Does Your Vote Count?

Were David Freese’s full count hits in game six the key factor in the Cardinal’s 2011 World Series championship? Was his bottom of the ninth inning hit this year against the Nationals the primary factor in the Cards making it to the 2012 Championship Series? Yes and no, but mostly no.

Yes, in a sense that without his final moment contributions, the Cards lose. But, no, in a sense that it took the entire team a full season to get to the point that David’s hits made the difference. Looking back at the season there are countless times when a play or a hit, made by a host of Cardinals, determined the outcome of the game. In both seasons, one additional loss and the Cards don’t make the playoffs, and David Freese remains an unknown.

On November 6^th Americans will choose who will run their towns, counties, states, and country. It’s the one time when everyone is truly equal. No matter one’s socioeconomic position, their vote will count just much as that of Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Michael Moore, or Clint Eastwood. Choose the person in whom you hold the highest regard, and know that your vote is just as valuable as theirs. The aged who are casting what might be their last vote from the confines of a nursing home have just as much clout as the energetic eighteen year old voting for the first time. It’s a daunting notion. And a right that has been literally secured with blood, sweat, toil, and tears.

Elections in which the candidates are considered highly qualified by their respective parties are always close. City council contests among qualified candidates in a small town are decided by a few votes. Presidential elections are sometimes decided by the slimmest of margins. The difference in the 2000 Presidential election was less than one percent of the total votes cast.

Bringing that to the local level, estimate the number of voters in your precinct, multiply that number by 1% and that’s the potential difference in choosing the next President of the most powerful country on the planet.

How does that relate to David Freese? Every vote builds on the cumulative effect of the previous vote. The impact of the last vote depends on the previous votes. While each vote is important, no vote is more so than another. And if the election is close, each and every vote is critical. Your vote may be the very vote that makes the difference and elects the President. Vote!

But that’s not all.

Now that you’ve been convinced to vote, it’s important to note that there’s a chance your vote won’t count, anyway. In a Presidential election voters are technically casting their vote for an elector. Each state is allowed one elector per US Congressman. Every state has two, one for each Senator, and one for each US Representative. Twenty six states require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote of the state; twenty four do not. Did you know that? No matter how you vote, your state’s electoral college may not bound to vote according to popular vote. This would be a good time to inquire as to your state’s requirements.

For arguments sake, let’s assume the electors in every state vote according to the popular vote; they always have. What happens if there’s a tie in the Electoral College vote? If that happens, the US House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.  Sounds simple, right? There’s a catch. In the house, each state gets one vote. Wyoming, with a population of little more than 500,000 casts one vote alongside California’s single vote representing over 35 million. That’s a hoot, especially if you’re from a small, sparsely populated state.

The Senate does a floor vote, so the VP would most likely be chosen by the party with the majority.

Has there ever been a tie? Yes! Thomas Jefferson was chosen by the House after an Electoral College tie in 1800 and John Adams in 1824.

Exercise your hard-earned right. Let your vote be the one that breaks the tie.

The American Experience

After going through a course called “The Truth Project,” which deals with critical elements of American history that have been distorted and now taught as fact, Debbie and I decided to do something about it. So, each year we host a speaker, who is an authority on a particular historical subject, to the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. The speaker typically spends the day with honor students and then addresses a large public gathering that evening. This year we hosted Dr. Daniel Dreisbach, Professor of Law at American University, an authority on our founding fathers, and particularly Thomas Jefferson. He specifically addressed Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists dealing with church and state.

During Dr. Dreisbach’s visit, I had the privilege of accompanying him to a dinner hosted by a former Missouri Supreme Court Judge. Also at the dinner were a retired Missouri Appellate Court Judge, a New York Times best-selling author, and a college professor of history. The discussion was vigorous.

A litany of subjects were debated, primarily those having to do with American legends now taught as fact and how universities such as Harvard, established by Christian organizations and once conservative have, in the name of diversity, evolved into schools with an obtuse identity. And, in too many cases, every religion except Christianity is welcome on campus and in the classroom. But the real pearl of the night came when we stumbled upon a major theme that is missing in today’s classrooms at every level.

Even though today’s history curriculum is abridged, and too often to a misleading degree, there’s an even greater crucial element that is completely missing. While students learn a somewhat distorted version of America’s roots – the Pilgrims, Paul Revere, the Tea Party, and all of that – the uniqueness of the journey known as the American Experiment, is tragically missed. What’s missing you ask? The world is primarily made up of countries formed by homogenous groups with borders that have changed repeatedly, usually after the most recent war. The United States is vastly different.

America is a country of diverse immigrants. While the original Americans were British Christian Protestants, and the founding fathers drew on their religious roots to draft our Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers, and Constitution, America has since welcomed those from all continents, faiths, and cultures. The United States is made up of German Americans, Korean Americans, African Americans, and the list goes on. The common thread is that all are American. And, a myriad of cultures peacefully flourish under a common flag.

While students are taught a light version of American history, few are impressed with the unique nature of America. Doing so would cause more to realize the intangible aspects that make America resilient and great. America is a country of people with diverse origins; there will always be divisions. America’s greatest leaders have been able to draw upon the strengths of diversity and inspire most to a common goal. We all pledge allegiance to the same flag.

There’s currently too much focus on divisions and not enough coverage given to the diverse, but serene, communities that make up most of America. No country on earth hosts and provides protection for the variety of religions as does America. In no other country do citizens reside with a more diverse background but common allegiance. Rarely does a public protest in America result in the loss of life. Think back to the recent months-long Wall Street set-in. This freedom of speech, and too often responsibility, is an important aspect to realize in order to understand and deal with differences of notions that have always existed, always will, and are essential what makes America unique, peculiar, and great.

We’re in the final days of a Presidential election. And the pundits would have us believe that never before have the politics been so brutal. Those who say so don’t know their history. For example, Thomas Jefferson’s Vice President challenged a political adversary to a dual and subsequently shot and killed him on the capital lawn. Compared to that, our politicians – both liberal and conservative – are sedate.

What was once considered an experiment by the rest of the world raised up to defeat the greatest power on earth at that time, gained its independence and quickly rose to be the world’s greatest power, protector, and provider.

The fact that America was founded on Christian principals can’t be denied. The language of our constitution is laced with the style of those familiar with the Bible. The country first known as the American Experiment is now the country to which the greatest numbers risk all to reach.

 

Bunnies and Bears

I grew up in a small house less than a 1000 square feet. There were six of us, and consequently no room for an indoor dog. I had one friend who had an indoor dog, a poodle. Other than that, he was normal.

After being married several years my wife and I moved into a house with more than one toilet and plenty of room. The three boys began asking for a dog. I didn’t have one growing and up and I decided they didn’t need one either. I pulled into the driveway after work and the youngest, toothless, boy announced, “We got you a birthday present and you aren’t going to like it.” I sensed it was a puppy.

When they presented me with golden ball of fur, I remembered seeing a sign at a furniture store that read – “Unattended children will be given an ice-cream cone and a puppy on departure.” I wondered what I’d done to deserve this little creature that had just deposited a thousand strands of hair on my black dress pants. My feelings would change.

Golden Retrievers are without a doubt the best breed of dog. That is if you’re looking for a dog that sheds enough hair each day to fill a pillow case, isn’t bred for retrieving anything in particular, sleep 23.5 hours per day, but loves people.

Our first Golden was the perfect dog. Katy hated the outdoors, wouldn’t step on anything wet, greeted everyone as if they were a soldier returning from the front, and on walks never got more than twenty feet away. If geese or ducks came into our yard she’d chase them away before they had a chance to leave slimy evidence of their visit. Each morning she’d piddle in the same spot and then retrieve the morning paper.

It has been said that life begins when the last child leaves home and the dog dies. Katy died just before our youngest, now with teeth and much larger, left for college. We missed Katy but we enjoyed the ability to be spontaneous. Overnight trips needed very little planning; we didn’t need to get home to ‘let the dog out.’ The vacuum cleaner no longer needed to be emptied weekly.

Some years later the kids, now adults, gifted us with another Golden. Training a dog in the middle of winter is daunting. The next few weeks weren’t pleasant. Eventually Roxie became a part of the family. Unlike Katy, she’s not the perfect dog. She doesn’t chase geese and I once witnessed a pair of ducks mating not ten feet from her. She couldn’t have cared less. And she’s afraid of almost everything, including trash bags, lawn mowers, people carrying things, doors closing, the dark, flying birds, and airplanes. She does get the paper each morning, but one can’t predict what she’ll do with it.

On a cold rainy February night I discovered the one thing that she’d chase; a bunny. Yep, let her out to piddle and away she went through the wet grass into the mulch and sliding to a stop in the only muddy spot in the yard. And since that night she has continued to be vexed by bunnies. She has yet to catch one.

And so it went; the dog afraid of everything had discovered her purpose. But then one morning when I let her out to piddle she went racing toward a cedar tree where she’d cornered a bunny the night before. We were at our cabin in the Rockies where it wasn’t unusual to see a small bear now and then. Roxie had seen bears from a distance and growled like she does when the doorbell rings, but then runs to the bedroom when a stranger enters. This day was different. She ran under the low hanging branches and instead of a bunny running out the other side a large black bear, probably weighing over 300 pounds ambled out. I expected Roxie to run for safety in my direction with the bear at her heels. Instead the bear trotted away with Roxie barking viciously at its heels growing and showing teeth as if to have suddenly contracted a severe case of rabies. The bear disappeared over a ledge and then Roxie returned to me, panting, and frequently looking back in the direction of the bear’s departure. To this day when she goes to piddle in that area, she first races to the cedar tree and then goes to the ledge and looks around fearlessly.
Roxie is a people magnet; Debbie I take her along when walking to town from our cabin in the Rockies. She attracts people and I then try to sell them one of my books. They ignore me and ask what kind of dog Roxie is. I tell them she’s a Golden Retriever. “Beautiful,” they all say. “What does she retrieve?” they ask. “Bunnies and Bears,” I reply. They slowly back away. She’s not good for book sales.

Bears and Sharks

The following is based on my seeing Jaws the movie, and an actual bear hunt in the Colorado Rockies.

Bears and Sharks are similar in many ways. Both have a keen sense of smell; their heads, as if mounted on a swivel, are constantly scanning ahead, side to side, and behind. Their bodies are large and without definition. Both animals maintain constant movement, never stopping, and occasionally exhibiting blistering speed when closing in on a meal; their hunger is insatiable. Sharks and Bears are omnivorous; they’ll eat anything, or anyone. They’ll even eat their own.

I recently had the privilege to accompany my three boys on a bear hunt. It’s a father and son rite of passage that, given the opportunity, shouldn’t be missed. The hunt had been promised since the days of Gerber and in the actual planning stage for nearly two years. Our chosen hunting spot was the High Lonesome Ranch, a three hundred square-mile spread in western Colorado.

Bears move from food source to food source. Sometimes a bear will feed once and then move on. They don’t always return to the same place, but find where bears have been feeding and eventually one will appear. The best way to spot bears is to scour the area for sign and once evidence of bear activity, such as scat or tracks has been found, watch from a distance, sometimes as far as a mile away. A spotting scope is essential.

Seeing a bear in the wild for the first time is a visceral experience. One’s imagination vacillates between Yogi and Booboo at one extreme to scenes from Anthony Hopkins’s “The Edge.” They look playful; they’re not. Mountain Lions will relinquish a fresh kill to an approaching bear; that ought to tell you something.

Eventually it’s time to setup on the bear area. Under normal circumstances bears will avoid humans, so it’s necessary to spray down with a scent killer. Scent sufficiently masked and gun loaded, the next step is to find a vantage spot downwind of the area where the bears were last seen. And then wait.

In my case a sow and cubs first moved through the area. A few minutes behind them lumbered a large bear. To my advantage, the bear was preoccupied with the sow and cub. Bears will kill cubs. It’s thought they do so to force the sow into estrus.

Finally, less than fifty yards away, the bear simultaneously came into position for a clear shot, took his eyes off the cubs, and spotted me. A fifty yard shot at the shooting range is a piece of cake. Except when considering the cost of ammo, there’s no need for one’s pulse to surge. But at fifty yards it’s possible to make piercing and disturbing eye contact with a 350-pound black bear, especially one that’s looking directly at you through a high-powered scope. He paused momentarily, rare for a bear, my pulses surged; his stopped.

Since the bear died, the cubs lived. I feel good about that. It took several minutes for my pulse to resume safe levels, and more than an hour to reach my normal resting rate.

Skinning a bear, unlike the rest of the hunting experience, is something that can be missed. There’s nothing scent-free about a bear. The fact that they can smell anything when they stink so horrific is an olfactory wonder.

Ask a mountaineer if they like bear meat and you’re likely to get one of two responses. A few will lick their lips and begin a dramatic exposé on bear meat recipes. Most will gag at the notion and recommend inviting B-list friends and relatives when bear is being served. I plan to serve it to my wife’s relatives at Thanksgiving.

Prodigious Musial

Since publishing my first novel, The Bridge, I get a lot of questions. Guys I knew growing up want to know when I learned to spell. More polite people want to know why I write, how I got started, how do I create characters, when is the movie, and so on. But, there are two questions I like most and have the most endearing answers. 1) What is the most extraordinary thing that has happened to you as a result of your books? 2) What is the most poignant moment that has occurred?

The oral version of this story is much longer. For the blog I’ll keep it as short as possible.

A new friend’s wife’s grandparents live near Stan Musial. I confirmed that I was named after Stan Musial and the new friend got me a Stan Musial autographed baseball. This instantly elevated the new friend’s status to good friend. I sent him and Stan Musial a book and a thank you card.

A few months later, Roger, a friend from high school called and asked if I’d written a book. He was very suspicious at first and wanted to know if my wife had written it. We finally got to the purpose of his call. As it turned out his mother-in-law was the caregiver for Stan and Lillian Musial and she’d seen Stan Musial reading a book written by a person from Marble Hill. She called Roger to see if he knew the author. Roger called me and wanted to know about this so-called book deal.

A week or so later Roger’s mother-in-law, Betsy, called and extended an invitation to the Musial’s home. Debbie and I assumed that we’d be among many others at the Musial’s. We were wrong.

We expected to see several cars at the Musial’s but when we arrived there were none. We double checked the invitation and waited for others to arrive. After a few minutes we realized no one else was coming so we nervously approached the front door and rang the bell.

Several anxious minutes passed before the door slowly opened and an elderly lady with beautiful piercing eyes rolled up in her Hoveround. She wrapped on the storm door with her cane and said, “Are you the author?”

It was an easy enough question and I responded, “Yes ma-am.”

“Come on in,” she said. “I’m Lillian. We’re watching Magnum P.I.” Debbie and I followed her down the hall to their den where Tom Selleck was racing around on the big screen and Stan the Man was sitting comfortably in a recliner.

“Hello,” Stan said and pointed toward a comfortable looking couch. “Have a seat.” Lillian told Stan that they had company and to turn off the TV. A conversation about who was the most hard-of-hearing between the two them ensued and the TV was finally turned off. Betsy, their care-giver, who we’d never met and only spoken to by phone, walked in near the end of the audiology debate.

Debbie and I, realizing we were the only guests invited that day, and in the presence of greatness, entered into a state of shock, where we remained for the balance of the day. Lillian asked if we were hungry and offered to fix us a chicken sandwich. Stan held up a copy of The Bridge and asked about the book. It was as if we were visiting an aunt and uncle rather than a legend and his wife. We had the temerity to change the course of the conversation and got the Musials to tell us about themselves.

Lillian was seated to our left and Stan to our right. Our heads swiveled back and forth from Stan to Lillian. One would begin a story and the other would finish. We heard bits and pieces of their high school days, Stan’s first year with the Cardinals farm team, his year in the Navy, and a little about his trips to Africa with Curt Gowdy.

Stan asked Betsy to get one of the ‘good’ baseballs. He signed it “To Stan From Stan,” blew on the ink until it dried, tossed it to me, and smiled. I felt faint.

Betsy gave us a sign when she thought it was time to go. “We need to be going,” I announced and Debbie and I both stood. Lillian blocked our way with the Hoveround and insisted that we go on a house tour. For next forty five minutes or so Lillian pointed out photos taken of her and Stan with every President since Harry Truman and countless celebrities. She gave us a detailed narrative of the circumstance surrounding each photo.

Betsy, concerned about Lillian getting tired, did the right thing and again encouraged Debbie and me to make our exit. Lillian, hearing the exchange, asked Betsy to go find an autographed clock to give to us as a gift. When Betsy left to find the clock Lillian grinned and said, “That’ll keep her busy a while,” and then she resumed the house tour.

Betsy returned about twenty minutes later with the clock. It’s on my office wall; I’m looking at it now.

Saying the visit was unbelievable is not an exaggeration. I have an adjective I use in only the most extreme circumstances. The visit was truly unbelievable. The Musials treated us like family. When we were leaving Lillian thanked us for taking the time to visit them.

Betsy winked and whispered, “She means it too. That’s the way they are.”

Prodigious

Question #2 will be covered is a subsequent blog.

Get Used To It

I was recently listening to people my age trash online social networks and specifically, Facebook. I think Facebook was the chosen goat because that’s the only social network name that everyone could recall. It’s interesting how so many in the graying group proudly announce that they don’t participate in online social networks. I can remember when some of my friends didn’t have a phone; I can remember one who didn’t have electricity. That all changed, and so will attitudes toward online social networks.

Look around at any given setting and notice how when people are given a moment of free time, they’re checking their mobile devices, which are those things that some people still call a phone. And, it’s not just the younger generation; these days everybody is a palm reader.

Why should a small business owner care about social media? Millennials. What are millennials? They’re the thirty and under gang who are now beginning to shop with their own money. And, the way they make their choices is radically different than their parents.

Millennials aren’t easily influenced by traditional marketing strategies and are heavily dependent on product reviews from family, friends, and even internet strangers they’ve never met. When you think about it, taking the word of a total stranger isn’t much different than my generation being influenced by the likes of John Cameron Swayze tossing a Timex into the sea to demonstrate the watch’s durability. We all believed that a Timex could take a licking and keep on ticking. What the heck did Swayze do to earn our trust other than appear on TV?

Millennials use Facebook. The average Facebook user has 130 friends, but a Facebook friend is different than a real friend. A real friend will help you change a flat tire; a Facebook friend would consider the idea of actually meeting you in person kind of creepy. Facebook users like to share information. Let’s do the math. A person posts something of interest on their Facebook and all 130 of their friends see it and then share that with their friends. And then, those friends share the post with their friends. Even when considering for the likelihood of mutual friends, the original post is shared with literally thousands before the day is through. A business can do the same thing, except a business Facebook has fans, which are the same as friends, except different. Confused yet?

The viral nature of online social networks is intriguing but that’s not the most important element. It’s no longer kids playing on their phones. This wireless linking is now the primary source of information for the next generation of shoppers. The sooner a business gets in the mix and begins building an online brand, the better. The longer one waits the more difficult it will be to break through the clutter and be fanned or friended by the next generation of shoppers. Get used to it.

Affordable HealthCare Act

The Supreme Court has ruled. And ever since, too much time is being spent discussing if the so-called penalty should be classified as a tax. No matter the classification, it’s money that will be taken from the private sector and spent by the government. A more productive discussion addresses how the ACA will affect individuals, families, and businesses. After browsing the IRS website, I’ve boiled it down to a few talking points.

Insurance companies will be required to provide coverage for everyone by 2014, regardless of a pre-existing condition. In my opinion (IMO) this will cause premiums to rise.

Everyone will be required to have insurance. IMO – this should cause premiums to decrease. Except, there’s the penalty option which states that people without healthcare coverage will be required to pay. And the penalty option may be the less expensive choice. But then, there’s the tax credit feature that offers those who can’t afford healthcare a government subsidy to cover those costs.

Businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to provide health care coverage. If a business with 50 or more employees does not provide healthcare coverage they will be assessed a penalty of $2000  x their employee head count minus 30. Confused yet?

If the business does provide coverage and pays more than 60% of the cost, then they’re home free – almost. If any employee is paying more than 9.5% of their family income for health care coverage, then the employer must pay a penalty of $3000 x their employee head count minus 30. So, it’s easily possible for a business to provide healthcare coverage and still be assessed a very heavy penalty.

IMO – due to the potentially rising cost of individual healthcare coverage, businesses that employ more than 50 will find it difficult to escape the penalty. Many will choose to pay the penalty and drop group healthcare coverage. It’s impossible to know what affect that will have on individual cost of health care.

Businesses with less than 50 employees will qualify for tax credits to subsidize the cost of coverage. The amount of the tax credit is inversely proportional to the average employee’s compensation - the lower the average compensation, the higher the tax credit. IMO – this could result in small firms keeping the average compensation low in order to gain a higher tax credit.

There’s a lot of talk about tax credits and affordability. But there’s little talk about how the tax credits will be funded. In most cases, tax credits are a reduction of a tax liability. With regards to the ACA, tax credits are monies received separate from one’s tax liability.

The bill includes a long list of tax increases and new taxes in order to fund the tax credits. This list is complicated but can be found on the IRS website.

IMO – the ACA deals only with cost coverage and does nothing to address health cost drivers. And worst of all, the ACA will increase the overall cost and the decrease the quality of healthcare for everyone.