As one approaches a New Year, one has the tendency to look back on the preceding year. If you have reached the twilight years, one looks back at all the preceding years, and reminisce about all the good things, the not so good things and the downright ugly things that have occurred over the years.

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As I have looked back, I have decided that I have been personally blessed during the past year. The one thing that advanced age allows is the ability to enjoy the small things, like waking up each morning on this side of the grass and smiling when you realize that the pain in your back doesn’t mean you need back surgery, but rather a new mattress. When you walk by a mirror and jump because you see your mother staring back at you and realize that it isn’t really all that bad. And, that line on my face that I have called a laugh line is really a wrinkle and should be embraced as a badge of accomplishment because I made it. I realize that being called ma’am is a sign of respect, especially in these times.

What I do find the most disturbing and the most distressing is the culture or lack of it in this country. I am not talking directly about politicians because most are classless, tactless and depraved with the moral turpitude of a flea, but at least, we can vote them out every two and four years.

What is of the most concern to me is the state of our culture, our society. We have none. Millions of parents have abdicated their responsibility to rear their children as good people with morals, character and to become responsible good citizens. Instead our society is being forced to accept foul-mouth, ignorant, brainless, dumb, idiotic, imbecilic, moronic, stupid, witless; foolish, and senseless children who exhibit these same characteristics as adults. We have only to look to the educational and crime statistics for confirmation.

We are creating a generation of whiners and complainers, from the president on down who make excuses and fail to step up to the plate and take responsibility for their actions and decisions. Everyone wants fame and fortune, but no one wants to work for it or to prepare themselves or make sacrifices. We have become a society that wants instant gratification.

We have only to look at those parents who pretended their child was lost in a balloon in order to get a reality TV show. They didn’t care about the resources that were expended or the lives they endangered. They didn’t care about anyone except themselves, not even the example they were setting for their children. Their apology rang hollow because they were not sorry for what they did, but because they got caught.

Who can forget the rise to celebrity-hood and fortune by Paris Hilton and the Khardashians? They have no talent, and no skills. What are their claims to fame-their whorish behaviour? They were videotaped having SEX. How much intelligence does it take to have SEX? Dogs do it, cats do it, and even fleas know how to do it. Yet, the media glorifies, and publicizes the antics of these individuals. And, don’t let me get started on Tiger Woods and his escapades. He knew he was married and yet he persisted on behaving in a doggish manner and blatantly carrying on with a bunch of whores, whose faces are plastered all over the television and internet. They are probably being compensated handsomely for sharing their experiences with the world.

What are we saying to the next generation? It is alright to be a whore, a prostitute, an adulterer, a thief, a pimp, and a slut as long as you get big bucks for it. One doesn’t need to go to school and learn a skill because it is only necessary to lie in a bed and engage in debauchery, then place it on YouTube and become instantly famous and rich. What does that say about us?

I am not naïve and nor do I think that people have not always engaged in these inappropriate behaviours. Casanova is renown in literature for his many conquests in 17th century Europe. There was the Marquis de Sade whose exploits gave us the meaning of sadism. Some people have always behaved like animals, but the thing that is different today is that, there is no shame, no guilt and very few consequences to behaving in this manner.

Society imposed restraints on inappropriate behaviours by using a variety of methods, some of which were over the top, but nevertheless acted as a constraint. My aunt, who we lovingly called Snooky, got pregnant when she about 17 years old. My grandfather promptly went to the boy’s house, after he and my grandmother found out, and asked “When he was going to marry Snooky? We don’t have this kind of thing in my family,” he announced. His parents agreed that this was a disgrace, not to be tolerated. They had to get married (a shot gun wedding) before she started “to show.” Two families came together and decided the consequences for their children behaving badly. Did they protest? I am sure they did, but in the end, they married and their child was born “legitimately.” Was this a drastic reaction to the situation? No, by the standards and expectations of early 20th century mores. It did not stop individuals from engaging in pre-marital sex but it certainly placed consequences on them as a result of their decisions.

Whether it was inappropriate social behaviour or criminal activity, the community imposed blatant or subtle sanctions against individuals who did not adhere to the customs of the day. Was it harsh? Perhaps. Would I advocate a return to such draconian rules? Yes. However, the problem today is that we have very few standards, no expectations and no consequences for bad behaviour. Instead of punishing bad behaviour, we excuse it, we reward it and we glorify it. There must be a middle ground between the rigid rules of the early 20th century and the indulgent, overly tolerant; anything goes society that we live in.

If society does not find a way to self-impose standards of morality, principles and values, then we shall surely sink into an abyss of chaos that has afflicted so many civilizations before us.

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Newspaper publisher White has published one book, Charlottesville: the African-American community and has a new book about to be published, Possum got big ears, which are short stories about a black child growing up in the 50s and 60s in urban America. They are stories of survival, faith and determination.

White is divorced and the mother of three children, Sherman, Jr., a computer analyst, David, president of Exit 10 Advertising Agency in Baltimore, Maryland and Dana, a foreign policy analyst with the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has one grandchild. If you would like more information, please send an email to tribune54@gmail.com

I started counting the number of stories that have been devoted to the Tiger Woods” mess and that is what it is a “mess.” After 50, I lost interest and the count.

• This week, Slim Fast made a massive recall

• The President announced that he would send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

Cartoon by Daryl Cagle - manbc.com (Click to enlarge)

• We remembered that 1 million Americans are living with AIDS. More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981 and Africa has over 14 million AIDS orphans. At the end of 2008, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide and African-Americans account for the highest rate of infection in the country.

• Baby panda Tai Shan is leaving his American home and headed back to China.

• They caught and killed Maurice Clemmons who killed four police officers

• A new U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy was sworn in for the Western District of Virginia at UVA.

• Senate vote clears way for home health care cuts

• Russia mourns the death of 109 people killed in a nightclub

• Emails uncovered, discovered that scientist lied about climate change figures

• And, it snowed in Charlottesville for the first time this year

Well, you get it. Many things have happened in the world this week that will impact our lives on many different levels and who Tiger Woods sleeps with or doesn’t sleep with will have no affect on how any of us conduct our lives. Approximately 50% of first marriages end in divorce. Second marriages are about 75%.

Tiger Woods is a successful golfer and makes a lot of money by standing on a grassy knoll and hitting a ball. This is not rocket science. This is not discovering a cure for cancer or making a 1600 on your SATs. Tiger is what my grandmother would have called a “hound dog.” Moreover, he was stupid and arrogant to have thought that he could have carried on an extra-marital affair without there being consequences.  Did he actually believe that he was such a great lover, such a great man, such a sparkling conversationalist that these women, more appropriately who should be referred to as whores, were enamored of his physical prowess? Give me a break! It was the money, the money, the money. They thought that one day they might become the next Mrs. Tiger Woods and live in Windermere.

The women who have come forward to share with the world their “love affair” with Woods are money grubbing whores with the moral rectitude of an amoeba.  They CHOSE to have an illicit relationship with a married man with a family. They should be ashamed and so should their parents who reared children who are immoral, indecent, vile and depraved.

Tiger Woods has done nothing that men and women have not done for eons. What is different is the way our society and our culture react to the situation. I am not advocating that they should be pilloried or stoned to death. That would be just a bit extreme. What I find unacceptable is why these individuals should be lauded because they have some special talent that makes them a lot of money. They are not and should not be role models for our children. Parents are role models, not people that are viewed on television screens.  Having a lot of money or power does not necessarily mean one is a successful or a good person (just look at Nancy Pelosi).

What is the message that we are sending to the next generation-that it is alright to be a philanderer and womanizer as long as you are rich and famous? What are we saying to young women-that it is alright and acceptable to be a whore and prostitute as long as the dalliance is with a rich and famous man?

All these reports that titillate us, and peak our interest speak to moral character or lack thereof in our nation that we would accept these inappropriate behaviors and glamorize them; and that we even care is mind boggling.

I hope that Tiger gets his act together for the sake of his children who are the real victims in this situation. And, if he doesn’t, I DON’T CARE.  I am tired of being inundated by the media with stories of philandering politicians, entertainers, their pimps and whores who flaunt their behaviors before us as if it were some badge of achievement, honor and respectability. GO AWAY, PLEASE.

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White is divorced and the mother of three children Sherman, Jr., a computer analyst, David, president of Exit 10 Advertising Agency in Baltimore, Maryland and Dana, a foreign policy analyst with the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has one grandchild. If you would like more information, please send an email to tribune54@gmail.com.

Unfortunately, we live in a society today that promotes political correctness and “protected groups.” Groups can no longer rely on themselves or the legal system for redress of issues without being given “protected status.” Everyone’s words or actions are scrutinized to see if they might be offensive to a particular group. Rather than promoting a more cohesive society, political correctness has served to make us a more polarized society, a nation that is discouraging free speech and freedom of expression in the name of “political correctness,” rather than encouraging diversity of thought.

By Dave Granlund - PoliticalCartoons.com (Click to purchase)

In the recent election the state of Maine voted down the same sex marriage amendment. Maine joined 31 other states that have voted down similar legislation. Although state legislatures and the courts have tried to force “same sex marriage legislation” on the citizenry, it has never become law when it was placed before the voters.

Why? The simple answer is that Americans don’t want it. For most Americans, marriage is defined as the union between one man and one woman.  Gays feel that this is discriminatory because this denies them rights enjoyed by every other American, thus relegating them to second class citizens. Gays even equate their struggle to the struggle of blacks for civil rights.

This is where the rubber hits the road for me. Gays have all the rights of every other American, unlike my people who were lynched and killed because of the color of their skin en masse for hundreds of years. We had no legal redress in the courts for the violence that was committed on us.

Although Gays have been the victims of crime, the perpetrators have been punished and acts of violence have not been systemic, as was segregation and slavery. There have never been laws enacted on the local, state or national levels that have denied Gays freedoms given to other Americans in the Constitution, like the right to vote, the right to free assembly, the right to an education, or the right to own a gun. There is no correlation between the “black struggle and the Gay struggle.”

Gay people have all the rights and privileges of other Americans. They can vote; go to any school of their choice, and cannot be discriminated against in the workplace etc. This is evident by the economic clout that the Gay community has and the contributions that they have made to all sectors of American life. What the Gay community wants is acceptance. Acceptance cannot be legislated.  One cannot force others to have a change of heart, anymore than you can be forced to change your sexual orientation. It is a personal decision.

Marriage is a sacrament of the Christian which, in Christianity, is a rite that is considered to have been established by Jesus Christ to bring grace to those participating in or receiving it.

I am not going to waste my time debating Biblical theology.  Needless to say Christianity (note: I did not say denominations) does not accept the homosexual lifestyle.

If being married and having the same tax benefits as heterosexual couples have is so important then I would suggest the acceptance of civil unions which is state sanctioned acceptance of your decisions? For most Christians, acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle would be tantamount to the renunciation of everything that we believe as Christians, the rejection of the Bible.  Regardless of modern theological church doctrine and revisionist interpretations, the Bible is an all or nothing doctrine, accept it or reject it. There is no middle ground.

I truly believe that most Americans, Christian and non-Christians alike don’t even care or think about homosexual behaviour as long as it doesn’t infringe on our own lives. I don’t wake up every morning thinking about how I can do harm or insult a Gay person; anymore than white people wake up every morning plotting to do harm to a black person. Most of us have our own problems with the issues that are affecting our own daily lives. Most people don’t care about the black agenda or the gay agenda until you try to force something on us that we don’t want or like.

Laws can be enacted to remedy many injustices. It cannot and will not change a person’s heart.  Laws cannot force you to be liked or accepted as a group. I cannot force white people to love or accept me. What I can do is make sure that personal prejudices and idiosyncrasies do not interfere with my pursuits.

The sacrament of marriage is not a guarantee under the United States Constitution, but a rite ordained by God for one man and one woman.

It is not necessary for individuals to like you, accept you or even associate with you. It is only necessary that one be respected for who we are as people and individuals. And, that is not something that can be legislated. Agnes Cross-White has published one book, Charlottesville: the African-American community and has a new book about to be published, Possum got big ears, which are short stories about a black child growing up in the 50s and 60s in urban America. They are stories of survival, faith and determination.

—–

White is divorced and the mother of three children Sherman, Jr., a computer analyst, David, president of Exit 10 Advertising Agency in Baltimore, Maryland and Dana, a foreign policy analyst with the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has one grandchild. If you would like more information, please send an email to tribune54@gmail.com.

Every once in a while, I find it necessary to rant and rave about some things. Ranting and raving, even incoherently is good for the soul and the blood pressure. As a publisher, I get letters addressed to me on a variety of issues. I don’t print them because, frankly, I don’t have the space. Most of the times, the letters are from partisans singing the praises of a particular candidate. I classify them as propaganda and delete them almost immediately. I also get letters that are complimentary and I place them in a folder to read when I am depressed. Then, there are those letters which are plain stupid because they are personal attacks, make stupid assumptions, and engage in inane and irrelevant chatter. You can guess where those letters find themselves.

Look fellas, don’t waste your time writing me nasty letters. I never read beyond the second line before I trash them. FYI, I am a Christian, a Bible believing Christian that believes in the Bible’s inerrancy. I respect other’s belief systems, but I don’t accept them. “To each his own.” I do not discuss my beliefs because they are not open to discussion. I am not open-minded and I do not consider other religions as being on the same par as mine. So for those who wish to have equal space in MY publication to explain the tenets of their belief system, it is not going to happen! Everyone in America has the inalienable right to believe in anyone or anything they want and I support that right. However, I reserve the right to believe in the tenets of my faith as the one true faith and I don’t owe anyone an explanation as to my reasons.

Politically, I am a conservative independent. I used to be a conservative Republican but after their lacklustre performance and failure to really challenge liberals on real issues, I got tired of referring to myself as a Republican. Everyone is so concerned about political correctness. Name calling is the primary tactic of the left. Intimidation and personal attacks are among their political tactics and they use them very effectively. Conservatives run scared and cower in the corner afraid of being labeled.

They (liberals) take great pleasure in referring to individuals who do not share their opinions as racist. To be labeled with this tag can be the kiss of death for a politician and Republicans will genuflect and cower at the mere insinuation of being tagged as a racist. Get up off your knees. These people with their thuggish behavior should be confronted, and forced to prove their accusations.

It has been my experience that most hardcore leftist don’t deal in facts, but rather use insinuations, misinformation, subterfuge and lies to accomplish their goals. Just because you are white with a different view point does not make you a racist or stupid. Yes, racism exists, but not every conservative white person is a racist, anymore than every liberal is an idiot or closed minded.

There is a double standard in this country and no one is willing to confront it. It just bugs me. For me, right is right and wrong is wrong. It is not a color thing. In the last few months since Obama became president, I have spoken to several black moderates and conservatives who did not agree with Obama’s politics, but still voted for him. They held the illusion that once he understood the facts; he would govern more as a centrist. Such folly! They candidly admitted that the only reason they voted for him was because he is BLACK. That is the dumbest reason for voting for anyone. If a white person had said, they voted for someone because they were white, we (black people) would become apoplectic. Jesse and Al would be in the streets calling for marches and boycotts and screaming racism over the airwaves. Yet it is okay for us to do the exact same thing that we accuse white people of doing.

Rush Limbaugh made the grave mistake of saying that he wanted President Obama to fail. The media went bonkers, calling the man everything except a child of God. It wasn’t a racist remark. Limbaugh opposes everything that Obama believes in and considers the programs and legislation proposed by Obama to be bad for the country. He sees Obama and his cohorts as leading the country in a direction that could destroy us and the foundational tenets which built this country. Why would he not want everything that Obama proposes to fail? It has nothing to do with Obama’s color, but his politics. I am a black conservative and I want the president’s programs to fail. Am I racist or are there other names that you would like to lob at me?

Go ahead. I don’t care. From my political perspective, I think the President’s initiatives are wrong, socialistic in nature and dangerous. Unlike the Clintons who are opportunist, whose politics are adjustable depending on the prevailing poll numbers, Obama is an ideologue, a true believer, a partisan advocate of a system that advocates “collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.”

America stands at the crossroads. What kind of country do we really want? What kind of country do we want to leave for our children and grandchildren? Remember, evil flourishes when good men do nothing.

Newspaper publisher White has published one book, Charlottesville: the African-American community and has a new book about to be published, Possum got big ears, which are short stories about a black child growing up in the 50s and 60s in urban America. They are stories of survival, faith and determination.

White is divorced and the mother of three children, Sherman, Jr., a computer analyst, David, president of Exit 10 Advertising Agency in Baltimore, Maryland and Dana, a foreign policy analyst with the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has one grandchild. If you would like more information, please send an email to tribune54@gmail.com

Once again, the country is talking about race. I imagine that many people, mostly White people, thought that the race issue had gone away with the election of a Black president. Au contraire! President Obama weighed in on a situation involving the eminent professor from Harvard Louis Gates and the Cambridge, Massachusetts police department.

It seems that Gates became belligerent when he encountered a policeman in his home. After a confrontation, Gates was arrested. Of course, Gates cried “racism,” and all hell broke loose, concluding with the President of the United States weighing in by saying that the Cambridge police behaved “stupidly. “

So, once again Black people are pitted against White people over “perceptions.” While I totally disagree with the president having offered an opinion because he cannot and should not be racially biased. He is not the Black president but president of all Americans, thus should be racially neutral. However, what White people do not realize is that Black people, no matter how successful one is, it is almost impossible to completely walk away from our history, even if you are President of the United States.

I have had only a few encounters with the police during my 60 years. Since I absolutely never drive above the speed limit, I’ve never been stopped for a traffic infraction. However, I do remember an incident about 20 years ago. I was out shopping at my local Kroger store at 2AM looking for some late night bargains when I heard a police siren behind me. I looked into my rear view mirror and saw the policemen’s flashing lights. Did I stop? NO. I kept driving toward my home, ignoring the policemen’s siren. I pulled into my driveway with the policeman close behind. I remained in my car as the policeman exited his car and came to my car. He inquired as to whether I heard and understood that I was supposed to stop when I heard a police siren? I replied, yes. As I pulled out my license and registration, I apologized and said to the officer, that I never, under any circumstances stop my car in the middle of night on a lonely road, for anyone, including the police. I told the policeman that I would gladly pay the ticket. The officer said that he understood and he didn’t give me a ticket. He had tried to stop me to inform me that my tail light was out. Would I react the same way today? Oh hell, yes!

I grew up in Philadelphia and after learning how to cross streets safely, my parents taught me to beware of the police. In those days, the Philadelphia Police rode around in red cars and we were told to avoid them at all cost. “Policemen were not our friends.” My parents, as well as other parents, inculcated these doctrines into us as children. These precepts were ingrained into my psyche, just as much as not talking to strangers was. It is part of the Black experience.

Did I continue this indoctrination when I had children? Yes I did. One day a policeman visited my daughter’s 2nd grade class to talk about safety issues with the children. My daughter raised her hand to make a comment. Beware when a child opens a sentence with the words, “My momma said.” She followed that opening with, “There’s no difference between a policeman and a crook. The only thing that is different is that the policeman has a badge.”

Have I taught my children to beware of the police? Yes. I gave my sons intense lessons on how to behave around the police. Always speak in a respectful tone. Never make any sudden moves in the presence of an officer. If you find yourself in a situation where the police are present, never run, turn around and walk away at a normal pace. These are just a few things that I taught my children. I am sure that most Black parents in this country have taught their children similar things.

Have my sons been stopped by the police? Despite growing up in suburban neighbourhoods, going to good schools, never having been in any kind of trouble , having good manners and being college educated, they have been stopped by the police while “walking or driving while Black.” I once prevented my 22 year old son from driving his employer’s Mercedes, which he had permission to have. Why? I was afraid that my college educated son would be stopped along the interstate for no other reason, than he was a young Black man driving a $60,000 dollar car. That says to the police, “drug dealer.” I was afraid that the police would “shoot first and ask questions later.”

I would wager that there is not one Black person in this country, no matter what they have achieved, who has not had negative encounters with the police. Although I don’t agree with the reactions of either Gates or President Obama, I understand. It is just a fact of life, “of being Black in America.

Newspaper publisher White has published one book, Charlottesville: the African-American community and has a new book about to be published, Possum got big ears, which are short stories about a black child growing up in the 50s and 60s in urban America. They are stories of survival, faith and determination.

For the past couple of weeks I have been on vacation. Frankly, I was feeling
a little burned out and uninspired. Nothing holds my interest for any
length of time these days. Things that once interested me like politics have
left me feeling blah, lethargic and downright bored. I find the political
environment very depressing. My inclination is to throw up my hands and
say, “let them have it.”



I have always considered myself an optimist, especially about my country. I 
no longer feel optimistic about this country anymore. I no longer see a rosy
future for my nation or its people. I see our revered institutions being
decimated and our traditions and values being devalued. Our society has
become coarse and crude. Television which never has been a bastion of moral
discourse and virtue for decades has become irrelevant, inane and insipid.



Our government supported schools are producing uneducated, barely literate
graduates who do not have the vaguest idea about their country, its
foundation or how it works. Most young people under 30 can give you the
stats on Kobe Bryant, but couldn’t name the third president of the United
States and why he was important. Ask, one of these stellar graduates who
William Jennings Bryan,” The great commoner,” was and you’d probably elicit
blank stares. Do they teach students about the “Scopes Monkey Trial,” which
was a critical turning point in the United States’ creation-evolution
controversy?


It is so depressing for those of us who have reached the latter half of our
lives to realize that many of our future generations will not only be broke,
but stupid too. This does not bode well for our nation.



I decided to take a few days off and reevaluate my life. Where was I going?
 What did I want to with the rest of my life? You know, all those questions
that those bright young graduates are asking themselves now that they are
finished with their schooling. They should be asking those questions of
themselves because they are at the beginning of their lives. As for me, I
may not be at the end of my life, but I am certainly sliding down that
slope. I thought that I would know the answers to those questions after 6 decades of living, but I don’t.



Statistics says the average life expectancy for black Americans is 73. 3
years, five years less than our white counterparts. I thought that I should
take into consideration, the hereditary factor. No woman in my family ever
died before 90 years. Good genes, no smoking and no drinking must be good
for a few additional years. So, if I follow family tradition, I have got a
good 30 more years. That is a long time and what will I do with all this
time? Sitting on a wharf or in a boat while fishing just doesn’t seem to be
my cup of tea. I think that I’d go stark raving mad. Fishing has its
attributes but not on a regular basis. I have gone to my first and last
bingo game. Not for me. I thought about traveling, perhaps seeing some
exotic and faraway sites. “Nah!,” been there, done that before. What will
I do? Once upon a time life was thought to be drawing to a close when one
reached their 60s, but now it is the best part of the last part of one’s
 life.



Have I had an epiphany? Not, really.




- More than four out of 10 wage-earners believe they’ll have to postpone
retirement, and 25 percent are “very worried” they won’t have enough money
to quit, according to a recent study by Gallup Poll.


- Three in 10 individuals over age 60 who are already retired feel “not
at all confident” or “not too confident” that they have enough money to live
comfortably throughout their lifetime, according to Employee Benefits
Research Institute (EBRI).


- Some 1.6 million individuals between the ages of 55 and 65 re-entered
the workforce from June 2000 to June 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. In fact, the only age group of workers that’s growing is that of
workers who are 55 or older. Their ranks — some 30 million strong — rose 8
percent over the past year.



No epiphany. However, I have come to the realization that I’ll be working
five years after I am dead. I shall be typing away at my trusty computer,
spewing out a little wisdom and a lot of B.S. Ain’t life grand?

Ho hum.




Agnes Cross-White has published one book, Charlottesville: the African-American community and has a new book about to be published, Possum got big ears, which are short stories about a black child growing up in the 50s and 60s in urban America. They are stories of survival, faith and determination.


White is divorced and the mother of three children Sherman, Jr., a computer analyst, David, president of Exit 10 Advertising Agency in Baltimore, Maryland and Dana, a foreign policy analyst with the Senate Armed Services Committee. She has one grandchild. If you would like more information, please send an email to tribune54@gmail.com.