest being history. Ironically for me, Dr Pemberton,  a pharmacist by trade, was actually born in North Carolina and buried in Columbus. Finally I have an NC connection for Coke. Have to go now, it is time for  a Mello-Yello!

Related articles

• Coca-Cola Company Illuminates Headquarters to Celebrate 125th Anniversary (shoppingblog.com)
• Coca Cola inventor, John Stith Pemberton was a Morphines (fmiyar.com)

My List is Growing too Long

There are a number of rather newsworthy items out there that are really irritating me  or as I sometimes tell Mrs THT. ” They are getting on my last nerve.” I hardly know which one to choose. My blogging associate at goodtimepolitics  made me aware of a Colorado school district that has a plan in the works to charge children for riding the school bus. If that isn’t a good freakin’ grief  idiotic idea, I would hate to see one.

A community group in Fresno,Ca ( we all know who got his start as a community organizer, do we not?) is demanding  that radio station KMJ remove all conservative programming from the station because  their programs ” incite violence.” Let’s see, Times Square bombing attempt, the so-called underwear bomber and the Army major at Ft Hood. They were all conservatives, right? No,wait a minute, there is something else they had in common. Let  me think, oh yes, their Muslim faith. Can’t say that though.

But the 3rd item on my list takes the cake or the soft drink, as it were. This  comes from San Antonio, Tx where the health conscious city manager, Sheryl Sculley, a self-proclaimed “fitness person,” whatever that means, has directed that all sugary soft drinks in  the city’s beverage machines be removed with unhealthy snack foods next. It does not prohibit employees from bringing the evil items from home and consuming them at work. Wanna bet that there will be pressure applied at some future time in some way to ban the offending items from the premises, just like cigarettes.

And it is all being done under the guise of  improving the health of city employees. A  Texas A & M professor, Lisako McKyer, even draws  analogies to seat belt laws. This one quote by the city manager was oddly disturbing and I am not really sure why. ” We know that statistically that people  who are overweight or obese have greater health problems than those who do not.” The actual quote  doesn’t  really make sense but the thought I see lurking in the background is, you better lose weight or there may be consequences. An alarmist attitude, don’t  think so. There are a growing number of locales that will not hire smokers. What would be the next logical prohibition?

And I haven’t even dealt with Gwinnett County, Georgia which wants to collect  some $39,000 it overpaid  employees in 1994. The report uses the word ask, but don’t kid yourself. If any of the offenders are still county employees the government will get their money, even though the error was theirs.

Showdown in Baltimore

The President traveled all the way to Baltimore today to meet with a number of Republican lawmakers. What ostensibly was  an attempt for the two sides to listen to one another quickly became something else entirely. I heard some audio from the  meeting that seemed rather pointed and blunt, both in tone and word. For example, “I’m not  a pundit, I’m just the president.” The Associated Press used the phrase ” a sometimes barbed exchange.” So, one thinks that there was very little meeting of the minds at this session.

So, why have the get together at all? I will applaud  the president  for attending while at the same time wondering why he did so. I think that even though  the President was actually invited to what is an annual Republican event.  Given the nature of some of his public comments since the State of the Union address, perhaps it was an attempt to sway public opinion. See, he could tell Americans, I tried to work with the Republicans but  how can I work with the ” politics of no?”

Some of those attending liked it, some not so much. Representatives Tom Price  of Georgia and Jason Chaffetz of Utah being two of the most vocal. The President seemed to relish the give and take, sort of like a British House  of Commons. Reading some accounts of the meeting it struck as me  a lecture given by  a professor. At least one Republican, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin agreed. He likened it at times to being lectured by his high school principal, although not for the entire session.

Obama asserted that 95% of Americans had received tax cuts (not sure about that figure) and that his agenda was not at all radical but mainstream. Republicans , particularly Mike Pence of Indiana ,defended Republican health care proposals against claims that  they had offered no options. Obama shot back that theie proposals  were not practical anyway.

So, both Pence and Virginia’s Eric Cantor said that the event was a good idea and should happen again. But it sounds like to me that the president defined  bi-partisan more as you work with me than me work with you. Did that make sense? Probably as  much as the Baltimore bull session.

Who’s Fighting Whose Wars?

Seems that a former senior CIA agent, Michael Scheuer, thinks we have some misplaced allegiances in the Middle East. Mr Scheuer was on  a C-Span call-in show  last Monday which degenerated into  an anti-Semitic gab fest.

Scheuer, with a number of callers agreed, thinks Israel is of no strategic importance to the United States. He also said that  American soldiers are dying in Iraq for the sake of Israel. He had this telling quote, ” Their association with us is a negative for the United States. Now that’s a fact. What you want about that fact is entirely different.” One more tidbit from Mr Scheuer. We should somehow ”persuade”  Islamic terrorists who threaten us to” focus their anger” on Israel (as if they already do not)  and oppressive Middle Eastern regimes.

Wonder who he thinks is our most staunch ally in the Middle East, as well as the only thing country even close to having a freely elected government. Uh, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. None seem to ring a bell. As for the part about our troops dying for Israel, may we return briefly to Desert  Storm in 1991. If memory serves, we fought that war to liberate Kuwait and by extension keep Hussein away from Saudi Arabia. Israel suffered the indignity of repeated scud missile attacks without provocation. I also seem to remember our asking them to hold off on retaliation ( defend  themselves) which they did. Not sure of Mr Scheuer’s thoughts on that matter.

Add the above to this next Obama administration maneuver. Middle East envoy George Mitchell is heading over to do some tough talking to the Israelis( must have been reading from the playbook of the Palestinian from Plains) about restarting peace negotiations. He threatened a freeze in U S aid to Israel if  satisfactory progress is not made. No wonder that polls indicate  a large majority of Israelis are nervous about the state of relations with us.

Wonder if the letters Mitchell is bringing with him bring instructions about the division of Jerusalem as well as the two-state solution. Methinks Israel is right to be ill at ease. For greater discussion of  the issues and insight as to why we should have a strong relationship with Israel, visit   Joel Rosenberg’s blog .It  gives one  a good perspective on Israel in particular as well as the Middle East as a whole.

Shalom!

Rights, Rights and more Rights

We talk  a great deal in our country about rights and well we should. One of the crucial elments of our Constitution is the Bill of Rights without which some states refused to even ratify the document in the first place. ( North Carolina for one).

There is freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press amon others. But of late, I have been reading about other rights  that might not have been on the founders’ radar screens. The one that grabbed m  attention today was proclaimed by the Senator from Nevada, Majority Leader Harry Reid. He made his comments in the aftermath of the Democrats triumphal march to victory in the passing of Obamacare. Don’t know if Sherman’s march through Georgia is an appropriate analogy, but for now, it shall suffice. The Dems have been described as jubilant over their victory as if they had won the World Series or Super Bowl.

The  Senator  made a statement in the aftermath of the Democratic victory that health insurance  was a right and it was an achievemnet  of great worth. I began wondering, is health care a right for all Americans ad is it our governmwent’;s duty to provide such? I am not so sure that either of those statements is accurate. For most of my working career, I have had health care trough my employer. There  was a period of time when I did not and could not afford it out-of-pocket. We were quite fortunate in not requiring major medical attention during this time, although there was a good bit that we  had to pay. I do not recall thinking that someone, somewhere owed me health insurance. And, I still don’t.

I know that health insurance is important, vitally important in people’s lives. But, a right, a government provided, guaranteed right? No, Senator, it is not. One consolation, at least, Reid did not call it  a God-given  right as Reverend Carlton W Veazey recently described abortion.

April 12,1945 to August 6,1945

The year 1945 was momentous in an almost unprecedented way. The dates referenced above are not the only events of major significance, but they will suffice for now. April 12 is one of those days that  people would always  remember where they were when they heard the news. President Roosevelt  was dead. The only man to be elected to 4 terms; he was just beginning his 13th year in office when he succumbed to a  stroke and died in Warm Springs, Ga at the age of 63. His death elevated a virtually unknown  man to the Presidency at one of the nation’s most critical junctures. WW II, at least in Europe was drawing to an end but the Pacific theater, another story indeed.

Harry Truman was neither  a Dick Cheney or Joe Biden in terms of power or influence. He was Roosevelt’s 3rd veep  and was not what you would call highly influential or knowledgeable and in fact had only occupied the office for 82 days. Thus he was not really aware of the feverish efforts underway to develop the atomic bomb.

Apparently he came up to speed very quickly since his decision to launch the Enola Gay with the first bomb came less than 3 months after he took office. The decision was made even though it  was by no means universally lauded and was opposed by some 70+ scientists.

I would like to draw  a comparison to the situation in which Mr Truman found himself and  the ongoing process about what should be our next step in Afghanistan. I read excerpts frm  a Eugene Robinson column today that lauded the reasoned approach the President is taking versus the “ready, firm, aim” approach of George Bush. He of course makes the typical comments about  this as  well as Iraq being George Bush’s doing.

I have had the nagging thought for some time about Truman’ s position. It was not his war that he was tasked with completing and it might have been easy or expedient politically to not blame Roosevelt, but  to give either him or his policies part of the “credit” for his controversial decision. I don’t think that he did so. Remember the buck stops here?

My point, which I am not making as well as I would like is not to say the President’s reasoned approach is  all that bad. But, given the fact that this  war was frequently referenced in the campaign, it is not conducive to fall back on the Bush’s war approach.

When he took office, WWII became Truman’s war. We could always the question, if Roosevelt had lived would he have dropped the bomb or bombs?  But it remains a specious question. For good or bad, Afghanistan is Obama’s  war ( hopefully his main adviser is not John  Kerry) and history will doubtless allocate to him the credit if he succeeds.

The Wisdom(?) of Jimmy Carter

President of these United States, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Governor of Georgia and Plains,Ga’s favorite son. Who is it? Why, of course, it is James Earl Carter, Jr. I was living in Georgia at the time Mr Carter came  from   nowhere and  became   president. For a long time I thought that he was not a very good president but probably our best former president.

The C-SPAN historians rankings see him a better president than I did; ranking him 22nd in the year 2000 and 25th in 2009. At least his rankings are headed in the right direction. Anyway, back to his post presidency  period.  He left office in 1981 at the relatively young age of 57. Since than he has been quite involved in Habitat,which was founded in Georgia, in election watching, and in the Carter Center. Founded in 1982 by he and his wife, the organization has worked to ease suffering and  advance human rights worldwide. His work there earned Carter the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

So, no problems right? Just a moment. Personally, I have been nagged for some time with the feeling that Mr Carter was more sanctimonious than necessary and tended to speak with an air of superior moral authority.He has been outspoken in recent years about the cause of the Palestinians versus Israel and has not earned friends in Israel for that. His 2006 book, entitled,Palestine:Peace not Apartheid, was not only pro-Arab but “blessed” with a number of factual errors.( For example, Arafat never called for the destruction of Israel. )He published  a new book this year about peace in the Middle East and in at least one interview about that book called his previous one balanced-Ok.

Among other things that Mr Carter has done is to monitor elections around the world. His Carter Center has monitored more than 70 elections in various countries in the last 20 years. Lots of moral high ground here.

I think he honestly believes that he holds the moral high ground, so what must be the reasoning for his latest comments. Yep, calling Joe Wilson’s comment  indicative of racist attitudes that still exist, rooted in racism is the terminology he employed. Wilson’s son, predictably, disagreed. Not so predictably so did the Obama Administration through spokesman Robert Gibbs. Nor did GOP chairman Michael Steele think much of the comment.

So, why did Carter make the comments? To stir up controversy, don’t  think so. I think he genuinely believed what he said,whether or not he was familiar with Joe Wilson. That is the kind of ting that has me wishing he would drive more nails and stay more out of politics.

Gotta get this in. His latest Mideast book has been “endorsed” by none other than Osama Bin Laden. Wonder what his opinion on that might be?

“Shoot Low Boys, They’re Riding Shetland Ponies”

Yes, I was, am, I guess a fan of the late Lewis Grizzard, a southern author and humrist non pareil. I suppose I was introduced  to him when living in Georgia  in the late 70′s and early 80″s. I could always  get  a  laugh by just reading aloud  the names of his  books.  His columns  themselves  were always treasures. I learned that he was actually born in Ft Benning, next door to where we lived in Columbus. I knew from his writings that he suffered  from heart trouble,which was finally the cause of his demise at age 48.

Just recently, I piped up  about  one of his books at work and one of the guys I work with  exlaimed  how happy he was to learn he was not the only Grizzard fan in the world and would so inform his wife.

Now, after that overly long intro, I guess I should shed some light on my choice of that phrase for my title. I sort of put my own spin on things sometimes to have a phrase suit a  situation. And so it is this time. I have taken this title and doubtless used it in a way the author never intended. For me, in  a more or less humorous way, it means setting ones expectations low enough so that they are easily attainable.

Now, don’t jump to the conclusion that I have no high expectations, for surely there have been some along the way. But you must admit that low ones are easier to meet than the higher ones, each and every time.

A couple of examples might suffice. UNC  football has never attained the lofty heights of basketball. There have been some very good years,some great players( Julius Peppers, Lawrence Taylor, Don McCauley and of course Choo Choo Justice) but never  a period of excellence that was maintained for long. So we aim lower as fans and hope against hope that now is different and that Butch Davis will be the guy. I would use some work related examples from over the years, Suffice to say, they have existed.

Am I a pessimist, perhaps. Truly a glass that is half full has got to be half empty as well.  But in an  effort to fight that natural born pessimism, remember that the 2010 elections will be here soon enough. You are welcome.

Just Biden Our Time

Sometimes it seems  that Joe Biden is too good to be true. We haven’t checked in on him lately, so let’s see what we can learn about his comings and goings. We know he was in Iraq on July 4 and that was acceptable, visiting the troops, boosting their morale, maybe. Just recently he was telling us that Israel had the right to defend themselves against Iran and its possible acquisition of nukes. Small problem, he contradicted the boss. Not a good move for Joey B.

Now we learn from the LA Times that a new term has been coined to help describe Biden’s schedule. It seems that he has many private meetings with unnamed sources on unnamed subjects and they are “closed press.” Guess that means no news folks allowed. For one thing, that is a good way to be certain that something he might say might come out wrong or perish the thought, be misinterpreted. It gets even better according to Andrew Malcolm. He was to show up for a meeting with HHS Secretary Sebelius at 11:00 am and after all was said and done should have been finished by say, 12:30. Hang out, Bidenspeak, schedule  style is coming  up.According to the White House  Biden will not spend the rest of his day in private meetings that are sans media. Now, the  following is a quote: ” The Vice President will spend the remainder of the day in meetings that are closed press.” Enormous difference, right? Hey, it is certainly cheaper than flying him to a  foreign country for some mindless meeting. He can stay home and have a mindless meeting.

But never fear. The globetrotting one will be off to the Ukraine and Georgia (not the state, hope he knows  that) to  offer some encouragement in their democratic reforms.

Gotta have a picture of Joe, just so you  don’t  forget. This was one of the best I saw.

 

The Vice President of the United States

(Photo from maholo.com)

To Text Or Not To Text, That Is The Question

Apparently, sending  text messages via one’s cell phone or texting is quite  a popular thing to do . I guess anything that is done over a billion times a year is noteworthy. Sad to say, I guess, my contribution to hat total is somewhat minuscule. Let us use a figure barely out of the single digits and we would be accurate.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I realized that LG, the maker of my very own cellphone sponsors a texting championship. And 250,000 people attempted to become one of the 20 finalists. OK, a teenager was the winner and runner-up, no big surprises there, I guess. Our winner of the 2nd annual competition was 15 year old Kate Moore of Des Moines, Ia with  14 year old Morgan Dynda of Savannah, Ga second. This is a rather  big deal since our winner earned $50,000 for her accomplishment. One of the challenges placed before our contestants was to text blindfolded. Shucks, I can’t  even write blindfolded.

According to Ms Moore, it’s the thumbs that are key in the 14,000 or so texts she sends each month.( Bet that is a hefty cell phone bill.) She says that she is a well rounded person socially  good grades, etc.  Even so, you have got to wonder  how long it takes to send or receive 14,000 messages a month. Say 5 or 10 seconds per message, just as a guess. That would be about 2300 minutes a month or roughly 40 hours. That my friends is a work week for many of us. Boggles the non technical mind, does it not ?

But, never fear, textaphobes, the state of North Carolina is ready to help us. This week, Governor Bev Perdue signed law that  bans texting while driving. The law , to take effect December 1 of this year would allow one to pull of the road and handle one’s texting urges. To show that government has a senses of humor(sort of ). Her spokeswoman, Chrissy Pearson texted the announcement of the bill’s signing, emphasizing the fact that she was not driving when the message was composed. And this quote,”Hope u r not driving now.”

The Tar Heel State joins 13 of its fellow states in passing such  ban, And, I suppose I am violating my conservative principles a bit, but I actually support a texting ban. Imagine that, agreeing with the government when it tell one not to do something?  Amazing, huh?