Editorial

EDITORIAL - Professional football fans were treated to some relief last Thursday evening as the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears stood arm in arm for the singing of the National Anthem. People in the stands either did likewise or put their hands over their hearts. Americans felt proud but mostly relieved.

Owners of the National Football League teams employ the players. Some of the owners obviously are okay with whatever the players do during the national anthem. I wonder how the owners would feel if a player decides they are simply going to let the other team score in order to make a statement? What if they decide they are going to stand back and watch while the other team kicks the field goal? Or what if they want to wear their own style of uniform? There are rules and expectations by the league and every team owner. The owners need to step up and be owners.

EDITORIAL - Multitudes of people are suffering through the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Florida. The Keys and the Caribbean Islands are devastated. Other parts of Florida are suffering from damage and no electricity as well.  Food and clean water has run out for some.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Florida being warned well in advance that disaster was coming. I was on Interstate 75 and Interstate 24 and can attest that the highways headed north were bumper to bumper with many of the license plates saying Florida. Lots of Florida people got out of state. Obviously a lot of people stayed in Florida and rode the Hurricane out. Television crews have interviewed more than one person declaring they wished they had evacuated. People throughout the Florida Keys and other parts of Florida have wished they had hit the road north.

EDITORIAL - Hurricane Harvey and Irma have been bad news to all in their paths. Lives have sadly been lost, houses demolished and personal items blown or washed away. Such horrific acts of nature remind us that we are all fragile and vulnerable. The right wind and rain can wash everything away including us and people we love so much.

We love our stuff. We store it. We hoard it. We want to pass it on to our children and grandchildren. There are storage facilities being built almost everywhere in America because we love our stuff so much. Harvey and Irma remind us again that our greatest assets are our lives and the people we love. If we have our health, safety and valued people in our lives then everything is either secondary or worthless in perspective to life and people.

EDITORIAL - Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast are devastated. Never has an area been so blasted by so much rainfall in such a short amount of time. Houston has received more rainfall than other city across the United States receivea in one entire year. So far over 51 inches of rain has fallen with more rainfall to come. Everyone in America and much of the world with a Television or computer knows about the suffering of Houston. Our prayers go out to them as well as our financial support, our manpower and anything we can do to help the millions of people who are homeless and suffering.

Experts are predicting Hurricane Harvey will cost the economy 25 - 30 billion dollars because of the rain. Most of Houston is closed down due to the storm. The oil and gas industry and thousands of jobs tied to other manufacturing such as the food service giant Sysco are closed.  The Port of Houston, several hospitals and both major airports are closed.

EDITORIAL - I hear you already. All old people aren't cranky. I have a friend who is 96 years old and is the delight of all who know her. She is independent. She works in her garden every summer. She drives herself to church and the grocery store. She exercises a couple of time s a day. She lives in a very small humble house but it's her place and she takes care of her home.

Too often my wife and I are out and "hear" crotchety old people. Often they are battering the waitress about the service or the food. Often we get out of their way at the grocery store in fear of being maimed for life by a grocery cart. When visiting in Florida we look both ways when crossing the road more than once because of several occasions we've almost been run over by a senior adult.

EDITORIAL - Americans hope that President Trump and his team can resolve the North Korean tension. Nobody wants anyplace in America to be struck by an atomic or hydrogen bomb.  We are not totally clear on what North Korea can do with a missile but it is growing clearer their program has advanced and growing stronger almost day by day. Although few people seem to believe North Korea has a hydrogen bomb.

We were blindsided by Japan December 7, 1941 when they attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese killed 2,335 servicemen. An additional 1,143 were wounded. They attacked us for 110 minutes from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. Hundreds of Japanese planes sank or damaged 21 warships and destroyed more than 150 planes on nearby airfields. That was a horrendous day in our history that we never want repeated.