O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (Hymn with words and music) - Charles W...

Happy birthday, Mark

Last year I offered Jen and I to babysit Lily and Oliver, saying that you could drop them off and you and Julie could go out and celebrate.  You did not take advantage of my offer then so I renew the offer.

By the way, you share the birthday anniversary with Betsy Ross, Paul Revere, Robert E. Lee, Edgar Allen Poe and Barry Goldwater.

The wondrous sweet potato

About one year ago I wrote about Dr. Julian C. Miller who taught the sweet potato to bloom and thus the LSU horticultural department developed not only better sweet potato varieties but improved other fruits and vegetables as well.

I heard from son Mark in North Carolina that such a topic was odd to be in my blog.  So as a birthday present to him (his birthday is Saturday) I am going to talk about sweet potatoes once more.

Louisiana continues to lead the world in sweet potato research, continuing to develop improved  varieties to meet better the expanded uses of the potato, including french fried potato strips.  Research funds are hard to get now so the LSU Agriculture department welcomes $200,000 it has received from others paying licensing fees.

The leading potato is the Beauregard, developed by LSU, and along with the Evangeline is most commonly planted.  The quest continues to develop an even better potato than the Beauregard.   The Orleans could be the next Beauregard as it is just as tasty and has a more attractive shape.

We can count on LSU Ag to continue to improve varieties of fruits and vegetables that reach our markets and our tables.  

A time when teachers were not so well paid

For those who care about the quality of education, they greeted as good news the decision by the Caddo school board not to renew the contract for Gerald Dawkins as superintendent of schools.  Some of us are still angry that he is paid $220,000 plus benefits for a job that an employee of Burger King might do better.

I am not asking school personnel to take a vow of poverty, although they might as well have during the Great Depression.  One morning the seventh grade teacher, Mr. Trout, came strolling into the classroom.  As one person class members gasped, went  totally silent for a few seconds, then burst into applause, whistling, cheering wildly.

Mr. Trout was wearing a new suit.  Every morning for months he had worn the same suit.  Not only he but the students were overjoyed at the change in scenery.  Female teachers could wear a different blouse or skirt and change their appearance, but for a male a new suit was an expense they could rarely afford.

Any job is better than none

"Fries with that?" "Paper or plastic?"  Jobs for high school dropouts? Not any more.  High school graduates, college graduates, and work force veterans are competing for those and any jobs  no matter how "low level."

Forty years ago young men and women could go to work on assembly lines (General Electric in Shreveport had 8500 employed."  Twenty years ago jobs were available in construction, retailing and office work. Today,  long-term unemployment is the highest since World War II, with the average time between jobs being 40 weeks, twice the 20 weeks during the previous three recessio

More than 80 per cent of all small businesses will not add one worker this year.  They cite as the principal reason being uncertainty -- including what taxes they will pay and what new regulation the Obama administration will inflict.

This country is in trouble and needs to take actions that will encourage creation of jobs.  Obama offers an administration that operates just opposite of what is needed.  Being without a job while having a family to support is painfully stressful  -- the only answer being welfare, which is estimated to increase 80 per cent in the next decade.

There is no magical solution to our problems, but we continue to act against job creation rather than in a way friendly to job creators.

Spilled my tea at Homer CofC banquet

Saw in the Guardian-Journal that the Homer Chamber of Commerce has scheduled its annual banquet January 28; it will be catered and tickets are $35 (wow)  each with capacity of 246.   The chamber banquets I attended were in the school cafeteria and were "catered" by the cafeteria staff.

Senator Russell Long was the speaker at an early banquet, perhaps the first.  I remember being a member of the group meeting him in Shreveport.  I didn't waste time, asking for help in getting an EDA grant to help us expand and improve our water system.  He called for the car to stop and I went to the second car to discuss my request with a senior aide.

The Homer Lions Club had performed the duties of a chamber and much of the leadership in organizing it came from that club.  For years Homer had an economic development organization, called the Homer Development Corporation, which bought and developed sites to attract industry.

My memory may be in error but I think the last time I attended a CofC  banquet was almost four decades ago.  Jen and I were guests and were seated at the head table.  I was surprised when asked to make a few remarks, so unnerved that I turned over my glass of tea.  Jen makes sure I don't forget it, and probably I have been too embarrassed to attend again.

Months later I was given an appointment to meet with federal officials in Fort Worth to apply for an EDA grant.   While I was there George Wallace held a political rally (he was running for president.)  The office closed for the rally although government workers were not among his supporters.  They were not friendly to me either, explaining that when a member of Congress requests EDA to consider an application for funds, the feds must make a written report on the meeting and the outcome.  This was not the only time EDA ignored an application from Homer.

In search of a fair tax

The idea of a so-called fairtax (one word)  is being discussed, but it is more "sound and fury, signifying nothing" than anything serious.  I doubt that any single tax could be fair; however, a combination of taxes can come nearest it.  What brings this to mind is Governor Jindall's proposal to replace the state income tax with an increase in the sales tax. While I am in favor of revising the tax code,  I am strongly  opposed to this idea.

To approach fairness, a tax should be tested on  whom  it mostly benefits and who is most able to pay. That, to me, makes the sales tax the unfairest tax because the poorer a person is the most hurtful the sales tax is. It stands to reason that high income earners pay more because they buy more, while a poor family pays a high percentage of their income since, though spending less, they pay taxes on necessities.

Income taxes appear to be the fairest because they are based on earning and ability to pay.  However, we all know many wealthy people utilize tax shelters, deductions and exemptions to reduce their taxes.  Not illegal or immoral, but at present everyone agrees the tax regulations need changing and updating.  As I've said, a fair tax is difficult to devise.  Increasing the sales tax is far from it.