The OTHER Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and President-elect Obama

When I walked in on them one late winter morning in 1974, Dr. King Sr. and his dear wife Alberta were sitting at a table doing what one does at a Church every week, putting the parish bulletin together by hand and getting things ready for the Sunday service. It was just the two of them, no pomp or circumstance, two servants of God doing His work.

Dr. Albert Manley, president of Spelman College was kind enough to set up my visit that day to Ebenezer Baptist Church to meet the King's. I was already so grateful. Mrs. King mentioned that people were always coming by from seemly everywhere just to say hi.  They found that surprising in a way. We spoke for a few more minutes.  I offered to help with the bulletin but they were just finishing up. Dr. King said, "Well, why don't we take a walk, I believe you will be wanting to visit Martin's grave."  He put on his coat and we left the church. 

He tucked his arm in mine for balance and I believe had a walking stick in the other. On the way, he told me that things had been hard since Martin's death six years before.  He said that his other boy Alfred, who was helping out at the Church had drowned and they were missing both of them very much. "With Coretta having to travel around a lot", he said, "Mrs. King and I often look after the children." He wasn't sure that at his age, he was much good to them.  

We arrived at what I remember was a sort of parking lot area where Martin's eternal flame was blazing. Dr. King said that they had plans to build a whole Center within which the grave would be contained.

We stood silently in prayer.  As we did, I couldn't help but remember standing before another eternal flame in April 1964 at Arlington.  The spring thaw had started and the graveside of President Kennedy was muddied.  Plywood boards surrounded it so people could walk up to it.  I was with my Catholic Youth Organization group that day and we stood and prayed beside Senator Robert Kennedy, who had accompanied us.

On the walk back to the Church, Dr. King asked me what denomination I belonged to.  I told him I was a Catholic and he said that he was so surprised by the Catholics and how supportive they were of the civil rights movement and of Martin's work.  The King's were such humble people.  I told him that being there was one of the greatest moments of my life, he smiled and gave me a double take.  I took leave of them a few minutes later.  I had a book on Martin and asked if Dr. King would autograph it.  He said, "Why would you want my signature?"  Whatever my answer was I remember stumbling over my words and feeling totally stupid.   They just laughed, and patted me on the back as we said goodbye.  It was a wondrous moment for me.

In the summer of that year, the man who was most respectfully called, "Daddy King" was to suffer yet again, when a crazy gunman entered the Church and shot Mrs. King to death while she sat at the church organ.  Dr. King Sr. stayed with us another 10 years and had great influence on many more people, as President Carter often held him up for praise.

I think of Dr. King, Sr. today because he was a great leader too, born in another century, the son of a sharecropper, a shepherd to his flock in Atlanta and many more of us around the country and yes, father to a man of peace who dreamed that "one day my four little children will grow up in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

That dream has come true today. Alleluia, Alleluia.  That dream has come true today.

Copyright 2009 WBSeebeck

Keeping An Eye on the Bank's Computer

It's been around 39 years since computers have been keeping the books at banks in America.  I say that because the bank I was working for in 1970, now the third largest in the world or maybe number two now, it was in that year that they began computerizing accounts.

At the end of the bank day, each bank employee, save the ceo, was given a stack of account files and a stack of data entry forms.  We would fill in the data entry form from the account file.  Once completed, the forms were collected and sent to the key-punch department, which was operating 24 hours per day on three shifts and did so for some three months until all the bank's accounts were entered into the system.

Once the data was entered and the system working, calculations could be brought to bear on different types of accounts and the bank could for the first time evaluate the profitability of its accounts and the cost of its services.

Well, we have come a long way in 39 years.  Today, computers do everything at banks and its in real time, near instantaneously. While generally that is a good thing.  It can also create temptations for squeezing just a bit more from an account then the bank should.

Here is an example.  Your checking account has $100.00 available.  You are expecting a charge of $150.00 to be made against your account, so you transfer $200.00 from your Money Market account to your checking account.  However, you make your transfer at 12:30 pm and the bank has a rule, that you're unaware of, that holds post noon transfers until 3:30 pm or until the next morning.  In the mean time, your charge hits.  Now you get charged for a returned item and an overdrawn account. Today, depending on the Bank, such charges can be as much as $200.00.

The computer has been programmed to notice such things and can manipulate it to the bank's advantage.

Bank computers are also great at changing payment cycles. Many of us think that our bills are representative of 30 days of activity.  That's not true anymore.  The cycle may have been changed to 20 days and unless you're reading those little brochures with tiny little print that they send in the mail, you won't know that something has changed.  Yet, when you pay your bill, you find that you are late, other charges are attached and perhaps your interest rate has been boosted.  When you make your call to find out why, you are told that you have to pay your bill sooner than last month, because your cycle has changed.  A bank's computer system can make a cycle change for millions of customers in seconds.

Now, I'm not suggesting that banks are out there doing these things, but it has been done and unless we keep our eyes on the Bank's computers via our monthly statements and report such activities to our elected officials, we will become new victims of banks' greed.

Copyright 2009  WBSeebeck

Rent Parties

When I was a young boy in the late 1950's, we had a number of recessions.  I can't compare them to the one we're experiencing today, but as they say, "When your friend is out of work, it's a recession and when you are out of work, it's a depression.

Back in those days, when a man lost his job, it was a true tragedy for the whole family, as in post-World War II America; generally the woman worked in the home caring for the children. The news of a job loss in my neighborhood on New York's Staten Island spread quickly and quietly.  So did the response. You'd see the parish priest visiting the home.  "Father Anglin's visiting the D. family, what do you think is wrong?" You'd find out later that he was with the family offering whatever help the Church could extend, usually food, money or contacts for other jobs. To a young child, whatever was happening, it was serious business when the priest visited a home other than someone dying or the annual visit.

Yet, that was just the beginning of a neighborhood response. Most people back then rented their homes. They weren't apartments but small houses.  When people ran out of money and couldn't pay the rent, their friends and neighbors would "throw" a rent party.

What's a rent party?

Well, for those that don't know, it works this way.  Neighbors would announce that there would be a party at the home of the family in need. As people had a great deal of pride and to save them any level of embarrassment, it was just a party. Everyone would bring food to the party, some would bring music and decorations, and they all would dress up.  At the front door would be a basket and as each person came into the house, money would be dropped into that basket "for the rent".  The party would go all night and people would come and go, saying hello, dancing, singing, having a good time and filling the basket.

At the end of the night, the family in need would be left with food for the family, and money for the rent and other bills.  They also were left in a joyous and uplifted mood, given hope by their friends and neighbors, enough hope to face the problems before them.  They knew they were not alone.

Each day, we hear of more and more of our friends and neighbors losing their jobs, and some their homes. Let us reach out to them.  Revive the rent parties!  Let them know you care and they are not alone in their tribulations.

Copyright 2009 WBSeebeck

My 2009 America

I ran out of food and money today.  It's a Sunday and I thank God for the many things that I do have that can't be measured by a scale or calculator.  My two wonderful sons, three beautiful grandchildren are the best, as well as the rest of my family and friends that are spread across the country.

My medicine begins to run out on Wednesday and I don't know what I'm going to do about that. My energy level seems better the last couple of days and I'm trying not to let the COPD get the best of me.  It's really the stress that gets you each and every day but I give thanks that I still have my sense of humor left.  Yesterday, I had some hearty soup from a can but had to be careful of the sodium that was around 700 mg.  You see when you have diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, you can also get CHF when the sodium causes you to retain water and that's definitely not good. Almost glad I ran out of soup.

My first job was the summer of my 13th birthday.  My grandmother, who raised us while my mother worked, sent me off to the rich man's country club to caddy for the golfers.  I would leave before sunrise and walk a few miles to the course.  I wasn't afraid of the early dark mornings.  Every winter, beginning with my eighth birthday, I was an altar boy at the 6:00 am mass.  Believe me, it's very cold and dark at 5:40 am in January in New York.

When I got to the golf course, I sat apart from the caddies.  Almost to a man, they were in their 30's and 40's, had their own language it seemed and a way about them.  What I very quickly realized was that when the golfers came in, the older caddies went out first.  By nearly 1:00 pm, I was still waiting, while some of the older caddies had already gone out twice.  When the sun was at its highest and warmest, I was finally chosen and walked the course until just before four.  I reached home around five, the same number as my pay for the day.

That was the beginning of my work career and I don't ever remember a time I didn't work at something, until now.

There's less than a tank of gas left in the car, so I have to plan my outings.  I've got 130,000 miles on the Camry and I need an oil change.  It's going to have to wait.

My first hard time was a recession in the early 70's.  I was just starting out after college and had the additional responsibility of a wife and child.  Every interview I went on seemed the same. Do you have work experience in that area?  No, but I was the editor of my high school and college newspapers and I did some freelance writing.  Sorry, when you get some real experience, come back to us.  That's when I learned the meaning of Catch-22.  Can't have the experience if someone doesn't give you a job to get the experience.

Well, I never gave up and one day I went for an interview and found that the person who met with me was an old neighbor and he gave me a job at the employment agency.  Eventually, I placed myself (Yankee ingenuity).  The rest, as they say, is history.

As a boy, I dreamt about the future.  What would I do? What would I be? One day, I decided I would be either the Pope or the President of the United States.  Also, I wanted to travel and meet people from other countries and see their worlds.  My grandfather had traveled as a "man Friday" to his employer who owned a steamship company and my uncle was an Air Force major and if they could do, so could I.

Well, I didn't make it to be President, but I was active in politics and had a chance to meet and speak with three of them directly.  I didn't become Pope, but I was ordained a deacon 19 years ago.  As for traveling, well I got to visit and at times work for periods of time in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.  I've flown in helicopters, single, twin and four-engine planes both piston and jet and flew the Concorde, twice the speed of sound, four times.  Not bad in my book of dreams.

As for experience, I now have plenty.  Yet, there doesn't seem to be much call for my work anymore.  For the last 30 years, it has primarily been in information technology.  Since the 1980's, I have thought about and developed processes, methodologies and systems that deal with how information technology can positively change companies, industries and societies.

Yet, here I am in 2009 America.  No work, no money, no food, no medicine and an uncertain future.

Do I still have hope?  Yes, I have hope.  After all, one of the things I did in my life was write the song, "Roll Up Your Sleeves America".

Can you eat that?

Copyright 2009 WBSeebeck

"Roll Up Your Sleeves America" Copyright 1982 WBSeebeck

Caroline Kennedy - Privacy Rights Advocate

The 17th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States allows a governor of a state to appoint an individual to the U.S. Senate when the sitting Senator has resigned, died or is unable to continue to serve.  This appointed person is temporary and will serve out the remainder of an unexpired term.  When the term expires, the seat will become vacant and an election will be held for it.

This has been going on since the amendment was ratified by the states in 1913.  It has become news in 2009, because a large number of senators, in addition to the president and vice president-elect, have been chosen to work in the Obama administration.

One of the states where a new senator will be named is New York.  Governor Paterson will name  a replacement for Senator Clinton who has been nominated by the President-elect to be U.S. Secretary of State.

One of the individuals who might be named and has publicly expressed interest in the job and met with the Governor is Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy.  Some say that Caroline, 51 does not have enough qualifications.  I say, not only does she have enough qualifications, but also has a specialty that I believe must be front and center today and that is our right to privacy.

In addition to seven other books she has written, Caroline along with Ellen Alderman wrote two books on the subject, one in 1991, entitled, "In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action" and in 1995, "Right to Privacy".

I bought "Right to Privacy" when it came out, as I was very concerned about privacy issues in the expanding online industry of the mid-90's.  It was a fantastic book and as far as I am concerned one of the best on the subject.  The content covered privacy in all aspects of our daily lives and it was eye-opening.

So, when I heard that Caroline Kennedy was interested in serving as a U.S. Senator, I thought, well, we now have someone who understands the privacy issue and will have the clout to be the people's advocate on the national stage. Lucky us!

I should also point out that in addition to being the daughter of the late President and an author, she is a graduate of Radcliffe College and Columbia University Law School. She is a member of the bar associations in New York and Washington, DC.  Ms. Kennedy serves on the board of directors of the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.  President-elect Obama named her co-chair of his Vice Presidential Search Committee that recommended then Senator Joseph Biden.

I'm sure my old squash opponent, Al Franken would agree, she's qualified.

Copyright 2009  WBSeebeck

Willie's Rant - "Cows"

Hi!  This morning, I opened my New York TImes to find that there's another crisis requiring the attention of the government of the people, by the people and for the people.

This time it wasn’t banking, Wall Street, autos or the housing industry with their hands out. No, the industry du jour wanting to feast at the public trough was Milk Cows.

We also heard a story about how things are not going well with the steel industry. Well folks, sorry to say, but get in line. Steel has come a long way in the U.S. over the last 40 years. That’s when it was decided that steel mills were causing Night to occur 24 hours a day in some major cities of the east and that might not be good for folks and after also losing business to the French, Germans, Japanese and Russians, closed them.

Today, the U.S. still imports 30% of its steel and cars are increasingly being made of new forms of plastic, such as the GM Saturn line. American steel companies have been left to make structured steel, stainless and custom stuff including recycled steel. The hope is that the Obama administration will help them write new orders.

Oh yes, about the cows.

Turns out, according to the story that folks around the world aren’t buying milk products like they had been when the world economy was booming. However, cows, well you know, still need to be milked every day, so there is an overabundance of milk. What’s to do? Well according to the story, milk is still being produced at the same rate, turned to powder, housed in government warehouses and paid by, guess who? Yes the American taxpayer.

The cow story also points out that the price of milk has only come down a few cents but that’s probably because it costs too much to reduce the size of the herds over the long term.

So, let’s see if I understand this. People aren’t buying milk products around the world like they were doing, mainly because the price went so high and then the global economy went south. However, instead of reducing the prices and some costs along the way, they have kept the prices at virtually the same level and got Uncle Sam to subsidize it all. As sportscaster Mel Allen used to say, “How about that!”

What a place, America!

© 2009. WBSeebeck