The True Heroes

Up until this week, we had been hearing much about Syria and chemical weapons and a possible air strike on Syria by the United States.  President Barack Obama, 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been beating the war drums and trying to encourage the American people and our allies of the importance of striking the existing regime in Syria.

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts" to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. Part of the Nobel Committee's decision was based upon Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and a "new climate" in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world.  After the last couple of weeks, perhaps Obama should consider giving the Peace Prize back.

Much has been made of Vladimir Putin and the Russians coming to the rescue to help at least temporarily keep America from becoming involved militarily in another country.  While there is some truth to this, I think there are two other true heroes.  They are heroes that stepped up a couple of weeks before the Russians.

The first heroes are the British Parliament. When faced with the opportunity to fight alongside the U.S. in another war in a Middle Eastern country, the British Parliament voted 285-272 against using military force against Syria. This thirteen vote difference kept the British on the sidelines and postponed a strike. 

The second group of heroes was the American people.  Democrats, Republicans and Independents for the most part were all tired of war.  The last poll that I recall reading about before the "Russian Rescue" had only a 29% support level for a strike against Syria.  Predictions by the news media were that both the House and the Senate would vote against military action.

Hopefully, this episode has been a lesson to Obama and to the elected officials that represent us.  We dodged a bullet this time.  Sometimes history works out that way.

A Great Book on Mississippi and Katrina

Last year I shared a number of books that I had read with you.  This year,  I have not read as much but it seems that some of my more favorite books have been written by those who are or have been correspondents/journalists in written or broadcast news.

Perhaps two days after the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the most timely is a book written by former CNN correspondent, Kathleen Koch.  In the book, "Rising From Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered",  Koch, who had two CNN documentaries concerning Hurricane Katrina and the response of the communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland in the wake of that storm, writes in great detail that which she could not put in a one hour documentary.  Koch, a former resident of Bay St. Louis and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, is able to communicate what so many Mississippians felt after the storm.

There is an unexplainable pride in being a Mississippian.  In a state where you are continually first in every bad category and last in every good category, Mississippians can easily have an inferiority complex.  And yet, for some reason we are a proud and stubborn people.  In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi responded well.  Very well.  In that we can be proud.  Koch documents this and the spirit of our people, especially those on the Coast and those from inland Mississippi and other parts of the country who volunteered to help.

I would recommend that you read her book.  As a Mississippian and a former resident of Bay St. Louis, it made me proud.

You Can Never Err On The Side Of Generosity

Every once in a while, someone does something really nice.  Something that is truly unexpected.

This past Monday, Ms. Leora Cook came by my office for help with her insurance.  After helping her with what was a very easy task, she displayed a beautiful caramel cake as a gift to me and my office.  Needless to say, it tasted wonderful.  Everyone in the immediate office complex was thankful.

Of course, the cake was not necessary in order for me to help her with her insurance.  However, when this 84 year old woman presented it to me, it was much appreciated.

It is odd the things that we remember.  Maybe the gift of cowboy boots to a young boy.  A gift from my Uncle Avery in Greenwood.  A purchase that would have been frivolous for my family at that time.  Or maybe the fun that my Uncle Earl would bring home in a large brown paper bag.  A bag filled with sparklers and fire crackers.  In the cold air of a Louisville, MS night, we would slip out into the yard and fire them off, whole packs of firecrackers at a time, writing our names in the air with the sparklers.

At least ten years ago, when my children were much younger, my family went to Margarita's for Mexican food.  Across the restaurant, sat Chet Dillard and his wife, Marilyn.  I had helped Chet with his campaign for Attorney General many years earlier.  We exchanged pleasantries.  Chet and Marilyn went back to their meal and we returned to our table and ordered ours.  Chet waved goodbye as he left the restaurant, my family enjoying our food.  When we were finished with our meal, I asked the waiter for the check.  He told me that the man across the way (Chet), had paid for our meal.  Ever since, I have appreciated that simple gesture of kindness.

All those memories because of a caramel cake.  Or maybe the generosity, appreciation and kindness that it took to make it.  Maybe we should all make an effort to be a little kinder.  To be a generous giver.  A giver of our time and money and appreciation.  Because, take my word for it... people remember.

Our Austin Experience: For Ole Miss Fans Headed to UT Game

Recently, our neighbor two doors down, told Mary Lea that she and her husband were going to the Texas-Ole Miss game in Austin.  It is their first trip to Austin, TX.

This past September, Mary Lea and I were in Austin on the weekend that UT was in Oxford playing Ole Miss.  Besides battling rainy weather, we enjoyed our visit there.  If you are an Ole Miss fan headed to Austin and you have never been there before, the following is the travel advice that Mary Lea gave to our neighbor:  

Cheryl –

So good to see you yesterday and I am so excited about your Austin trip.  Here are some pics from our trip:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151035911945741.425965.502660740&type=1&l=47f0285ec4

Austin Images that brought things to mind:

http://www.google.com/search?q=austin+texas+south+congress&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=X0PUUa2lPNKx0AHOu4GIDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=754

SoCo area – South Congress area – there is shopping and this is the area where some of the food trucks are -  The Mighty Cone was my favorite.  And Fran’s Hamburgers was an old-fashioned burger and malt restaurant – not a food truck but an old drive-in.

There is also food trucks all over…and in another park area is Gordoughs - http://www.gourdoughs.com/  It doesn’t sound good but it is delicious…you and Jehu should split the Flying Pig.

Gourdough's: The Flying Pig, Bacon with Maple Syrup Icing
Their slogan: Big. Fat. Donuts.

The bats come out at the Congress Street Bridge every evening at dusk IF it is not raining.  There is a viewing park at the Austin newspaper (Austin Statesman, I believe) that is a great place to view the bats.  I know it sounds creepy but it is pretty amazing to watch…they come out for like an hour but 10 minutes is about all you need to experience it once!

Town Lake…we walked around it about 3 miles.  Good walking trail.

6^th Street  -  Great tex mex was at the Iron Cactus (they also have a restaurant on the Riverwalk in San Antonio).  I highly recommend this restaurant.

We wanted to go to the Broke Spoke but it was closed for a private event…just a hole in the wall kind of bar/restaurant…but supposedly has amazing Country Fried Steak and is an Austin institution.

The Johnson Presidential Library is on the campus of UT and was under renovation, but the top floor of the library has a replica of his oval office including an avocado green phone…it was pretty cool but Ricky and I are history buffs.

The Salt Lick Barbecue restaurant was out from Austin in Driftwood, TX but it IS worth the drive.  They accept cash only.  Their bbq turkey is amazing.  http://saltlickbbq.com/

We also drove out to Barton Springs (Zilker Park) and then Mt. Bonnell. 

Also – I just remembered a great breakfast spot -  Kerbey Lane Café – Just across from the UT campus - http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com/cafe-locations/ut/   They have great omelets and special pancakes.  I think we had the lemon poppyseed pancakes and they were amazing.  It is a UT hangout for students.

We walked each morning and walked around the Texas State Capitol grounds and it was a nice walk and an impressive complex.

We drove from Austin to San Antonio and back about a 90 minute trip.  And, we discovered Gruene, TX by accident on that trip.  We ate lunch at the Grist Mill Restaurant and they also have live music there in the evening.  It was a great location…I think it may be 45 minutes outside of Austin - http://www.gristmillrestaurant.com/

Hope you find this helpful…and I cc’d Ricky in case he thinks of something I forgot.  It looks like we were all about the food and I guess we were this trip because it rained the entire time.  Very much hoping you all have much better weather.

ML

Not Funny!!

A few Sundays ago, in Atlanta, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections reported that a doctor from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Dr. Hannah Berry Gay (a south Jackson girl and Wingfield graduate), had successfully cured a Mississippi infant of HIV.   This is positive news for not only the medical community but for the world and especially Africa with the abundance of babies who are born there with HIV.  This is also positive news for Mississippi, a state that evidently is stuck in the 1950s and 60s according to several television comedians.

Jon Stewart, Daily Show slam on Dick Molpus and Mississippi

Just over twelve hours earlier before the announcement of the cure for HIV in infants, on Saturday Night Live in a regular skit called, "Really!?",  Seth Rogan and guest host and African-American, Kevin Hart joked about the Supreme Court's debate over Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.  The two comedians made jokes concerning Mississippi.  Hart stated that in Mississippi he wouldn't even feel comfortable going outside on a cloudy day, much less at night.

He continued, "Mississippi, listen - I know you're not as racist as you were in 1965, but understand something - no one is as racist as you were in 1965.  Listen, that is statistically the best year in history of racism.  Saying you're less racist now is like being pulled over for a DUI and telling the cop, 'I've been drunker.'"

Just weeks before, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart took a shot at Mississippi and it's former Secretary of State, Dick Molpus, basically implying that Molpus and the state of Mississippi were racist.  Molpus, a native of the racially notorious, Philadelphia, MS was known in Mississippi for his work towards racial reconciliation and the "comedy" against him and Mississippi was unjust.

Constance Slaughter-Harvey

According to a blog written by the Clarion-Ledger's Jerry Mitchell, Molpus was criticized for a possible federal clerical error.  In 1995, Mississippi legislators ratified the 13th Amendment after it being rejected by that same body 150 years earlier.   Then- Assistant Secretary of State and African American, Constance Slaughter-Harvey stated that she "distinctly remembered sendng in the final paperwork to have the 13th Amendment ratified.  The Office of Federal Register said the paperwork was never received.

Mitchell's blog quotes Slaughter-Harvey who worked in the civil rights movement with Medger Evers and Aaron Henry as saying any criticism should be directed at her since she was in charge.  Concerning the paperwork, she further states, "That was taken care of.  That was important to me."

On Stewart's show, he portrays Molpus as a good ole boy segregationist who files the paperwork in a shredder behind his desk.  

Jon Stewart has since given an on air apology, but there is something about the jokes from our comedian friends concerning the Mississippi of today that stikes me wrong.

If it were not for the fact that Mississippi has the most African American elected officials of any state, maybe it would be funny.  If it weren't for all the many people of both races who have made efforts towards getting along and treating each other in a civil manner, towards reconciliation, it might be funny.  If my children were not the second generation of students to be educated in integrated public schools, it might be funny.  If I did not live in an integrated neighborhood and community, it might be funny.  If the state that these comedians describe even existed anymore, it might be funny.  But it's not funny.

In 2007, my wife, Mary Lea Nations and two other female partners started a non-profit, association management company.  Her partners are Jean Weiss and Bertina Dubra, both of Clinton, MS.  Dubra just happens to be African American.  In the Mississippi of Saturday Night Live and Jon Stewart, this would not be possible.  Mary Lea and her partners have several national clients and at times are in the running for additional national clients.  Do you suppose the "comedy" about Mississippi helps them?  I think not.  Do you think that is funny?  No, it's not!

The World We Live In

Sitting around, washing clothes, streaming little known singer, Claire Holley from cyberspace as I surf the Internet.  That is what I'm doing this afternoon, but for just a moment, think about the previous sentence.

My grandfather, Byrce McAlilly, was born in 1910 and died sixty three years later in 1973.  He worked in the lumber business, ran sawmills, watched over the hands, smoked Camel cigarettes, raised beagle dogs for rabbit hunting and lived a hard life.  Just imagine that if in his final year of life, if he had called me and said, "Hey son, what'cha doin'?" If I had answered, "Oh, not much.  Just sittin' around, washing clothes, streaming some music, surfing the Internet." he would have thought I was crazy.   Forty years ago, that answer would have been like speaking a foreign language to someone whose lifespan included the end of World War I, WWII, the Great Depression, Theodore Bilbo and Ross Barnett as Mississippi governors and America's walk on the moon which my grandfather thought was a hoax.

Let's break that sentence down:  "Sitting around" for people who lived off of the land, ate from the garden and lived in a frame home that wouldn't be HUD approved by today's standards, sitting around during the daylight hours would have just been lazy.  "Washing Clothes," yeah, there was a washing machine that my grandparents had access to in the latter years of their life, but the dryer, well that was on the clothes line outside.  "Streaming some music, surfing the Internet," What did you say?  Doin' what with the music?

All of this came to me as I was surfing the net.  I saw a headline that stated, "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Model Leaked."  Being a curious individual and one who likes to be abreast of current events, I clicked onto the story.  After seeing Kate Upton in a white parka that she had somehow forgotten to zip up, exposing her bare ample cleavage, (just for your info, the magazine cover said she was Polar Bare), I saw a headline out to the side of the Sports Illustrated story that caught my attention.  It read as follows:

One Baby, Gay Dad and Two Lesbian Mothers:  Imagine trying to explain that to someone from a couple of generations ago.

Or maybe even the trump card:

RICKY: Granddaddy, did I tell you that our President is named Obama?

GRANDDADDY: O'bama, hmmm, family must be Irish.

RICKY:  No sir, it's a Kenyan name.

GRANDDADDY:  Kenyan?

RICKY:  Yep, he's half black.

Granddad chokes out the smoke from his Camel.

Then maybe I could say something like:

RICKY:  Hey, what if I come over tonight and we watch a little TV?  That show, The Biggest Loser is on.

GRANDDADDY:  What's that about?

RICKY:  It's these real fat folks.  They go to this place and they make'em exercise and see who can lose the most weight.

GRANDDADDY:  And people watch that!??

Granddad shakes his head in dismay.

A lot has certainly changed in the past forty years.   Take any recent forty year span and a lot has changed over that period of time.  I feel certain that forty years from now, as much or more change will occur for our grandchildren.  For them, it will not be a big deal.  It will simply be the world that they live in.

Tell Me About It

Katie Zinc, who works with me at my office, gave birth to her son, Abraham Zinc on October 30, 2012.  It was the first child for she and her husband, Louis Zinc.  The odd thing about parenthood is that you really have a lot of "on the job training" in parenting.  New parents leave the hospital with a new born child every day.  They are given this delicate, fragile baby in which they are given complete responsibility.  Somehow it almost always works out for the best.

About two decades ago, my first born, Emily, was just a small child, maybe a couple of years old.  She and I would sit and draw and laugh.  Sometimes we would draw people with big round eyes and button noses or maybe monsters with jagged teeth and square mouths.   Sometimes Emily would sit alone with crayon in hand and draw by herself.  She would then present to me the colorful lines and shapes that meant something to her in her eyes.  Often, I would look at the drawing wondering just exactly what it was that she had drawn and say something like, "That is really good" or maybe, "I like that".

I told M.D. Whitfield, a good friend of mine from church whose wife and daughter are both artists how Emily liked to draw.  He gave me some great advice.  Basically, he told me the following:  When she draws something and you don't know what it is, never say, "What is it?".  Always look at the drawing and nod your head and say, "Tell me about it".

I took Whit's advice and it was so wonderful to have a child sit and tell you what their mind thought as they drew a picture.  Often when you are told, if your eyes and imagination are good enough, you too might even see what it is that they are describing and really mean it when you say, "Wow. I like that".

A few years later when Emily was in Kindergarten, her teacher looked at one of her drawings and said, "Emily, that is so good.  You might be an artist".  Emily looked at the teacher and replied, "I already am one".

Some Rumors I Heard

I don't like to spread rumors but I heard a couple of them earlier today.  Acutally, I like to hear a good rumor, then I use my "superior judgement" to determine whether or not to spread it even more.  In this case, I am a rumor spreader.

First, how many times in our lives have we been disappointed when the weather person mentioned snow and then there was no sign of it?  Or perhaps even worse, snow actually fell onto the ground and then melted immediately right before your eyes.  Or perhaps even worse than that, the snow fell onto the ground, accumulated just enough to get to the height of the lowest blade of grass and then melted before 10:00 AM.  Not enough snow to do anything with and not enough time to do anything with the snow that you really couldn't do anything with.  Such is the life of a resident of central Mississippi. 

Well, today, the National Weather Service has been leaking rumors that it just might snow during the wee hours of the night.  Maybe even up to 1-2 inches of accumulation.  A good central Mississippi skeptic will believe it when they see it.

The second rumor that I heard is also coming from the National Weather Service.  They are talking about the weather being sunny on Friday.  As a gray sky, rain dweller for practically all of 2013, I had to look up exactly what the sun was and its purpose.  As it turns out, the sun is the center of the universe and is extremely hot.  It is located in the sky and will be in the east in the morning and move westward across a blue sky until it goes below the horizon, leaving us all in the darkness of night.  The warmth from the sun helps to keep people happy and makes flowers and plants grow. 

I certainly hope both of the rumors are correct, especially the one about the sun.  As wet as it has been, perhaps our local school districts, government offices and business should give everyone a "sun day" to sit outside and soak in the warmth and the brightness.

Slightly changing the final words of the character "Red" from Shawshank Redemption, I recite the following concerning my thoughts on the rumors/forecast of our upcoming weather:  

I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.  I think it is the excitement only a drenched man can feel, a drenched man at the start of a long jouney whose conclusion is uncertain.  I hope I can make it to see the sun, to see it, to feel it, to smile in it's face.  I hope it is as bright and warm as it has been in my dreams.  I hope.

Belong to Something

“So it’s generally my advice to young people everywhere, but particularly if you are from a smaller, rural culture: ”Belong to something”… people, a state of mind, a way of life, put down some kind of roots if you want to make art, to help it grow.” 

-Keith Carter

The above quote came from Shaun Kelly's blog, Camera Reality.  I know Shaun from our brief time together at Northside Baptist Church in Clinton, MS and a week long mission trip to Macedonia.  A few years ago, Shaun pulled up roots and he and his wife, Savannah (a great name), both natives of Mississippi, made their way to California in the Los Angeles area.

Our only communication has been through Facebook but since they are fairly regular in updating, I have been able to keep up with both of them.

Savannah and Shaun in Macedonia, 2007

Shaun will never be mistaken for a good ole boy from Mississippi.  He is soft spoken with a certain gentleness about himself.  Generally, he will be found in a worn button up shirt, sleeves rolled to 3/4 length and untucked over his long pants which slightly cover his Chuck Taylor style, Converse Allstars.   Often, he will have a camera in his hands.  He has a nice head of black hair and when he sets his mind to it, he can grow a great beard. He had this "Turkish" look of a full, bushy black beard when we boarded an airplane with four other people (my son and his wife included) on our way to the country of Macedonia in Eastern Europe.  We were sent there by our church on a mission effort to teach English as a second language in a mainly Muslim village called Sredno Konjare.

It was on that trip that I gained great respect for Shaun Kelly.  Shaun became more than just this twenty something year old guy in a pair of Converses.   I watched Shaun as he befriended my then 14 year old son and was a friend and teacher to the children and people of the village.  He helped to lead our group.  We had been sent not only to teach English as a second language but to take money that our church had raised during the Advent season around Christmas for the purpose of providing running water to seventy-three households.  We were successful in this project and it was one of the most exciting and rewarding things that I have ever been a part of.

Now Shaun is a Californian and has been so for about five years.  For now, his roots are planted in that soil.  He may never return to Mississippi but even if he doesn't, he belongs to us and we belong to him.  Just this week, Shaun wrote a short blog titled: to be a whole artist; Not a Californian, But a Mississippian and the Rest of it is Got Up, he writes of a sense of place and belonging.  A time to wander and a time to settle down.  While I don't know what the future holds for Shaun Kelly, I find it interesting that when he was a resident of Mississippi, he didn't choose the easiest route to travel.  Shaun marched to the beat of a different drummer.  Like so many Mississippi artists, musicians and writers before him, his thoughts, what he believed in and stood for, often they cut against the grain of what the average Mississippian would deem important and worthy.  And yet, Mississippi is home.

Recently, Shaun wrote of his father in a wonderful blog titled: Stuff I Gotta Remember Not To Forget.  While I don't think Shaun and his dad always saw eye to eye, when reading the blog, I sensed a respect and thanks and sympathy for his father, an honor and sense of gratitude for the sacrifices that his father made for Shaun and the rest of his family.  A working man, doing what had to be done.

 When you see and talk to Shaun and listen to his views on many topics, you wouldn't expect that he is from Mississippi, but sometimes you can't judge a book by its cover.  His wife, the librarian can tell you that.

Where Would Notre Dame Rank in the SEC?

We have heard of the luck of the Irish but after watching the BCS National Championship game between Notre Dame and Alabama, it became apparent that skill, strength and speed would be what would win the game, not luck.

Notre Dame had a very good team but not a great team.  Looking over Notre Dame's schedule, of all the teams that ND played, only one team played an SEC team during the regular season and that was Wake Forest who was soundly defeated by Vanderbilt.  The national championship game was a game between two different football cultures.  Notre Dame has a proud football history and tradition but they were embarrassed in the championship game.

After watching the game, I did not feel that Notre Dame was the second best team in the country and even wondered where they would rank if they were members of the SEC.  Here is what I came up with:

Notre Dame played the following teams during their successful season who played against SEC teams:

Michigan defeated by South Carolina, 33-28 in a bowl game

Oklahoma defeated by Texas A&M, 41-13 in a bowl game

Pitt (triple OT win by ND) defeated by Ole Miss, 38-17 in a bowl game

Wake Forest defeated by Vanderbilt, 55-21 during regular season

Of course, ND was defeated by Alabama, 42-14.  If Notre Dame were a member of the SEC, where would ND rank?  I feel that at best they would be a mid-range SEC team.  The following is how I would rank the 2012 SEC teams plus ND:

1.  Alabama

2.  Texas A&M

3.  Georgia

4.  S. Carolina

5.  LSU

6.  Florida

7.  Ole Miss

8.  Notre Dame

9.  Vanderbilt

10. MSU

11. Arkansas

12. Missouri

13. Auburn

14. Kentucky

Maybe an eight team playoff format would bring forth the best teams for the championship game.  Hopefully at some time in the near future we will see it happen.