Thank you, Amy, for a timely reminder
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
A very Merry Christmas wish goes out to Amy Pasqualini of Lynchburg. If you'll read our letters section on Page 5 of this weekend's HCP, you'll learn why.
Amy offers a timely reminder of what Christmas is really about. And, of equal importance, what it's not about.
As Amy writes:
• Christmas is not about getting, or giving, the most expensive toys.
• Christmas is not about buying so many gifts that you are unable to see your Christmas tree through them.
• Christmas is not about ignoring your neighbors or turning your back on someone who you know is needful at this time.
Thank you, Amy, for a wonderful letter. And, for what it's worth, I like the "Charlie Brown Christmas Special," too.
Merry Christmas!
* * *
Every now and again, I like to read "This Day in History," at www.history.com. For column writers, it can be a great source of inspiration.
In the olden days, many of us in the business kept among our five most valued texts a copy of the World Almanac for such things. (The other required references included: "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," "The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual," "Roget's Thesaurus" and the King James Bible.)
Of course we all thought we were something before the Internet. Especially those of us who had those five books and the wherewithal to use them for something other than a coaster or paperweight.
Today, the Internet in general and Google in particular have made the reference books about as popular as V8 engines and $4-a-gallon gasoline.
Whether you find this at History.com or in your grandfather's Reader's Digest Almanac and Yearbook, on Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful flight in history of a self-propelled aircraft.
According to the website, "Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight."
The Wright brothers (think Wright-Patterson Air Force Base), of course, grew up in Dayton, Ohio.
So, ever since their famous flight at the Outer Banks, the Tar Heel State and the Buckeye State have argued over the "First in Flight" recognition. For what it's worth, the brothers designed their history-making aircraft in Ohio and had it flown to North Carolina for its test flight. (OK, I made up the part about having the aircraft flown to North Carolina. Just wanted to see if you were awake!)
At 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 1903, with five witnesses on hand, the Wright brothers' aircraft ran down a monorail track and lifted into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. And modern aviation was born, in conjunction with two of my favorite states. (Gotta love the Outer Banks!)
* * *
This weekend I read an interesting story in the Dayton Daily News about Ohio's unintended consequences with the famous term limits vote of 1992.
The story was headlined: "Ohio legislators beat term limits."
They sure do.
The article reads: "Though voters put term limits on Ohio lawmakers nearly 20 years ago, a newspaper analysis has found that legislators from southwest Ohio rarely leave the political-government system. Politicians can remain in government by switching between the Ohio House and Senate, running for local office, finding another government job or becoming lobbyists to influence their former colleagues. … Nearly every one of the 34 southwest Ohio lawmakers to face term limits sought or got other jobs in politics or government."
Is anyone really surprised?
After all, Ohio had the musical chairs windbags (if only the Wright brothers could have waited a century) in Columbus, whereby the likes of Taft, Montgomery, Petro, Blackwell, Deters, et al., jumped from office to office with such frequency not even the Statehouse press could keep it all straight. The Republican bait-and-switch plan for these elected officials to bounce from state attorney general, to state auditor, to treasurer, to secretary of state, all fell apart in 2006 when three of the GOP bigwigs forgot whose turn it was to sit down when the music stopped. (Ted Strickland thanks you, by the way.)
Whatever the intents of term limits two decades ago, the end result has been this: No, Ohio doesn't have a lifer like Vern Riffe in the House of Representatives, but it still has more than enough lifers in government offices.
If term limits were supposed to bring us back to citizen representation or statesman lawmakers, it has been a dismal failure.
What angers me most is that I supported it.
* * *
Lastly, our congratulations to Coach Rick VanMatre for his well-deserved induction into the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
A more intense competitor on the court few of us have witnessed in the past quarter-century. Off the court, a scholar and a gentleman.
Congrats, Coach Rick. You made covering high school basketball a lot of fun for a lot of people. More importantly, you have instilled a great work ethic in many, many young student-athletes.
Rory Ryan is publisher of the only locally owned newspaper in Highland County.[[In-content Ad]]
Amy offers a timely reminder of what Christmas is really about. And, of equal importance, what it's not about.
As Amy writes:
• Christmas is not about getting, or giving, the most expensive toys.
• Christmas is not about buying so many gifts that you are unable to see your Christmas tree through them.
• Christmas is not about ignoring your neighbors or turning your back on someone who you know is needful at this time.
Thank you, Amy, for a wonderful letter. And, for what it's worth, I like the "Charlie Brown Christmas Special," too.
Merry Christmas!
* * *
Every now and again, I like to read "This Day in History," at www.history.com. For column writers, it can be a great source of inspiration.
In the olden days, many of us in the business kept among our five most valued texts a copy of the World Almanac for such things. (The other required references included: "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," "The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual," "Roget's Thesaurus" and the King James Bible.)
Of course we all thought we were something before the Internet. Especially those of us who had those five books and the wherewithal to use them for something other than a coaster or paperweight.
Today, the Internet in general and Google in particular have made the reference books about as popular as V8 engines and $4-a-gallon gasoline.
Whether you find this at History.com or in your grandfather's Reader's Digest Almanac and Yearbook, on Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful flight in history of a self-propelled aircraft.
According to the website, "Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight."
The Wright brothers (think Wright-Patterson Air Force Base), of course, grew up in Dayton, Ohio.
So, ever since their famous flight at the Outer Banks, the Tar Heel State and the Buckeye State have argued over the "First in Flight" recognition. For what it's worth, the brothers designed their history-making aircraft in Ohio and had it flown to North Carolina for its test flight. (OK, I made up the part about having the aircraft flown to North Carolina. Just wanted to see if you were awake!)
At 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 1903, with five witnesses on hand, the Wright brothers' aircraft ran down a monorail track and lifted into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. And modern aviation was born, in conjunction with two of my favorite states. (Gotta love the Outer Banks!)
* * *
This weekend I read an interesting story in the Dayton Daily News about Ohio's unintended consequences with the famous term limits vote of 1992.
The story was headlined: "Ohio legislators beat term limits."
They sure do.
The article reads: "Though voters put term limits on Ohio lawmakers nearly 20 years ago, a newspaper analysis has found that legislators from southwest Ohio rarely leave the political-government system. Politicians can remain in government by switching between the Ohio House and Senate, running for local office, finding another government job or becoming lobbyists to influence their former colleagues. … Nearly every one of the 34 southwest Ohio lawmakers to face term limits sought or got other jobs in politics or government."
Is anyone really surprised?
After all, Ohio had the musical chairs windbags (if only the Wright brothers could have waited a century) in Columbus, whereby the likes of Taft, Montgomery, Petro, Blackwell, Deters, et al., jumped from office to office with such frequency not even the Statehouse press could keep it all straight. The Republican bait-and-switch plan for these elected officials to bounce from state attorney general, to state auditor, to treasurer, to secretary of state, all fell apart in 2006 when three of the GOP bigwigs forgot whose turn it was to sit down when the music stopped. (Ted Strickland thanks you, by the way.)
Whatever the intents of term limits two decades ago, the end result has been this: No, Ohio doesn't have a lifer like Vern Riffe in the House of Representatives, but it still has more than enough lifers in government offices.
If term limits were supposed to bring us back to citizen representation or statesman lawmakers, it has been a dismal failure.
What angers me most is that I supported it.
* * *
Lastly, our congratulations to Coach Rick VanMatre for his well-deserved induction into the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
A more intense competitor on the court few of us have witnessed in the past quarter-century. Off the court, a scholar and a gentleman.
Congrats, Coach Rick. You made covering high school basketball a lot of fun for a lot of people. More importantly, you have instilled a great work ethic in many, many young student-athletes.
Rory Ryan is publisher of the only locally owned newspaper in Highland County.[[In-content Ad]]