Absentee Voting

The Pamlico County Board of Elections has received absentee ballots for the 2012 election for President, Vice President, Governor and many other offices.

We will start mailing ballots to voters who requested absentee ballots over the next few days.

Election day may be November 6, but the election has begun.

Sunday Voting

The Pamlico County Board of Elections went to Raleigh yesterday to seek State Board of Elections approval for a plan for One-Stop voting adopted by a majority of board members. Since the plan was not adopted unanimously, it required a hearing before the State Board. A total of nine counties whose plans were not adopted unanimously appeared before the board.

After hearing from of both majority and minority members, the State Board of Elections approved the Pamlico County plan supported by the majority. Therefore we will have voting on two Sunday afternoons during One-stop.

Both sides presented their positions on a well-prepared, rational and amicable basis. There was no hint of acrimony.

The same could not be said of some of the other counties. I came away from the hearing with a feeling of pride for the way our county conducts it business.

Oriental Update Street Closing Dispute

I have received a copy of a request from Oriental's Town Attoney to the Superior Court requesting a thirty day extension to the time for filing a response to my appeal. I did not object.

Seventy Years Ago: At Sea In The Eastern Pacific

A hundred miles west of the Farallon Islands, the troop ship's bow rose and fell as it met the swell generated by a storm thousands of miles across the Pacific.  The ship's sailors seemed not to notice.

Embarked soldiers, stomachs upset by days of railroad food, did their best to keep their food down. Not many succeeded during the rough passage across the bar when they left the Golden Gate.

It was even worse now, in poorly-ventilated troop compartments with bunks stacked four high. A steady stream of soldiers sought relief in what they had learned was the head, not the latrine. Many didn't make it in time. They would have liked to get a breath of fresh air, but there were too many troops and too little deck space.

The privileged few who made it to a topside railing learned the hard way not to barf into the wind. Sometimes they had no choice.

A boatswain's mate piped his whistle and said something unintelligible over the announcing system. Time for evening chow. The soldiers already knew, because they had been smelling the odor of greasy pork chops for more than an hour.

Few made it to the mess hall.

My stepfather, newly-promoted Master Sergeant Cox, was one of them. Not bothered in the slightest by the ship's motion, he ate his fill.

Then he stood his watch with the crew of a 4" gun.

Plenty of fresh air.

Let's Have A Strong Dollar?

Over the past week, I've heard a lot of calls for a "strong dollar."

Strong is good, right?

So who is a strong dollar good for?

For that matter, what is a "strong dollar?"

A "strong dollar" is a dollar with a high value relative to other currencies.

For whom is this good?

It's good for China. They get to make lots of stuff and sell it to us, because their prices are lower than our "strong dollar" prices.

It's good for Germany. They don't have to buy as much of our stuff to be able to sell us Mercedes', BMW's and Braun appliances.

It's good for India, Indonesia and Mexico.

Is it good for Americans? A strong dollar would be good for those who travel abroad. When I plan my next trip to Europe,  I want the dollar to be "strong." What I have to spend for hotels and travel, etc. will be lower.

But for anyone in the export business or in the US tourist industry, a strong dollar is bad.

It raises the price to foreigners of American goods and services.

If you are an American and make stuff for foreign markets, you don't want a strong dollar.

If you make stuff for ordinary Americans to buy, you don't want a strong dollar.

If you are a financier, who only makes deals, not product, you do want a strong dollar. It lets you outsource offshore.

It lets you drive down any salaries you have to pay in this country.

If you are in the top one percent, of course a strong dollar is good!

Democracy And Its Discontents

It seems that elections sometimes bring out the least thoughtful contributions to public discourse.

This is not just an American affliction. Folks across the Pond with whom we claim a "special relation" share the problem.

Here are some interesting thoughts on political discourse.

As always, it is good to read the comments as well as the blog posting. It helps get your mind around the problem.

Seventy Years Ago: Is This Trip Necessary?

Railroad waiting rooms were decorated with posters. The messages were urgent: "Loose Lips Sink Ships," "Is Your Trip Necessary?" "Buy War Bonds."

Railroad travel for civilians and soldiers and sailors on leave was a lot like the picture in the poster. Gasoline and tire rationing brought highway travel to a halt.

Soldiers on troop trains, though, didn't have to read the posters. They didn't have to decide whether the trip was necessary. Someone else decided.

They didn't get to tell anyone where they were going or on what schedule. They didn't know themselves, and weren't allowed contact with anyone not on the train. Army censors read every letter and telegram before it went and excised classified information - or for that matter, any information at all. Especially about troop movements. After all, as the poster warned, "Loose Lips Sink Ships."

On September 1, 1942, 27th Air Depot Group's troop train arrived in San Francisco and the soldiers boarded the ship that would take them to Australia or wherever else the army decided to send them.

My stepfather asked permission to send a telegram. Western Union. His lieutenant referred him to the unit censor, who was also the chaplain. "Only for emergencies," the chaplain explained. "I just want to let my wife know of my promotion," my stepfather explained. The chaplain agreed.

The telegram said, "I made master sergeant today."

My mother received the telegram and got the real message: "He's going overseas today." She knew he would be promoted the day the ship left.

Forebears

My grandfather was a coal miner. In Texas. Yes, I know he should have been in oil. But Palo Pinto County in 1902 when he went to work in the mines only had coal. Not very good coal at that.

He only had a third grade education. In Palo Pinto County in 1894, that's as far as school went. Of course, you had a choice. You could send your child east seventy miles to boarding school in Fort Worth. It was a bit far to go by train every day.

My grandfather worked hard. Never made much money. Had a lot of friends and close relations with his family, but by republican standards wasn't a success.

After listening to speeches at the republican convention, now I understand the problem. He wasn't an immigrant. He should have borrowed money from his uncle or his father and started a business.

The immigrant part is a real problem. No immigrants in my family since about 1741.

Ok, the money part was a problem, too.