Home of Today's Common Sense

Published Brownsville Herald 1/30/2012

Like many I watched the president’s State of the Union speech last Tuesday night and as I expected (we are in an election season), it was mostly a political campaign speech that no one believes will ever become fact. However, there was a portion that if the ideal was one that I could believe President Obama could possibly accept, he would have my vote.
He said:
“I’m a Democrat, but I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”
Unfortunately, it is doubtful that any of the current candidates would be able to let the folks make their own decisions and mistakes.
At this time when public adversaries are telling us why we should entrust them with the stewardship of our future, politicians are stirring up the muck in hopes of showing themselves as being not that bad. Even the best have vastly different motivations than we “huddled masses” do, and even if their motivations were more altruistic they would still be influenced by the ideas of what is good for one is good for all. That just ain’t true! More »

Yes he is still alive and well and will be appearing at NYCB Theatre at Westbury
960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury, NY on Friday, April 20th, 2012 at 8:00 PM. He will be playing around California early next year.

Published Brownsville Herald January 17, 2012

We now have a peek at what our political leaders and potential political leaders are like, and to be candid I am certainly less than happy with any of them, from the highest in the land to our local community.
The best choice available will be the best of the poor choices.
One reason that sticks out is that the best candidates have jobs (not necessarily political) that they are successful at. They cannot take a two-, four- or six-year vacation and stay competent during that vacation.
One of the things Gov. Rick Perry has advanced is to limit the activity of Congress to part time. It seems to work here in Texas as well as full-time legislatures work anywhere else. I think the idea has considerable merit.
It is advanced that the legislators of this branch would be nearly crippled in their ability to understand complex issues and act on them. It appears that only the sponsor and some of the leaders in any legislature have more than a nodding understanding. In the last terms Congress did not even have the bills to read; many bills were cumbersome and compiled especially to make them difficult to understand. It makes more opportunity to focus benefits on friends.
Why not require each bill to be clear, concise and understandable so that it can be published for the public to read and give their representative their thoughts on the issue? Then the representative would spend the voting part of the term and the end of the term. The public would have a better view of the legislator’s response to the wishes of the constituency. More »

Published Brownsville Herald Jan 2,2012

I would like to wish you all a very healthy and prosperous New Year. Let us all take the coming election choices seriously in hopes our chosen candidates do not contribute in making the situation worse.
Many of our neighbors seem to be deeply concerned with their perceptions of the candidates. More than 2 million voters have left both the Democratic and Republican parties since the last presidential election, and the number of independent voters continues to grow. A USA Today analysis of state voter registration statistics shows registered Democrats have declined in 25 of the 28 states that register voters by party. Republicans dipped in 21 states, and independents increased in 18 states. In eight of the “swing” states, Democrats’ registration is down by 800,000 and Republicans’ by 350,000. Independents have gained 325,000.
It is quite apparent that a large portion of the voters are very concerned with their traditional voting choices and have had their confidence in our leadership severely shaken. My confidences in the political leadership at all levels in all three main parties, Libertarian, Republican and Democrat, are in serious doubt.
Worse yet, I see very few leaders in training with much promise. More »

Saturday, December 31st
He is still with us!
On NEW YEAR’S EVE CHUCK BERRY will be at the
B. B. King’s Blues Club – New York, NY IN PERSON
Only one show at 11 PM !
He can also be seen
Wednesday, January 18th 2012
at
The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill – Saint Louis, MO

Published Brownsville Herald December 19 2011

I was sitting at at my desk wondering where new honest political leaders can be found. The experience many have is that those that we hear about in public service are doing things we don’t approve of, are corrupt or just don’t get elected after spending substantial sums of money.
All of those things are unattractive and the job is not stable and does not provide a consistent income over a period. Let’s face it: That kind of public service just does not assure a stable income.
We still need to identify future political leaders and provide the technical information needed to research the requirements of the elected office and how to become knowledgeable about it.
Let us remember that our forefathers designed the process as a part-time job. It was thought that anyone who could maintain his household and his business or estate could become a congressman or other elected official.
It was also thought that the legislative process would be a parttime job if the legislators were honest and serious about the work at hand. The folks here in Texas believed that also and made it stick. Things work very well with a parttime legislature. Perhaps the U.S. Congress would do a better job were it a part-time one, as perceived by our forefathers. More »

Published Brownsville Herald December 5, 2011

As I begin these thoughts it is Thanksgiving Day and I can smell all the goodies cooking in the kitchen. You can be sure I will give thanks for my family and those good friends who have remained true over the years, even during the rough spots.
I have lived in Brownsville longer than I have anywhere else in my adult life, and have developed a deep affinity for the place and the surroundings that give the place its character.
For quite some time I have been troubled with the problems in our neighbor Mexico, and the migration of its citizens that has resulted.
How do we define what is happening? Is it just a collection of unlawful activities? Certainly if you only focus on the happenings one at a time related to the traditional administration, that might well be the case.
What if we look at it as if the country were more distant and we had not developed such a close relationship? Might we consider what’s happening as a revolution by another major local force?
Further, might we then determine politically whether or not we can support the existing government or the revolutionaries? Then we as a nation would offer the afflicted residents assistance, or even the opportunity to move to the United States. More »

Published Brownsville Herald 11/21/2011

You never realize how much you miss home until you aren’t there and the ‘stuff’ that you don’t realize you don’t have just isn’t there.
I am home now after having lived out of my laptop for three-plus months and my neglected home computer doesn’t have any of the new stuff.
The process of leaving reminded me of the things I like least about the government: the bureaucratic paperwork and red tape.
The discharge took some time and not every document was complete when we needed them, but finally all was finished and we were off to Hobby airport to catch a Southwest flight home. The security folks did their job thoroughly but did not overdo it either. The Southwest people were very courteous and got me to Brownsville in good shape.
Now I am home and I am anxious to go out and see what I have missed. I was anxious to get out and try out my new motorized wheelchair.
I soon discovered something was missing.
Sidewalks were missing! I can understand that in a small subdivision, but in a moderate-sized city it can be dangerous.
Even in front of schools and at nearby intersections there are no sidewalks, even though there are two schools near Price and Paredes Line roads, which are very busy. I also wonder why there is no police presence during lunch periods and at the beginning and end of school to slow down young drivers’ route away from schools to the nearby drive, eateries or the H-E-B. More »

Published Brownsville Herald 10/31/2011

As I sit here watching game six of the World Series, I am considering a new life back home. I understand that I have progressed well enough to be able to go home as early as next week.
I am so fortunate to have been allowed to enter the DeBakey Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, and again I must thank Dr. Manoj Gogia of the VA clinic in Harlingen for taking a precious Saturday to call and get me an appointment there the following week. He is a uniquely caring and competent representative of the medical staff. Thanks again.
That idea, the prospect I have been praying for, leaves me with a number of concerns. Many I suppose other amputees, especially so many of my fellow veterans, have felt before me.
I am sensitized because the hospital that performed the lifesaving surgery is a veterans hospital. I lived and shared many concerns, hopes, fears and in some cases terrors I felt regarding the loss of one or more limbs.
Now, I will be returning to my family and the community I have made my home for many years. I have some other concerns and doubts about once again interacting with my family, friends and acquaintances. These I expect will go away with just a little time and experience. However, they could be life-shattering to a young serviceman returning from the fields of battle, full of doubt about how his sweetheart will feel about him or how his family and friends will; perhaps they treat him as cross to be borne! More »

Published Brownsville Herald 10/17/2011

I am again writing from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston and can report that my health is improving rapidly and I am getting used to being somewhat shorter than before. The staff here is working hard to provide me with the skills necessary to live a real life as a double amputee.
Though I knew some friends I served with in Vietnam who had learned to live (not just survive) with the loss of limbs, I definitely could not comprehend what it meant personally, especially to the view each of us holds as a “man.”
Somehow the first picture I had of myself was as half a man, as I couldn’t do some things and needed help to do others. Now I see it as just another set of skills I must learn to get the job done, whatever it might be. I don’t think I would have these views had I not served in the military and gone on to other jobs and careers during my 66 years. More »

Published 9/24/2011
I recently had an opportunity to see, first hand, how one of the premier Veterans Administration hospitals in the U.S. treats our injured servicemen.
I found myself in the Michael E. DeBakey – Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Houston.
For the past few years I have been afflicted with a skin disease on my legs that was extremely painful and made serious infection possible.
I had, over the past four years, been seen and studied at three different hospitals in Brownsville and San Antonio.
After an extensive search, The DeBakey Veterans Administration Hospital was recommended as the best choice and fortunately, as I had served in combat during the Vietnam War, I was found to be eligible for admittance. More »

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Thanks
Fred Drew

Chuck Berry, the father of Rock and Roll will be sharing his unique sound with us on New Year’s Eve. See him at B. B. King’s Blues Club in New York,
Sat, Dec 31
8;00am booked and @ 11:00 pm > order soon.
He began in the 50′s with his unique sound in an Alan Freed Show.
He is now in his 80′s and still sharing his unique sound, so see him now as this genuine piece of Americana may not be with us much longer.
e-mail me for ticket information fred@the-drews.com

Published Brownsville Herald July 18, 2011

I have been re-reading many opinions related to immigration issues and listening to many that on other issues I usually agree with. One in particular is the excellent article some years ago in The Brownsville Herald titled “Immigrants still wanted in hard times.” Mr. Ruben Navarrette hit the nail on the head when he said that “what Americans should know by now, even if some are reluctant to admit it: Immigrants were an undeniable and indispensable factor in the nation’s economic growth over the past decades.”
Many blame foreigners for many of our social ills. Such isolationism and scapegoating frightens me enormously. These perceptions frequently have preceded wars and some of the most embarrassing reactions in our history. Who wants to see a re-enactment of the incarceration of the Japanese in World War II or similar obscenities toward other national groups?
There are calls to close our borders to all “foreigners” and install martial law in the name of security. This scares me because our national survival depends on the infusion of new peoples to our “melting pot” and to continuously remember how our country was formed in the first place. Most new immigrants improve our work force with new enthusiasm and reinforce our understanding of how bad it could be, with stories of what caused them to come here seeking a better life and new opportunities. More »

Published Brownsville Herald July 4, 2011

Today is the 235th anniversary of our nation’s independence. It commemorates the day when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence from kingdom of England.
The declaration had been prepared by the “Committee of Five”: John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, the principal author.
On July 4, 1776, an estimated 2.5 million people lived in the new United States; today our population numbers about 311 million.
Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts and such.
Our founders created a “government instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” It was designed that the government would obey laws empowered by “We the people.” The folks would be sovereigns in a nation that would work in our best interest. It was definitely not the intention to create a nation ruled by professional politicos whose primary interests are selfpromotion and personal benefit. In today’s federal government aiming for one size and style for all, subsidies, programs and entitlements are created in Washington and enforced on everyone in the country, uniformly, whether or not they are needed or even work.
Lobbyists, politicos, program vendors, etc., are the real beneficiaries and rarely are they uniformly satisfied.
The nation that was conceived following our Declaration of Independence was defined as a confederation by the Constitution, which specifically limited the powers of our representatives in the Congress to reserve power to the individual — the community — then the states. More »