Retarded or Challenged?

As Tennessee cogitates the word "retardation" it occurs to me, is that the most serious problem the state is experiencing?

 

The term "retard" means, to make slow, to hinder, delay, or slow the advance or progress of. The term "retarded" means, slowed or delayed in the development or progress especially because of mental retardation.

 

The term, "intellect"  is the ability to reason or understand or to perceive relationships. The term "challenged" means disabled or handicapped in a specified way / physically challenged>

 

Replacing retarded, retardation etc with intellectually challenged is a play on words and will soon fall out of favor.

 

Remember in school when the readers were separated into groups, and instead of advanced, intermediate, and slow they were called blue birds, red birds, and robins? Everyone knew the blue birds were the fast readers and the robins were the slow readers.

 

With all the problems the state has can't the legislature find something more appropriate to do?

 

 

--
Regards,
John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN

Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/

An apple a day, still leaves you 2-4 servings short of your daily fruit recommendations.

Some Try To Destry Our Rights

Hi Dan Smith:

 

My name is John Jenkins. I am retired from Mead Corporation, Dayton Ohio and IBM, Atlanta GA. My wife and I live in Gatlinburg. We moved here in 1998 from Ohio.

 

I agree with Ron Paul, voted for George Bush, John McCain, Ross Perot and George Wallace. I did not agree with everything George Wallace did but I liked the idea of a governor doing what his constituents wanted regardless of what the Federal government said. It was a wasted vote but I knew it and did not care. I liked Ross Perot due to his attack on Iran when he went for his employees. I knew his business EDS and hope I could see him work with congress. John McCain was not Obama. Ron Paul could not win the election. George was not Al.

 

Reference your commentary; Monday March 30…Some try to destroy our rights.

 

During the recent election we saw where we have a lot of complainers. Examples: conservatives who did not go full out to get John McCain elected proved they are not conservative just complainers. John McCain may not be "a" conservative; he is more like one than Obama, same thing with Obama. Once Hillary was out of the running any of her supporters who did not go full out for Obama showed themselves to be complainers not liberals or whatever Hillary stands for.

 

That is where I am coming from.

 

The MIAC you referenced is similar to racial profiling and apparently you now know how it is to be profiled. What the MIAC says is probably true. Criminals like Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph probably fit the MIAC profile. But what it fails to say is others such as yourself who also fit the profile are not, that is America. Citizens have pictures of Che Guevara and Malcolm X but do not advocate the overthrow of government. I like bumper stickers. There is a song with the title I got the bird from a gray hair old lady with a bumper sticker that said Honk if you Love Jesus. The writer of the song said he saw the sticker, honked and the driver gave him the finger.

 

You asked, who would have thought our country would have fallen apart like this. You should have asked me, I would have told you. When Caucasian women stopped having children while minorities continue to have tribes the country was doomed; when educated people stopped having children while the uneducated continued to multiply the country was doomed; when the working class stopped having children while welfare recipients grow exponentially the country was doomed; when Christians stopped having children while non-Christians continue to be fruitful and multiply the country was doomed; when NAFTA allowed corporations to move jobs offshore while giving their senior management huge bonuses for cost cutting and their corporations tax breaks the country was doomed; when NAFTA destroyed the middle class the country was doomed; when elected officials and corporate officers continue to play musical chairs the country was doomed.

 

But one other group is part of the problem. Voters who vote for third party candidates in a lame attempt to make a meaningless point take possibly decisive votes away from a viable candidate. John McCain is closer to Ron Paul than Barack Obama, though not much closer, a vote for Ron Paul was a vote for Barack Obama. As when Ralph Nader took votes from Al Gore. Third party candidates are ruining the system.

 

Take the sticker off, no one cares if you liked Ron Paul. Stop hanging on the past. No matter the reason Obama is the man and we are all going to pay for people trying to make a statement by voting for candidates who cannot win. Your bumper sticker identifies you as one of the people who made Obama president.

 

As you say not everyone will agree with you I am not technically disagreeing just suggesting possible solutions to the problems you write about.

--
Regards,
John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN

Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/

An apple a day, still leaves you 2-4 servings short of your daily fruit recommendations.

The Krispy Kreme Challenge - 2009 Participants: 5519

The Krispy Kreme Challenge is an annual, student-operated race in Raleigh, North Carolina benefiting the NC Children's Hospital. Beginning in 2004 with a mere 10 participants,the race has grown exponentially to a whopping 3,000 runners in the 2008 race and has rapidly become one of NC State University's newest traditions.Beginning at the NC State Belltower, each runner runs 2 miles to the Krispy Kreme store located on Peace St. in Raleigh. After downing a full dozen of the famous Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the runner must run the two miles back. All in one hour.The challenge attracts a wide range of runners fom beginners to serious competitors hailing from all corners of the country.

The challenge has been called the greatest fund raiser ever devised in the history or man.

Dollywood / Tired Shows

You might want to consider explaining more details of your show Imagine. Accordiing to what I read in The Mountain Press it is nothing more than Cirque De Chine at Governor's Crossing.

 

If Dollywood is going to differentiate itself from the tired shows in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville you must extend your search. I know in Nova Scotia there are acts that are better than some you bring in. Maybe you have tried and maybe they have said "no" but the same acts as we can see locally do not encourage locals with season passes. Long lines of 45-60 minutes or more for a 30 second ride do not encourage repeat visits. 

 

As with all businesses people get tired you might want to check to see if it is time to replace some of your decision makers

 

 

Haves and HaveNots

Bill Gates came up with a better mousetrap and deserves everything he gets. It was his idea. On the other hand King Makers are living off the Bill Gates of the world. There have always been and will always be the haves and havenots. The French Revolution as does the Russian Revolution shows the havenots will only take it for so long and they will eliminate the haves.

 

As Obama said most of what happened recently that created our current mess was legal. There is nothing illegal about unethical or immoral activities. Illegal is what we make illegal. It should be illegal for any corporation to become big enough to cause world chaos because of greed, dishonest, immoral and unethical behavior. Size matters. Small let them screw each other all they like. Large enough to destroy the economy cannot be tolerated. 
 

Republic - Yes, Democracy - No

What we have is a Republic, not a Democracy. The difference is in a Republic the minority is considered part of the solution. In a Democracy the majority rules. Apparently Nancy Pelosi thinks we are a Democracy, at least that is what she says. Ignorant politicians will be the death of our Republic..

--
Regards,
John Jenkins
865-803-8179  cell
Gatlinburg, TN

Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  
Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/

"I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Dogs - Zoning - Ordinances

City Commissioners: City Manager:   The purpose of this email is to let you know of a situation building in our neighborhood and to make a record of that situation.   I am   John Jenkins 425 Patterson Lane Gatlinburg, TN 37738   A family has recently returned to our neighborhood. They lived here for several years and then moved. They rented their property but the renters moved out and the owners have returned.   They are very nice people BUT…   They have dogs and they keep them outside so the entire neighborhood can enjoy them. When they lived here before, the family was on vacation and they left their dogs 5 or 6 by number in their fenced in back yard. Three Mastiffs a Labrador, a blue tick hound, a red hound and some other smaller dog. One day in June the dogs began barking around 7:30 in the morning and continued most of the day. The length of the barking was unusual but not the actual barking. When I went into my yard the dogs barked, for a while. Anyone walks by the dogs bark. When the meter readers come by the dogs barked. Any strange vehicle in the neighborhood the dogs barked. I called the Zoning department to ask if our area is zoned for a kennel. They suggested I call the police, which I did and they did not know. One of the dogs would begin barking and the others would join in feed off each other. They would turn a quiet neighborhood into one where the people could not sit outside on their deck. Other neighbors called and an officer came out. Through neighborhood rumors I understood the police said the dogs were violation due to barking and smell but who knows. Nothing changed. I live across from the dogs and I can tell you they stink. I talked to the man of the house and he said he was going to clean it up. Instead he moved. But now they are back and have brought 5 dogs with them Two Mastiffs, what looks like a lab puppy, the red tick hound and some smaller dog. So far so good but things will change. The dogs are not aggressive just noisy and smelly and the larger dogs quite intimidating during those rare times they are running the neighborhood. If a tourist walks their dog these dogs bark until they go away.   The dogs are seldom out of their fenced area but when they do get out some of them like to come to my yard and leave their crap. They walk in our flowers, come up on the deck and leave their muddy paw prints. Before they moved,  one week while I was mowing my yard I found 7 treasures. I called the police just to let them know.   This morning I was in my house and a neighbor up the hill from us called to ask me if those dogs were the ones barking. I checked and they were.   Before the family moved you could smell the dog urine and feces from their property. Once the smell was so acidy I stopped mowing and sniffed the drains to see if the neighbor was draining the urine into the storm sewer but the smell was not coming from the storm drains. Just in the air. A veterinarian could tell you how many gallons of urine and pounds of feces get dumped every day in their yard. Once in the dirt it will take a long time for the smell to dissipate.   It is fascinating we are zoned long term rental and cannot rent overnight but we apparently are zoned for urine and feces aroma and a house with a backyard filled with fenced in areas containing at times barking dogs. Much like a kennel. The smell has not arisen at this time but it will later this summer.   That is enough for now. This is not a request for you to do anything. I will forward this note as a reminder later this summer when the smell has returned and the barking begins.   Dog owners are so thoughtful when they leave home they leave their pets outside so everyone can enjoy them.   Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." ---Flight Attendants around the world

No Heartburn for AIG

Don't get heartburn about the bonuses at AIG get heartburn over the salaries they are being paid. For a company going bankrupt no one should receive any salary or bonus. They can live off what they have been overpaid for the past 10, 15, 20 years. Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." ---Flight Attendants around the world

Europe is No More

Alliances are entered into to strengthen nations. How is the United States strengthened by a treaty to defend a continent that refuses to raise armies to defend itself and whose populations have begun to decline, to die.   The Balkan wars of the nineties exposed their impotence without the United States. In Bosnia, France and Britain had to beg the United States for help lest their troops be overrun and taken hostage by Serbs.   Overall NATO nations are more dependencies than allies. No where to be found in Viet Nam they provided minor assistance in the Gulf. Outside Europe their troops are mainly for UN police duties in Africa.   The fifteen-nation European Union needed several years to muster sixty thousand soldiers for their Rapid Reaction Force. One author wrote: European threats to "go it alone" are the threats of children to run away from home, who never quite succeed because their mothers told them not to cross the street.   The day of Europe is over. Islamic mass migrations will change the ethic makeup to the extent Europe will be unable to respond to Islamic terrorists around the world.   With population declining and children vanishing, so uninterested in self-preservation is Europe  that they do not have enough children to keep their nations alive, why should the United States defend or die for Europe? By their decisions Europe has accepted the twenty-second century end to their civilization.   The United States should bring its troops home. Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." ---Flight Attendants around the world

Predictions 7 years ago...Are they on track?

Comments from 2002. Are they on track?   Not a single European country---save Moslem Albania---has a birth rate that will enable it to survive in its present form through this century. By 2050, only one-tenth of the world's people will be of European descent and it will be the oldest tenth on earth, with a median age of almost fifty. Russia will, by 2050, be driven out of Central Asia by Islamic invaders and lose huge slices of Siberia and her Far East to a China fifteen times as populous. There are 30 million foreign-born in the United States and between 9 and 10 million illegal aliens---as many illegals are there are people in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut combined. America is losing the cultural war. Militant paganism is crowding out the old faiths. Separatism is triumphing over integration. The melting pot has become a salad bowl. Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Thoughts of Thomas Jefferson

John Kennedy once said to a assembled group of scholars in the White House, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe   Thomas Jefferson   The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.  Thomas Jefferson   It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.  Thomas Jefferson   I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.  Thomas Jefferson   My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.  Thomas Jefferson   No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.  Thomas Jefferson   The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.  Thomas Jefferson   The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.  Thomas Jefferson      In light of the present financial crisis, it's  interesting to read what Thomas Jefferson said in 1802: Banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.  Thomas Jefferson (1802)   I have always thought, we will not be conquered by another nation's army. We will be conquered/over thrown from within by the power brokers! Thomas Jefferson

Rights of Property Owner

Recently there have been letters to the editor wishing their rights as property owners would be respected. How ironic. Here in East Tennessee where the Cherokee roamed where he wanted until the white man arrived and crammed him onto the Reservation. Or how about the families forced off their land to make a place for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Rights of property owners? How naive..

Bernie Madoff

Bernard Madoff has pleaded guilty and has assured us and the judge that he is very very sorry. "Profanity inserted here!" Justice will not begin to be served until he is in jail for the rest of his life; every property in the Madoff name has been confiscated; all monies in the Madoff name in whatever form has been impounded; and his family are living in a 2 bedroom apartment somewhere.   He has ruined thousands of people. Maybe justice will not be experienced until he has died in jail...   Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

WHY ATHLETES CAN'T HAVE REGULAR JOBS!

You have to admit these people are the elite of our society... 1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me." 2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first." 3. And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skins say: "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said: "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too." 4. Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings." 5. Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann, 1996: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." 6. Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh: "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes." (Now that is beautiful!) 7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, and then line up in a circle." 8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going to prison: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton." 9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, explaining why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes." 10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning, regardless of what time it is." 11. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt." 12. Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, "Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?" He said, "Coach, I don't know and I don't care." 13. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject." 14 Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too damn ugly to kiss good-bye."

Cars are more important than People

We live in a country that allows people to receive lots of money for very little if any real work and they are not required to share. Jay Leno is giving a free show to the unemployed. But do not forget he would rather own more cars than he can drive while children go hungry. The super-rich have more money than 99% of the people in the world will receive in their life-time but still want more.   How much is enough, a house valued at $5 million $10 million $100 million? I know they do not have to but if they are so generous why not share with people or organizations that need help. I new a millionaire who gave 90% of his income to help others.   As the people leave the auditorium after Jay Leno's show, Jay will go back to his cars and the people will go back to their homes, with no food and maybe no heat.   Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Limbaugh, who?

During the campaign for President, John McCain was more conservative that Barack Obama, any Republican who did not enthusiastically support John McCain showed them selves to be just complainers with no solutions.    Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

The Stock Market vs Online Gambling

The Stock Market used to be for investing but it has turned into on-line poker. It is not logical that a company can be valued at $30 billion one week, $40 billion a month later and $25 billion 2 months later and they made no changes. The reason is the Stock Market is nothing more than gambling. The Internet plus the Day Trading mentality has changed the overall market and the market will never be as it was. The $50 trillion lost world wide was vapor. It never existed. Unethical, dishonest, and immoral accountants, CFOs and CEOs cooked the books. Regards, John Jenkins  865-803-8179  cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

How Can They Not See it?

Mr. President:   When you raise taxes on corporations they raise their prices to make up for the added expense. That means the purchaser is the eventual taxpayer. Less corporate taxes is the way to create growth. Less individual taxes gives the people more money to spend. Less Federal and State taxes means government gets off the taxpayers back. How can you not see that?   Stop taking our money. Stop spending money you do not have.... Regards, John Jenkins  865-803-8179  cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Moronic Government Workers

Whoever made the mistake with the Clinton restart button and used начислено (overcharged) instead of рестарт (restart) should be fired. If our government can't translated a word correctly how do they expect to do anything correctly. Sad... Regards, John Jenkins 865-803-8179 cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Crockett on the Power to Make Charitable Donations

Crockett was then the lion of Washington. I was a great admirer of his character, and, having several friends who were intimate with him, I found no difficulty in making his acquaintance. I was fascinated with him, and he seemed to take a fancy to me.
I was one day in the lobby of the House of Representatives when a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support, rather, as I thought, because it afforded the speakers a fine opportunity for display than from the necessity of convincing anybody, for it seemed to me that everybody favored it. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose. Everybody expected, of course, that he was going to make one of his characteristic speeches in support of the bill. He commenced:
"Mr. Speaker -- I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, if suffering there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I have never heard that the government was in arrears to him. This government can owe no debts but for services rendered, and at a stipulated price. If it is a debt, how much is it? Has it been audited, and the amount due ascertained? If it is a debt, this is not the place to present it for payment, or to have its merits examined. If it is a debt, we owe more than we can ever hope to pay, for we owe the widow of every soldier who fought in the War of 1812 precisely the same amount. There is a woman in my neighborhood, the widow of as gallant a man as ever shouldered a musket. He fell in battle. She is as good in every respect as this lady, and is as poor. She is earning her daily bread by her daily labor; but if I were to introduce a bill to appropriate five or ten thousand dollars for her benefit, I should be laughed at, and my bill would not get five votes in this House. There are thousands of widows in the country just such as the one I have spoken of, but we never hear of any of these large debts to them. Sir, this is no debt. The government did not owe it to the deceased when he was alive; it could not contract it after he died. I do not wish to be rude, but I must be plain. Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as a charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much of our own money as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks."
He took his seat. Nobody replied. The bill was put upon its passage, and, instead of passing unanimously, as was generally supposed, and as, no doubt, it would, but for that speech, it received but few votes, and, of course, was lost.
Like many other young men, and old ones too, for that matter, who had not thought upon the subject, I desired the passage of the bill, and felt outraged at its defeat. I determined that I would persuade my friend Crockett to move a reconsideration the next day.
Previous engagements preventing me from seeing Crockett that night, I went early to his room the next morning and found him engaged in addressing and franking letters, a large pile of which lay upon his table.
I broke in upon him rather abruptly, by asking him what devil had possessed him to make that speech and defeat that bill yesterday. Without turning his head or looking up from his work, he replied:
"You see that I am very busy now; take a seat and cool yourself. I will be through in a few minutes, and then I will tell you all about it."
He continued his employment for about ten minutes, and when he had finished he turned to me and said:
"Now, sir, I will answer your question. But thereby hangs a tale, and one of considerable length, to which you will have to listen."
I listened, and this is the tale which I heard:
"Several years ago I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress, when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast as we could. When we got there, I went to work, and I never worked as hard in my life as I did there for several hours. But, in spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and, besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many women and children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them, and everybody else seemed to feel the same way.
"The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done. I said everybody felt as I did. That was not quite so; for, though they perhaps sympathized as deeply with the sufferers as I did, there were a few of the members who did not think we had the right to indulge our sympathy or excite our charity at the expense of anybody but ourselves. They opposed the bill, and upon its passage demanded the yeas and nays. There were not enough of them to sustain the call, but many of us wanted our names to appear in favor of what we considered a praiseworthy measure, and we voted with them to sustain it. So the yeas and nays were recorded, and my name appeared on the journals in favor of the bill.
"The next summer, when it began to be time to think about the election, I concluded I would take a scout around among the boys of my district. I had no opposition there, but, as the election was some time off, I did not know what might turn up, and I thought it was best to let the boys know that I had not forgot them, and that going to Congress had not made me too proud to go to see them.
"So I put a couple of shirts and a few twists of tobacco into my saddlebags, and put out. I had been out about a week and had found things going very smoothly, when, riding one day in a part of my district in which I was more of a stranger than any other, I saw a man in a field plowing and coming toward the road. I gauged my gait so that we should meet as he came to the fence. As he came up I spoke to the man. He replied politely, but, as I thought, rather coldly, and was about turning his horse for another furrow when I said to him: 'Don't be in such a hurry, my friend; I want to have a little talk with you, and get better acquainted.' He replied:
"'I am very busy, and have but little time to talk, but if it does not take too long, I will listen to what you have to say.'
"I began: 'Well, friend, I am one of those unfortunate beings called candidates, and --'
"'Yes, I know you; you are Colonel Crockett. I have seen you once before, and voted for you the last time you were elected. I suppose you are out electioneering now, but you had better not waste your time or mine. I shall not vote for you again.'
"This was a sockdolager [a knock down blow -ed.] .... I begged him to tell me what was the matter.
"'Well, Colonel, it is hardly worthwhile to waste time or words upon it. I do not see how it can be mended, but you gave a vote last winter which shows that either you have not capacity to understand the Constitution, or that you are wanting in the honesty and firmness to be guided by it. In either case you are not the man to represent me. But I beg your pardon for expressing it in that way. I did not intend to avail myself of the privilege of the constituent to speak plainly to a candidate for the purpose of insulting or wounding you. I intend by it only to say that your understanding of the Constitution is very different from mine; and I will say to you what, but for my rudeness, I should not have said, that I believe you to be honest .... But an understanding of the Constitution different from mine I cannot overlook, because the Constitution, to be worth anything, must be held sacred, and rigidly observed in all its provisions. The man who wields power and misinterprets it is the more dangerous the more honest he is.'
"'I admit the truth of all you say, but there must be some mistake about it, for I do not remember that I gave any vote last winter upon any constitutional question.'
"'No, Colonel, there's no mistake. Though I live here in the backwoods and seldom go from home, I take the papers from Washington and read very carefully all the proceedings of Congress. My papers say that last winter you voted for a bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers by a fire in Georgetown. Is that true?'
"'Certainly it is, and I thought that was the last vote which anybody in the world would have found fault with.'
"'Well, Colonel, where do you find in the Constitution any authority to give away the public money in charity?'
"Here was another sockdolager; for, when I began to think about it, I could not remember a thing in the Constitution that authorized it. I found I must take another tack, so I said:
"'Well, my friend; I may as well own up. You have got me there. But certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve its suffering women and children, particularly with a full and overflowing Treasury, and I am sure, if you had been there, you would have done just as I did.'
"'It is not the amount, Colonel, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the Treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. But that has nothing to do with the question. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man, particularly under our system of collecting revenue by a tariff, which reaches every man in the country, no matter how poor he may be, and the poorer he is the more he pays in proportion to his means. What is worse, it presses upon him without his knowledge where the weight centers, for there is not a man in the United States who can ever guess how much he pays to the government. So you see, that while you are contributing to relieve one, you are drawing it from thousands who are even worse off than he. If you had the right to give anything, the amount was simply a matter of discretion with you, and you had as much right to give $20,000,000 as $20,000. If you have the right to give to one, you have the right to give to all; and, as the Constitution neither defines charity nor stipulates the amount, you are at liberty to give to any and everything which you may believe, or profess to believe, is a charity, and to any amount you may think proper. You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism, on the one hand, and for robbing the people on the other. No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose. If twice as many houses had been burned in this county as in Georgetown, neither you nor any other member of Congress would have thought of appropriating a dollar for our relief. There are about two hundred and forty members of Congress. If they had shown their sympathy for the sufferers by contributing each one week's pay, it would have made over $13,000. There are plenty of wealthy men in and around Washington who could have given $20,000 without depriving themselves of even a luxury of life. The congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports be true, some of them spend not very creditably; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from the necessity of giving by giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution.'"
"I have given you," continued Crockett, "an imperfect account of what he said. Long before he was through, I was convinced that I had done wrong.
He wound up by saying:
"'So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger to the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it, and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned, and you see that I cannot vote for you.'
"I tell you I felt streaked. I saw if I should have opposition, and this man should go to talking, he would set others to talking, and in that district I was a gone fawn-skin. I could not answer him, and the fact is, I was so fully convinced that he was right, I did not want to. But I must satisfy him, and I said to him:
"'Well, my friend, you hit the nail upon the head when you said I had not sense enough to understand the Constitution. I intended to be guided by it, and thought I had studied it fully. I have heard many speeches in Congress about the powers of Congress, but what you have said here at your plow has got more hard, sound sense in it than all the fine speeches I ever heard. If I had ever taken the view of it that you have, I would have put my head into the fire before I would have given that vote; and if you will forgive me and vote for me again, if I ever vote for another unconstitutional law I wish I may be shot.'
"He laughingly replied: 'Yes, Colonel, you have sworn to that once before, but I will trust you again upon one condition. You say that you are convinced that your vote was wrong. Your acknowledgment of it will do more good than beating you for it. If, as you go around the district, you will tell people about this vote, and that you are satisfied it was wrong, I will not only vote for you, but will do what I can to keep down opposition, and, perhaps, I may exert some little influence in that way.'
"'If I don't,' said I, 'I wish I may be shot; and to convince you that I am in earnest in what I say I will come back this way in a week or ten days, and if you will get up a gathering of the people, I will make a speech to them, Get up a barbecue, and I will pay for it.'
"'No, Colonel, we are not rich people in this section, but we have plenty of provisions to contribute for a barbecue, and some to spare for those who have none. The push of crops will be over in a few days, and we can then afford a day for a barbecue. This is Thursday; I will see to getting it up on Saturday week. Come to my house on Friday, and we will go together, and I promise you a very respectable crowd to see and hear you.'
"'Well, I will be here. But one thing more before I say good-by. I must know your name.'
"'My name is Bunce.'
"'Not Horatio Bunce?'
"'Yes.'
"'Well, Mr. Bunce, I never saw you before, though you say you have seen me, but I know you very well. I am glad I have met you, and very proud that I may hope to have you for my friend. You must let me shake your hand before I go.'
"We shook hands and parted.
"It was one of the luckiest hits of my life that I met him. He mingled but little with the public, but was widely known for his remarkable intelligence and incorruptible integrity, and for a heart brimful and running over with kindness and benevolence, which showed themselves not only in words but in acts. He was the oracle of the whole country around him, and his fame had extended far beyond the circle of his immediate acquaintance. Though I had never met him before, I had heard much of him, and but for this meeting it is very likely I should have had opposition, and had been beaten. One thing is very certain, no man could now stand up in that district under such a vote.
"At the appointed time I was at his house, having told our conversation to every crowd I had met, and to every man I stayed all night with, and I found that it gave the people an interest and a confidence in me stronger than I had ever seen manifested before.
"Though I was considerably fatigued when I reached his house, and, under ordinary circumstances, should have gone early to bed, I kept him up until midnight, talking about the principles and affairs of government, and got more real, true knowledge of them than I had got all my life before.

"I have told you Mr. Bunce converted me politically. He came nearer converting me religiously than I had ever been before. He did not make a very good Christian of me, as you know; but he has wrought upon my mind a conviction of the truth of Christianity, and upon my feelings a reverence for its purifying and elevating power such as I had never felt before.

"I have known and seen much of him since, for I respect him -- no, that is not the word -- I reverence and love him more than any living man, and I go to see him two or three times every year; and I will tell you, sir, if every one who professes to be a Christian lived and acted and enjoyed it as he does, the religion of Christ would take the word by storm.

"But to return to my story. The next morning we went to the barbecue, and, to my surprise, found about a thousand men there. I met a good many whom I had not known before, and they and my friend introduced me around until I had got pretty well acquainted -- at least, they all knew me.
"In due time notice was given that I would speak to them. They gathered up around a stand that had been erected. I opened my speech by saying:

"'Fellow-citizens -- I present myself before you today feeling like a new man. My eyes have lately been opened to truths which ignorance or prejudice, or both, had heretofore hidden from my view. I feel that I can today offer you the ability to render you more valuable service than I have ever been able to render before. I am here today more for the purpose of acknowledging my error than to seek your votes. That I should make this acknowledgment is due to myself as well as to you. Whether you will vote for me is a matter for your consideration only.'

"I went on to tell them about the fire and my vote for the appropriation as I have told it to you, and then told them why I was satisfied it was wrong. I closed by saying:

"'And now, fellow-citizens, it remains only for me to tell you that the most of the speech you have listened to with so much interest was simply a repetition of the arguments by which your neighbor, Mr. Bunce, convinced me of my error.

"'It is the best speech I ever made in my life, but he is entitled to the credit of it. And now I hope he is satisfied with his convert and that he will get up here and tell you so.'
"He came upon the stand and said:

"'Fellow-citizens -- It affords me great pleasure to comply with the request of Colonel Crockett. I have always considered him a thoroughly honest man, and I am satisfied that he will faithfully perform all that he has promised you today.'

"He went down, and there went up from that crowd such a shout for Davy Crockett as his name never called forth before.

"I am not much given to tears, but I was taken with a choking then and felt some big drops rolling down my cheeks. And I tell you now that the remembrance of those few words spoken by such a man, and the honest, hearty shout they produced, is worth more to me than all the honors I have received and all the reputation I have ever made, or ever shall make, as a member of Congress.
"Now, sir," concluded Crockett, "you know why I made that speech yesterday. I have had several thousand copies of it printed, and was directing them to my constituents when you came in.
"There is one thing now to which I will call your attention. You remember that I proposed to give a week's pay. There are in that House many very wealthy men -- men who think nothing of spending a week's pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased -- a debt which could not be paid by money -- and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $10,000, when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it."

Rules of the Internet

Hi, Dwight and Howard,   An unsolicited comment…   I'm reading a book on the subject of businesses working with the new rules established by the Internet.  The author is Jeff Jarvis. Jeff runs buzzmachine.com an influential Blog. I will assume you know what Blogs are but if you do not I can tell you.   Jeff writes about purchasing a Dell computer which was a lemon. He got so frustrated trying to work with Dell he gave up bought a different brand then wrote about it on his Blog. He titled it "Dell Sucks." A bit crude but it appears to have become an Internet standard. That reminded me when I was with IBM I found if you want to know what the public thinks about a company do a search (Google, Yahoo, Technorati, Icerocket, Blogpulse, Facebook, YouTube to mention a few) of your company name, abbreviations, followed by the word sucks. ("company name sucks").  If you search for "dell sucks" the search returns 296,000 references.   Michael Dell eventually decided he had to do something. He started writing a Blog and so did others in the Dell upper echelon writing on subjects interesting to their customers. They recognized problems, explained what the company was doing to correct and the customers returned the favor and wrote nice things about Dell when their problem was fixed.   Have you ever considered writing a Blog addressing problems or concerns of your customers or what's on the horizon etc? Have you ever searched using AllState or Mountain National Bank followed by the word "sucks?"     Check out your competition. You might be surprised.   Jeff thinks your worst customer is your best friend; your best customer is your partner.   The end.....     Regards, John Jenkins  865-803-8179  cell Gatlinburg, TN Email: jrjenki@yahoo.com  Website: http://www.greenbriersolutions.com  Blog: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/ "I don't know who discovered water, but it probably wasn't a fish." ---Marshal McLuhan

Laptop Computers

I am looking to buy a new laptop computer. I want one that has lots of RAM, large screen and that will run Windows applications. MAC or IBM compatible is fine. Do you have any suggestions you would be willing to share? Thanks.....

Laws Associated With the Internet

Law of Diminishing Returns: As transaction costs in the open market approach zero, so does the size of the firm.   Law of Disruption: Social, political, and economic systems change incrementally, but technology changes exponentially.   Metcalfe's Law: 1) The number of possible cross-connections in a network grow as the square of the number of computers in the network increases. 2) The community value of a network grows as the square of the number of its users increase.   Moore's Law: In 1965 Gordon Moore observed, "Since the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958, the number of transistors (micro-components) that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit (micro-chip) has increased exponentially, doubling approximately every two years."

The Internet

I've been reading….   In 1986 a book titled The Alchemist was published. Since its original release in Brazil it has sold more than 65 million copies world-wide making it one of the most popular books of all time. This is in partly due to the author's skill at marketing. In Russia, for example it had sold less than 1,000 copies and the book and author were dropped by the Russian publisher. The author found a different publisher and took the unusual step of making a free, digital Russian-language version available on his website. Immediately sales of the print edition picked up. In the first year it sold 10,000 copies, then next year it sold 100,000 copies and by 2008 1,000,000 copies were sold in Russia.  The author says that offering his work for free on the Internet was key to stimulating sales of hard-copy editions, and urges publishers to adopt this counterintuitive marketing strategy to keep print books alive. In 2007 Suze Orman offered an online version for Women & Money for free on Oprah's website for 24 hours. After readers downloaded more than 1 million copies, sales of the print edition took off.   The world is upside-down, inside-out, counterintuitive and confusing. The premier question for business is how to navigate in a world that has changed radically and forever.   Who would have imagined a free classified service could have had a profound and permanent effect on the newspaper industry that kids with cameras and internet connections could have larger audiences that cable networks could, that loaners with keyboards could bring down politicians and companies and that college dropouts could build companies worth billions?  They didn't do it by breaking rules. They operated by new rules of a new age:   ·          Customers are now in charge. They can be heard around the world and have an impact on huge institutions in an instant. ·          People can find each other anywhere and coalesce around you---or against you. ·          The mass market is dead, replaced by mass niches. ·          The Cluetrain Manifest published in 2000 considered a primary work of the internet age wrote: "Markets are conversations." That means the key skill in any organization today is not marketing but conversing. ·           We have shifted from an economy based on scarcity to one based on abundance. The control of products or distribution will no longer guarantee a premium and a profit. ·          Enabling customers to collaborate with you---in creating, distributing, marketing, and supporting products--- is what creates a premium in today's market. ·          The most successful enterprises today are networks---which extract as little value as possible so they can grow as big as possible---and the platforms on which those networks are built. ·          Owning pipelines, people, products, or even intellectual property is no longer the key to success. Openness is.   Google's founders understand the change brought by the internet. That is why they are considered the fastest growing company in the history of the world. The same is true for Facebook, Craigslist. Wikipedia, Amazon, and Digg.