Looking about- Troy, Ohio USA

Racially Divided Schools: The Supreme Court was right- but for the wrong reason

2007-07-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

As a product of forced busing in the 1960’s I can speak to the issue from a unique perspective. I was among a few token whites bused into a black school as part of the New York City “Integrate the schools” movement.
At the time, the majority of bussed kids were blacks coming from overflowing ghetto schools to the shrinking white enclaves of Manhattan, My parents were strong believers in what some call a social experiment, others saw it as an essential way to bring back the melting pot that commingled millions of immigrants earlier in our nation’s history.
Our white neighbors threw rocks through our windows in protest of my parents’ actions and beliefs. The crumpled rubber banded paper that read “Nigger Lover” was a particularly succinct and vitriolic message.
The nation’s courts ruled at the same time that Public Systems across the country needed to racially balance their schools. The belief was that white kids had great schools, and black kids had abysmal ones. Mixing students would level the playing field and offer a fair and equitable education for all.
Forty years later the Supreme court handed down a split judgment that the experiment was over. Race was no longer as a reason to offer a leg up to blacks even if oppressed, or a basis to restrict the opportunities of whites, even if they were already privileged students.
My experience as a token white, in an extremely racially and culturally diverse elementary school was enlightening, educational and unforgettable. I learned that being poor did not mean being dumb; just that their parents usually were too busy working to survive to instill the higher education vision that richer, more educated parents strive for. And black kids did not throw rocks at white houses.
In reality, in most communities, integrating schools along racial lines realistically brought poor students from neighborhoods with less experienced teachers into better schools with more experienced teachers. In many states, it also led to the panic of white flight; further segregating and isolating communities along racial and income lines.
The Supremes are probably right now. Race is not, and never was the real differentiator. It was, and is, poverty and culture. Students in poor communities perform poorly in almost every aspect of educational measurement. Students in rich communities inherently perform much better.
Yes, race and poverty are inexorably linked, but race alone is NOT the culprit. Regardless of the reason, generational poverty has and will breed generations of failing students. We need to find ways to break the cycle of educational ghettos.
Our schools should be integrated, not along racial lines, But along fiscal and cultural ones. Our schools need to be financed fairly for all and students need to learn in classes that are not homogenous.
Students of all races, cultures and income levels need to learn together by bringing financially and culturally disadvantaged students into the same classes as those of privilege.
Only by allowing our kids to see and learn in financially stable schools within the diversity of America will we be able to finally and ultimately allow every child to envision and attain the American Dream.

Flying low over Miami County

2007-07-15T11:18:00.000-05:00

Flying Low over Miami County
If you haven’t yet taken the time to walk the streets of Troy this summer, plan on doing so on a pleasant July day. But look sharp, there are low flying airplanes everywhere.
Twenty Six fiberglass WACO airplane sculptures are swooping, rolling and zooming at eye level along Main and Market Streets within 3 blocks of the fountain. These six by five foot replicas are of the popular WACO bi-plane with hand made wooden cockpits, powerful engines and fabric covered wings that dominated the skies after World War I.
The sculptures are a joint project between the Waco Learning Center and Museum and Troy Main Street. Designed to showcase and contrast the creativity of current artists with the rich heritage of Miami County in the form of modern art used to decorate these fiberglass replicas. The sculptures are designed to evoke memories and visions of America’s most popular bi-plane from the era when ‘real planes had two wings and a round engine’.
If you like taking pictures, there is a great Photo Contest for pictuires of the planes going on throughout July! (see sidebar)
The designs of the many artists are as diverse as the history of aviation and the styles and minds of painters and artists who live here today.
Each plane has the theme of the artist, and their breadth is phenomenal. The one that first caught my eye is a pseudo architectural rendering, where the internal struts and components are painted on the outside to look like the plane was turned inside out.
Waco’s were exported around the world, their productive deliveryman, Charles Lindbergh, was cheered in France as an American hero and global ambassador when he flew a Piqua Ohio Hartzell propeller into a cheering Paris.
Two planes highlight the dozens of countries where Waco’s flew; one with dozens of flags, the other with luggage-like stickers from cities in those countries. They highlight how early aviation shrunk our world, just a few decades after steam ships plowed the seas, and barely a few score years before rockets left the earth completely.
Modern life is the theme of others. Buckeye fans will appreciate the grey and red motif on one (get on tip toe to see the top of the wing). Students can repeat the summer mantra “No more teachers’ no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks…” when you see the two planes crafted by Troy students. The 6th graders created a virtual yearbook, and the high schoolers a multi-media montage of the Troy school experience from pencils to lockers to slogans.
The juxtaposition of sky and land, people and buildings were selected by a few artists; camouflaging a plane to look like a soaring monarch butterfly in one case, or blending in with lifelike pictures of clouds and sky on another. One has a barnstorming theme, another covered bridges. But they are all unique and different.
Which one is the best? Hard to tell, but there are ballots in most shops around the square, and the best will win the artist a $1,000 prize at the awards ceremony when the planes fly of into the sunset at the end of August. (If you really like one, plan on bidding for it, they will all be sold at the Waco fly-in August 25th.
Waco, the Weaver Aero Company was based in Troy. With locations throughout the city, but centered in the large hangar like buildings that are now Goodrich wheel and brake division visible from Archer Drive. The Troy Civic Theatre performs in an old barn that was once a Waco construction hangar.
The new Waco museum opened a few weeks ago to celebrate the arrival of the sculptures, and is a great place to spend a few hours learning about the planes, the people who made them, and exploring aviation as part of the Aviation Historic Trail that has dozens of sites throughout the Miami Valley. Everyone should explore the trail, taking in a few places each time, it can be a long term learning experience or crammed into a whirlwind weekend. The sites, ranging from the original Wright Brothers home to Huffman Prairie, the field where they practiced before and after the historic flights in Kitty Hawk, and on to the air force museum where the largest collection of planes are on exhibit (and most sites are free!).

March Madness in Miami County

2007-02-18T09:01:00.000-05:00

The committee has made their decision, the 64 teams have been announced. The world will soon start to cheer, to wager, and to argue, but they will all get the recognition and fame they deserve.
The teams have worked all winter, grueling hours of practice, aggressive competition. Physical and mental preparation, practice, effort and results. They are all winners, even if not the top seed.
Their coaches and managers believe in them. They brag to the press and fans about their teams; often while needing to be arbitrators of conflicts and disciplinarians behind the scenes.

Many of them have been there, done that. Other coaches never had what it took to be a champion themselves; but all excel at bringing out the best in those who will perform on the boards.
The divisions are artificial attempts at segregating and spreading top talent around to maximize the excitement and offer more chances to win, and more brackets to let others win (we can't call it losing), because at this level, everyone is a winner.
Every team member, even those that warm the team bench for the big one will have the satisfaction of being there when it happened. Being part of a winning team is a feeling of overwhelming achievement that comes from being part of that ethereal immeasurable experience of sportsmanship, teamwork, togetherness and partnership.
The media frenzy will build to a fever pitch. The gym floor will rock with hip-hop music beating a rhythmic tune as fans bob and weave, cheer and laugh. The bleachers will be pounding. The rafters shaking. The rush is on. Parents, siblings and friends will be intermingled through the crowd - all cheering for their players and teams.
The cameras will flash in the cavernous hall, ineffectually attempting to strobe freeze the racing, blurring motion. In the hallways, Vendors will be hawking memorial, commemorative, gaudy and the merely colorful remembrances in 100% cotton. Funky looking hats, collectors wearing dozens of different enamel team pins, glossy yearbooks, souvenir program guides.
The American Dietetic Association would do more than frown, they would outright blanch at the unhealthy assortment of salt and nitrites wrapped in white bread and slathered with a red or yellow condiment that our government and the Heinz corporation has sought to classify as a vegetable serving.
Maybe the purple colored version has more fresh tomatoes. But the real action will come on the floor. I love to see the imaginative plays that separate the mundane from the superior. I know folks who just love to see colorful costumes amid the backdrops of action. Some teams seem to be better at the long ball, while others rack up points in the close and short game. Some teams have a few really good players with a supporting cast; while the ones I like are more balanced and even, with everyone contributing to the win. March Madness is more than a few teams playing a game.
It's an obsession for handicappers, and a driving force that generates post-tournament discussions, debates, challenges and retro-vision (the new name for hindsight).
On March 24th, the dozens of Regional Destination Imagination teams, many sponsored by the Troy Noon Optimist Club, will meet at Edison Community College to show us their stuff. The marathon day will start at 8 and end with awards in the gym at 5pm.
Since admission is free, come on over and see teams create a radio drama complete with outrageous commercial. Experience a serendipitous event that transforms their invention. Build a balsa structure to hold enormous weight. Design and build robotic flying airplanes. Perform a play under unusual constraints with a significant touch or creativity.
It will be a fascinating show of creativity, imagination, science, engineering, drama and theatrics.

The winners will go on to State competition in April, and from there to the world tournament in Knoxville in May. In this event, judges look for teamwork not stardom. Creativity, not jumping prowess determines the winner. Intelligent problem solving counts for more than three point foul shots. A cohesive theatrical hand-off wins more points than a dribbling pass. It's poetry in motion, song and dance in fluid action.

It's Destination Imagination. What great sport!
Thankfully, there won't be a basketball in sight. It will be an event to remember. Hey, what did you think I was talking about?

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident, Optimist Club member and CEO of OneCall Now. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Touring along the river

2007-01-06T17:13:00.000-05:00

A few years ago we had the marvelous opportunity to drive along the tow path of one of the grand canals stretching across Ireland. Previously, it was along the Rhine in Germany, and a similar trip along the Seine in France, and twice along the Estuary called the Thames that meanders through London. They all share similarities (and yes, differences) between them, and the Great Miami in Ohio.

The larger rivers have eons of history; often passing villages that are thousands of years old, and the castles and keeps that sweep up from the river are often 800 years old or more.

Here in Ohio, ‘civilization’ as we know it is barely 300 years old; in fact this summer, Miami County will celebrate their 200th birthday; a babe in arms by European standards; but older than counties in 33 other of these United States.

The civilization that sprouted here in the early 1800’s was generally the same that swarmed around any river crossing in Europe centuries earlier; a small Pub strategically placed by a ferry or shallow river crossing to ease the thirst of pioneers trudging through, or tradesman and merchants with wagons of goods pulling through the rutted paths and muddy trails that connected river crossings with each other. These paths, often also cow paths for farmers, grew into the roads and streets we clog with gas engine trucks but the path is often close to the original.

Here in Troy, Overfield Tavern was an early example- near the shallow crossing of the Great Miami that is now the railroad bridge and just a block from the Market Street / Rt 55 river crossing (now in its’ fourth generation of road bridge).

If you look at a map of villages in Europe or the United States, you will see these stopping points that have grown into clusters of cities. But look carefully, and you can discern how fast a horse could walk just by looking at the map. Small towns are 10-15 miles apart depending on terrain; about what a wagon could do in a half day, so they needed a place to stop for lunch.

Larger towns are 30 miles distant; a full days’ travels; and major cities 60 miles apart- a two day journey apart, but only a full day for the people clustered around them.

Cincinnati to Middletown to Dayton to Troy then to Sidney, and beyond… all about 30 miles apart. Dayton and Troy both East to Springfield, following the terrain of the valleys.

From Troy it’s about ten miles South to Tipp, North to Piqua, West to Covington.

From Piqua, East to Fletcher, West to Bradford.

The patterns are obvious. So as you drive along, from town to town, slow down; and envision that ten mile spin as a full mornings’ work; and the 1 hour drive to the Ohio river crossing as a full day endeavor. It will bring a new appreciation for the ways the founders of Miami County traveled and lived.

Along those lines, nutritionists are the Ohio State University have been studying eating habits of Ohio farmers and villagers; and looking back over time to see what is causing us to swell up and grow more in width than the five inches in average height we have achieved since Miami County was founded.

They found that the average Ohio farmer needed 8,500 calories a day 200 years ago, to keep their weight up and stamina for the fields. We, on the other hand need barely more than 2,500 but tend to eat 3,000 calories or more per day. Evidently using the WII hand controller burns fewer calories than pushing a 200 pound metal plow behind an Ox team for 12 hours.

The travels through Europe however were different in one other respect, the small, fresh bakeries along the route; often inside, or next to Pubs were in evidence in nearly every town. America may have had these beacons of yeast and Crust, but today, most so-called bread is purchased in plastic at Kroger; made by machines and hauled in for our ‘enriched flour’ fix; and specially formulated to be soft and mushy. Most kids today can’t even stand the barely brown crust of what Wonder tries to pass off as bread. European towns have not lost the personal touch. Fresh baked breads, rolls and pastries waft their aromas from every village and street corner all along the river paths.

There is hope however, in Miami Valley I have discovered several great local alternatives that mimic the old fashioned flavour, taste and texture of European bakeries. In Troy, BakeHouse Breads with a European bread oven makes daily wonders of fascinating different kinds; with specialties for every day of the week and favorites every day. Their thick, rich round breads and long thin baquettes are the perfect pairing for a wonderful meal; and even better when enjoyed while walking or biking along the bike patsh of the County.

The Troy Bike Path is nearing completion, and one can almost avoid all paved roads to reach the best pastry bakery in Miami Valley, Dobo’s Delights in downtown Piqua. a block from what was their shallow river crossing before the Conservancy district dredged to make the levees.

This old fashioned shop serves the plebian needs for fresh fried donuts made from yeast and cake dough that was rising at 3am. Yet wander past the front counter to the terrific Hungarian delights that are truly special. Our Hungarian foreign exchange student raves about food from home.

So be adventurous, explore the Valley, and throw off the yoke of Wonder White Bread; as you experiment with the wholesome, crunchy, sweet texture of fresh baked goodness in Miami County.

Ps- Use real, unsalted butter.

Celebrate the Joy at First Night Troy

2006-12-01T19:40:00.000-05:00

Celebrate the Joy – at First Night Troy
If someone invited you to a party last night, you’d say, thanks, but looks like I missed it; sorry. Maybe that’s why the nationwide celebration of New Years eve isn’t called Last Night to end 2006, but called FIRST NIGHT to ring in 2007; and the one in Miami County is expected to be a zinger.
Zinger may be an old phrase, but apt for one of the more than twenty bands, events, musical acts and shows that will be reverberating through the Square and blocks around it Sunday Night Dec 31st. One of the featured acts will the big band sounds of Swing Era – a 21 piece band with all the pizzazz and swing tunes from the 40’s on up. A great singer, audience participation, great dancing, and a way to revisit one of the most romantic eras ever. Not into Swing? How about 12 other musical bands and acts in 8 venues in downtown Troy just for a start?
First Night is a family-friendly, alcohol-free event celebrated in 300 cities around the country. Starting in Philadelphia in 1976 the concept has swept the country, but just starting to move and shake Miami County.
A group from Leadership Troy got together to plan Troy’s first First-Night celebration in 2004, attracting a respectable 400 people downtown for fun and music. Last year the event grew exponentially, with more than 2,000 people coming downtown during the evening to dance, swint to the music and just have a rollicking good time.
This year, the event is planned to be even bigger and better; so make your plans now.
Thanks to generous grants from The Troy Foundation and the Miami County Foundation, plus great community sponsors, including Meijer, Mutual Federal Savings bank, the Optimist Club, Rotary Club, Trojan Insurance, OneCall Now, and many others, This years’ cost for First Night admission has been brow-beaten down to FREE.
First Night, thanks to donations from many area restaurants will have plenty of free soft drinks, snacks, and food all evening long.
The celebration committee has been working on the 3rd annual First Night Troy for months, making sure that everything is in place for a bang up New Years Eve. Early on, it will be fun for the family, with a family comedy show from Dave Kaplan.
This one man variety show invites the audience into the humor as the focus of the show. Whether he's juggling bean bag chairs, playing a melody on "concert balloon", or levitating a bowling ball, Kaplan's preposterous blend of dazzling skill and shameless gimmickry is sure to amaze and amuse.
Notable shows include a recent performance as guest 'balloonist' with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and network television appearances on ABC TV's "The View" and "The Statler Brothers Show" on TNN. David is just plain fun. Delighting audiences of all ages with his highly original act. Inspired by the antics of Keaton, Sellers, Victor Borge and the illustrious Maxwell Smart among others, Kaplan delivers a most unique and hilarious spectacle. Kaplan will be performing twice on First Night, an early Kids show and a later show (still clean, but where the tricks aren’t for kids) both at Hayner Cultural Center.
The First United Church of Christ, a block and a half south of the Square has great acoustics, to show off the Gothan City Brass, New rennassaince players, The Dulciomer group and an accordion band- in the early evening till 10:30.
Bakehouse Breads on the Square will have their signature sandwiches and hot soup served to the folk music of ELI and then Jim Merrick, the "Grateful Parrot," who has been singing and strumming his guitar since age six will rock till 11. His current beach music lounge act has evolved from his years of experience both as a band member and solo performer. Jim's specialty is the music of Jimmy Buffett, and his spirited interpretations of these classics. His friendly, easy-going stage manner encourages audience participation on those well-known crowd favorites, and invites listeners to enjoy some of his original tunes.
A few doors down, the restored grandeur of the Troy Community Room will move to the beat of the Rock Island Plow Company, this Bluegrass group was formed in 2004 with a group of veteran musicians. Each member has an extensive personal musical background which includes rock-n-roll, country and bluegrass music; featuring high-energy technical music. With a strong commitment for maintaining the classic bluegrass style performed by Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe in the early days of bluegrass, coupled with the interest in newer bluegrass music written for today’s audience. The group strives to revitalize listeners to those songs which may have been forgotten since the early days of bluegrass, and make them once again the favorites of fans as they were in former days.At the same time, they respect where bluegrass is today and perform favorites from such groups as The Lonesome River Band and Country Gentlemen. Rock Island Plow Company will continue to impress us in their 3rd First Night appearance and always has the crowd singing for more.
A block West, performing at Bamboo Grill, Rum River Blend bill themselves as 'Unprofessional Entertainment'! They perform blend of traditional bluegrass, folk, Gospel and children's songs. The audience is encouraged to join in on the fun as spoons, washboards, and various other noise making instruments are often passed out to the crowd.
Throughout the evening roving street artists will delight and amaze; and old fashioned carriage rides will be available to tour the lights of the historic district.
The clock is ticking down toward New Year. The First Night Celebration of arts and community has dozens of things left on the checklist. If you would like to help – the party needs volunteers to spend two hours at different venues handing out horns, food and programs; it’s fun to be part of the action! Let’s focus folks! (still need eight more – you interested? 339-5455 or send an e-mail to info@firstnighttroy.com).
This paper is sponsoring the midnight countdown by Mayor Mike and Mrs. Ginnie Beamish as the giant ubiquitous Troy Strawberry shuffles down in the last 30 seconds, while the crowd dances to make big snap-crackle pop on hundreds of feet of bubble wrap!
The entire evening culminating with the giant Strawberry drop (it is, after all, in Troy) at the band shell stage set-up in front of the County Courthouse. With free noisemakers and horns for all.
So plan to hand out in downtown Troy New Years Eve- until the last night ends, and first night begins!
Leib Lurie is a Troy resident, First Night Chair, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net
Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lyndon Johnson - Daisy ad - the stakes are too large

2006-10-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

Friends,

In 1964 Lyndon Johnson ran an ad known as the Daisy ad- promoting fear as a tactic. The ad ran only once- and it was yanked as violating censorship rules, and being too radical for the mainstream. It was an ad that said "Be afraid, my opponent will make your life more dangerous."

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7257358371786146012&q=goldwater+daisy&hl=en

Unfortunately, it has been echoed this year by the National Republicans (starts off silently- but builds insidiously).

http://www.gop.com/Multimedia/MediaPlayer.aspx?ID=1136&TypeID=2

selling fear- an abominable, decried, abandoned tactic then,
frightening that it comes back now.

Leib

Looking forward,

Leib
------------------------------
Leib Lurie, CEO
OneCall Now
Telephone Notification Service
We Keep Your Group In The Loop
Direct: 937-875-0385
Instant Message MSN or AIM: LeibLurie
Send rosters and support requests to
support@onecallnow.com 877-698-3262
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623 South Clay St.
Troy, Ohio 45373 USA

Lurie column- oct 25- freedom is not free

2006-10-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

This is, apparently, my last TDN column.

I will be a monthly contributor to Tourgreatmiami.com - the premier arts magazine for the Miami Valley.

and, If the mood strikes, I will post comments to my blog.

thanks for reading.

Leib

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Celebrating Freedom and democracy 50 years later

Maria is eighty one years old and now barely five feet tall. Her dyed red hair is in a tight bun, and her great granddaughter at her side. Her daughter Marika was just six when Maria and her husband trudged through the forest leading from the Russian troops chasing them in Hungary to the freedom of Austria. Like a vision from “The Sound of Music”, only Maria had a machine pistol and bazooka around her neck; a six year old hanging on to her belt being dragged through the thick woods; and grenades clipped to her waistcoat. Maria claimed to have killed 20 Russian soldiers in the past 2 weeks, and would kill more if it would protect Marika and her three younger siblings.

The 50^th anniversary of the Hungarian revolution of October 1956 was commemorated this weekend at the Hungarian church in Dayton. In October 1956, 20,000 students and citizens of Budapest marched peacefully through the streets demanding freedom of the press, the right to vote and seeking a level of independence after 10 years of Russian rule. The Russian soldiers stationed in Hungary started shooting; but the Hungarian Freedom fighters, fought back, and won the battle against machine gins and tanks. The huge statue of Stalin was toppled. The Russians withdrew on Halloween and headed for the border.

Hungarians and the world celebrated. In less than a week, 20 newspapers sprung up with news and opinions of all stripes. The censored and politically correct Russian papers were still available, but now all but ignored. Thousands of political prisoners were freed, the vilified secret police were arrested themselves and their records and offices burned. Freedom was in the air. One party rule was abolished, elections scheduled,

Farmers drove into Budapest giving away food, as after the battle there was little in the city. Jewelry stores, with their windows smashed by gunfire lay open with valuables undisturbed inside; because stealing from Hungarians would be a sin. Releasing József Cardinal Mindszenty, he urged the people to work together for freedom and to protect the lives and safety of the Russians in Hungary.

But immediate freedom was not in the cards this time. On November 4^th, Two hundred thousand Russian soldiers invaded Hungary, killing 2,600 Freedom Fighters, and imprisoning thousands more. The US and NATO stood by – because to counter attack would have triggered world war III. Russia crushed the revolution and re-installed a puppet government that ruled Hungary with an iron fist for thirty two more years.

At the commemorative event Sunday, twelve of the quarter million Hungarians who subsequently fled across the borders, bribed guards, or in Maria’s case, shot approaching troops; listened to speeches, looked at pictures, and watched their children and grandchildren perform Hungarian folk dances.

Lorant Pap, the Troy Rotary Club’s foreign exchange student, from a small town near Budapest, who is living with us, was able to help put things into stark perspective. Although just sixteen, he is steeped in the history, politics and culture of his country. Over centuries, the country was invaded and occupied dozens of times; yet Hungarians maintain a universal feeling of unity, independence and optimism that allowed them to persevere.

Today, the country is a fast growing vibrant democratic culture at the crossroads of Europe. Their diverse and outspoken leaders form a rainbow across the political spectrum. They waited for Freedom and the ability to once again speak and print their opinions freely. Opinions may differ, but they cannot remain stifled. Freedom is not free. They, more than most, recognize this truism.

Leib Lurie, an active community supporter has enjoyed writing about the works of First Night, Troy Civic Theatre, Optimist Club, Boy Scouts, Destination Imagination, Waco Museum, Our Schools and other groups in Troy focusing on youth and the arts. He is CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net Or see his commentary at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie can't hold a job

2006-10-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your support...

Leib

My thoughts on the matter...

My first job was working in an Orange Juice factory but I got canned.
I couldn't concentrate.

Then I worked in the woods as a Lumberjack but I just couldn't hack
it so they gave me the axe.

After that, I tried to be a Tailor but I just wasn't suited for it,
mainly because it was a sew-sew job.

Next, I tried working in a Muffler Factory but that was too exhausting.

Then I tried to be a Chef. I figured it would add a little spice to
my life, but I just didn't have the thyme.

I attempted to be a Deli Worker but any way I sliced it, I couldn't
cut the mustard.

My best job was a Musician but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.

I studied a long time to become a Doctor, but I didn't have any patience.

Next was a job in a Shoe Factory. I tried but I just didn't fit in.

I became a Professional Fisherman but discovered that I couldn't live
on my net income.

I managed to get a good job working for a Pool Maintenance Company
but the work was just too draining.

So then I got a job in a Workout Center but they said I wasn't fit for the job.

After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally got a job
as a Historian until I realized there was no future in it.

I tried working in Starbucks but I had to quit because it was
always the same old grind.

Then I tried writing a column for the TDN, but got edited out.

So now I'l try retirement, I think I'm perfect for the job

Leib

Lurie column- so long, farewell, amen

2006-10-16T22:55:00.000-05:00

Friends,

David Fong, the new editor of the Troy Daily News, has evidently decided my brand of commentary is not what he has in mind for the paper going forward.

Out of the blue, I received the following e-mail today....

We wanted to thank you for writing your weekly column for the Troy DailyNews the past few years.

At this point, however, we have decided to go in a new direction and have one of our full-time employees fill your column spot on Wednesdays. We are attempting to move toward filling more of our weekly columnist spots with in-house writers.

Again, though, we thank you for being a member of the TDN team these past few years and wish for your continued success in the future.

Best of luck,
David Fong and Kim Kiehl

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last week, the paper disbanded the outside editorial board, so the frequent editorials I drafted and sought consensus and opinion on, will also be a history.

I'm sure that both decisions have nothing to do with my researched opinions, attempts at thought provoking topics of interest, the importance of the upcoming elections, or the fact that the previous editor stood by my often "Blue" columns in a "Red" owned paper.

Although I suspect you may see more columns focusing on burning topics of interest like Mom's cooking, potty training baby girls, and OSU religion in the opinion pages.

Anyway,

I hope you have enjoyed my writing and treatises occasionally.

If you agree, or (hopefully) disagree with the new editors' call,

I urge you to make your voices known by sending a letter to the editor

editorial@tdnpublishing.com anonymous letters don't count.

Leib

Lurie column Oct 11- Milestones

2006-10-10T07:18:00.000-05:00

Milestones

The Romans built the original highway system, stone paved roads linked Rome with hundreds of cities, extending across 53,000 miles. Some are still used today; have survived 2,000 years, a monument to the durability of their engineering and efforts.

Along those roads, stone markers were set, mileposts that told foot weary travelers how far they had come. It was thus easy to gauge where they were in their journey. In the center of Rome, a Golden Milestone (actually Bronze) marked the epicenter of the Roman Empire; a point from which all other posts extended and were measured.

We tend to use the mile stone metaphor in measuring important dates and events as we proceed through our life’s journey, starting with the Golden milestone of our birthday; we remember and celebrate life’s events. Some are obvious when they happen, others only notable in retrospect.

Last week I had the privilege of being the photographer for a colleague’s wedding; snapping pictures and video snippets to document the ceremony and the party – but trying to focus on the family and friends who will be remembered years hence. Although I posted the digital slideshow to the Internet, I ordered a hard bound book, because media changes and web sites expire. Flipping through old albums is a powerful, way to emotionally connect with the people you were with that day. Reliving the past; remembering the friends, relationships, shared activities and feeling old emotions come back to the fore.

While visiting my in-laws this weekend, I went digging back through the memory albums Mom had painstakingly put together for her three daughters, updated constantly with clippings and memorabilia as her daughter grew up and passed the milestones of kindergarten, grade school trips, first date, high school, college, (and in her case, 5 more colleges). The pictures of the wedding in 1976 with awkward moments, antique looking hair styles, and the reception fountain that looks so trite.

Leafing through pictures of relatives, many now gone, others no longer nearly as young. The postcards from the Bermuda honeymoon, and soon, the first house (did we ever fit all our stuff into the 500 square feet half of a duplex?).

Business cards and pictures at work (boy, what passed for chic fashion back then). There are poses next to proudly purchased (but now historic) cars, or peering at the camera next to statues, edifices and just plain streets on trips to Italy, Florida and The Blue Ridge Mountains.

The tone of the book changed as others joined the pages. A daughter 24 years ago and a son 2 years after that. Now instead of looking back at funky hairdos, we try to picture if they were ever that small, innocent and cute. (For some reason the pictures rarely captured the late night cries or the temper tantrums though).

The milestones merged and intertwined. As those of the parents our children and extended family came in seeming rapid fire. The major things, like new communities, different schools, larger houses, and changing careers. The book juxtaposes the momentous with the more mundane, but often more memorable school plays, recitals, trips, Scout ceremonies and sleepovers.

Mom pasted in all of our unique family holiday cards, each one with a different theme; putting a unique spin and perspective on another year gone by. Our late dog penned one, the house wrote another; the year with three family graduations sparked a yearbook theme for the “Lurie Academy”.

As the kids grew, their lives and pictures showed their growing maturity and interests as they emerged with their own values, goals and attitudes; tempered with what we gave them, and they explored; blended with those of friends, and for 16 years, the community that is uniquely Troy.

Our pictures (although as official family photographer, I am a rarity), continue to show the maturing and aging process; but just as vividly, the ever expanding network of interests, activities, school, family, friends, community interests and of course ongoing milestones that can only come after 30 really good years of marriage.

Happy Anniversary Barb.

Leib Lurie is First Night Troy & Troy Optimist Club board member. He is CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

RE: [demletters] Join us for movie screening - Iraq war protiteers

2006-10-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

Two new PACS working in California

Hi everyone – I just wanted to let people know about two new PACS in California. Both are involved in some of our Congressional races.

Please let people know about these fledgling progressive PACs.

(California Peace Action seems appropriate at the Iraq war movie.)

Deirdre Des Jardins

Santa Cruz

California Peace Action

http://www.californiapeaceaction.org/

“Under the Bush administration’s watch, we’ve seen anti-Americanism grow around the world. We’ve seen a push to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. We’ve seen a disastrous war in Iraq take a terrible toll on our troops and Iraqis, while wasting billions of dollars.

On November 7, Americans have a decision to make. Do we want a rubber-stamp Congress that blindly follows the Bush administration? Or do we want leadership in a new direction—one that makes America and the world a safer place?

Find out more about the candidates and join the Election Action Team.”

If you know people or organizations who are involved in the peace movement, please let them know about California Peace Action.

Ocean Champions Coalition

http://www.oceanchampions.org/

“the ocean conservation ccommunity has focused on policy rather than politics, and at a cost. Electoral politics is a fundamental aspect of our nation’s political process and the keystone to policy success, yet the ocean conservation community is not a factor in the electoral arena. The report’s primary conclusion is that the ocean conservation community needs to ‘participate fully in the political process’ to be more effective. Full participation means working directly to elect good candidates and defeat bad ones.”

If you know people or organizations who are involved with or care about the oceans, please let them know about Ocean Champions.

Join us for movie screening - Iraq war protiteers

2006-10-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

Barb and I are hosting the move-on event sunday oct 15th - 2pm.

You can sign up for the party we are hosting at:

http://political.moveon.org/event/movieparty/14954

Here are the details of the event
Iraq for sale- war profiteers
At Lurie's in Troy, OH
1102 Peters rd - 1 house north of archer drive
troy, OH 45373
Sunday, 15 Oct 2006, 2:00 PM

Hope to see you there.

Justice is blind until you wave cash

2006-10-02T22:13:00.000-05:00

There is a far away court system that metes out justice in ways that are at best peculiar, at worst smack of kangaroo justice. A Court where logic, facts, impartiality and justice are figments of imagination. Justice here is based on rampant payoffs. Where in many cases, all one needs to win is to send cash to the judge’s office. These courts make it virtually impossible for the little person to win.

The court not only takes in cash from companies that have cases before them, but in an effort to appear unbiased, reports these “contributions” to an elected official who publishes reports of the cash that changed hands.

Although the official is chartered with upholding laws that prohibit this behavior, he ignores that constitutional job and accepts statements from justices who take gobs of cash that the donations have nothing to do with their rulings from the bench. Right.

In this topsy-turvy world of justice, the people get a chance to vote for the justices; electing them to office based on the advertising the candidates place on billboards, on television and in mailings to the voters. The money for their ads come from companies that have business before the court. These firms need to win multi-billion rulings in their favor, so they sprinkle cash on judges who take the money, close their eyes to facts and rule in favor of the cash. In 215 cases, the companies involved paid almost $2 million dollars to the court. The result? 91% of the time the head justice ruled in favor of the donors.

In one case, a European conglomerate wanted to overthrow a law that demanded they stand behind badly flawed products that cause death and injury. A mere $176,000 donated to four judges and voila! A 4 to 3 ruling for the company.

Three years ago, a justice won office helped by $330,000 in cash from insurance and medical companies; the following year, with 3 other justices buoyed by $600,000 in funding voted in every case before them in favor of the insurance companies.

The law of their land limits contributions from companies to $5,500; but the top enforcement official did nothing as $200,000 was donated to the court funneled through dozens of fronts.

Our Country has spent 8 billion dollars helping Iraq to build fair courts to handle crimes and bring justice to a war torn land. But if you thought I was talking about Iraq. Think again.

The court in question is the Ohio Supreme Court. The European company was Chrysler, effectively seeking a ruling to water down Ohio’s Lemon Law.

The insurance and medical company donations convinced the court to overturn precedence and agree that many on-the-job injuries don’t need to be covered by employers. Just one in a string of 215 cases that “voted with the money” 71% of the time in recent years.

Local barrister David Beitzel asked me “why should lawyers even bother writing a brief?” evidently writing checks takes much less time.

The official who winked at donors and the justices who flaunted the campaign rules is Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. He received $160 million from the medical company that bought his firm, and who is now running for Governor under the slogan “Right for Ohio”. Unfortunately all this just seems wrong to me.

The head justice who sold 91% of his votes? Terrence O’Donnell- planning on spending $3 million of company money for re-election against William O’Neil who plans to spend just $5,000 because he takes “No Money From Nobody”. He deserves getting Every Vote From Everybody.

Leib Lurie lives and runs a communications company in Troy Ohio, USA. You can reach him at editorial@tdnpublishing.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Holy month of peace - or terror?

2006-09-25T23:18:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, the 5 ½ million Jews in Israel and 13 million around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the year 5767. The Jewish New Year, like the Islamic month of Ramadan are both based on the lunar calendar; with twelve months of 28 days, leaving a week left over when matched with the secular calendar. Every four years the Hebrew calendar adds a leap month into the mix to even things out, but the Islamic calendar keeps moving back a week each year so Ramadan meanders through the seasons in a 35 year cycle.

This difference in observation of calendars may be indicative of the intransigence that keeps these two groups in a constant state of war for hundreds of years.

As Jews, we start the new year with a celebration – dipping apples in honey (good fruit, sweet year) and then this Monday, the solemn day of reflection and atonement for the past year’s sins and transgressions and attempt to have one’s name inscribed in the book of life for the coming year. Over the next few weeks a series of minor Jewish holidays celebrate the gift of the Torah (the original version of the old testament) and the celebration of Succoth- a festival of pilgrimage.

The day after Rosh Hashanah, 400,000 Lebanese swarmed to Beirut to kick off the holy month of Ramadan- a month of fasting and prayer, similar in purpose to the Jewish Holy week. These two holidays share a common purpose, acknowledging we are all servants to a higher power, and that peace on earth and doing good works will pave the way for a brighter future, both here or hereafter.

Yet the holy gathering, normally a smaller, and more subdued affair, was subjugated and perverted by the desire of Hezbollah to brandish swords, or as sheik Nasrallah bragged, 20,000 missiles, paid for by Iran and Syria, still hidden away under the mattresses of children waiting for another chance to start flinging them at Israel; and itching for any excuse to start bloodshed again.

Last week, just before Ramadan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the 192 member states of the UN and after professing global respect for Jews, Christians and Moslems alike, he reiterated an all too common belief in the Islamic world, that since once upon a time, Israeli Jews took Arab land, all there deserve to be wiped off the map and die. This was declared a statement of peace by the man spending hundreds of millions of oil money to provide a massive arsenal for Hezbollah and enrich uranium for ‘peaceful purposes’.

If the ranting of a few maniacs from Iran and Lebanon were isolated and unique, one could hope that the majority of global citizens would readily embrace peace and prosperity. Yet this was also the week when a comprehensive global threat assessment, agreed to by all16 intelligence agencies that comprise our Department of Homeland Security, released in a classified report says that these are not isolated incidents, but that the US’s military activities in Iraq and global unilateralism are fomenting terrorism in places around the globe.

After 9/11, our country had the opportunity to lead a global fight to defeat pockets of terror; with the cooperation and support of every major (sane) leader; instead, we started a global war that has incited anger, distrust and retribution; taking the low road of torture, prisoner abuse, and waving the flag with a cowboy mentality.

As Muslims and Jews fast in prayer this week; maybe, just maybe a vision of peace will emerge.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

The Revolution IS Now televised

2006-09-18T23:29:00.000-05:00

I had decided to take a break from politics this week, and focus closer to home, in a way. Over the July 4^th weekend, a Kettering friend called to ask if we knew anyone who could host a foreign exchange student; the original host family had a medical emergency and cancelled.

With an empty bedroom, a weekly TDN deadline for interesting new material, and an extremely understanding spouse; we said ‘bring him on’.

After a few weeks of prep, which included redecorating a room from ‘Dad, I painted over the My Little Pony with palm trees and clouds” wallpaper to something a bit more staid and plausibly European male looking.

Loci (pronounced Low-tzee) is a Junior at Troy High school. It’s been a bit of a challenge becoming instant new parents of a 16 year old. Getting the Hungarian medical forms and grade reports translated, handling Visa forms, Board of Education requirements, class selections, and buying school supplies after a three year hiatus was a blur. My son, wife and I had to go through deep background checks, and thankfully, the Troy Rotary Club agreed to sponsor his visit.

Loci is from a small town, the size of Tipp City about 30 miles north of Budapest, Hungary’s capital.

We have spent the past few weeks showing him the basics of living in Troy; McDonald’s, Subway, La Fiesta, China Garden and Bakehouse Bread (better croissant’s than home, and his mom runs a café’). Stocking up at Kroger, and using a microwave (a common appliance in Hungary, except for his traditional cooking Mom). Using a riding lawn mower, clothes dryer and loading a dishwasher (Not so much a technical issue as a cultural one).

This column was going to focus on the exchange program, but this afternoon CNN broke our reverie. Tens of thousands of young people were storming the Parliament and TV station in Budapest, launching a vehement protest demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsany was re-elected giving his party firm control in April.

Mr Gyurcsany's spoke privately to his party in May, the speech leaked on Sunday.

Sprinkling obscenities in his talk that shocked our Hungarian teenager, Mr Gyurcsany said: "We lied in the morning, we lied in the evening." He proudly told his fellow MP’s (members of Parliament- his party) that he and his party had lied about the economy for 2 years; it was in sad shape, but due to the lies, the ‘Expletive voters’ didn’t know a thing.

Monday evening, Loci and I were glued to CNN web cast broadcasting live. At 2am, tens of thousands of protesters were rallying in Budapest and dozens of cities around the country; crying for Gyurcsany’s resignation. Loci translating for me, as a wild eyed leader admonished the crowd, “Don’t fight the police, we are all Hungarian’s. Only one man and his party friends are the target of our anger tonight. They lied to us, and must go”.

Nonetheless fearing a government coup, and with visions of Tom Hanks in “The Terminal” – with Loci trapped in Troy; we called his parents. Even at 2am the family was glued to the television, angry at the lies used to fool the public into voting for a corrupt and dishonest party who won on the basis of deceit; appointed thousands of supporters to cushy jobs and now wish to press for tax cuts for large businesses and steep austerity measures and benefit cuts for the poor and working class.

Thank goodness something that nefarious could never happen here; and that most voters are too compliant to protest even if it does.

Leib Lurie, A New York City native, lives in Troy. You can reach him at editorial@tdnpublishing.com

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Are our prosecutors any better than our generals?

2006-09-11T23:42:00.000-05:00

War is hell. Soldiers and far too often, Innocent civilians die. Leaders need to galvanize the people to support the objectives; and make sure that the war is being fought for the right reasons, against the right enemy, with the right tools to assure success and victory.

Abe Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, FDR and Truman got it right. Solid justification, clear visionary leadership, coalition building at home, and effective diplomacy abroad. Johnson & Nixon got enmeshed in a losing situation and both made it worse; for the soldiers, the locals, the horrific cost in bodies and budget, and declining relations with the world. Now George Bush appears to be heading for the same destination; Morassville.

Monday, in moving and somber reflections centered on the three airplane crash sites, we heard that terrorists have not attacked the USA since 9/11; thanks to vigilance and hard work by the 16 disparate agencies cobbled together under the ersatz control of the Homeland Security agency.

We heard the neo-cons once again point to the same kind of sectarian religious and territorial violence that tore apart Kosovo, Bosnia, the Sudan and the Congo as indicative of the transcontinental hatred of Al Queda against the US. More than 5 million people have died in the Sudan and Congo conflicts since 9/11; yet the horrors there are no more likely to migrate across the ocean than dozens of other internal wars that claim thousands of lives every week.

The government’s operation of the US war on terror is a particularly vexing one for me.

George Bush conveniently unveiled 14 top terrorists last week, in front of an East Room audience of 9/11 widows and parents; all of these evildoers were captured up to 5 years ago. Yet the White House waited for the start of the election season to announce their transfer from CIA secret prisons to Guantanamo and then, soon, to bring them up on charges.

Personally, I think the CIA should have secret places for handling certain people. I don’t want to know about it, just get results. Maybe that happened here. Maybe not. But last week seemed a coincidentally and politically convenient time to trot them out as examples of our success against terrorism.

The White House is using the emotions of the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as a time to ask Congress to write new rules for handling trials of terrorists. The Supreme Court (with seven of the nine members appointed by Republicans) made a clear decision in June; the President’s plans for military tribunals was against the law. As dangerous as the remote threat of terror may be, giving up our constitution is even more dangerous for our collective American future.

Rather than yield, as sworn to do in upholding the constitution, to the two other branches of Government, Bush is demanding Congress quickly pass a law that allows the military to set up kangaroo courts, with the same rules Stalin used to send people to the Gulag, and Castro’s and China’s Communist governments use on dissidents. After all, the 9/11 widows paraded in the East Room expect the 14 evil-doers to be punished.

Regardless of the jurisdiction and court rules eventually hammered out with Congress, bringing terrorists to justice has proved elusive for our government. Of the 417 terrorists identified by different agencies of Homeland Security over the past five years, only 81 have even been indicted, and just 39 convicted. Even the city of Washington DC, whose four term Mayor snorted coke, has a prosecution and conviction rate five times higher.

This Fall, the number of American Soldiers Killed in Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11, will exceed the number of Americans killed on 9/11.

Are we safer yet?

Leib Lurie is a New York Native and Troy Resident You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Who will count the vote this Fall?

2006-09-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

In June, when the Episcopal conference met in Columbus the media covered their discussions and vote, but barely mentioned how they CAST those votes. The conference had decided to jump headfirst into the twenty first century, no more black and white smoke; no more paper ballots. The Ohio Conference would be the ideal place to show off Ohio technology, Diebold electronic voting machines (the same one selected by Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell and mandated for Ohio). The bishops and Lay Leaders of the church decided to give the new machines a test run with some early procedural votes.

Hmmm. 104 people in the room, 119 votes cast. The Episcopal Procedural council had approved the use of paperless electronic ballots but they put in a caveat. If the results were off by more than 10%, the machines would be too suspect for use. The group tried again. 105 people voted, 123 votes cast. Almost a 20% difference. The remainder of the 10 day Ecclesiastic conference was conducted the 19^th and 20^th century way. With paper ballots, counted laboriously and tediously, but accurately.

Last week, the New York Times reported that numerous ballot discrepancies had been found in a scholarly study of the 2004 election. A large color picture showed the ballots for a Ward in Miami County being checked for accuracy. The study found 450 people signed in to vote; but the official tally released by the Board of Elections had 550 votes cast. A 22% over vote. The Director of Miami County Board of Elections was interviewed and called the story nonsense.

The study by Steven Rosenfeld found this was just one of hundreds of Ohio precincts with similar discrepancies, and asked for more detailed study.

The story broke because of a lawsuit against Secretary of State (and Candidate for Governor) Blackwell demanding that ballots (and the printout records from the electronic machines) not be destroyed this month as permitted by Federal law. Blackwell promised to issue a memo to all counties to protect and not destroy ballots. The actual memo Blackwell DID release was somewhat different. He said simply that each election board should look at and to post their county rules for retention. After laughing off the details documented in the New York Times, one might think our county would be the pillar of virtue in following the mandates of the state. One would be wrong. There are no such rules posted on our County’s Board of Election’s web page.

Last week we had yet another major story affecting Ohio’s elections. A Federal court threw out all of Blackwell’s recent ‘emergency voter drive’ rules. Blackwell had issued a set of emergency rules that placed severe restrictions and handcuffs on voter registration drives. A volunteer working at the Dayton Mall, for instance, gathering voter registrations from people who shop from surrounding counties, would be required to drive to each county and hand over the forms personally within 48 hours or they would be void, and the volunteer subject to fines and jail. Further, Blackwell’s rules effectively mandated that every church or non-profit group organizing a voter drive would need a high speed Internet connection and costly projector so all volunteers could receive the ‘official’ on-line training class. Generally federal judges act within reason to prevent abuse of the law and the people by rogue officials.

Yet still, as candidate for Governor, after being knocked down twice in 3 weeks by Federal judges, Blackwell insists that he is not only the right person to be our next Governor, but he sees no problem or conflict in his royal-like purview of Ohio’s election.

Former Russian dictator Josef Stalin said “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything”.

Unbelievably, as of now, Ted Strickland’s opponent will be counting the votes in Ohio this Fall.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Resident You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Nation Building is harder than it looks

2006-08-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

Twelve months ago today, thousands of people were stranded in the New Orleans Superdome, while the ripped roof offered scant shelter, the sweltering heat inside just made the overflowing sewage smell worse. Bodies were left outside in the sun. FEMA’s Michael Brown, interviewed on national radio declared that everything was under control. George Bush, after a flyover in Air Force One proclaimed that Brownie was doing a heckuva job.

The President asked for and Congress allocated $17 billion to the dept of Housing and Urban Development to quickly find suitable shelter and offer reconstruction aid for the 400,000 people left homeless when the Army Corps of Engineers’ poorly anchored levees failed. A large sum of money for a huge job.

This week, the government accounting office released their report on how well HUD is doing their heckuva job. About 100 million dollars have been spent so far. $1.00 out of every $1,700 allocated.

The other 99.4% is still in the government coffers; and 250,000 people still without housing.

I was curious. Why would a government entity dedicated to building housing barely scratch the surface rebuilding after the nation’s costliest disaster? The answer may surprise you, or maybe not; if you look at who our President appoints into high places; and what they do once selected.

Alphonso Jackson, HUD’s executive director and member of the Bush cabinet was speaking a few months ago to a group of real estate and construction firms at a meeting in Dallas and addressed the subject of government contracting. He recounted that a prospective African-American HUD contractor who had made a "heck of a proposal" and was selected upon the basis of that proposal, but upon thanking Alphonso for being selected the bidder mentioned that he did not like Bush.

As a result, Jackson said, the bidder who had criticized Bush did not receive the contract: ""Brother, you have a disconnect — the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don’t tell the secretary."

Jackson asked the crowd, "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."

Hey, the flooded parts of New Orleans were 72% Democratic, so why should a Bush appointee increase the deficit by helping these folks come home?

Tomorrow, 4,800 Trojans will return to school; but fewer than 10,000 of the 60,000 students enrolled pre Katrina will have desks in open buildings next week.

Maybe HUD and FEMA just are incapable of doing their job. Well, that explanation doesn’t wash, after much smaller Hurricane Andrew, where the agency distributed $1.2 Billion;12 times as much in six months; as it handled post Katrina.

Maybe our government has been distracted from Nation building at home with Nation Building in Iraq; obviously there have been conflicting pressures. In the past four years, after the “Mission Accomplished” speech, The Coalition Provisional Authority spent just 2% of the $18 Billion allocated for rebuilding the country, and the hearts and minds of its’ people. “This reconstruction is essential if we are to show Iraqi’s how they can live and prosper under Democracy” so said the Rumsfeld appointee to the CPA. Different agency, same mantra.

By the way, the Dept of Defense managed to spent 81% of the $5.8 billion allocated to ‘helping Defense contractors recover from Katrina damage and to rebuild DoD facilities.

Someday, maybe Iraq and New Orleans will once again have working schools, power plants, hospitals, homes and shops; accompanied by good jobs and a fair chance for a good, safe, stable life. Thinking these pleasant thoughts of the future makes me feel justified in planning to wait in the field with Linus for the Great Pumpkin.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column - Are we safer?

2006-08-21T21:56:00.000-05:00

Are we safer?

The recent revelations from the United Kingdom uncovered yet another plot to destroy the Western way of life, in a Jihad program. This time using a dangerously volatile mixture of hydrogen peroxide and nail polish remover. A similar Al Qaeda program was unveiled ten years ago to take down aircraft over the Pacific. Then it was planned to insert the bomb materials with timed detonators; in the luggage compartment, and for the perpetrators to hop off at a stop-over before detonation. Deadly for the remaining passengers.

This time, the tactic seemed to be one of suicidal martyrdom. Mixing the stuff aboard to create a stratospheric anomaly as rapid de pressurization was supposed to blow a jet out of the sky.

Quick Quiz folks:

Top four answers on the board: Which one has NOT [yet] been treated as a threat by Homeland Security: Snakes on a Plane; Nail polish in the air, Box cutters in coach, C-4 in hiking boots. The traveling public gets more jittery by the day.

Our acting City Safety and Services Director came back from San Francisco on the day the new “liquids are evil” regulations went into effect. He reported panicky passengers returning from Napa Valley with shopping bags of Chardonnay who were made to contribute them to the overflowing trash cans of bottled water and shampoo. What a tragic waste, and I’m not referring to the Prell.

The Internet is ablaze with ideas to combat the new threat, and recriminations about whether the hapless administrators are Homeland Security have a clue. So far, it seems that every new idea in terror is uncovered after the fact; and only with some dumb luck before more people are hurt.

Are we spending money on the right things to protect Americans? Under prodding from Rumsfield, Congress allocated $85 million each to build 339 of the latest F-22 fighter planes to have dogfights in the air. None of the terrorists we have been told to fear have fighter aircraft to take part in such a dogfight. Yet DoD and Congress killed $107 million to design a better explosive detection system for airports.

The Pacific bomb threat came on the heels of the explosion of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie; by a bomb in the luggage compartment. International terrorist, Libyan leader Mu‘ammar al-Qadhdhafi, was apparently responsible for funding that deadly escapade. Today, less than 5% of air cargo shipments are inspected, x-rayed or sniffed. While dying of thirst in economy class, the cargo underneath is sloshing around with who knows what?

Last week, I alluded to traveling without the hassle, hustle and frustration of flying in today’s crowded and targeted jets. Our private plane is fast enough to slice seven hours off the ten trip to family in Philadelphia. US Airways, after taking into account a change in Pittsburgh, air traffic congestion and gate delays can make hitchhiking seem like a reasonable alternative. Weather can delay our single engine Bonanza, but compared to the havoc a passing thunderstorm causes in the commercial space, the difference is nominal.

But private planes are not the answer. Smarter policies and smarter security is. Somewhat facetiously, liquids don’t kill people, terrorists kill people. Short term, we should adopt the tactics used by El-Al (the Israeli) airline. They use psychological profiling to stop the types of people that can cause harm, not blind attempts at blockading harmless nail polish remover carried by teenagers or first aid materials carried by grandmothers.

Long term, we need to seriously – very seriously – look at the horrendous reputation our administration has fomented abroad that make these people yearn for martyrdom in coach.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Resident and frequent business traveler. His wife flies their Bonanza, bypassing security and buzzing over Troy. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column aug 16 - A walk in the woods

2006-08-14T23:20:00.000-05:00

I packed for a trip Saturday to Minnesota to see a play. The visit would be just overnight, but the journey a long one. I checked my list. Packing toothpaste, shampoo, contact cleaner, chap stick, a few bottles of wine for my sister-in-law. My trusty scout knife, laptop and cell phone. I grabbed some bug spray (The mosquito is the state bird) and sunscreen. Then stuffed in a few bottles of water and a couple of cans of diet lemon-aid to avoid airport prices. These all packed compactly into my new wheeled carry-on bag*.

Off we went. Pulling up at the airport, we found our plane waiting on the tarmac. The pilot was doing her careful examination of wings and wheels for the pre-flight safety check.

I was the 3^rd person on board and there was lots of open space for me, my bag, and all the above accoutrements. The door closed, the pilot taxied out and minutes later we were airborne, nosing above Dayton airspace and bearing Northwest. The glory of flying is it shrinks the world in carefree luxury.

We went to see “A Walk in the Woods” a play about two men, one American the other an urbane Russian. They were the senior arms negotiators in Geneva during the 1980’s, trying to put a halt to the deadly nuclear arms race that was threatening the world with the specter of thousands of mushroom clouds bringing our world to a blazing halt.

The two broke from the stuffy, stiflingly formal negotiating table to seek the clear mountain air and lake views in Geneva. To talk away from an audience and aides in an attempt to get to know each other; and seek to bring the world back from the precipice of mutually assured nuclear destruction.

We were fascinated to become enmeshed in the fears and foibles of these two as they felt the pressure of the world on their shoulders, two men struggling to build a peace, while millions of soldiers, and thousands of scientists worked to dream up new ways of killing people and find new technology or sneaky loopholes in the 13 flawed arms treaties signed before them.

Andre recounted why Russians mistrust everyone; and Americans are so idealistic. Russians (and most Arabs) lived on wide open plains surrounded by enemies; survival and fighting was a survival skill perfected through many centuries as successive hordes of invaders sacked and burned the villages and cities again and again. Distrust of neighbors was warranted, and, using Darwins’ theory of survival, honed to a fine edge by those that endured and rule today.

The United States is protected by wide oceans, threatened over the last few centuries by little but native Americans with inferior weapons. Andre postulated that Americans were still seeking the frontier, expanding their front yards; while those living on the steppes carved out defensible borders and sought to keep what land and assets they had.

The Play was a harsh look at the escalating dangers of unrestrained military build-up in the era of the cold war. A time when air travel was carefree, enemies were clearly labeled with flags and armies and our children lived in fear of Generals with their finger on the button, able to obliterate the world in a few moments; prevented from doing so only because their leaders are just as concerned for their own lives as you and I.

Today, air travel is anything but carefree bliss; as travelers look about in fear of a terrorist with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Our soldiers and allies are worried about inciting faceless, nameless insurgents with Improvised Explosive Devices. Our children live in fear that more generals than ever have their finger on the buttons of death. Their leaders seem more concerned with achieving fame at any cost than in fighting for peace at every chance.

I fear the policies and politics of this century make it less likely we will reach the next one.

The Cold war may be over, but more than ever, we have reason to break out in a cold sweat.

* Leib Lurie avoids the commercial airport mess by having his wife pilot a Bonanza Beechcraft where they need to go without worrying about TSA, x-rays, metal detectors and liquid bans. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column: Volunteering in Troy

2006-08-07T22:35:00.000-05:00

Volunteering in Troy

You have seen their logos every time you come into Troy, possibly for years, but probably don’t know what they mean or who puts these funny looking circular signs on the welcome to Troy signs posted at the four corners of the compass.

Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, and Optimist Clubs all post signs next to the Troy logo “Be Kind” and above the well-tended flower bed. Tens of thousands of people drive past these signs every day; yet awareness is low. Most Trojans only see these clubs and their members close-up during the Strawberry festival, when they run children’s games or sell Strawberry Jam, Lemon shake-ups, strawberry foodstuffs and more to help raise money.

These are our Service clubs, all attracting men (most men and women) who want to meet socially for breakfast, lunch or supper once a week or twice a month; learn more about the community, and donate their time to raise money; which is then used to provide donations or services for different causes. I call it the “3 C’s” Cuisine, Camaraderie and Community.

Most of the clubs have a simple formula… Meet for a meal, talk and catch-up with friends and members over an informal, inexpensive meal (our club charges $7.00 for an all-inclusive lunch, with fresh baked rolls, all you can drink, tax and tip). Then the meeting is called to order. Someone will offer a prayer over the meal, and there will be a few minutes of club business, discussion of upcoming events and activities.

An assigned ‘enforcer’ or Sergeant at Arms will then collect 25¢ ‘fines’ or ‘happy bucks’ – where members make a modest donation in order to have the privilege of bragging about special events in their lives. We applaud those with birthdays or anniversaries this week; or congratulate parents and grandparents when the stork arrives, diplomas are earned or milestones celebrated in their families.

Then a guest speaker makes a presentation. This is the high point for me. It usually involves us in the community and opens our eyes to so many things we otherwise wouldn’t experience. What museum is moving from downtown this month? How many beds will be in the new fire station? How many workers did it take to build a Habitat home working round the clock for just 2 days? What is the secret to attracting record numbers of swimmers at the city pool? Where did the Inter-urban trains that ran through Troy go? What types of stuff do the canoeing volunteers who clean up the Great Miami every year find? Have you seen the new floor plan for the $20 million enhancements being built by Troy Schools? Or more selfishly, how can you cut strokes off your putting game? It’s truly a grab-bag; and the variety and depth of the groups we see helping others never ceases to amaze me.

The subjects run the gamut, some are fascinating, others less so, but 20 minutes later, it’s time to recite the organization’s creed and get back to work.

Every week, a speaker informs and excites us about things happening in town. Civic groups, Business groups, government officials, political candidates, faith based organizations, school administrators; or a highlight I have touted on this page, children performing music, arts, drama and honing problem solving or oratory skills.

The Lions club has an International focus on eye care, helping raise money for the blind, and to recycle glasses for those in developing countries who cannot afford new ones; less well known are their generous donations for diabetes awareness and drug abuse prevention. There are 3 million Lions around the world.

The Kiwanis is somewhat smaller, dedicated to serve children, and their name says it all Kiwanis is an old Indian expression meaning ‘we have a good time”.

The Rotary is more business focused. They seek to encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and build goodwill and peace throughout the world. For example a 17 year old Rotary exchange student from Hungary will spend the year in Troy, sponsored by the Troy Rotary club.

The Optimist Club is my home turf, we help kids in Troy with a dozen events and projects during the year, many are noted in my column during the year.

My insurance agent invited me to a free lunch 15 years ago. I went for lunch, and stayed for the rest. Any of the clubs will be happy to welcome you for a free lunch. Why not experience it for yourself? Call the Troy Chamber at (937)339-7809 they’ll have a member of one of the clubs invite you to their next meeting.

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident and Optimist Club member. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Oy Vey what a mess

2006-08-01T07:54:00.000-05:00

Oy Vey, what a mess

Being Jewish in the Midwest is a lonely role. Miami County has fewer than 200 Jewish families. (In New York City, more than 10% are Jewish. During trouble and strife in Israel, many of our friends and neighbors go out of their way to ask us what we think of the situation over there.

The situation in short, stinks. There are no good options and few reasonable alternatives.

Israel was created after World War II as a refuge for the sorry few survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. A period when six million Jews were starved and killed in concentration camps as Hitler’s ‘final solution’ to a perceived threat to the Germanic lifestyle by a civilization that contributed so much by so many. (Hundreds of Nobel winners, thousands of inventors, Thespians, and Writers)

The everlasting deadly dance to eradicate Jews did not stop with VE day and the creation of a free Israeli state. It has continued and festered between Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, and radical political groups they support, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and others who have sworn to wipe Israel off the face of the planet. The anti Zionist movement (Arab opposition to a free Israeli state) started almost as soon as the UN created Israel in 1948. Fomented by Arab leaders who, like dozens of dictators and military leaders before them found it convenient and easy to blame their woes on someone else.

The Zionists who built Israel built factories, research parks, Universities, schools for everyone. The average Arab has a 8th grade education, the average Israeli 16 years. The average unemployment rate in Israel is 8.9% (lower for Jews) vs 19% in Lebanon and 20% in Syria. These numbers and facts are behind much of the feeling of disenfranchisement that drives the conflict.

The Israelites had good farms, because they built complex and efficient irrigation systems in the desert. The Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian Arabs had failed agricultural systems and repeated sweeps of famine; so their leaders would point to the lush, Israeli settlements hacked out of the rock and sand and tell their people that the water was stolen from Arabs.

Whether the hatred is secular, driven by government and civil Sheiks, or religious, driven by Moslem clerics and vocal extremists, the result is similar; ongoing, constant pain and hatred that grows every day; flogged from a perceived dull awareness to red hot flames of passion.

Armed conflicts have erupted with almost clockwork like repetition. Arab invasions of Israel in 1956, 1967 and 1973. Israel retaliation has been swift and yet met with surprise and angst. How dare they fight back?

In 1982 repeated rocket launches from Lebanon taunted Israel to invade. A corrupt and failed government made the situation worse. 300,000 Palestinian refugees fought to take over the government and invade Israel again. Syrian troops were sent in (invaded) to ‘help’ the struggling Lebanese dictator. After years of armed conflict, the Lebanese government restructured and took over; Israel pulled back with the understanding that Syrian troops would withdraw physically, and pull their financial support for the Hezbollah rebels. Over the past 6 years, a form of peace descended, But the financial and military support for Hezbollah continued unabated. Syria is claimed to have sent 12,000 rockets to the border; specifically to attack Israel.

Earlier this month Hezbollah guerillas invaded Israel capturing several soldiers. In the fight that followed, the stored rockets started launching. And the undeclared war started spiraling out of control again. That’s where we are today.

A small free state fighting off militant guerillas funded and supplied by supposedly legitimate regional governments. In recognition of civilian collateral damage, Israel pulled back six times before in the past 50 years after being invaded and attacked; leaving the other side to rest, re-arm and renew their vengeful crusade once again.

If Detroit was shelled from Canada by armed insurgents, the retribution would be swift and without restraint. Since no government in the Arab world has agreed to help stop the spiraling violence. Israel has promised to disassemble the military strongholds of the attackers itself.

Having the collective memories of six million brethren killed by sworn enemies is a powerful incentive to fight for survival; and eventually, lord willing, lasting peace.

Leib Lurie is a New York Native and Troy Resident You can reach him at editorial@tdnpublishing.com

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column: Ashes to ashes

2006-07-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

Burying a friend is never easy. Even when the friend is a slinky, black furry cat who has insisted on leaving his black hair clumps all over the house for the past 14 years.

The Vet examined him 4 weeks ago, and pronounced her diagnosis. “Fatal Feline Cancer”; operations are difficult, expensive and less than 1% successful; for a cat of his breed, the equivalent of 75 years old, the decision was one of hospice, not hospital. We couldn’t face the euthanasia needle; at least not yet. So we brought him home for the end. Watching him ravenously drink and eat well these past weeks had given us a slim hope. No pain, maybe gain.

Digging a hole in the sweltering heat of a July afternoon helps clear the mind of the reality to come.

We watched him fight the wasting effects of cancer, as an inoperable tumor swelled inside the abdomen causing it to look obese, while the rest of the body withered away to naught but skin and bones. His hair started to fall out in clumps, not from any treatment modern science has to offer the pet world, but as every stray nutrient is channeled by the body, tricked by a nefarious disease into feeding the insatiable tumor. But his purring continued, and he kept seeking out company.

The cat had been through a lot. An indoor/outdoor cat who knew well the workings of a dog door; he was able to come and go with ease. Hunting and stalking is a feline specialty, and a black slinky cat has it down to a science. Merlin proudly brought in an assortment of mice, birds, chipmunks, rabbits, owls and squirrels over the years. He taunted the prissy cat in such a haughty way, that she was forced to hunt too. Only she would bring home her prey and let them loose in the house; unharmed, and stand back to watch the excitement. Merlin, named by our son after Disney’s Fantasia character, expressed sincere disinterest in Lizzie’s Audubon Society antics.

On Monday, we found him supinely stretched out, catatonic, but this time, in eternal slumber.

Yet he was as aggressively friendly with family and visitors as he was deadly with rodents and their ilk. No lap in our house was safe from a cat insisting on being scratched and stroked. He so loved to be draped around the neck like a mink stole; and would lie still as a statue with just the barest twitch of his tail giving away the fact that the taxidermist had not had a hand in this fashion accessory. My daughter wanted to bring him to the Prom that way. For reasons lost in the fuzzy history of our memories, we could not this evening remember why we refused her request.

The hole grew deeper as I stood on the shovel to break up the clay below.

Merlin had returned home a number of times with deep bloody scratches and torn ears. Maybe the momma raccoon objected to his hunting instincts; or maybe a neighborhood dog took umbrage at his freedom. We applied antibiotics and nursed him back. He was soon up and about, ready for more.

Rigor mortis had set-in, his eyes were open, but they lacked the yellow shine in the iris. Death is not as fleeting as a cat’s purr.

Cats are all different, this one would stand his ground against the dog when a bone was tossed; the dog knew better than to object. Claws beat paws any day. He preferred water drizzling from a bath faucet to a pedestrian serving in a bowl; and would vocalize this fact walking across the top of the tub until I yielded.

I covered his face with a handkerchief, and covered his body with dirt. A worm wiggled on top, soon to start his work below.

Pets enter our lives to enrich them, and those of our family. When they leave us, they leave a hole that hurts. We circled the mound and hugged each other; words didn’t come then, but I write them now, “Goodbye old friend”.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Resident and Optimist Club member You can reach him at editorial@tdnpublishing.net

Miracle mileage product blocked by government

2006-07-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

Miracle mileage product blocked by government

With gas climbing past $3.00 per gallon, budgets get frayed and choices need to be made by millions: gas or food? Rent or Gas? The choices are stark. The country’s dependence on foreign oil is a visible weakness every time the needle points to “E”.

Our President has declared that it is time to get serious about our energy independence and vowed last January to cut imported oil by 50% over the next decade. A terrific goal. All it would take, he said, was opening up the Atlantic continental shelf and the far reaches of Alaska Wildlife preserve to oil production, and additional tax breaks to encourage production by big oil companies.

The budget submitted for next year calls for token increases in federal funding for solar, wind and water power projects. Annual grants that add up to about a week of the war in Iraq. He gave a token glance at conservation, encouraging more intelligent use of gasoline and energy. Nothing near as drastic as Jimmy Carter’s adoption of sweaters in the White House but the high price and long lines then were trigger points for America to get smart about energy usage. Mileage went up by 50% in the next 10 years, and energy efficiencies by homes, appliances and industry jumped a similar amount. All as people, and businesses, working in conjunction with Congress recognized the threat of Arab energy embargoes and pared energy use. In fact, as the American population climbed almost 50% from 1973, our energy use rose just 10%; an amazing jump in conservation and efficiency. But the increase has slowed, even reversed in the current decade.

Millions of dollars are spent on gray market quack products designed to boost the mileage of your car. Secret oils, magnetic bands for the engine, wonder additives for fuel, and thingies for under the hood like the turbonator or the vortec cyclone. Patented wonders hawked at innocent Americans, yet all debunked by scientists and engineers. Except for one.

There is another, proven, effective, readily available under-the-hood change that can generate 42 to 48 miles per gallon. It is a widely available automotive technology around the world. But hurry, because the Government is forcing it off the US market.

The diesel car, long a staple of truckers and the majority of vehicles sold internationally by European auto makers (including dozens of models by GM, Mercedes/Chrysler and Ford) is destined for the history books in America.

The EPA has mandated increased standards for clean air emissions on vehicles to fight smog and pollution. For years, the primary automobile solution to emission control has been Catalytic converters. A passive device made with expensive metals that react with tailpipe hydrocarbon emissions to convert the gas to harmless water. It is a truly amazing invention that works for 75,000 miles or more without needing any attention. Diesel engines have been more of a challenge. The dirtier, generally cheaper diesel oil has more ‘soot’ that must be cleaned from the exhaust to prevent particulate smog. New technology in use throughout Europe injects a tiny spray of urea (a natural chemical compound) into the exhaust gas from an under-the-hood dispenser and voila’ virtually immaculate emissions, 99% of soot is eliminated. But the technology requires the Urea tank to be refilled every 12,000 miles during oil changes. So now the EPA is balking at the technology, feeling people should not be allowed to buy cars that get 35% better gas mileage if the trade-off is an emissions systems that requires any sort of operator maintenance.

This is bureaucratic hogwash at its finest. The trade-off is a rational one. But based on the pace of the EPA, my advice is to buy a diesel now, because they will probably be gone from the US market when the 2007 models arrive.

Leib Lurie is an Optimist Club member and software entrepreneur. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Occupying forces threaten to destroy country

2006-07-04T12:20:00.000-05:00

Occupying forces threaten to destroy the country

The occupying forces swarmed in to the city, taking over homes, government buildings, and throwing up barricades to keep the population at bay, and their troops safe.

The city and surrounding countryside has become a dangerous place. Roving bands of soldiers conducting safety sweeps have been known to fire at the slightest cause, often maiming villagers and leaving bullet holes just inches over the beds of the citizenry.

The area had been sectioned off, in some cases with long lines of trenches, or fencing designed to keep the disagreeing factions apart.

Patriotic citizens were constantly being accused of patronizing one side or the other. Often families are split apart as some believe in the government imposed by the foreign soldiers; while others vehemently seek a different kind of home rule.

Until recently, the iron rule of a single virtual monarch, backed up by a puppet parliament, had held sway; and the people had been subjugated, but generally happy with limited self-determination to operate their own lives. Spies watched Shopkeepers who sold illicit goods, and businesses were limited to importing only those goods sanctioned by the government; but food was generally plentiful, and the streets were safe. Travel, was of course, restricted, but the cost and difficulty of traversing the generally horrifically poor roads made this all but irrelevant.

A while back, invaders from the North attacked some of our communities, threatening the stability of the government, and it triggered a war that started to split the people apart. Some siding with the Northerners, some with the status quo. Native tribesman took up sides with the invaders and forced homeowners to change the way they think and act around them; relegating all to the status of undesirable and/or untrustworthy. Many were killed or run off their land.

The cohesive, peaceful civilization was starting to unravel. Imported goods grew scarce. Fuel, once readily obtainable, became expensive and even dangerous to procure. Health care suffered as doctors turned away people for belonging to ‘the other side’. Medicines, always in short supply, often contaminated, and usually offered as a mixture of homeopathic blends with pseudo scientific research behind them, were leaving people suffering from disease, especially unique strains introduced by both the invaders and the paid members of the coalition who hailed from foreign lands.

The occupying soldiers, often accompanied by mercenaries and civilians brought over to handle the mundane tasks of occupation, cooking, laundry, transportation, had brought their own cultures with them, and they were not creating the desired melting-pot into the populace, but rather causing a melt down of order, processes and the rule of law.

Prisoners were whisked away without charges, without lawyers, and without hope. They were routinely treated inhumanely, and, held incommunicado near an old naval base on an off-shore island, were hoped to be forgotten as the soldiers tried to subdue the tensions growing among the people.

A local government, given a charter to bring their people in line, was pressured by the soldiers to do more, and to build up trained guards and police to protect the citizens, and restore the peace. It was not working. The folks who were pressured into joining the government, were berated by neighbors for selling out. Their families were put under suspicion or worse.

The world was watching, although few countries dared take sides against those of the soldiers; fearing reprisals and loss of trade, many sent representatives to try brokering a peace. Most failed. Some sent surreptitious aid, including arms to the invaders and the locals; urging and fomenting an internal revolt; a revolution against the soldiers and the out-of-touch leader who wanted to be feted as royalty.

The situation was turning ugly. It would, however get far worse before peace and freedom would reign again.

King George III’s army was defeated at Yorktown and the colonists subsequently formed a new government.

Today’s government and this generations’ King George should re-visit those times and the lessons learned. It is time to change course to honor and respect the ideals we fought for then, and quell the deadly toll that keeps rising every day in Iraq.

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident who grew up on what was a Revolutionary war battlefield, Fort Washington, in New York City.

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

National sports highlight national identity

2006-06-26T23:28:00.000-05:00

American’s tend to forget about Soccer at the national level for 3 years, 11 months and 3 weeks; then hoop and holler a bit; berate the team for losing, and go about their business.

Those outside the US know that our version of football is for mamby-pamby’s. People who need to spend an hour suiting up with layers of tape, armor, plating, padding, Kevlar and gloves protecting practically every exposed surface like chain mail used by knights of the round table. Soccer players go out in shorts, a shirt, light flexible running type shoes with cleats, and, as a modest capitulation to the dangers of the game, light plastic shin guards to protect against the cleats of others. No helmet, no padding, no kneepads. It’s like watching American soldiers vs the insurgents.

The stamina and skill required are so very different as well, A soccer player, working a field somewhat larger than an American football field, is constantly running and moving (often more than 6 miles of running) , often for the duration of a 45 minute half. Timeouts and clock stopping activities are few and far between. It’s not uncommon for a ninety minute game to be over in 2 hours – after adding in half time rest and time-outs.

In football, the game is to watch the structured plays go down in carefully orchestrated and pre-set offense and defensive maneuvers. The unexpected play is truly unexpected; and many fans were getting beer when it happened, so the jumbo-tron re-plays after a key play become a crucial element. Soccer games only show replays after a goal (imagine, the typical game with just 4 instant replays). But that’s the point – as viewed by 90% of the world that treats soccer as its number one aspirational sport of youth and far away, number one spectator sport.

The action is continuous, always changing, aggressive yet subtle. A tackle is not where 1,000 pounds of human flesh pounce on a hapless runner, but when a well placed foot grabs the ball from another. “Fast, fleet, ballet, poetic, and athletic” are words futbol players use to describe their game. “Hard, harsh, tactical, well executed” are words used to describe the American pigskin play.

Watching an American football spectacular is truly a unique experience, but one where the pace is set by the measured, timed methodical of the countdown clock. American fans cheer for moments at a time, but only when a ‘crucial play’ is imminent. They cheer and yell individually, and occasionally prompted by the pipe organ conductor just prior to a new play beginning. Then silence transcends as the ball is tipped- and we wait for the play to complete; before cheering, booing or cussing.

Futbol fans are very different; as is the game. While in France for the 1998 world cup; you see a very different approach and fan appreciation for a very different sport.

Fans of professional games, akin to college games, are often segregated to make two large unified crowds, rather than intersperse fans amongst themselves. The cheering is loud, boisterous, rhythmic and all but continuous as both sides compete to sway the outcome by projecting their group energy into the players on the field; rather than the American way of internalizing the plays on the field as a personal victory or personal affront on the fan’s feelings.

Futbol epitomizes the strengths and attitudes of many countries; work hard, for long periods, with one eye on the ball and the other on your mates. Practice diligently from the time you can walk. Kick and be kicked. Take advantage where you can, wait when you must. But always be ready for opportunity.

Football seems to echo our attitude. Work as hard as your contract insists, with one eye on the clock and one eye on your opponent. Practice when told to, run when forced to, kick and declare it a foul and sue. Take advantage where you can, run the clock out when you must. But always be ready for a free agent offer.

Two games, two cultures. Will we ever learn to respect each other?

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident, and world cup scalped ticket holder (1998)

See these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Players cannot be Umpires too

2006-06-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

If there was ever a sign of a ruling party in trouble, it is a game plan that calls for trying to win by discouraging voting. We saw two examples of that in Columbus this month.

As I walked the Episcopal triennial conference, both the mood for change and a fear of change was palpable. Culminating with a narrow vote, the council of Bishops elected the denominations’ first female bishop. It took five votes to culminate thirty years of efforts to get Episcopalian women the right to vote, and another 20 for women to be ordained (and still excluded from doing so in 3 dioceses). So many deputies were shocked when a women was presented as a serious, not just a token candidate. She was then approved by 85% of the house of deputies, a group of priests and lay people elected from each diocese to represent their orders backed Bishop Jefferts Schori. She would never have gotten elected had the church continued to allow a few conservatives to block women from participating.

Yet that is what Ken Blackwell is doing as he continues to work at preventing Ohioans from exercising that most privileged and protected right. Gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell, in his alter ego role as Secretary of State, put in place "emergency" regulations that could hit voter registration workers with criminal penalties for perfectly legitimate registration practices.

The rules could shut down registration drives in Ohio.

Mr. Blackwell has a history of this sort of churlish behavior. In 2004, he instructed county boards of elections to reject any registrations on paper of less than 80-pound stock — about the thickness of a postcard. So that registration forms printed in Cleveland newspapers, on flyers distributed by several companies and sent in Teachers’ mailings (all supposedly Democratic leaning groups) would all be rejected.

That order was almost certainly illegal, and Blackwell retracted several weeks later, after he came under intense criticism, but not until 24 hours before the registration deadline.

This year, Mr. Blackwell's office has issued even stranger rules.

Registration workers must personally take the forms they collect to a county board of election office within a few days of collecting signatures, accompanied by a 5 page certification form that must be hand printed. (writing in script will render the certification (and any voter registrations received with them to be invalid) or the registrar is subject to criminal penalties.

Organizations that run registration drives generally have the people who register voters bring the forms back to supervisors, who can then review them for errors. Under Blackwell’s new ‘emergency rules’ turning registration forms over to professionally trained supervisors to be checked for errors is now a crime.

Why didn’t the Gubernatorial wanna be, in his powerful role as Secretary of State use his broad powers over the past eight years to mandate checking for errors in state positions of pension management, lobbying or political golfing trips?

Mr. Blackwell's rules also prohibit people who register voters from sending the forms in by mail, a blatant violation of Federal elections law that clearly allows mailed in voter registrations as legal.

Mr. Blackwell's rules are dubious interpretations of a law the Republican-controlled Ohio Legislature passed recently. I can understand there being some cloudy points in a 429 page bill; but the 2 pages that relate to paid registrars are simple and clear. Yet Blackwell’s rules distort the legislative intent, introduce new and onerous (some might say odiferous) process requirements, and subvert the words and intent of our state legislature.

Blackwell seems worried that get-out-the-vote registration drives might bring too many poor and minority voters into the system. He says he wants to reduce fraud, but there is no evidence to support that audacious claim.

It's clear that Ohio's election system is corrupt. Decisions about who can vote for governor are being made by a candidate for governor. Mr. Blackwell should hand over responsibility for elections to a decision maker whose only loyalty is to the voters and the law.

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident of Ward 4C, You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column-0 It's flag day Charlie Brown

2006-06-13T00:04:00.000-05:00

Monday, June 12, 2006

Leib Lurie’s Column for TDN: To run WEDNESDAY, June 14

It’s Flag day Charlie Brown

Today is flag day, commemorating the day in 1777 when the second Continental Congress formally adopted the stars and stripes. It’s a good day and a good reason to fly the flag, the most widely recognized symbol of America.

This week, Congress is making yet another run at creating a constitutional amendment to exempt use of the flag from the first amendment of our constitution. Evidently, American civilization as we know it is in jeopardy by people doing nasty things to a piece of colored cloth.

I had the unique privilege of hearing my Uncle argue a flag burning case in the NY Court of Appeals in the 1960’s. His client put on a street show protest after hearing the news that a civil rights worker was killed trying to register Southern Blacks to vote. The case was lost in New York, but overturned in the US Supreme Court, when the court ruled that it was not incumbent on every American to guard this cloth with the reverence and care as if it was the Shroud of Turin.

As the court said, “…disrespect for our flag is to be deplored no less in these vexed times than in calmer periods of our history. Nevertheless, we are unable to sustain a conviction that may have rested on a form of expression, however distasteful, which the Constitution tolerates and protects”.

Some people overtly register or protest their feelings about government, politics and the human spirit by standing on a soapbox, others by writing satire or stories disguised as fluff or humor. In fact, many of the bedtime stories and fairy tales of our youth have the underpinnings of political dissent often being written as protests. “Alice in Wonderland” and “Gulliver’s Travels” are two that come to mind. Charlie Brown and Snoopy similarly were Charles Shultz’ way of looking at the human condition and how children can be different than adults, but end up emulating them anyway in ways that produce embarrassing moments as we recognize our adult selfs in the antics of the timeless youth of Peanuts.

Today is another type of flag day in the Lurie household, Barb’s time with the Troy Rec department’s Children’s Musical Theatre is coming to a close (after directing 29 plays in ten years and putting almost 1,000 young thespians on stage).

The 30 young kids performing Bedtime Rhymes and Fairy Tales tonight at 6:30 will sing and dance there way through a few dozen skits; many with an underlying theme of social conscience; protesting war, intolerance, or royalty. (Although others have little social significance, and are just plain fun to watch). Maybe someday they will look back on the show with more educated eyes and see the double meanings of their skit.

The Twenty Five older (but still young) Trojans who will perform “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” (Friday at 2 and 6:30) go through songs and stories that address the frailties of Charlie Brown, the insecurities of Lucy, the poignant observations of Sallie and Shroeder; and the ever present unique personality of a Beagle named Snoopy. The social messages are well hidden yet absorbed by the characters during the show, the audience in the theatre and most importantly, by the performers themselves.

For the past ten years kids have seen the power of drama, the stage magic of morphing into someone else, and the fascination of discovering whether the plot is real, imagined, or hidden commentary.

Yet they all come away with the confidence to speak out in public. Maybe some grow up to speak their minds, not just their lines. Because freedom of speech is more than just a play on words, it is our hard won heritage.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Sidebar: “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” is free and open to the public at the Barn in the Park, Opposite Hobart arena Friday at 2 and 6:30.

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column June 7- no voter left behind

2006-06-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

Resending, got caught in spam filter... Leib

No Voter Left Behind Act

Members of Congress and the President make a big deal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). They tell us how it makes schools accountable for the children they must educate. How the bill mandates qualified teachers, testing at every level to assure students meet some form of standards, and schools show a continuous path of self-improvement.

NCLB was designed to level the playing field; to force all schools to conform to a set of standards, and allow parents of “failing” schools to leave and find a different alternative for their children.

The act is vilified by some, mainly for the lack of proper funding to manage the 8,000 pages of bureaucratic gobble-de-gook aimed at simplifying our education process. NCLB is applauded by others for forcing more teachers to get advanced degrees, and certify that they are competent to teach the subjects they teach. That administrators have benchmarks and report on their activities and results for the public to see.

NCLB brewed up as a legislative concept after years of bemoaning the 25 Billion the federal government spends annually on K12 education This is less than 1% of federal spending. Protecting our children from the clutches of questionably competent educators was seen as a major priority. I think it is admirable that our federal government devoted so much time to this issue. Now its’ time to take the lessons learned and apply them to the other 99% of government actions.

The ultimate debate on NCLB effectiveness may go on for years, but I think that its’ high time for a similar approach to non educational aspects of government. The time is right for state and federal government to create a No Voter Left Behind Act.

The goals are simple. Assure that every appointed and hired government executive or manager be qualified to operate and manage the job he or she is hired to do.

The rules and legislation can easily mimic what we already have for education, just applied to defense, commerce, security, agriculture, energy and more…

1) All appointed managers with fiduciary responsibility must by highly qualified. All departments shall have 7 years to bring their staffs up to standards. Every manager, director or appointed executive must have a degree and certification in their field of management. Being a high value contributor or advance PR person on the campaign trail is not a bad qualification for high office, but it better be backed up with something concrete. Like experience, education and mandatory testing of managers by industry and peer groups; just like teachers need certification and accreditation before they ruin the minds of our little tykes, Political appointees should need to prove they can find and identify a disaster site, or manage a rare coin sale as part of pension benefit management.

2) As part of NVLB, all managers who can spend our money, and control critical parts of our lives (just as teachers do with our kids) must be re certified and take ongoing educational credits every five years. Oh, and just like teachers, they must do so on their own nickel. Failure to continue to grow means losing your job.

3) Ongoing testing of every constituent to assure the business of government is working to its’ full standard and potential. Each Community will be ranked against others in the state. Voters will need to show they understand the benefits of local programs that affect their lives, or the administrators of those programs are subject to being fired; and the voters can select a new bureaucracy.

4) Elected officials shall be required to follow the mandates of NVLB, and assure community voter testing is complete, ubiquitous and pervasive. That regulations are followed to the letter, and that regardless of the party in power; competent management of programs, budgets, personnel and policy will be required. NVLB will mandate elimination of all no-bid contracts. Third party professional boards, not PR flacks, must report on departmental effectiveness, or funding will be cut off.

It’s easy, simple and fair. Now if only the constitution would permit the mandated certification of those wishing to run for office…

Leib Lurie is a Troy Resident and Founding Director of NoVoterLeftBehind.org. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column June 7th- No Voter Left Behind

2006-06-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

No Voter Left Behind Act

The goals are simple. Assure that every appointed and hired government executive or manager be qualified to operate and manage the job he or she is hired to do.

The rules and legislation can easily mimic what we already have for education, just applied to defense, commerce, security, agriculture, energy and more…

It’s easy, simple and fair. Now if only the constitution would permit the mandated certification of those wishing to run for office…

Leib Lurie is a Troy Resident and Founding Director of NoVoterLeftBehind.org. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column May 31- It's Berry Time

2006-05-29T20:09:00.000-05:00

It’s Berry Time!

Describing the Strawberry Festival to out of towners is difficult. One can say that this is the weekend 300,000 people tromp to Troy to be greeted by our 25,000 citizens decked out in floats, costumes and plastic gloves to safely handle the hundreds of thousands of meals we will prepare as volunteer cooks, grill handlers, bakers, glazers and cleaner-uppers.

To many natives, this is ‘Black Weekend” a time to skedaddle out of town. Yet the 250 non profit groups that will set up show on the levee call it black weekend for a different reason; it’s when they all go in the black; often raising the bulk of their funds for the works and projects planned for the year.

This past weekend in between grilling and running errands for the Philadelphia family picnic, I was talking and working with our staffing coordinator from the Optimist Club; filling in the last few slots of our booth schedule. While waiting for my in-law’s PC to load a new version of Windows, I was pecking away at a new design for a snappier label for the new larger, decorator jar of custom made preserves to affix to the 1200 jars of Troy Noon Optimist Strawberry Preserves (editorial note- this is a blatant commercial plug for some of the best tasting all-natural preserves you will ever buy as gifts; and they keep far better than donuts, sugar waffles or buttered corn. The Optimists also have cool new prizes for the Ring Toss, Radar Fast Pitch and Lollypop pull for toddlers).

My office is abuzz with Berry Business. Corie is PR chair for the Festival, and has been running around the valley making appearances nd issuing news stories. Angie’s sorority has been stocking up on burgers and nacho material. UPS just dumped a pallet of Cane Toss prizes in our front office. The color printer is spewing labels for Preserves, signs for booths, and schedules for the members.

Friday is all but a company holiday- anyone volunteering at the festival gets the day off to prepare for the onslaught, and 80% of us do. (2^nd shameless commercial plug… over 100 of these groups use the free OneCall Now message service account from Peoples Savings bank to coordinate their efforts and boost turnout.

For those seemingly few Trojans who have decided to stay in town, but have not yet volunteered for a stint in a booth; let me tell you, there are opportunities awaiting. Spending 4 hours in a trailer, under a tent or behind the grandstands cooking, cleaning, prepping and serving with friends, family, kids and neighbors beats an old time quilting bee and comes close to the camaraderie at a barn raising, but with far less grunting and fewer splinters. Call 937-335-3336 and we’ll match you up with a great cause and a fun time.

The groups at the Festival run the gamut, raising funds for youth, schools, churches, housing, drug treatments, cancer, scholarships, and so much more. On one hand, its’ a shame that so much of the costs for these worthwhile endeavors come from friends and festival goers. One might argue that our city, county and state should take on a larger burden. Yet this vast social experiment in using strawberries as a lure to willingly separate money from the people is in its’ 30^th year; and still growing.

There will be more new things to see, a smattering of low fat/sugar free things to buy, and above all; the opportunity for our volunteers to raise the essential funds for their organizations in the 17 hours of booth time. So wear something red, watch the parade, then come to the levee with cash. Help make sure it is a terrific ‘Black weekend’ in Troy.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

lURIE COLUMN mAY 24-2006: Music comes in many scores

2006-05-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

Last week future Miami County sheriff Joe Mehan who has a terrific deep voice that makes me jealous and a strong faith to express it, working with his wife Dee, pulled together the first annual Troy Children’s Choir festival. Five groups of young kids from the Valley performed a wide array of songs with panache, verve and feelings. Choirmaster Barrie Van Kirk led the finale’ with 75 kids singing in unison. Their parents and siblings were supportive and proud. Having the nerve to perform in public is never easy, and requires a level of confidence and many weeks or months of practice to assure the audience sees and hears a quality production.

A few days later, as a supportive husband, I went to the Twin Valley South Spring performance to hear Barb’s Junior High and High School choirs perform. There is a substantive difference in quality, range and depth between grammar school and High School voices; but the enthusiastic participation, pride, dedication and parental approval are just as evident.

That week, we also went to hear The Dayton Youth Orchestra. Ninety Eight high school students representing the most talented musicians in the Valley performing complex works of Mozart that rivaled the Dayton Philharmonic in their tone and volume. These youngsters virtually leeched confidence and professionalism from their pores as their music filled the Schuster Center, reverberating off the ceiling constellations. Many of the seniors have earned music scholarships to help with college costs, others just love to play. But they need to really love it; 3-4 practices a week and for many, a 50 minute commute.

Monday night was the musical culmination of the month. The China National Orchestra made their first appearance in Dayton. One hundred of the finest classical musicians in the world pulled in from Chicago at 6 and performed for almost 3 hours at 8. We heard the world premiere performance of Nature and Me, written by the Chinese-American composer Gong-Qian Yang, who plays with the Dayton Philharmonic. This piece used European instruments to share an Oriental harmony and intimacy between the instruments and nature. The soloist Chuanyun Li, He moved the Schuster audience to 3 standing ovations as he made his strings sing. When he played Paganini with jazz overtones and an improve limbo beat, the place went nuts. Li is a mere 26 years old, having won the international violin competition in 1991 when only 11. His grammar school had an orchestra where students in 3^rd grade can play classical music.

For the youngsters, we applauded not only the musicians, but their dedicated parents who keep the car pools moving and make the music booster functions a success. Music may sooth the savage beast, but the ogre in the room is the spectre of unfunded needs. Few American schools have the proper budget for music and so the task falls to parents. Which is why the Troy music boosters need to raise more than $100,000 a year for uniforms, instruments, music, and travel.

Orchestra and Choir are not part of the United States No Child Left Behind requirements. There is no proficiency test for singing and coordination, for harmony and cooperation. But these children are far better and richer for it, and internationally, the focus on a more balanced life and the power and importance of music may be a significant reason for the Chinese strength in music coupled with tremendous participation and graduation rates in engineering, math and computer science.

The skill sets are inexorably linked. Music is life. We need more of it, at every level, in every school.

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident, music aficionado and Sinclair Music Appreciation class graduate.

See these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column May 17- What's a few billion records between friends?

2006-05-15T22:38:00.000-05:00

So what’s a few billion records shared with friends?

Looking at the billions of phone records being collected by the NSA will be the subject of questions tomorrow when former NSA director Hayden starts confirmation hearings to be promoted to be the next director of the CIA.

Database mining is a powerful tool. In my prior Troy based business, Beeline Shopper, we developed the process to monitor millions of consumer transactions a week looking for patterns and information. We used computers and servers that cost less than $50,000 to analyze the purchase behavior of millions of consumers, correlated with every conceivable product categorized by taste, brand and size; looking at the items they bought with their frequent shopper cards over a period of six months.

Then we created a customized email that looked like the weekly newspaper flyer (our E-Flyer) uniquely constructed to have just the specially priced items each shopper would want. If you never bought Coke, even at 10 for a buck, it wouldn’t be on your e-flyer. On the other hand, if you always bought cola beverages, regardless of brand, but only in cans- then whenever a 12-pack special from any vendor was available, your e-flyer would let you know.

By analyzing specific shopping patterns over time, it is easy to build a detailed profile of each family. The system could, if needed, do a pretty good job of identifying who lived in the home (baby? Old person?), their lifestyle (vegetarian? kosher?) and even hobbies (reader? Picnic?). Just by looking at the UPC codes on the products you buy.

Now the NSA has an examination tool that is orders of magnitude more sophisticated and, funded by a secret $8 billion budget, guaranteed to be faster and more adept at matching up the pieces. By looking at over a billion calls a day, these super computers can not only determine how often you called a particular number (like my research on how often one bought Coke), but by tracking everyone you called, and everyone they called, and everyone that they called- a massive spider web of data emerges.

If five different phones received calls from an Afghanistan number, and three of those phones also called a local Gyro store- is it coincidence or grounds for wiretapping the store? By tracing all callers of an 800 number to a flight school, and then tracking THEIR calls to common numbers, the NSA might have been able to isolate the 9/11 terrorists and seek a legitimate wire-tap on their phones to hear what they were saying, not just who they were calling. Or so the case goes. Add in the knowledge that they all buy Falafel, and the truck to Guantanamo can start backing up to their door right now.

We are told the phone companies released CDR’s (call detail records) only to the NSA operatives ‘in special rooms at the data centers’. Could these operatives be tapping into lines to listen without a warrant? I don’t know, and we won’t find out.

Yet, according to Attorney General Gonzalez, this wholesale capture of communications is a new thing. One that could not have been anticipated by our government prior to 9/11; so the 1994 federal rules against it could not have meant to restrict such data gathering. Or is it? And could they?

During the cold war, the predecessor to the NSA, the Army Signal Security Agency, sent representatives to the major telegraph companies and asked for cooperation in getting access to all telegraph traffic entering or leaving the United States. The companies complied, over the objections of their lawyers. When these practices came to light as part of a 1976 investigation into intelligence abuses, President Gerald R. Ford extended executive privilege to the telecommunications companies (they were told to say, Klink like, "I see nothing, I know nothing") on the recommendation of then chief-of-staff Dick Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, according to the Project on Government Oversight.

Yet there is nothing to fear my friends, such abuses by a few sneaky federal officials hired by President Ford have long since been eradicated, and today’s citizens have nothing to be concerned about. Your liberty is in the good hands of the trustworthy current government officials that have taken their place in Washington.

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident and database geek You can reach him at editorial@tdnpublishing.com

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

It's graduation time at college

2006-05-09T00:21:00.000-05:00

TITLE: It’s graduation time

My first college course was in 1972 in Hartford. My most recent was this Spring at Sinclair. Learning is not a one shot deal, nor something to be checked off as completed; because done properly, it is never done.

I went back to Sinclair last Fall to accompany my wife to Dayton as she took a choir course. I needed to find something interesting offered Tuesday night. I found it frustrating that the catalog was not segregated into ‘cool classes’ vs boring ones; much less showing a breakdown culling out Tuesday evenings. For all the fancy on-line catalog systems, picking college courses is still a tedious process poring over short snippets of curriculum in order to get a clue what our class time will be worth.

There are required classes for different majors, and given pre-requisites for minors and even listed electives for future study and advanced degrees. Younger students have an academic advisor to guide them through the tempest of courses, and a simple, albeit protracted route of study for a two or four year diploma.

After that, the path becomes more elusive and less direct. Graduate degrees are often just more of the same; lectures, readings, quizzes, homework, papers, Final, grade report. Some students are lucky to have professors (albeit usually a small minority) who bring the joy of learning to life, and generate enthusiasm and excitement, even when the subject is mundane.

Many students will just go with the flow, learning by osmosis as they trudge through campus, but the enthused and motivated will seek out the tougher courses, those with professors that make one think and push. Not the one known for the easy “A’s” or gentleman ‘C’s”.

Having already gone through a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree and then languishing for years in the lackadaisical world of building entrepreneurial businesses, it was time for a challenge. So back to Sinclair I went.

Last Fall I took up a course in Structured Logic from the Philosophy department. The instructor was fascinating. A lawyer, MBA, judge, with a masters in Computer Science, and an ego significantly larger than life. He pushed and challenged us to read, comprehend and build on each lesson as we struggled with the depth of his understanding compared with our collective ignorance. It was terrific.

Unfortunately, his family had health issues and he missed several classes- without notice. So we were greeted by the department chair one evening 2/3 into the quarter who introduced his replacement. A boring, mundane, inexperienced last minute substitute who had never been exposed to the subject we were enmeshed in. She valiantly read the book to us. Sentence by sentence, word for word. With no comprehension or awareness. Thanks goodness we had only a few weeks left.

For the Spring quarter I chose a course completely outside my comfort zone. My wife has advanced degree in music pedagogy, she teaches High School music and had taught piano for over a decade. My son is majoring in music at Sinclair. My daughter has a degree in music synthesis. I have been exposed to classical music forever. Yet my own musical knowledge and talent has been limited to pushing the ‘Play’ button on the cd player (having advanced from earlier LP, 8-track, and cassette players) making me a true pseudo musician.

So off to Music Appreciation 101 I went. The instructor was enthusiastic, intriguing, well rounded and knowledgeable. We were led on a whirlwind tour of music from medieval monks through romantic classical, dabbling in opera and cruising through modern Jazz and rock. Learning and listening how the culture and politics of the era made the music and vice versa. A neat experience.

I can now report with some statistical accuracy, that 2 out of 3 faculty at Sinclair are really good; although that statement would violate one of the basic rules of structured logic.

It’s never too late to keep learning.

Leib Lurie is a student living in Troy.

See these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column May 3- waves of immigrants march on Lake Michigan

2006-05-03T17:16:00.000-05:00

Waves of Immigrants march to Lake Michigan

When 400,000 people band together with a single purpose, the power is amazing. I was caught up in the Chicago Immigrant parade Monday and saw the energy build and flow.

Around the country, over a million immigrants took an unpaid day off to make their feelings on the pending immigrant legislation known and heard. They staged a non-violent work-out to demonstrate what happens to our society and services when these 11 million workers stop working.

In the best tradition of non-violent activism, founded on principles espoused by Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, the marchers simultaneously held parades and rallies in a dozen cities across the country, showing there is power in numbers. The parade wended through downtown Chicago for hours creating havoc for taxis and commuters. Police had expected 50,000 people, yet 400,000 showed up, 80% of the immigrant population of Chicago. They poured out of the ‘el’ (subway), trudged across town, and filled buses. These workers and their families came to make their voices heard and in protest, leaving employers without the essential staff needed to keep hotels, restaurants, meat packing plants, warehouses, landscaping firms and buildings running.

Marchers were waving American flags, as well as those from Mexico, Poland, Ireland and dozens of other countries around the globe. Drummers were spread out every 25 yards or so to keep the beat as the chants reverberated through the skyscraper canyons, "Si, se Puede!" "Yes, we can".

Those of you in Miami County can try and imagine 400,000 people in one place with one purpose… visualize every visitor to the Strawberry festival, each one with a new friend, lining up 10 wide and marching down Market Street – in an ongoing wave that lasts for four hours.

The Chicago parade ended at a rally in Grant park, the biggest gathering there since Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in English, Polish and Spanish in 1979 as he celebrating the strength of diversity of Americans

The immigrant issue facing our society is a complex one. It transcends the current administration and Congress, and harks back hundreds of years.

Opinions on this page have suggested that we should return to the racist, anti-Semitic and bigoted approach our protectionist government adopted in 1924 intended to restrict Jewish, Italian and Asian immigrants. Yet that law left immigration from Mexico unrestricted, to feed the voracious yet low cost labor demands of southern farmers. The restrictions were left on the books until 1965, the dawning of the civil rights era, but only after millions of refugees during World War II were turned back, and millions more refused entry due to their country of origin regardless of skills and education to help our country grow.

Congress has been debating a yet another change in immigration programs and status. Many realists, including notable lawmakers on both sides and even President Bush calling for a ‘guest worker’ program. These folks feel that the misdemeanor crime of border crossing should be considered long since paid back by illegal workers that have been here for years and can show they have and can support a family, pay a fine, and get on a fast track to citizenship.

Some neo-conservatives (and a few all-white marchers in Troy Monday) are in favor or clamping down, "throw 'em out" and even seize homes and assets from long standing neighbors. They often add the spurious drumbeats of the ‘war on terrorism’; claiming that a porous border that allows job seekers an entre' is a honey-pot for terrorists. This argument conveniently ignores any facts and data, but hey, it’s a patriotic barn burner argument.

The reality of the situation is that many employers have been driven to find lower cost workers to meet the expectations of our consumer driven society. Eleven million workers have crossed our porous borders in the past four decades; most hold down jobs, pay taxes, contribute to society and are half as likely to need community services and support as the general ‘legal’ population.

Coming out from their jobs Monday, 80% of Chicago's immigrants (and 10% of All American immigrant workers) marched together to be heard and seen, the largest percentage of an ethnic group ever to take up a single cause. That cause is just. Fanning the flames of distrust with allusions to bigotry and terror does not serve their dignity or those of every American.

Leib Lurie is native New Yorker and Troy resident. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column 2006-5-3: March to Lake Michigan brings issues to the fore

2006-05-01T23:14:00.000-05:00

March to Lake Michigan brings issues to the fore

When 400,000 people swarm together with a single purpose, the energy is amazing. I was caught up in the Chicago Immigrant parade Monday and saw the energy build and flow.

Around the country, over a million immigrants took an unpaid day off to make their feelings on the pending immigrant legislation known and heard. To stage a non-violent work-out to demonstrate what happens to our society and services when these 11 million workers stop working.

In the best tradition of non-violent activism, founded on principles espoused by Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, the marchers simultaneously held parades and rallies in a dozen cities across the country, showing there is power in numbers. The parade wended through downtown Chicago, creating havoc for taxis and commuters. Police had expected 50,000 people. When 500,000 showed up, pouring out of the ‘el’ (subway) these workers and their families came to make their voices heard; and, in protest, leaving employers without the essential staff needed to keep hotels, restaurants, meat packing plants, warehouses, landscaping firms and buildings running.

Marchers swinging mainly American flags, sprinkled with those from Mexico, Poland, Ireland and dozens of other countries around the globe. Drummers were spread out every 25 yards or so to keep the shouted slogans ‘on-beat’.

Those of you in Miami County can try and imagine 400,000 people in one place with one purpose… just visualize every visitor to the Strawberry festival, each one with a new friend, lining up 10 wide and marching down Market Street – in an ongoing wave that lasts for four hours. The Chicago parade ended at a rally in Grant park, the biggest gathering there since Pope John Paul celebrated Mass in English, Polish and Spanish in 1979 celebrating the diversity of windy city residents.

The immigrant issue facing our society is a complex one. It transcends the current administration and Congress, and harks back hundreds of years. In fact, most of Northern Ohio was labeled ‘The Western Reserve’, area set aside for the expansion of farms and towns so immigrants and their expanding families outgrew the Nutmeg state and migrated west to Akron.

Opinions on this page have suggested that we should return to the racist, anti-Semitic and bigoted approach our protectionist government adopted in 1924 intended to restrict Jewish and Asian immigrants. Yet that law left immigration from Mexico unrestricted, to feed the voracious yet low cost labor demands of southern farmers. The restrictions were left on the books in 1965 in the dawning of the civil rights era; but after millions of refugees during World War II were turned back, and millions more refused entry due to their country of origin regardless of skills and education.

Today’s issue is stark but complex. Congress has been debating a yet another change in immigration programs and status. Many realists, including notable lawmakers on both sides and even President Bush calling for a ‘guest worker’ program that would allow illegal workers that have been here for several years to show they have and can support a family, pay a fine, and get on a fast track to citizenship.

Conservatives are in favor or clamping down and imposing severe penalties, imposed deportation and rampant seizing of assets from immigrants. Their attitude is ‘amnesty be damned’ eviction is the only approach. They often add the spurious drumbeats of the ‘war on terrorism’; claiming that a porous border that allows job seekers is more likely to allow terrorists in. This argument conveniently ignores any facts and data, but hey, it’s a patriotic barn burner argument.

The reality of the situation is that many employers have been driven to find lower cost workers to meet the expectations of our consumer driven society. Eleven million workers have crossed the border in the past four decades; most hold down jobs, pay taxes, contribute to society and are half as likely to need community services and support as the general ‘legal’ population.

Coming out from the basements Monday, 11% of our country’s immigrants stood together to be heard and seen, the largest percentage of an ethnic group ever to take the nations’ stage for a single cause. That cause is just. Fanning the flames of distrust with allusions to bigotry and terror does not serve their dignity or those of every American.

Leib Lurie is native New Yorker and Troy resident. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column April 26- Marriage is Murder

2006-04-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

David,

Marriage is Murder

Those who know me rarely see me without a newspaper or magazine. Dozens of titles cross our doorstep every month. However Paperbacks are my deepest indulgence. I can get lost is a good mystery for hours. Absorbing the characters, thinking through the plot; and wrestling with the possibilities are of endless fascination.

I know some people who pick up a book and read the last chapter, then start at page 1. Nonsense. That would be like starting with dessert and proceeding to the bread and salad (yuck).

Others rarely even touch a book- on fiction, fiction, or even supermarket romance pulp. They are missing an opportunity to discover new worlds and new people. To explore relationships, evil-doers and hero’s. To solve the murder, or just turn the pages blissfully and let the author explain it without the reader needing to think. How you read a mystery is completely up to you; and can change from week to week.

Yet an alternative way to read a mystery is to watch it unfold live and in person. To hear and see the main characters banter and bicker as they seek to unravel the layers of personalities; the multiple levels of attitude; and the myriad twists and turns a good author will proffer up.

Watching a mystery unfold as the characters blossom, the props on-stage lend an aura of mystique and drama. What matters? Which one will be used in the plot? Or is it maybe just an innocent piece of brick-a-brack?

Books are a solo experience while reading, but a group experience when discussing it with fellow readers in upcoming weeks. Live theatre however, is a group experience from the start; feeling the energy and reactions of a surrounding audience is what makes theatre a special event.

This Friday, starts a two week run of such a very special event. ‘Marriage is Murder’ opens at the renovated Duke Audiorium at the Barn in the Park Friday/Sat at 8pm and Sunday at 4pm. Call 339-7700 for tickets that are going fast.

The play features an obviously mis-matched couple who create and write murder mysteries in a unique and physical way that will have you laughing and crying. All we ask is that you not overly enthusiastically punch a neighbor in the ribs with your elbow to see if he “gets it”.

The challenges faced by an author with writers block are all too apparent here, as the couple strive to uncover, unravel and unmask the perpetrator as they create and solve the ideal mystery.

Of course you may also wish to see what the city gets for their money. The new special needs accessible restrooms will be ready thanks to the City of Troy; and thanks to the Miami County Foundation, hearing impaired patrons can now pick-up a free headset and tiny amplifier to boost sound level, so even the softest whispers come across loud and clear. Although since some of the jokes are rather ‘punny’, being blissfully unaware of them could, conceivably, offer a welcome respite from them.

Ps-While out in the Troy City Park, look around for the nine new stainless steel giant suet holders spread around the park. These giant devices are easily big enough for the great bald eagle they are apparently designed to attract. So watch out for swooping birds of prey.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column april 12- Iraq and 9/11

2006-04-03T23:15:00.000-05:00

I will be out of country next week- so this week you get two for one...

Iraq and 9/11

My recent column about the cost in lives and dollars in Iraq generated this letter from the President of the Republican Students Club at the University of Michigan, a Troy High School alumnus…

“Just wondering if you’ve seen any estimates of what the total financial loss was due to the recession following the 2001 attacks?

I consider a trillion dollars a pretty wise investment when put in that context. While I’ll never support stifling constructive criticism about the way a war that puts American lives at risk is being fought, and I in fact feel the administration is FAR too cavalier about that, I don’t think its very becoming of a businessman like yourself to misrepresent economic arguments in such an oversimplified manner. Op-eds aren’t designed nor required to present fair and balanced opinions, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t reflect the respective wisdoms and strengths of the author. “

Bob Scott, Jr. (Integrity in Journalism note- his father is also a Republican, my friend, business partner and CFO at OneCallNow)

Scottie,

The total economic impact of the 2001 attacks has nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Afghanistan- maybe. Iraq no. It bears noting that according to the State Dept. Iraq and Saddam's regime had NO - repeat NO - links to the attacks and to Al Queda.

The Iraqi war was to 'stop WMD's" - period. Then when this proved a wisp, the argument shifted to 'we needed to replace a tyrant'. Oh how I wish we had used that argument in 1939 against Hitler. Or to dump Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Pinochet, and more.

Then- as the Iraq morass became entrenched, the drumbeaters of war tried time and again to call this "part of the war on terror" and by keeping IED's there, they wouldn't show up on I-75. Pure hogwash to justify 2300 American lives lost.

A businessman such as myself- looks at revenue and cost- and reasonable forecasts of both- and makes sound, logical decisions based on expected returns, and risk-reward. From that perspective, the war in Iraq has NOT…

Protected me from bio/chemical attacks- our rail yards, chemical storage areas stand unguarded. Recommendations to change this are rejected as being ‘costly to industry’.

Helped me sleep better knowing Iran now can throw missiles anywhere in the Middle East and is nuclear bound, as is North Korea. The insistence of dialogue and six-way talks with North Korea hammered home by President Bush in the 2004 debates are the last we heard about that issue.

Given me comfort about my brethren in Israel- since our anti-world attitude has fomented such hatred abroad that Hamas had no trouble raising the funds to win a democratic election in Palestine.

Stopped our government from spending 60% of anti-terrorism dollars on the states with 26% of the population. I’m sure that Montana desperately needed the $32 million in anti-terrorism funds they have received since 9/11.

Generated serious thoughts to protecting us at home; if it takes 4 days to respond with the first trucks of relief after a Hurricane gave 8 days advance warning, how long would it take to get help to Columbus for example, in case of a sudden attack? And is a lawyer and political advance man in charge of homeland security the guy to make me sleep safer?

That Cheney saying 'conservation is noble- but not practical' to reduce our dependency on their largess is ludicrous. After the 1973 attack (the oil embargo), a wake-up call if ever there was one, dropped foreign oil use by 50% in 7 years as conservation became a mantra, not just a noble cause.

That selfishly, as a businessman, with our company's technology; Army Reserve and Guard spouses are being notified that their spouses units are being activated hours or days BEFORE the Pentagon’s manual phone tree gets through to the soldiers themselves. And yet the Army has rejected this cost, of 50 cents a soldier, as being too expensive. I am constantly amazed at what the government spends money on, and even more amazed where it chooses not to.

As a US citizen and businessman- I am more than disgusted and appalled- I am scared for the long term survival of my marketplace and customers.

Too bad I only get 700 words in print. Fair and balanced thought needs more than that.

Leib Lurie is a Troy resident You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column April 3- Openiong Day Madness

2006-04-03T22:43:00.000-05:00

Opening Day Madness

I dislike the Cincinnati Reds. Years ago I felt more than a little slighted by Marge Shott’s antics and inflammatory and anti-Semitic statements she bandied about.

It also has to do with the overpriced and undervalued games, food and parking. The Dragons have it right- make fans feel welcome, invited, excited, involved and appreciated; and you’ll sell out every game. Add a bunch of young, hungry, eager players who interact with fans, sign autographs and play their hearts out to the mix and you’ll sell out the lawn seats too.

Yet the Reds do have a way of celebrating opening day. For the 87^th time, the Opening Day parade wound through downtown Cincinnati Monday to show the fans and folks that baseball is back from its’ long winter nap.

The Reds have new owners, a new manager, a few new traded players, and

The weather wasn’t looking very promising. Wicked thunderstorms and twisters blew through Sunday night, and Monday’s parade kicked off just as a fresh band of clouds whipped across the river at 50 miles an hour, spitting rain and pushing gusts through the concrete canyons of Cincinnati at 45 miles and hour.

The sidewalks were flush with reds fans, waving blow up “Number 1” fingers (Not, however, the same finger gesture Supreme Court justice Scalia chose to share with a reporter last week). It seems that virtually everyone was branded with the scarlet letter (OK, it was a ‘C’ and not Hester Prynne’s “A”). But judging from the ticket scalpers’ pricing, and the recent players’ salary contracts, a fan might be justified in feeling less than truly loved.

I did not fork up $120 for a scalped ticket, and other than seeing some squish-balls flung into the crowd from passing floats; I never saw a baseball pitched.

President Bush flew into town to throw out the first pitch. Ohio’s favorite son president Howard Taft was the last sitting President to show up for opening day in 1912. The papers and radio media were preening, prepping and pumping the pitch for days. Yet when it happened, WLW was on commercial break. So much for the hype.

The parade itself was hokey. Barely half a dozen themed floats with some patched together flowers and posters reminded us that this was home of flying pigs, and some true baseball legends; but Troy’s Strawberry Festival brings out significantly more talent and design. I will say that Cincinnati has far more radio stations in their parade than Troy gets in June. It seemed that 50 of them wired up obnoxious speakers to garishly painted vans and Hummers to bombast us with their current play list. Add in a couple dozen big rig trucks gratuitously granted parade rights so we could be impressed with the size of their air horns, and the situation was bleak.

No clowns and no Clydesdales, but I still enjoy parades- unicycles, motorcycles, dogs, and waving characters dressed in furry or fuzzy icons of their commercial sponsors make me smile. My wife says I am easily entertained. Maybe someday we’ll get Cable TV at home and I’ll and upgrade my standards. Nonetheless, even when the weather stinks, and particularly when I have come for someone special, I like parades…

Eighteen High School bands came through, including the Twin Valley South Panthers from Preble County. I mention this because my wife teaches choir there, and volunteered me to join her as chaperone for the Sunday/Monday ‘Band goes to the big city party & parade’ activity. Chaperoning 80 kids to Pig town was far less strenuous and stressful than accompanying 150 marching Trojans to London for New Years’ Day Parade, but it was a nice diversion to create a long weekend.

Band kids are a special breed. They work incredibly long hours practicing and honing. They learn teamwork, camaraderie, dedication, and musicianship. Some will go on to a career in music. But they all will take away something special. Band kids are the most diverse, inclusive group of kids I have ever seen on a school campus. They were marvelous to accompany.

What a day. The Reds were undefeated for the season as the parade started. Too bad it didn’t last.

Leib Lurie is a dutiful husband to a High School teacher. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column- 2006-3-29: I've been robbed

2006-03-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

I've been robbed

I support our troops – as do every American who want to see people in the line of fire rescued from danger and brought home safely.

I support the road to democracy. People across the globe should be free to find their own way, and elect their own governments. Dictatorship is a bad thing. Dictatorial decisions based on heaping riches and rewards on the ruling elite in favor of the people is a bad thing. Ruling juntas that stifle free and open debate and impose their unique will upon the country while paying lip service to elections and the popular vote deserve to be brought to task – and justice.

Countries that have a virtual inexhaustible supply of reserves and tax revenue from workers are the ideal prey-ground for army commanders who want to muffle cries of justice from the courts. The opposition party often terminates those who dare raise objections. They let loose with bribes and payoffs to shut up the opposition. In many egregious cases, a corrupt businessperson wins multi-million dollar orders or bid-free contract in exchange for his donation to some relative of the junta.

Unfortunately, that description doesn’t just fit Hussein, Putin, or Muammar al-Qaddafi It fits the party in power here at home.

When the march to war in Iraq stumbled over little inconveniences like lack of facts, Lawrence Lindsey, Bush’s Chief Economic advisor was fired when he said the costs would be $100 to $200 billion.

When the WMD’s were unknown and unseen, Bush had a secret meeting with Tony Blair to announce the bombing start date, Two weeks before then Secretary of State was given now repudiated bogus pictures and data and sent to New York to show them off to the UN. Since that body refused to go along with the charade, as soon as possible thereafter our Czar sends a new ambassador to the Big Apple with instructions to tear apart every agreement and rip apart every activity. Ambassador Bolton has done a remarkable job sowing ferment and discord; better even than German foreign minister Ribbontrop in 1939 fended off the dogs of his war for months as Germany blitzkrieged across Europe.

When Joseph Stiglitz, an economist at Columbia University, and a colleague, Linda Bilmes of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, issue a report that estimates the "true costs" of the Iraqi war at more than $1 trillion, and possibly more than $2 trillion, the defense department and state department ridiculed the Nobel Prize winner. Yet the numbers are start, and real, and big.

Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy defense secretary proclaimed that Iraq’s oil would easily pay for the war. It has been shown he had no basis for that statement, other than for propaganda value in winning over Congress. He has since been rewarded with a plush job overseeing the world bank- chartered with bringing poor countries up with their bootstraps.

Mr. Stiglitz said that about $560 billion, which is a little more than half of the study's conservative estimate of the cost of the war, would have been enough to "fix" Social Security for the next 75 years. If one were thinking in terms of promoting democracy in the Middle East, he said, the money being spent on the war would have been enough to finance a "mega-mega-mega-Marshall Plan," which would have been "so much more" effective than the invasion of Iraq.

This is the way our government protects its’ own, stifles dissent, and proffers little but sound bites as Iraq descends into civil war and our soldiers equipped to do little but watch and wonder.

The war’s cost is now at $10,000 per household and rising. Bush said that ‘future president’s’ would determine when our boys would come home. I’m not sure the mothers can stand to wait, nor can American’s afford the cost.

Leib Lurie, a Troy resident, holds an MBA in Economics and Marketing.

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Make Imagination Your Destination

2006-03-20T22:19:00.000-05:00

Given a team of seven students, a few months to work together after school, and a budget of less than $200 would you be able to solve the following Destination Imagination challenge?

"Design and build a device that will send tennis or ping pong balls flying through the air at a target you also build that will be 14 feet away. The balls must be launched by some mechanical means, to reach the target area, then come back automatically, via some return device to the launching point. The smaller the target opening, the more points every ball that reaches it will score. Using a starting set of 5, how many balls can you get through the target and back in eight minutes?"

To make the challenge interesting, while the balls are flying, have your team integrate and perform a team-created story about something or someone who has gone away and then returned. Oh, and by the way, you score big points for creativity and originality but quality and polish matter too.

We were impressed with teams from elementary, middle and high school; they all solved the challenge on their own terms, in their own way, with vastly different approaches. Although the winning team at our regional tournament managed to score a few dozen balls, a team in Texas faced the unusual problem of helping the judges’ measure more than 1,200 balls whipping through their unique device.

Which way would you choose to launch your tennis balls? A catapult? Heavy spring? Air compressor? Leaf blower? Drill with a grinding wheel attachment? Can you even imagine how some of these might be designed to accurately hit a target across the room?

Would your device be based on a story in the ancient world? Outer space? The wild west? Or a forest of Cicadas?

Saturday at Edison College, dozens of Destination Imagination teams gathered to strut their stuff in front of appraisers gathered from throughout the region. The teams of kids ranged from 1^st grade through High School, each with a volunteer Team Manager. Typically a parent, but there are some great teachers volunteering even more of their time to enrich the academics of their students with a chance to advance to the Ohio state championship round in April, or the Global finals in Knoxville on Memorial Day weekend.

The enthusiasm never wanes – as kids in costumes and duct tape wander the halls between performances for family, friends and schoolmates.

OK, think you can do it? Did I forget to tell you about the Instant Challenge? This 5 minute sudden death round is a never-seen-before; never-seen-again problem posed to the team in a closed room. They get two minutes to think and 3 minutes to solve the challenge. It might be verbal, or performance, or engineering based.

For example, given 20 pieces of raw spaghetti, some string, a few strips of tape, paper cups and some paper clips; how long a bridge can you make out of spaghetti? (hint, the stuff is far more brittle than you hope it will be.) The winning team got ten feet.

How many creative things can you make or say about a square of red cloth going round the room in three minutes flat. The winning team had over 35 ideas; including a sun-sail to power a ship to Jupiter. In DI, the rules are clear, but the rules encourage thinking outside the box and reward those who make imaginary leaps of space, time and physics.

Sometimes those pesky rules of physics and the properties of motion can be a hindrance; so this year, one of the Challenges was “Kidz Rules”. The team needed to create a story about a place where it is possible to bend or break one of the rules of motion (you know, like a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon) to show what might happen when, or if, such a 4^th dimensional place existed where things move of their own accord. The team had to make their story even more believable by producing a demonstration of this mythical motion as part of their production.

DI is another activity sponsored by the Troy Noon Optimist Club to benefit the youth of our community. Why not do something truly creative and original? Drop in at Taggart’s any Monday at Noon for a free lunch and take up the challenge of Optimism.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

The future is bright in Troy

2006-03-19T04:26:00.000-05:00

Speaking one’s mind in front of an audience is an awesome experience. I get to do it here every week. Others are not so lucky. Our teenagers are often talkative and chatty with their friends, and family; but how often can they put together a conscious stream of thought and present a dissertation to a live audience.

How often can they talk about peace, love, religion, poverty, disease, handicaps, and family in front of a group of attentive adults; and find us mesmerized at their vocabulary, poise and presentation, to say nothing of the underlying content that differentiates a rant from a cogent and clear discourse?

Yet that’s what we say last week at the Troy Junior High and Monday at the Optimist Club. Over 50 students prepped and primed for months to author, polish and present a short speech with the working title “The Future is Bright Because…”.

Thanks in no small part to Pat Morris at the Junior High, and other dedicated teachers in the English department, our school has one of the highest participation rates in the state for the annual Oratory contest. It takes a lot of work by a dozen volunteers from the Optimist Club to coach and help these teens prepare.

There are tips on poise, what to do with fidgeting hands, dress tips to make gawky 7ht and 8th grade ‘tweeners’ look more like the sophisticated “almost adults” that their verbiage and messages convey.

The Troy winners will get to go on to the district and regional contests, where substantial scholarship monies await. Regardless, the local winners will get a tax-free pre-paid college credit account from the Optimist Club to help pay for what will be an expected $250,000 educational cost for a four year degree at a private University with room, board and books for a current 7th grade student. The burden will be even worse as the cost of student loans have doubled this year.

The Optimist in me hopes for the best for every student striving to succeed, but it’s somewhat disheartening to see salary surveys that show the average college graduate will be paying off loans for 15-20 years, versus an average of 5 years of payoff that graduates in the 1990’s could expect.

Tuitions keep rising, interest doubles, restrictions on parental incomes drive down grant and scholarships, and our devolving global job market means that many purportedly ‘safe’ jobs for Americans are under price pressure from abroad. Yet I digress, the future is bright because…

These kids attacked issues of impoverished Indians begging for food from a Troy youngster while he was on a trip, lucky enough to be in a chauffeured limo, en-route to the Taj Mahal. One of India’s brightest and most prestigious monuments to a marvelous culture, yet Dickinsonesque ragamuffins were groveling for rice just outside the gates. This culture clash was brought forcefully home by one of our students who wove it into his speech focusing on the potential for all children.

Another girl bemoaned the fact that our secular Junior High had a lot less religion in her daily life than the Catholic elementary school she attended, but that finding expanded friends and activities left her feeling fulfilled in other ways as her bright look at the future.

One young man, wheelchair challenged, spoke about the changing culture of America working to make all places more accessible to those with special needs. (author’s note- the Troy Civic Theatre special needs accessible restroom project funded by the city will be finished for the Spring show).

I liked the spunk of the boy who wanted to play Hockey at Miami University while studying to be a defense lawyer (although he didn’t compare the two activities, it might have made a more poignant visual).

The students all spoke incognito to assure impartiality; but when introduced it was easy to see names we have heard before. Active, engaged teens who have been active in previous Optimist events and activities, such as Destination Imagination, as well as sports, church, Scouts, and heavy academics.

Their dedication and focus are something we can all look up to, because the future is brighter with these kids on the podium.

Leib Lurie is an Optimist Club member and Troy Resident You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column- where the wind runs free

2006-03-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

Where the wind runs free

Oklahoma! is America’s favorite musical, or so say many critics; and judging from the overwhelming audiences the past two weekends, Troy agrees.

The Troy Civic Theatre, performing at the Duke auditorium at the Barn in the Park embarked last Fall on a 40^th anniversary extravaganza, performing the most ambitious, largest spectacle ever squeezed into the theatre as the centerpiece of their troupes fortieth anniversary celebration.

Seventy Seven people were listed in the Playbill credits; including 21 in the orchestra, the largest pit ever used for this small community theatre, their overture set the stage as the 30 cast members positioned themselves behind the newly positioned curtain across the expanded and renovated flooring while the audience tapped their feet, comfortably ensconced in the new plush seats with stretched legroom.

The orchestra with a strong combination of brass, woodwinds and percussion, was led by Robert Besecker, who also directed the show. The music of Oklahoma, evoking the sweeping plains and open prairie, sets the mood through the performance; with fast dances alternating with the piece like an old work song spiritual “Poor Judd is Dead”. The range and depth kept shifting the pace such that a 3 ½ hour performance just sped by.

The backstage crew and set designers had outdone themselves. Huge realistic set pieces, rustling sheaves of corn (as high as an elephant’s eye) set in front of an expansive three dimensional backdrop that made it appear the prairie went on forever to the horizon.

Saturday night was a sell-out performance (and six of the scheduled 8 performances have sold out); even though the Troy Civic Theatre has added 25% more seats than ever before! Showing that live amateur community theatre that charges a modest $9.00 a seat in Miami county can stuff ‘em to the rafters for a great performance.

The Theatre is trying to add an encore performance this Sunday at 4pm- look at these pages to see if Rogers and Hammerstein agrees to a change in the royalty terms; and if you haven’t seen it yet- plan to do so Sunday. The cast and crew agreed, after 12 weeks of rehearsals and a thoroughly exhausting run to put on one more show as a benefit performance for charity.

The show itself is awesome. I first saw the movie years ago- and wondered frankly, along with others on the board, how a cramped little theatre would host such a musical epic. I joked for weeks about how we would get a locomotive, a dozen horse drawn wagons and acres of corn under the old beams in the barn. Yet the magic of theatre came through, with exciting choreography, innovative set design, and seamless shifts of props to secure the image of turn of the century Oklahoma.

The show features a number of high energy dances – with cowboys and their girls doing the newly introduced two step along with jigs and fast paced square dances that show off the high stepping exhilaration of the period. Swishing skirts, stomping boots and synchronized tap dancing made me lust after the open space freedom of the Oklahoma territory during the exciting period prior to statehood.

In many musicals, the dialog is often just a bridge between the energetic and vibrant musical numbers, and sometimes these short pieces made me impatient for another dance or song; but there was never a long wait, as music flows effortlessly after just a few paragraphs of dialog in almost every scene.

Seeing a play in small town Troy is a communal experience. One always sees friends or acquaintances, and this was no exception. It was especially pleasing to see some young actors, actresses and musicians who we had seen years ago as little tykes blooming into talented members of the show. Chatting between acts or after the show lets one re-connect with these folks and their families. In Community theatre, after the curtain call, friends join the cast on stage for pictures, reminiscing and kisses. Having a white picket fence already on stage gave this gossip time renewed meaning.

So if you can- come Sunday (339-7700 for tickets) or check the web site www.troycivictheatre.com It’s a rollicking good time.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Looking forward,

Leib
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lURIE COLUMN- 2006-3-1: Active children should be encouraged.

2006-02-27T23:22:00.000-05:00

Last week in Houston, dozens of young soccer players from the southwest worked with their coaches to demonstrate techniques and expertise to 600 soccer volunteer executives from around the country.

The young players showed off footwork, dribbling, passing, heading, and dozens of defensive moves. Some of the goalie plays were pretty awesome.

Virtually all of the young players were slim and athletic. Able to run and dodge for almost an hour without appearing winded or tired. Tough, competitive after-school sports managed by a caring and competent coach is teaching these children more than stamina. They were all inevitably polite to the judges and visitors. When they cruised the trade show floor afterwards, it was to learn about things that interested them, not just scoring candy from the booth give-a-way jars.

At the other end of the massive John Brown convention hall in downtown Houston 800 (mostly) girls converged on the blue stage with disco lights and foam matting for the Cheer America regional Championships. In Texas, cheerleading is more than an extra-curricular activity; it is a virtual religion.

With squads from mini 8 year olds, through pee-wee, junior and senior young women in High school, the competition was tough. Daring Leaping people-net catches, gymnast moves with leaps, twists splits and back flips faster than the eye could follow. Culminating in multiple formations of multiple girls stacked up in picture perfect poses eight feet in the air.

The array of parents and coaches working in the warm-up area showed again, that well trained coaches dedicated to kids can bring together disparate teams to create and mold outstanding athletic performers.

The types of people at the two events have a shared concern for building character and athletic abilities, but the personalities and appearances differed markedly. Although most of the soccer coaches were athletic themselves, a sizeable number were just as obese as middle America. With barrel chest’s, pot belly’s, and poorly matched tops and bottoms. Comparatively, the vast array of cheerleading moms were decked out to the nines; and most, even when their girls were college bound, seemed bound and determined to maintain their own Ivory Girl fresh-faced sleek look. Often sharing belly baring outfits with their 2^nd generation (or more) cheerleading offspring.

The vendors at the show knew the difference. The soccer show featured BBQ, and Taquitos. The cheerleaders lined up for smoothies and salads.

Between these two shows, the Houston Car Club was showing off Mustangs, Camaros, and muscle cars. The vendors knew this crowd too. Beer in abundance, nachos, hot dogs and sugar-laden soda pop. Too many of the car aficionados would never be able to squeeze under the chassis on a mechanic’s creeper.

Recently, a massive multi-year study of eating habits and health impact reported that after tracking 40,000 people; half urged to cut out fat, and the other half left to follow their nose and taste buds, ended up eating a diet closer to the average American. High fat and purportedly lousy for longevity.

Yet the study surprised everyone. Eating bad stuff didn’t prove to be predictors of bad health. Hundreds of nutritionists and doctors immediately jumped on the study with proclamations and dire predictions.

Regardless of the study, and whether or not one believes that making a modest change in their diet will make a difference over the long haul; the cross section of America that flocked to the convention center last week certainly showed strong corollaries between intake and waist line inflation. It also showed that choice of recreation- for you and your children, and how active you are with your kids, makes all the difference.

Spring is coming. The parking lot at the Robinson Y is still packed, but as the temperature rises this week- and outdoor activities beckon, leave the couch potato Olympic observatory and let’s determine to work out harder and even though cynics say it may be pointless, eat smarter.

Leib Lurie is CEO of a coaches message service that serves thousands of soccer and cheerleading teams nationwide. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column Feb 22- Music on the Prairie winds

2006-02-20T23:56:00.000-05:00

Lake Michigan was still choppy when we arrived on Wednesday, the lights of Chicago shimmering off the white caps stretching from the Navy Pier to McCormick Place. January was downright hot, leaving the Great Lakes unfrozen for the first time in memory. The thermometer plunged on Friday and Saturday morning a sheet of thin ice stretched across the horizon as February winds blasted in from the prairie.

This is not the week to jog along the lake – or around the levee in Troy. In Chicago we were regaled by the voices of the prairie – as choirs of elementary, middle, high school and college kids gave repertoire performances for the American Choir Directors’ association. Attending with my prestigious press credentials from the TDN (and accompanying my wife who was sent by Preble County Schools, we saw the magic that music can create; and set the mood for more here at home this week.

The Young Naperville Singers- 200 kids from 6 to 17 with the marvelous range that comes from prepubescent tenors to the throaty teens maturing into Bass and baritone singers. The Naperville, Illinois city that is somewhat smaller than Dayton, supports a wide array of music and the arts for kids. This choir with tremulous voices was more than a passing nod to the power of arts in a community. Singing both a cappella and with musical accompaniment the choir did Jazz, Soul, Bach and an Australian native gabagong. The latter being a rather strange, to American ears form of 4-8 measure statement unconnected in any way. Our traditional European heritage music is simpler with more romantic melodies and tone. This piece was the choral equivalent of a heavy metal rock band playing chamber orchestra instruments.

Indianapolis sent the Central High School Counterpoints to perform for the annual convention attended by 500 Choir directors from across the county. The 53 choir members and their school band went through a perfunctory old world requiem, then switched gears to a group of 20^th century popular tunes anyone could sing, albeit not nearly as well as these youngsters.

We saw performances of the Miami University choir (hey David Lindeman- your son did you proud) and The Ohio State University. An elementary and high school honors choir- sort of the all star game- with the best kids from across a four state region came to Chicago to practice together, for the first time, for two days before performing the conference finale.

In this breathtaking 1930’s art deco ballroom, one director scattered his singers on stage, along the side balconies, in the center of the room and perched at the back; five sources of voices at times serenading us and at times crooning to each other. The choir’s complex harmony literally bounced around the room, leaving our heads spinning. They proved that quadraphonic sound really did predate the digital electronic amplifier. And to think I thought choir directors were just wildly waving their arms to keep scarecrows from landing on the kids.

For those of you mired here in Troy for the winter (have no fear, the prognosticating Groundhog tells us spring is coming next month) there’s no need to despair because fabulous voices and music of the prairie are available this week without leaving town.

Oklahoma!, often called America’s favorite musical is a Rogers and Hammerstiens’ classic that will squeeze a record 58 cast, crew and orchestra members into the renovated Barn in the Park Theatre across from Hobart Arena starting Friday night. The songs of the wide open plains and happy dancing and unrequited love positioned in old Oklahoma will reverberate through the old beams and rafters of the Theatre. The old wood will feel like a young birch again- and so will you. So come on down to a hoop-de-doo barn dance. Scoop up the remaining tickets by calling 339-7700 or at troycicivtheatre.com

Leib Lurie sneaks into national conferences pretending to report on music and is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column- E-Tech for Ohio students

2006-02-13T23:24:00.000-05:00

Educating students in Ohio

This week 8,000 teachers, administrators and technology folks from around the state have gathered at the Ohio E-Tech conference in Columbus. They are seeking the holy grail of e-learning methodologies.

If the last time you were in school they were still using charcoal on a shovel, things have changed beyond comprehension. If you went to school when they used slide projectors and film strips – some of the gear may look remotely familiar. For those who studied alongside a microprocessor from Apple or IBM, the differences are in one sense subtle and in another amazing.

Ohio has dropped to #31 in state rankings of educational achievement, dropping 11 positions in the past year according to Morgan Quitno Press, the leading publisher of state and city ranking publications. The vendors at the show need to sell more than hardware, silicon and software; they need magic to turn this boat around.

Four times in the past eight years the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that state funding for schools is illegal and unconstitutional. Our lame duck Governor Taft has ignored the highest court in the state and continued with business as usual; which means pretty bad. The legislature has done no better. All but fiddling as Rome burns around them. Making patchy changes here and there, but overall; reducing the funds most students get for education.

Although the current state average for per pupil spending is $9,573; Troy lags far behind, scraping together about 25% less than that for our kids. The results tell the tale. Only 25% of Troy students will ever finish even a two year college degree compared with 67% in Rhode Island. College graduates have a 2.2% unemployment rate, High school only? 7.5% are looking for work.

So what are these vendors and 234 different sessions hoping to achieve? Electronic boards that draw lessons in color and overlay PC images drew crowds; but are the multiplication tables grasped any quicker in rainbow hues? Will teachers armed with Palm computers that can zip wireless questions and assignments to every student’s display and allow them to instantly beam assignments back for electronic grading against a national plagiarism database really improving the thought process of K12 students?

Dozens of firms pledge to keep school computers humming along virus free, with layers of security and web filtering to avoid exposing young minds to the nasty ads, pictures and drug offers that permeate every one else’s in-box.

A number of publishers are making a mint printing the new OGT (Ohio Graduation test) preparation books. The five sections must be passed by every Ohio student to graduate starting in 2007. Sounds like a tough standard but that’s nonsense. Although students get four tries (at least) taking each section, unbelievably a passing grade of 40% is considered proficient enough for a Buckeye diploma. Batting 400 is terrific for a Dayton Dragon, but pathetically poor for a graduation standard.

There certainly are better methods of teaching, and we need to enhance the curriculum to meet the needs of employers and jobs in our 21^st century global economy. The dozens of computer vendors and software publishers all think they have the tools to make a difference. The attendees swarm the demos and flock to sessions on ‘how to make better icons in Word’.

Silicon and software saturation is not the panacea the E-Tech attendees here seem to hope it will be. The only thing that has ever really taught students is well-paid, knowledgeable, experienced, dedicated teachers backed up by concerned parents. But none of the booths were hawking either of those. Maybe next year’s show will, because that is what we really need in Ohio.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column Feb 8- Love is a many splendored thing

2006-02-06T23:12:00.000-05:00

Some folks reading this page see things that make them think, others get angry or upset over what they read. The news from outside our protected Miami Valley can be at times exciting, overwhelming, exhilarating and frightening. Tonight I wish to explore something closer to home that can evoke those same emotions and more. Love.

Friday and Saturday night is couples night. The annual Valentines� Day dinner theatre at the Troy-Hayner cultural center will be the scene for those hitched or at least with a significant other to have a romantic dinner and enjoy some comedy and singing by the Funny Valentines. Featuring a high energy trio playing arrangements of Broadway standards, opera and classical song coupled with some great comedy. So book the evening and see what emotions you can bring to a cold February evening in Troy.

Here I sit writing while listening to songs from Irving Berlin. My mate of 29+ years is taking a choir class, working on more college credits to add to her 285. Yet, while we are comfortably ensconced in our relationship, for many folks without (or between) a significant other, Valentines� day is an emotionally debilitating time; when one pines for lost love or regrets the paths that split so long ago from a lover or friend who might have been.

Finding true love is more than never having to say you�re sorry. It�s just plain hard work sometimes, but usually it�s a quirk of fate that brings two people together for the long haul; or even for a short flight.

How can one find joy and happiness when the barriers are so high? If you didn�t meet a good friend in High School (and how many really ARE high school lovers who live happily ever after), then what?

The bar scene? Dunaway�s and Leaf & Vine are somewhat limiting; if you haven�t found a special someone after a few week ends, you have probably exhausted the possibilities.

Church Socials? There are 48 churches in the zip code, and a few hundred more within ten miles. Most are small, but I think one of the reasons for the growth in mega churches like Ginghamsburg is that the odds of meeting someone are far better in a dynamic, large scale environment with lots of cell groups to check out. Cycling through the many potential acquaintances and sharing a pew doesn�t let you in on a person�s true character as looking at how many dirty dishes are in their sink.

Cycling through? The �meet over sweat� can bind some folks tighter than Lycra. You can join the 6am marathon run to the swim lanes at the Robinson �Y�, and try to make smoochie noises while doing the breast stroke or join a Yoga class and bend your body into a pretzel while trying to bend her mind into the concept of joining you for dinner.

Searching the Internet? Amazingly popular. Yahoo Personals is an Internet dating service that lists 432 women searching for men, and 735 men seeking a lady. A wide array of choices, and those are just the folks within ten miles of Troy. One of my co-workers has been doing an experiment using Yahoo, you can set dozens of criteria (non-smoker? College educated? Rock or Country?) set a search radius � and poof, review pictures and profiles. Personally I think they need to add two significant compatibility questions. How many pieces of dirty laundry are OK to have on the floor, and how many dishes can be piled in the sink.

Anyway, arrange a safe meeting at LaFiesta, O'Briens or maybe the dinner show at Hayner. We have been to three weddings of Internet match-ups, so it�s certainly worth a try.

True Love is in the air, and possibly just around the block. Seek it out!

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column feb 1- groundhog day is tomorrow

2006-01-31T00:08:00.000-05:00

GroundHog Day is tomorrow

Last night we heard all about the new agenda in Washington, and how well the war against terrorism in Iraq is going (although CBS anchorman Bob Woodward did not report that news to us).

We were reminded again and again that spying on Americans in time of war is perfectly legal and was all but mandated by Congress when they authorized the attack on Iraq. Although the phrase �we don�t need no stinking warrants� was not spoken per se; the implication was more than overt. Since terrorists don�t respect laws, we can�t let pesky constitutional protection stand in the way of our relentless pursuit of evil-doers.

The world was introduced to the next supreme court justice, one of 15 selected ten years ago by a secret cabal of Washington donors and party faithful to be weaned and watched; they may have succeeded in re-shaping the court to their desired mold.

We heard about the wonderful benefits the Medicare drug program is bringing, even though only 1% of the eligible folks have figured out the donut hole, caveats and complexity. I�m not sure why it wasn�t put together as simply as the tax cuts that the President wants to shove through Congress this year. Those were easy to calculate; If you earn a lot, keep more of it.

The speech covered a broad range of tepid initiatives to be tackled by Congress in this election year. He glanced about the room when he talked about the token moves to limit lobbying, He was cheered from the Red side when he applauded the budget cutters� efforts that will save a few billion by slicing back college loans, education, job training, and medical aid. Seldom was heard a discouraging word about last years� major push to privatize Social Security.

The applause lines were clear and simple. We need to open the Alaska wilds to drilling, and assure more tax breaks for the leasing rights to Exxon and company. (Their profit increased by $11 Billion over last year- That means every American family contributed $110 to Exxon�s bottom line last year). Although conservation and better CAF� gas mileage standards would cut energy imports by 25%, we heard not a peep in the hour long speech.

We heard that the city of New Orleans is getting ready for Mardi Gras; but didn�t hear why reconstruction monies have been cut, tens of thousands are still homeless, or requested papers on what went wrong been withheld under �executive privilege�.

The world is no safer today than before we embarked on a trillion dollar (when long term veterans health care is factored in) foray into regime changes and nation building, but you wouldn�t know it from last nights� speech. Sure we heard about Iran and North Korea- two nations determined to let the �nucular� genie out of the bottle on their terms; but we didn�t hear anything about the six way talks with Korea that were so prominent in the Bush debating points in 2004. So much for consistency and statesmanship.

I am in full agreement however with his pledge not to fund the Palestinian Hamas leadership while they espouse terror and the destruction of Israel. Yet I fear that that powder keg will blow in ways we least expect it, and another intelligence failure will be the nig story.

Yes, it was a rip roaring speech, the wounded veteran in the balcony, and the uprooted New Orleans family sitting next to Laura Bush gave the speech a touching poignancy.

This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union Address fall on the same week, It is an ironic juxtaposition: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a groundhog.

Spring may be just around the corner, but when will we see sanity in our government?

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column Jan 25- Technology gets too complex

2006-01-23T23:38:00.000-05:00

A few years ago our company handled thousands of technical support calls from customers around the world every month. We dealt with many languages, handling people of all types and all levels of experience with a computer and our software.

We constantly faced a frustration for users and our staff. When an experienced user was routed to an inexperienced technical person, they were asked a string of elementary questions that left them upset and angry. Often a super-user might know more about the particular area of the software than the newbie tech who was embarrassed and flustered with the users� frustration.

On the flip side, a new user might get paired with an experienced tech, who�s brusque shorthand style left them bewildered and frustrated. So often, we had everyone upset.

We needed to route calls better. We went looking at technology solutions. The endless stupid queries some firms put you through to get through their maze of auto-attendant routings were far too complex to set up, and conversely, when we walked through the process manually, we found that it would fail to route calls based on user experience and knowledge.

How could we determine if a caller was bright or dumb? PC literate or a techno novice? And do it quickly and efficiently- without insulting anyone?

The solution came to us in a �flat forehead� moment (when you slap your hand on your forehead and shout �Oh! How dumb!�)

We added a single question after the ubiquitous �please hold� message. We simply asked callers to while away the few moments on hold to help us with a marketing survey for a fellow company here in Toronto, by pressing a key and tell us if their VCR is blinking Twelve. Press 1 for yes, 2 for no. Research in Motion, the neighboring firm used that data to help design a better remote control (and subsequently the popular Blackberry). We used the answer for a more nefarious purpose. One meant routing the call to an entry level tech, those pressing two were shunted off for more advanced help. 85% of the time, the question worked and everybody was happy.

Last year, when our old VCR died, we got a new VCR/DVD combo that can play either one. So on Monday night when my wife called and asked me to tape a show on PBS, I felt confident. Although I rarely watch TV and haven�t taped a show in years, I am the CEO of a high tech company. I live on e-mail and thrive on complexity and technology. I attend trade shows and conferences, and read voraciously to keep abreast of the latest in neat cool stuff. Besides, my mother in-law, petrified of anything that contains a microprocessor or that has a keyboard, has three vcr�s and can manage to tape three things at once throughout her home. How hard could this be?

I found a blank tape, and approached with ease. The thing wasn�t blinking twelve- I must have set it at some time. But no, the clock on new ones defaults not to a blinking midnight, but a few steady yet barely perceptible dashes. Hmmm. Let�s turn on the VCR, and turn on the TV, and set the stations in synch. Snow and static. Fiddle with channels and buttons. Nothing. Seek to make head or tails of the 87 buttons on the remote. Darn, being over 50 means none of those teeny legends in gray on silver are legible, much less logical. Twenty minutes of dickering later, with nine o�clock approaching I finally figured it out�

�Hey Mom? I effused when my mother-in-law answered, can you tape the Dickens thing on PBS in five minutes and send me the tape?�

Complex technology can be really very simple, if you can�t deal with what you have, go with who you know.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Do you like big fonts and small words?

2006-01-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

The Troy News made a big change last week. My boss changed the font size used on this page to be a big one. The old, small one is in the dust heap. I was told to slice the size of my piece each week. It is a harsh and stark choice. This means I need to cut out words to make my thoughts fit, or use short words to cram them in to this space. Oh woe, the pain.

The font size and style on a page can speed the read. My boss can also stuff more words in less space. On the flip side, he can push few words around to fill a big dead white space.

Some friends think it�s cool. That I will be forced to talk in plain, short, small words. Make�s it a clean look. But I think it�s a bad idea. Yes, small words and big fonts make for less eye strain. True, folks with bad eyes or those who skim this page may seek words on a fourth grade plane.

Yet, in my book, this is a bad gaff. We live in a tough world with folks from left and right who do their own deeds and try to tell us what to think. This is the page to air and share their thoughts, those of our own and reach out to your mind. We should and could (and did) write long, strong stuff.

I love the time I spend to pen in depth on news of the world, seek out a few weird things, or have the chance to probe bribes in the House, spies in our phones, or wars in the East. We need space to seek the truth, and to poke at the thoughts and deeds of folks named George or Dick or Tom or Don.

Close to home, we should be free to probe at things folks do in Troy. We can tell what we think, and write what we see. Our kids, schools, stores and jobs are all good things to write on. But with few words and small terms it can be very hard to get strong points to pop on this page.

Just last week we had a great First Night Blast here in town. Bands, plays, jokes, rides, and a big yelp and pop at the clock at twelve. Kids, grads, moms, dads, gramps and gran�s all came and had a cool time. They lit lights, dreamed and wished for love and stuff to come this year. We built as great night, and there�s more to tell how it went off, or came to be, and what we plan to do next year; but the tale is made far too weak when we must make the words shrink to fit.

Mark Twain once penned a note to a friend. He had strived to write a short note but found that long ones flowed so fast. His friend had no time to read a long note, so Twain kept those. He pledged to find time to cut down the word count and make a short note but it was not to be. The friend died years hence with just a few notes from Twain.

It is hard to cut out words, to make thoughts tight and crisp, it can lead to �graphs that twist and turn and blur the thoughts.

We here on this page should be free to use more words, and yes, big words � not all the time, but some of the time; and be able to give all our thoughts and views to you. That�s what we do. Big fonts make it hard to do our job.

But you should have the last choice. You pay for this page, and thus you pay me. So I�d like you to vote. Write your thoughts to my boss, who�s name is on the mast head of this page. Tell him if you want more words or less. Long words or short. A fast read or more depth.

My pen has big words, long words, fun words, trite words and yes, at times, harsh words. What do you want to see and read here? How say you? Monosyllabic or polysyllabic columns?

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can vote at editorial@tdnpublishing.com

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column Jan 4- Out of refills, out of synch

2006-01-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

I use a variety of tools to synchronize my calendar and manage my appointments and to-do�s. After years of trying every conceivable electronic widget, I keep returning to my paper pocket Day-Timer. Every day is a clean sheet, and every month visible for planning.

My company keeps its� calendar in a Microsoft web based application called Sharepoint; where we can see everyone�s schedule, vacations, travel, and shows. We keep tabs on customer commitments and reminders using Goldmine, a way for us to be reminded of upcoming sales calls, call-backs and to-do items.

My wife uses a home-grown calendar system showing a week at a time.

Yet no matter what I have tried, keeping track of prescription drug refills is a fruitlessly frustrating fouled-up mess.

As a fifty something type II diabetic (blame the genes) I take a variety of prescription drugs every morning and evening. When the bottles get low, I call the automated refill system at Kroger, and pick up the refill in a day or two. When all goes well, it�s smooth. Yet it usually does not go well.

When one drug�s �script� expires, the pharmacy will try and call my doctor for refill approval. This can delay the process by a few days. When I try to re-order early, in anticipation of a long business trip, my insurance company stymies the order and delays the refill. When my doctor changes a dosage, I get a new bottle with a different date from the others.

Pretty soon, instead of a monthly trek to the pharmacy to pick-up five refills, I find myself making the trip 5 times a month at various times, and struggling to keep the process flowing while keeping my glucose and cholesterol in check.

I tried to �scam� the system, re-ordering drugs on the 26^th day of a 30 day prescription, to get a few days extra, that would help me move the refill calendar back into synch. BUZZZ! The insurance company computer let me get 10 days ahead and then shut down refills. Forcing more trips to the druggist or having empty bottles staring back at me.

I tried the mail-order pharmacy solution, but could never reach a real person, waited for weeks for stuff to arrive, and then got confusing labels, stickers and forms that even I, a former forms designer, found incomprehensible.

I�m not alone. Many Americans taking a long term maintenance drug will miss their medication dosage. In a recent study, 64% of people missed a daily required drug more than 70 days in the year due to not having a refill.

The impact is substantial. Emergency Room visits are more than 3 times as likely for those missing 20% of more of maintenance drugs in the study period.

In my case, drugs are mostly covered by our prescription drug plan. So the only excuse for missing my meds is not taking the time and effort to manage the refills; and paying the $60.00 per month co-pay. Yet being out-of-synch is frustrating and time consuming and there doesn�t seem to be a solution. I could purchase a partial month supply out-of-pocket in a feeble attempt to consolidate dates; but the next dosage change will put me back in the refill run-around again.

Yet for many Americans, the issue is not so simple. 65 million Americans lack prescription drug coverage (45 million have no health care coverage at all) for these folks, even emergency drugs such as an antibiotic to fight an infection must be balanced against the need for food, rent and heat.

The confusing new Medicare drug program has spawned over a hundred different commercial plans with such a bewildering array of choices, caps, limitations, �do-nut gaps� and Byzantine rules that only 5% of those eligible have signed up. The balance will continue to miss �meds�, or miss meals.

Canadians have this problem licked. With universal health care coverage, everyone is covered, everywhere, every time. Prescriptions are refilled easily and quickly. The timing is easy to adjust, as a druggist has the authority to change the refill date to make sure maintenance drugs stay in synch.

There are many new and wonderful drugs constantly being developed and introduced. They can take years to wend their way through the FDA approval process, and then suppressed studies surface to force recalls such as Vioxx, which leaves us befuddled about what medical miracles we thought we had.

Yet by simply improving the way refills happen, or are allowed to happen, we would reduce the complications and emergency room visits more than enough to offset whatever picayune savings the insurance companies achieve with their cost saving procedures.

Of course, providing Universal Health Care coverage would be even better, but I�m going to make this my year to lobby for little yet significant victories.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column Dec 28- Resolutions for all of us

2005-12-26T20:51:00.000-05:00

After the Christmas and Chanukah rush to commerce, this is the week to ponder the upcoming midnight deadline and the chance to make a commitment to change things for the better.

Resolutions are the part of new year discussed for days on either side of the midnight demarcation that drives parties and celebrations.

Many resolutions will be based on personal goals. My congratulations to the ninety six pounds shed by my newsroom compatriots in the past 13 weeks of �Fit to Print�. Most of them certainly can now hide behind narrower fonts than before.

Some resolutions are desires and goals for things that exceed our grasp, and may rightly be put in the category of �Fat chance�. I always resolve to win the lottery myself, but it seems that I need to buy a ticket on a regular basis to have a fighting chance for this to come true.

There are those who pledge to make significant life changes that often have barely the staying power of a wet Kleenex.

Friends of mine frustrated with parts and actions of our representative democracy resolve to find ways to help our government improve it�s actions and services this coming year.

Educators often resolve to find ways to bring more children to the promised land of literacy and common sense, battling the enemies of complacency and tests for testing sake. Every parent should resolve to work with them on these issues for the sake of every child.

Pastors I know resolve to find ways to reduce the marital strife and discord that ruins so many relations and all too often leaves a hazardous littered path for the couple�s children to thread. We should all resolve to help them in this endeavor.

Our military leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan will resolve to train far more police than last year so a self-actualized government can take over the challenges to stability in those places.

Our Homeland Security Dept and FEMA leaders will hopefully resolve to find ways to avoid political hacks within their agencies who may have caused as much damage as the unelected Hurricanes themselves.

Our City Fathers should resolve to redouble their efforts at finding good replacement jobs � by expanding business opportunities and support for them, for those laid off locally as MT Picture was unable to fend off technology changes and ultra-low cost Chinese imports.

Our Senators and Congress should resolve on their return to the scene of their cat fights to find ways to extend trust and understanding across the aisle in ways that make these 435 disparate individuals work together to put aside differences and focus on the similarities and pressing needs for all Americans.

I urge our President to look around outside the bubble his staff has created, and see the true impact that seemingly one sided, myopic policies have on the greenhouse gas-building environment, or the fear of illness felt by uninsured Americans, and the yoke of debt placed on our youngsters by unabashed tax cuts coupled with drunken-sailor spending.

Everyone in Washington should resolve to both heed the experts and look past their egos. Resolve to comprehend they sound like bickering Kentucky Hillbillies as serious issues keep rolling along like a boulder bouncing downhill.

I�d like everyone to resolve to watch the long term weather forecast. When a major hurricane blows ashore, it tears away a little civilization from all of us. We all need to resolve to help our politicians seriously prepare for the worst, learn to face the issues and manage the aftermath honestly and competently head-on.

Members of our Optimist Club and other non-profit groups in the valley will all resolve to work harder for the causes we hold dear. I hope you will resolve to join one of our groups and help those we serve.

Our Troy Civic Theatre members have all resolved to rehearse and work to bring better theatrical experiences to you, and we�d like you to resolve to experience live theatre in February when �Oklahoma!� opens.

Resolutions come in all sizes, styles and dedication. Some can be resolved by writing a check, or working for a few hours, others need an ongoing commitment. No matter which way you go, commit to a resolution that can bring about change, and vow to help make it happen.

Finally, I�d like everyone in the Miami Valley to make a simple early resolution that is easy to keep. Come downtown for First Night Saturday. Party all evening for free, write your resolutions on a Luminary at the Courthouse Plaza. Let�s illuminate the darkness with the rays of light and hope that all our resolutions can bring.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

Lurie column- Dec 21- Secret eavesdropping interrupts First Night plans

2005-12-20T00:23:00.000-05:00

My friends and I were planning the 2^nd annual Troy First Night celebration. We were going over schedules of twenty bands, musical acts, comedians, theatrical shows, participatory art and more. Then talk turned to the news of the season.

I ignored some of the comments and jokes and kept plowing ahead. We had work to do, and lists of things to handle. We had garnered over fourteen thousand dollars in donations and local sponsorships from a fifteen firms and people - we were feeling satisfied- it was going to be a great New Year�s eve celebration. Again, someone asked - who was he listening to and under what authority?

The committee plowed on. A donor had come through with 1,000 square feet of bubble wrap and we planned to lay it out on courthouse square for a good stomping time- having a thousand Trojans doing a hip-hop number with Rum River Blend playing strong on Courthouse plaza. Then someone asked if there was any budgetary oversight for what was reported as a surreptitious domestic listening program.

Believe it or not, I wasn�t going to be distracted from the task at hand. There were food and soft drink issues to be dealt with. First Night is a family-friendly, alcohol-free event celebrated in 300 cities around the country. Starting in Philadelphia in 1976 the concept has swept the country, but only recently the county. Last year was the first First-Night celebration in Troy. This is going to be the 2^nd. We were debating whether to expect a mere 400 people like last year, or whether the cost of admission last year $10 to $20.00 per person) was a deterrent. This year, thanks to donations and sponsors (see above) the cost was reduced. This years� cost for First Night admission had been brow-beaten down to FREE. The committee needed to work out cookies and snack logistics for several thousand folks from all across the Miami Valley on Saturday Night to ring in the new year. The talk of crowds brought up the issue of security and again, someone mentioned whether we might have a concern for terrorists infiltrating Troy; because after all- the news stories this week were alive with global acts of infiltration.

Come on guys; the clock is ticking down toward New Year. The First Night Celebration of arts and community has dozens of things left on the checklist. Let�s focus folks! This paper is sponsoring the midnight countdown by Mayor Beamish as the giant ubiquitous Troy Strawberry shuffles down in the last 30 seconds. What would happen when midnight hit and everybody present flipped on their cell phone to call someone beyond our borders? Would the cell phone towers overload and create a security concern?

�What if someone is listening in to our calls. is it legal?� someone sniped. I cringed. �It�ll be too late to worry about that� I snapped back. The committee snapped back to work. Are the carriage rides set? The cool design for souvenir buttons has been completed �Puttin on the Ritz for 2006� is a great theme, but there�s lots to be done before we can dance in top hat and tails. Cases and cases of noisemakers, horns and decorations, signs, programs, and volunteers (still need eight more � you interested? 339-5455 or send an e-mail to info@firstnighttroy.com ) When once more a few snippets of conversation interrupted our work. �The guy has been listening in for years; it�s for our own good, and besides most Americans support it�. I couldn�t believe my ears. With an agenda barely covered these accusations were threatening to take over the meeting.

I flipped on the PC to play the radio spot for approval. I played it loud as I passed around the newspaper ads. We discussed the wording for the invitation telephone calls to announce the pending event to all Trojans. We wanted everyone to know the event was free, with 20 different musical acts, theater and activities starting at 4pm at Hayner and culminating at Midnight at the Courthouse Square. Thankfully someone turned back to the task at hand and asked if we had arranged for 500 luminaries to light up the courthouse steps � as people drew notes, resolutions, wishes and prayers on their bag to bring in the new year. The candles are on order, sand, bags and markers at the ready. For a buck-a-bag everyone will have the chance to make their glowing wish seen by all. A sniper asked about whether someone would write a religious prayer on their luminary and place it at the courthouse steps.

It was a tough meeting. The myriad of details at the last minute and yet some were continuing to raise the overarching question about domestic spying and unilateral eavesdropping without any judicial oversight, congressional approval or budgetary review.

I had had enough. �Look guys, how else was he going to find out who was naughty or nice? He has to listen in to everyone at sometime! Or don�t you believe in Santa Claus?

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

State Department Diplomats can come from Troy

2005-12-12T23:48:00.000-05:00

Three years ago I received an invitation from Colin Powell to consider a career change and join the United States Foreign Service. I found out later it was a form letter sent to thousands of business people who had traveled extensively internationally, but felt good at the time.

The United States Foreign Service Officers are a group of 5,000 diplomats serving in embassies and consulates around the world. These career civil servants have an obligation to work on behalf of our country to drive foreign policy towards the goals of promoting peace, stability and prosperity. This includes advocating American foreign policy, protecting American citizens, and bolstering American business throughout the world. My business was barely embryonic at the time, and this seemed like a fascinating alternative opportunity.

So I took the bait and completed the extensive application, and then, along with 33,000 others nationwide, took the State Department Foreign Service written exam. Like the ACT�s, all candidates take the test on the same day across the country. It had been 25 years since grad school, and almost as long since wielding a number 2 lead pencil for the endless stream of fill-in-the-circles of multiple choice exams. The test went on for 6 hours. The Foreign Service seeks people who have a broad working knowledge of history, culture, geography, politics, government, mathematics, grammar, and philosophy. The latter evidently so one can tackle a light banter comparing Trostke with the Greeks at a diplomatic cocktail party.

Several months later, several thousand candidates scoring well on the test were invited to schedule an all-day oral examination. I chose to take mine in San Francisco, where my daughter was interning at the time. Another grueling day. Our group of 14 started with coffee at 6:30AM, and I left the building after 7pm. We went through group exercises, single interviews and a bewildering problem solving written assignment.

As a small group, we each were assigned a position in the embassy of a synthesized country, and given a project to spearhead. The others at the table had conflicting projects. The ��Ambassador� flipped us a ridiculously low sum total of available cash to spread among several projects. A situation designed to force disagreement, discord, emotion and appeals. Around the room observers were taking notes. Should we spend monies on a new legal aid system? Elephant breeding grounds? Water purification for remote villages? (the purifying system is from a key American supplier after all), or to fund the repair of a derelict ferry connecting the Sunni�s ghetto with the mainland. These decisions mimic those that happen every day as our country really does seek to make a difference in hundreds of countries, and thousands of situations around the globe.

Although the titular head of each embassy is a politically appointed ambassador, most of the work falls on the shoulders of career FSO�s. The all-day oral session is designed to thresh out those that can stand the heat and show that they could deal with the inevitable conflicts and challenges.

One question� �Your friend for the past 2 years, the finance minister in Toganda has been overthrown in a coup and the US has recognized his successor. Your friend knocks on your door one night furtively seeking protection for his family; what do you do?� The process was fascinating yet exhausting.

In a typical year, 450 of these oral interview candidates will be asked to join the foreign service. Then the fun really begins. An FBI agent reviewed my 30 page personal history form, and then sent investigators prowling through Troy interviewing friends, neighbors and business associates. They tracked down old roommates from college (asking, I suppose if I inhaled), they spoke with family and dozens of associates in four states and six countries.

In the meantime, they ask for a medical exam that probes, prods and tests for a dozen exotic diseases; because service assignments may be anywhere worldwide.

Then the winnowed field of candidates waits for an assignment and a new career.

Or they send a letter to our Secretary of State, as I did this week where I said �It is with deep regret and mixed emotions that I withdraw my candidacy for a position in the Foreign Service Officer Corps. I would be expected to pledge loyalty to carry out the policies and positions of the United States without question and can no longer in good conscience make that pledge.� I went on to cite several examples that have appeared on this page, and also that my rapidly growing business would, in any case require a deferral.

So, Ms. Rice, I wish you the best in carrying out the directives you have been given. The Foreign Service Officers under your command have proven their mettle to get their jobs, and hopefully offer the requisite strength and stability for the long term success of diplomacy and statesmanship.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

We need more Pride, Honor, Integrity and Justice

2005-12-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

G. W. Bush spoke at length last week as he unveiled the secret plan for Victory in Iraq. Reminded me of Nixon's secret plan to end the war used to win re-election in 1972. The President was surrounded and applauded eagerly by the Annapolis midshipmen; many of whom will deploy soon to the Gulf area, albeit hundreds of miles from the Triangle of Death. No Naval ship cruises upstream on the Tigris to Baghdad.

One of our family�s best friends will depart for Iraq in January. His parents won�t tell his grandparents for fear they would lie down on the runway at Dover. The Marines send people ashore.

Michael Reagan wrote last week of the courage he saw in a trip to the Walter Reed Amputee rehab centre. He wrote about the pride and honor these soldiers felt losing pieces and parts of their bodies and uncalculated damage to their minds. Although these men (and a few women) are proud of their brief service, the repercussions of their injuries will be anything but brief. Their recovery and long term prognosis far from certain.

The Bush team Plan for Victory, according to most analysts, is a re-hash of the same tired song we have heard for a war that has lasted longer than The War to End All Wars; and is approaching our time of carnage in Korea.

Our President said he welcomed disagreement over policy; while speaking for the 4^th time in as many weeks in a military or foreign environment where disagreeing Americans could not just be cordoned off, but where our Commander in Chief could be safely ensconced miles away from their attempts at such a debate where he need not listen to anyone who disagrees with him. Pride?

Our second amendment recognizes the right of the people to form a militia to protect the homeland. Had a foreign army invaded our country under false pretenses, using fabricated evidence presented on a world stage over the objections of professional intelligence analysts; such a home grown militia fighting for freedom and independence would not be called insurgents, but patriots.

It bothers me that we have senior members of the administration under indictment for obstruction of justice in matters involving revealing state secrets. That our attorney General and his Republican predecessor have been diligently working to find ways to permanently imprison, torture and justify torture of foreign nationals with the merest hint of suspicions. Justice?

It concerns me that our Attorneys General overruled unanimous staff recommendations that the Tom DeLay led redistricting in Texas was illegal. But hey, it added five more Republicans to the House last year, and paraphrasing Richard Nixon and Robert Haldeman after Watergate; Party pragmatism means the end result is worth whatever it takes to achieve. Integrity?

I�m confused that Congressman Cunningham pleaded guilty to taking millions of dollars in bribes and was soundly castigated by fellow Republicans, but none of them mentioned the $28 Billion in undisclosed classified spending Duke Cunningham moved through his committee; a 47% increase in the past 4 years. No one talked about the billiard ball antics of Abramof and MZM Inc; as it took government contract funds and bounced it around, maybe with a little English on the ball, back and forth between lobbyists and campaign donations to Tom DeLay, Cunningham and the Bush campaign. Honor?

I�m concerned that a second Grand Jury has been convened to investigate leaks of CIA secrets to further a partisan agenda. Nixon had his plumbers but look where that led.

This administration also seems to have an enemies list and is determined to silence them using Cheney and Rumsfield to attack not just blatant opponents but lash out at loyalists who dare to even hint at a disagreement with mandated administration policy. Integrity?

As a journalist getting $25.00 to write this column, I�m somewhat jealous over the millions spent the Pentagon to assure editors insert opinions masquerading as informative news and blatant administration propaganda placed in newspapers and on TV. (TDN readers should be pleased to know, as you read this, that this paper is obviously not on the Pentagon dole).

Finally, I�m deeply perturbed that both the Senate and House, with Presidential approval, voted last week to compensate for a $400 Billion annual deficit, a $50 Billion Iraqi war allocation for the next 10 months, and a $60 Billion Katrina emergency allocation by �slashing spending� by $10 billion a year, mostly by cutting back programs for children, education, food stamps and work training. Then they add insult to injury by passing $50 Billion in additional tax cuts for the upper 1%. Honor? Integrity? Justice?

I�m proud to be an American, but jeez, my pride in these cumulative issues and actions makes me feel less than patriotic and forced to wonder; where�s the honor, integrity and justice in our government today? We deserve better.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

It�s a good Season for Coats

2005-11-28T23:23:00.000-05:00

It�s a good Season for Coats

The end of November generates mixed emotions for me. When a department store buyer in Connecticut I would greet each brisk Fall day with the welcoming phrase �It�s a good day for coats� (Did I mention I was the buyer for Ladies coats?).

Yet the relentless march to the winter solstice matched the calendar�s progression to Christmas; the retailer�s biggest nemesis and conversely the biggest nirvana. Retailers use a strange calendar that evens out every month to have the same number of days, with a 4 week month, then a 5 week one, then a 4. December is a 5 week month. One more week to boost the revenue and move goods. The relentless drive to sell never stops.

As I write this, the instant snapshot analysis of Thanksgiving weekend are rippling through the media. �Big Friday�, �Slight increase for the weekend�, �Big boxes do better than malls�, �Internet sales up significantly�. All the data, but little information. Trends hide inside the overwhelming waves of data. Can anyone other than a psychic really determine whether a 24 hour trend is a new tangent to a sales curve, paralleling the recent past, or veering up or down off the trend line. Confusing at best, befuddling to most.

As a merchant in the thicket of things, in the almost pre-computer days, we just wrote down the sales numbers in a thick leather book, one page for each comparable day. The �beat last year book�. My assistant buyers� job was to call all the branches every day at 1pm, 5pm and store closing to ask the head clerk in our department for a sales �snapshot� to write in the binder. Listing sales, weather and a brief note about what sales were running. The store was 101 years old. The binder went back for 25. We didn�t look at inflation, constant dollars, or the impact of Wal-Mart.

Back then retailing was still high pressure and fast paced, but still relatively sane. Our current just-in-time inventory process was more of a just-in-case. Buyers took the train to New York City and spent the day in cramped showrooms looking over the hot numbers for the next season. Goods were ordered months ahead of time and we gambled on colors, fashions, length and trim. After a long August day looking at models in fur, wool, down and leather, on runways decorated with snow and Evergreens, we got hit like a brick when we emerged into the polluted sweltering haze of Fashion Avenue. It was like a time warp.

As a young buyer in an industry of older mavens, all I could do was ask for the help of these experienced vendors. They took me under the wing, mentors all. I was guided through the labyrinth of fashion and merchandising, of sizes and seasonality. Carrying a stack of 6 part purchase orders and a sturdy ballpoint to penetrate the 6 carbon sheaves, we would negotiate pricing, delivery, advertising allowances, markdown guarantees, promotional merchandising plans. Take a break at a corner deli, order a pastrami on rye with a New York Egg Cream (no egg, no cream), shake hands and do the deal.

I would return to Hartford dazed from dozens of showroom visits and pass off the purchase orders to be counter-signed by my manager and processed. What did I buy? Frankly I often had no clue. My fashion sense of women�s coats was nonexistent. Yet we had a great 5 week December, and a marvelous Fall season. Doubling revenue by listening to my vendor partners, and hustling dumping the dogs quickly to free up cash to re-order the hot numbers.

We would offer a wide array of goods- from $40.00 budget coats to $495.00 luxurious fur trimmed wools. London Fog was made in Baltimore. Bromley�s stitched in a 100 year old factory in Manchester Connecticut. Lorendale�s cut in a loft off Seventh Avenue. We imported 10% of our stock from the orient, thin nylon raincoats with flimsy belts and soon-to-wrinkle collars, brought in at a high price so we could slice 30% off the �regular list� for our contrived Thanksgiving sale.

Today�s retail game is starkly different. Goods are bought by computer, often today�s sales, generated from scanned UPC labels automatically trigger tomorrow�s shipments. Yet the process of bringing goods in at higher-than-any-reasonable-price so merchants can slash prices for the �doorbuster specials� is the retailers� stock in trade.

I�m only glad that our Black Friday started at a civilized 9:30am; a generous 30 minutes before the normal opening to welcome the Christmas kickoff crowds. Oh yes, and by the way, that was the first day the Christmas decorations were unveiled storewide.

Can I interest you in a hot mid-length number in plush wool? We need to beat last year.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com

lurie column nov 23- A Prayer for Tomorrow

2005-11-21T22:18:00.000-05:00

A Prayer for Tomorrow

Tonight at 7pm the community Thanksgiving dinner and chorus will be celebrated at St. Patrick�s RC church on East Main St. The community is welcome to a multi-church non-denominational chorus performance.

Then tomorrow millions of us will tune in to the Thanksgiving parades, then work up an appetite arguing over proper turkey cooking etiquette prior to sitting down and gorfing on too much food in a brief respite from football and sibling rivalries.

There will be many prayers said over the meal. Some will be deeply religious, others barely casually so. I�d like to propose my own prayer for patriots and pilgrims alike for tomorrow.

Dear God, please look down on those of us gathered here today and guide us to work in thy name. Help us to appreciate the horrible sufferings that have befallen those Americans in New Orleans, Mississippi, Texas and Florida from the horrific storms this year. Help us see in our hearts to give more to the Red Cross for their aid. We ask also that your wisdom be granted the managers of our emergency management administrations as they seem to be wandering lost in the desert.

Let us pray for our government, as much as some of us like to ridicule those in power, and seek change; strong, honest, caring and effective leadership is an essential part of our democracy and the essence of what makes us Americans. Let us pray that bi-partisanship intelligence can win over polarizing degradations in order to form a more perfect union and build a better country for every American and for our children and their children�s children.

Let us pray for the soldiers sent to topple the cruel regime in Iraq, and that the insane Moslem sectarian warfare that has killed so many finds a rational solution in an irrational Persian country that is both the seat of civilization and the core of obscene barbarian acts of violence.

Show the light to our Congress as they struggle to be rational. Guide them to pass laws that truly represent the greatest good for the greatest number; helping the poor amongst us to reach their full potential; and allow our wealthy families and corporations to contribute their fair share to operating an equitable and successful economy.

Help our state legislatures, who wrongly believe they understand the business of education better than our dedicated teachers, that giving great teachers the tools and pay they need and deserve will allow our children to learn and excel. Grant our lawmakers the wisdom to make adequate school funding with minimal micro-management intervention oversight that historically has cost billions and yielded little.

Guide those at this table and those at tables across the land, to recognize that on Friday morning, while jostling for position when the super-sales start, that virtually every toy and electronic gadget they buy will have been made by a low-wage foreign worker. That buying them threatens our livelihoods here for tomorrow.

We thank you for your blessing of the creation of fossil fuels that keep us mobile, fed and warm; it would be less than pious to question your wisdom in placing so much black gold in inhospitable areas of the world; or in the hands of so few greedy big companies. Nonetheless, we pray for long term solutions and the wisdom to make the tough decisions and sacrifices to come in building an energy independent future.

Your gift of tobacco was appreciated by the early pilgrims. Their ceremonial pipe smoking brought people of the old world together with those of the new. It is not for us to question your hand in making the brown leaf so widely available that it is the largest organic killer we have ever seen. We pray that those addicted to its power will find the strength to quit this year.

Thank you O Lord for the blessing of health that those here enjoy today. We pray that those who need the care of physicians will have affordable and adequate insurance coverage. This is not an easy prayer, but it would surely be a blessing to all if you could grant it for the tens of millions of our fellow Americans in need today.

So many people have died with your name on their lips, killing others in your name over what is generally trivial differences. Please put a bit of intelligent design into the many people who cannot accept these differences and go to war over them.

As we gaze over the bounty laid before us, with fruits often picked by illegal migrant labor, poultry raised in hormonal chemical clouds, and pastry made from hydrogenated vegetable oils, let�s give special thanks to our food manufacturers for the processed polymer chains at our fingertips. Let�s pray we do not find they have long term deleterious effects on our heath.

For all these things, may we be truly grateful. Amen.

Leib Lurie is a Troy Civic Theatre Board Member, Optimist Club member and CEO of phone message service OneCallNow.com. You can reach him at Leib@Lurie.net

Or see these columns on his blog at www.llurie.blogspot.com