Wednesday, August 31, 2011

AUTO UNION TALKS: Pseudo Middle Class non-sustainable...




As many of you know, here in Detroit it is time for the United Auto Worker’s Union (UAW) to talk contract with the auto companies. These negotiations nearly always resulted in increased benefits to the auto workers BUT those days are long gone and things have changed.

This year especially, the UAW cannot strike GM or Chrysler as part of the bailout deal where U.S. taxpayers saved union and non-union jobs and gave those companies a second life instead of letting them crash and burn as some staunch capitalists suggested should have happened; a result of mismanagement and union greed.

Ford is the only company that the UAW can strike since Ford did not take corporate welfare money from the U.S. taxpayer.

I feel kind of bad for Bob King, the president of the UAW; he has to show the country that unions are not mindless greedy pigs but are partners of industry working to help keep companies profitable and competitive in the new global economy BUT he also has to give his union members what they want which is getting back all the benefits they agreed to forgo to keep the company viable.

King said something that caught my eye; he said that second-tier wages are too low to sustain a middle-class lifestyle.

Union members agreed that all new hires would start at a wage of $14 to $15 / hour as opposed to $30 / hour or more for the existing workers. One of their demands is for the new hires to get an increase in their wages to bring them up and more in-line to what older workers make.

They did not understand and still appear not to understand that the whole point of lower wages for new hires was to eventually retire all high wage older workers making all workers earning a lower, realistic and more sustainable wage.

Now about the fact that $15 / hour is too low to sustain a middle-class lifestyle?

The unions have argued and continue to argue that their workers represent the middle-class in this country and anti-union efforts are designed to kill the middle-class in this country and many people in this country are starting to realize that the argument they are making is a bunch of hogwash.

The middle-class is the economic and I guess social class that lies between the poor class and the rich class. It is hard to define the rich class these days but you can say that millionaires define the rich class and the poor class is composed of people and families that are struggling to make ends meet.

That leaves a huge area in the middle that can be split into lower middle-class and upper middle-class and probably includes a family income range anywhere from $50,000 to $250,000 and that is a wild guess.

The unions, especially the UAW here in Michigan, in my opinion, created a pseudo middle class in the years where unions ruled the auto industry. Auto manufacturers were making money so they did not mind giving into worker demands which grew and grew with each contract until globalization collapsed the sustainability of those demands in the face of more and more global competition.

I call the auto workers a pseudo middle class because in most cultures the working class and especially the non-skilled, non-educated working class occupies the economic and social low lands or as in our culture at most the lower middle-class.

Don’t get me wrong in those heady days of the 50s to the 90s, union workers were definitely in the middle-class and it was a good thing for our society. It allowed basically unskilled, uneducated workers to live life large so by pseudo middle class, I mean they were propelled into the higher standard of living solely through the power of being able to strike a company into submission.

The auto workers shared the middle class with educated and skilled workers who in some cases, abandoned their skills and education and joined the UAW so they could make more money and get more benefits and this is why that model of employment, in the end, was not sustainable because it was truly a house of cards waiting to tumble.

So Bob King’s cry that $15/hour cannot sustain a middle class lifestyle is absolutely true, it cannot and will not. It will sustain a lifestyle that can be supported on a $15/hour wage.

So you see the dilemma here; UAW workers want to keep the pseudo middle class status afloat but in today’s reality, it is sinking and will never float again; those days are gone and they must accept that if they are to have a job at all.

The workers making the $15 / hour are ecstatic and very grateful in these harsh economic times at least in the interviews I have seen. It is the older workers, those living the pseudo middle class lifestyles that are not willing to see the old days go and I can see their point.

Ford, on the other hand, wants to offer all workers, generous profit sharing checks which they already have this year ($5,000 / worker) and that is a sustainable model; share profits when you have profits. Ford also is promising to create more and more, second-tier jobs giving the unions a source of dues paying members.

This is a pivotal time for the UAW and Bob King is in the middle. He has to somehow convince the rank and file to follow his lead and direction in these crucial negotiations or history will record the end of private industry unionism.






Monday, August 29, 2011

DETROIT JAZZ FESTIVAL: My son will be at the Jazz Talk Tent!

The Detroit Jazz Festival is happening this coming weekend in downtown Detroit. My son is flying in for the occasion and will be conducting an interview with JAZZ BEYOND NATION AND GENDER with Anat Cohen, Vijay Iyer and Amina Figarova.

This will be at NOON on Sunday, September 4, 2011 in the JAZZ TALK TENT and should prove to be quite interesting to all you jazz aficionados.

We have been going to the Detroit Jazz Festival for many, many years. Bringing our kids along has obviously made them appreciate jazz music and in Zak’s case, is now his occupation…interesting, no?

The festival has morphed a little through the years and now includes a little Blues and Motown on certain stages; get a schedule on-line by Googling the Detroit Jazz Festival 2011. Don’t forget top get a T-shirt.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

STEVE JOBS: An untimely ending?

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the fifth D: All ...Image via Wikipedia

Just heard that Steve Jobs, CEO of APPLE, has resigned. It can only mean one thing; the end is probably near even though officially, it is just another medical leave.

Here is a brilliant and gifted man that has brought us to a technological future we only dreamt about before and it empowered us to do things better and faster.

All the money in the world cannot alter what fate has in store for us and tragically at his early age, his time appears to be running out.

Jobs and Wozniak built a computer in their garage that revolutionized the world as we knew it. I gravitated to the APPLE (Mac) computer when it first came out because I could understand how to work it, to use it, where I could not fathom the IBM program; the MAC was meant for a regular, non-computer guy like me.

Yes, people laughed at me when I bought a Mac and brought it to work; what are we going to do with it…waste of money…just a toy. Well, now we know better and most businesses can not even function without a computer but at the beginning, they laughed.

I will say that I was forced to go to a PC system when I computerized the whole company but that was because Microsoft managed to dominate the software world and not insist on making the boxes; that was a stroke of genius by Bill Gates.

BUT Apple eventually recovered and found a better direction and now their stock trades between $300 - $400 a share.

I feel sad for Steve Jobs because he probably has many more ideas he still wants to pursue and his ideas translate to a better world for us all so we should feel sad also for ourselves.

I watch my grandkids now and know they will never know a world without computers; hell, they are using them now even before kindergarten and I can still remember when the invention of the hand calculator was a very big deal to me.

Steve Jobs will go down in history as someone that made the world a better place. I just wish he could grow old and enjoy watching the world of his ideas come to full fruition.









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Monday, August 22, 2011

CHARLESTON, S.C. : Nice weekend visit.


Just got back from a long weekend (Wed. – Sun.) in Charleston, South Carolina. My wife suggested the city as a convenient and interesting place to meet our friends who reside in North Carolina.

It was a combination beach time fun and visiting some historical places as well as the city. I knew it was going to be hot but really…that hot?

We stayed at a condo on the Isle of Palms at the Wild Dunes Resort…what a large place…they had everything but cooler weather.

Fine dinning was also on the menu as Charleston is known for Low Country Cooking. We recommend a very non-descript place called FIG…fantastic…lots of fish and other sea creatures and fantastic She Crab Soup.

Had to visit FORT SUMPTER where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. They really do a great job in re-telling the history of the Fort and reasons for the Civil War as many visitors were foreigners.

The city itself is a splendid example of ante-bellum South (the city was spared during the Civil War). We are actually considering going back and staying in the city itself (no beach time) to really get a close up and extended feel for the architecture and history and more fine dinning.

We found out that BMWs are built here and EXPORTED to Europe; what a switch! We also saw the big new BOEING plant that will build the new 787s (Dreamliner); this is the plant that is being challenged by the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) which does not like the non-union status of the workers in this right-to-work state (see past blogs).

Our next visit here will definitely NOT be in the summer!










Tuesday, August 16, 2011

ECONOMY: Cutting spending may actually hurt the economy?

Unofficial seal of the United States CongressImage via Wikipedia

I have been reading a lot of commentary on our dismal financial position and especially the fear of a “double-dip recession” which according to experts would be disastrous.

Economists are saying that since consumers are not spending because they can’t and companies are not spending (or hiring) because they do not want to and are sitting on their cash, the only money flowing into the economy is from the federal government and the federal government is looking to cut spending by trillions of dollars which some fear will stop growth all together and sink us into that double-dip recession.

The Democrats do not know how to create jobs and neither do the Republicans who somehow think that cutting spending will create jobs (just the opposite will happen) so what to do?

There is wasteful spending and there is job creating spending…can Congress distinguish between the two…I don’t know and listening to Tea Party activists; I don’t think so.

I have never seen a more useless Congress than I see right now. I also have never seen such a dearth of ideas from economists, historians and business people; no one has ideas because no one has lived through what we are in.

I think we can all agree that consumer confidence is a huge factor in spending and therefore getting the economy moving but the president and Congress do not inspire confidence in me or as it seems, in many others. So we keep the old car, fix the fridge and let the kids run through the sprinkler as their vacation fun?




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Sunday, August 14, 2011

CUBA: Don't know how to turn towards capitalism...

Fidel Castro becomes the leader of Cuba as a r...Image via Wikipedia

My wife, the socialist, is captivated by CUBA. The grand Communist revolution and experiment that has enslaved Cubans since 1959 and condemned them to utter poverty BUT they have free medical, education and want for nothing and are happy and sing as they work…BULLSHIT.

The people are depressed and oppressed by Castro who has to be a Looney bird for believing in his own bullshit but even Fidel has been overheard complaining that his dreams have not materialized and maybe, just maybe he was wrong about Communism.

Well his brother Raul is convinced that changes now have to be made because Cuba’s economy sucks big time and has sucked since the beginning; Communism does not work and that is why Russia gave up on it.

But I have to laugh at how Raul Castro is turning Communism into capitalism.

Recently they fired thousands from their official government jobs and told them to start their own businesses, ala capitalism.

Here is the kicker, Cuba’s new business owners face a 50% personal income tax, 10% sales tax and a 25% social security tax which leaves what for the new business owners?

Other former Communist countries like Poland, etc, have managed to transition to capitalism quite nicely but the old Cubans in charge of Cuba are the same idiots that started the revolution that went nowhere. Most Cubans were born after 1959 and have known no other government other that the Castro brothers and they have NEVER paid ANY taxes.

The Castro brothers need to die or leave and Florida Cubans need to take over the country and do capitalism right!
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2012 DEMOCRATIC NAT. CONVENTION: In non-union Charlotte, N.C.?

Collage of Charlotte, North Carolina.Image via Wikipedia

A headline caught my eye yesterday “Some unions to skip 2012 Dems convention” because Democrats and unions are blood brothers after all and what could possess unions to skip THEIR convention.

The convention is to be held in CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA which is a right-to-work state and even the hotels are non-union and I imagine that the workers setting up the convention are non-union workers.

Charlotte, if you remember, is the city that Boeing built its 787 factory instead of in heavily unionized Seattle so this could be very interesting.

I am not sure why the Democrats picked Charlotte for their national convention but the unions are pissed to say the least.

I will have to dig deeper to see what the story is behind the story but I am digging it.
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OLD TESTAMENT: Very fluid through the ages...

11th century Hebrew Bible with targum, perhaps...Image via Wikipedia


















Ran across a very interesting article in the Detroit news which came originally from the Associated Press; it was titled “Scholars chart drafts of the Old Testament” by Matti Friedman (Aug. 13, 2011) and carried the sub-heading “Goal is to be authoritative source of changes over time”.

The interest here is to people and religions that insist that every word in the Bible is divine, unaltered and unalterable and they refuse to believe that the Old and New Testaments went through countless revisions and translations over centuries and millennia.

These scholars at Hebrew University in Jerusalem have been working for 53 years tracking any and all “evolutions” of the Old Testament through time. Many different versions of the Old Testament have added words or phrases or my favorite, adding a prophecy retroactively AFTER the event(s) actually happened.

The scholars of this “Bible Project” have discovered that the Hebrew Bible was “somewhat fluid for long periods of its history and that its transmission through the ages was messier and more human than most imagine”.

The scholars realize that their work is mostly for other scholars who study the evolution of the Bible through time but I find it interesting that there is critical proof that the words and phrases and books of the Bible evolved through time which means they were redacted many times by humans and still some will believe that every word in the current English version of the Bible is the original word…Abraham did not speak English.
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RICK PERRY: Prayer will fix all our problems?

Rick Perry shows us around his office. He's Te...Image via Wikipedia

An interesting article about the new presidential candidate appeared in the New York Times titled “Rick Perry’s Unanswered Prayers” by Timothy Egan (August 11, 2011).

Rick Perry, the governor of Texas is an attractive candidate as I have mentioned before but his unabashed and over the top religiosity will be his undoing and many a writer, including myself, will be picking on this trait of his not because he is religious but because he takes his religion to an absurd level and a president of the United States is president of all Americans and not just those that follow his brand of religion.

Tim Eagan pokes at Perry and especially his penchant to officially proclaim as governor of Texas, official prayer days to address issues of concern. The last was to pray for rain as Texas is basically dried-up as a bone. After the prayer proclamation, Texas got drier and drier prompting some to say that god does not listen to Perry.

On a serious note, some are saying that to tackle serious problems in this country and the world, his answer will be to turn to god and prayer and that is to turn to Jesus and Christian prayer; all others don’t work…but his doesn’t work either?
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WISCONSIN BATTLE WITH UNIONS: The re-calls failed...

A rally of the trade union UNISON in Oxford du...Image via Wikipedia

I had to write something about the great re-call battle in Wisconsin.

After the Republican governor of Wisconsin and the Republican controlled legislature passed laws drastically reducing public union’s bargaining rights, the unions swore revenge.

Hundreds protested in the capital and democratic members of the legislature ran away to Chicago to deny a quorum to the legislature which in essence blocked the passage of the bill which eventually passed anyway.

Unions nationwide contributed $30 million to re-call Republican legislators in Wisconsin and take over the state legislature and kill or reverse any perceived anti-union bill. I will have to add that the bills passed were bills designed to curtail the unsustainable benefits given to public unions by Democratic legislators in exchange for union endorsement and votes; something I consider illegal and unethical since the Democratic politicians were paying the unions with taxpayer dollars.

Well, the screaming union supporters and the millions in union money could not take over the Wisconsin legislature and give unions their way once again; their intimidation and coercion did not work and they were stunned!!!

I hope this sends a signal to the nation that unions do not run this country and do not control state governments. They are a dying institution which has grown fat and greedy as well as corrupt and tax payers everywhere will not put up with their threats anymore; they will be treated as all workers are treated, no special deals for them and only them.


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Tuesday, August 09, 2011

GOV. RICK PERRY: The GOP religion candidate for president!

"The Honorable Rick Perry (front right), ...Image via Wikipedia
A new person will be entering the GOP Presidential race very soon. His name is RICK PERRY and he is the photogenic governor of Texas.

There are some things that recommend him: Texas has jobs, people are moving to Texas for jobs, he has a balanced budget and no state tax. Texas does have a drought but that is not his fault.

His only problem at least according to me, is that he is what I call a religious nut.

He recently staged a big Christian rally in Houston to pray for the country.

My only problem with that is that according to our Constitution written by our Founding Fathers, we keep religion and politics separate. Our First Amendment specifically states that the state shall NOT endorse any specific religion but will remain neutral on the subject.

Well Perry does not seem to pay heed to our Constitution which is not a good quality for someone running for the presidency of the country.

Our Founding Fathers in their great wisdom, a wisdom learned from the hard lesson of history, had Perry in mind when they wrote the First Amendment erecting a wall between state and church.

Perry has qualities that recommend him but I am afraid that his overt Christian religiosity makes him a danger to our way of life and hopefully people will recognize that at an early stage, at least people that are not religious nuts themselves and I use the word “nuts” to differentiate religious people that are not “nuts” when it comes to their religious orientation.

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Monday, August 08, 2011

U.S. DOWNGRADE: What were people buying...U.S. Treasurys!

The New York Stock Exchange, the world's large...Image via Wikipedia















I just had to throw in a line about the day after U.S. creditworthiness was downgraded by Standard & Poor.

Yes, the stock market tanked because people were selling their stocks but what were they buying: U.S. BONDS, the safest financial instruments you can get in the world even though downgraded to AA+.

Watch Standard & Poor the company. Like I said in my last blog, there is method to their madness and its all about self-interest and survival.
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MICHIGAN: Food Stamps to all college students?

Rick SnyderImage via Wikipedia

Democrats are screaming that they need to raise taxes and I have been saying what about tackling the waste that exists; tax dollars being literally thrown out the window.

Yesterday, Michigan Human Services Director Maura Corrigan announced that some 30,000 college students have been kicked off food stamp rolls saving the state $75 million per year.

Why were college students receiving food stamps (now debit cards called Bridge cards) since the federal government does not allow college kids to collect Food Stamps? Well Michigan allowed practically all students to get Food Stamps because they based eligibility on income and not assets like the rest of the country.

Why are we so stupid? Well we are known to be a welfare haven attracting people from all over to come and taste our generosity.

I guess this all came to a head when a man receiving Food Stamps won $2 million in the lottery and continued to receive Food Stamps because he still did not have an income and therefore was legally eligible…yup that’s how goofy our system is.

How did Michigan get around the federal ban on college student eligibility? Michigan created an exception for people in valid employment and training programs which they defined as attending college. Why would we do that?

Anyway, I am so happy Governor Rick Snyder and his appointees are looking at identifying and eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the state’s welfare department; it’s about time!
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DETROIT: Another example of incompetence and corruption...

Kwame Kilpatrick, Mayor of Detroit, MichiganImage via Wikipedia

When you think you have heard about everything bad about Detroiters abusing their city, you get a fresh example of the culture of incompetence and corruption.

Detroit’s Department of Human Services has already been in trouble and its director has already been fired for using $200,000 in federal grants to buy new office furniture, grants that were for helping the poor in Detroit.

Now the same department has been implicated in a scheme where gift cards were issued using Federal Community Services Block Grants for anti-poverty programs. These gift cards did not go to the poor but to department employees and their friends, imagined and real, for purchases of refrigerators, washers and dryers and other appliances.

This is the same department that did not open “warming centers” in the winter until the end of February due to lack of funds…can you believe this.

My problem is that the mayor (the good guy Bing) had no clue this was going on until the local paper exposed the scheme and now the federal government is investigating.

I mentioned some time ago that Mayor Bing needs to look at every department in the city to see what other shenanigans are going on. Years ago I said that this culture of incompetence and corruption is so ingrained in the very fabric of the city that all city employees should be suspect.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was in town denouncing the new powers of the emergency manager to end union contracts and fire elected officials as taking away the power of the people to elect who they want to serve them…well…I say to hell with the people…look at the mess they have made and allowed to continue for so many years.

I have to believe that many people are aware of the incompetence and corruption going on in city government and other city institutions and they accept it as normal and are probably jealous they can’t get in on the action. I can only hope that a majority of Detroit citizenry are appalled at the state of affairs and will pay close attention who they vote into office and not be bamboozled by larger than life figures like the former jailbird mayor Kwame Kilpatrick or the perennial blow hard like Jesse Jackson.

Mayor Bing needs to take control of his city and put all employees on notice that everything they do will be scrutinized and all wrong doing will be punished to the full extent of the law and back that up by appointing an auditor with a badge to put the fear of god into those that defile their city.
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Sunday, August 07, 2011

STANDARD & POOR: The downgrade had reason behind it?

Romano Prodi (second from the right) at the He...Image via Wikipedia

When it comes to rating the credit worthiness of sovereign nations it is on a different level than that of rating corporation debt risk while being paid by the corporation you are rating. Here you are not being paid by the country in question so you actually have to be honest? You have to actually look at financial data available and take into consideration the country’s government and their plans for stabilizing their economy?

Lately, countries like Greece have been in the news about the “junk” status of their bonds and the fact that the European Union has had to shore up Greece’s finances or risk the country defaulting on its debt which would be catastrophic since many institutions own billions in Greek bonds; their investments would become worthless and Greece would have a hard time borrowing any money after a default although not an impossibility as in the case of Argentina in 2002.

Greece has been making very painful financial decisions to get its finances in order and if you have been watching the international news, you would have seen rioting in the streets as the government raises taxes and removes benefits the people have grown used to; drastic measures for drastic times.

Standard & Poor (S&P) downgraded the U.S. credit worthiness to AA+, why? Other rating services did not and maintain a AAA rating.

Are U.S. financial obligations in danger of default? No but we did come close to a technical default due to political wrangling over debt issues so I guess S&P can safely say that if a compromise was not found at the last moment, the U.S. could have gone into a technical default on its debts.

Can we use political in-fighting as a reason for downgrading a county’s credit worthiness? I suppose, if political parties are so set in their ways (read Tea Party) that they would welcome a default in place of giving in to something they do not believe in (more debt).

S&P has admitted that they did not have their U.S.  financial data in order and were off by trillions of dollars, but that did not stop them from issuing a downgrade, which is a little problematic.

S&P has based their rationale for the downgrade in political instability and the fact that no reasonable plan to stabilize the economy is on the table and they may have a point there.

BUT does that give them the basis for downgrading the credit risk of the United States of America and here I do not think they have a leg to stand on and so I have to look for other reasons for their action.

Could it be because Congress is getting ready to kick their ass as contributors to our financial doldrums because they rated toxic assets as AAA and worthy to be bought with no risk?

I have to feel like they are doing a pre-emptive strike here; if Congress decides to limit their rating power because they screwed up so badly with the toxic assets case, they will have a reason to blame Congress for their vengeful actions not for rating toxic assets AAA, but for downgrading the U.S. credit worthiness.

Do you think there is method to their madness?








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US CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADED: Why?

Seal of the United States Department of the Tr...Image via Wikipedia















Well, well, a credit rating service has downgraded our country’s credit rating from the best (AAA) to second best (AA+). A credit rating indicates potential RISK of not getting your money back if you purchase or invest in the specific company’s financial offerings. Basically, the riskier the investment, the higher the interest rate the company is forced to pay its lenders, as it should be.

First, let me remind everyone that the same rating company (Standard& Poor) among other rating companies, are the same that rated TOXIC MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITIES AS AAA and that is a huge factor in what got this country into the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression; they made millions in screwing the nation and did they get punished…NO!

Now that I got that off my chest, let me just say that all this hand wringing over the downgrade to AA+ is for naught IF you bring in the lost art of looking at issues REALISTICALLY.

The reality is that there is NO other place in the world that affords investors the SECURITY that the American dollar offers. Why do you think CHINA invests billions if not trillions of their currency in U.S. Treasury financial instruments? Why don’t they buy French, German or Russian bonds? Well they probably do but not in the quantities they buy U.S. bonds.

So is the U.S. going to have problems borrowing because S&P downgraded their credit…NO!

I have a fundamental problem with credit rating companies like Standard & Poor; they are paid millions of dollars by companies that want their debt offerings rated. Let me make this really clear…if the rating company gives the debt offerings a low rate, the company will not use them again; the rating companies’ lose customers and revenue.

In my mind, rating companies should not be paid by the companies they are rating; that’s preposterous and open to all sorts of malfeasance.

The government has been investigating this problematic issue as a contributing factor to our disastrous current fiscal predicament but has not acted on it; they should and they should do it now before the rating companies get us into more trouble.

Instead of credit rating companies there should be an independent rating service agency that is paid by all companies requiring debt rating and in that way, all rating will be objective.

Why did S&P downgrade our government’s risk status; mainly for political reasons and I will have more on that later?



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CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS: Stay or Go...

Another subject that I feel needs some clarification because it is so divisive among us is the issue of Confederate Monuments, why they ...