O'Kelly can be reached at mokellyreport@sbcglobal.net and he welcomes all commentary. Taking Advantage of the System *Hit’em in the head!
That’s the phrase I’ve heard more than once after telling my story about the fender bender between my mustang and a United States Postal Service neighborhood delivery truck. My car was hit on the passenger rear quarter panel as I turned the corner at an intersection. As a formality an ambulance was called for the USPS employee who was four months pregnant.
And EMS workers asked me if I wanted to go to the emergency room too, but I declined. For all intents and purposes it was a minor accident. The police report concluded the postal employee was at fault.
Now some people say I should ‘hit’em in the head’ for as much money as I can get. Even if that means faking an injury. Before it was suggested, I never thought about committing fraud.
But it seems as though I’m in the minority. Almost two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, some gulf coast residents are still no closer to getting their lives back to the way they were before the natural disasters occurred. And federal officials say there are thousands of potential cases of fraud in the middle of real human tragedies.
Some people claimed to live in the gulf coast region, while others stole social security numbers of actual residents; contractors inflated damage costs for reimbursements; and some people posed as charity workers and kept the money. So far seven hundred people have been prosecuted. I don’t know about other people, but one of my mottos is ‘ If you can’t afford to do the time, don’t do the crime.
’ The last time I checked, unless you’re Scooter Libby, you’re probably going to jail for lying to the feds. There are hundreds of legal ways to make money. Although I too am overtaxed and underpaid, I don’t intend to break the law to make up the difference.
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist living in the Washington, DC metro area. Send your comments and questions to teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com.
College Zone: What Should I Pack for College? *Going away to college can be a time of excitement and anxiety for a lot of students and parents. Whether you are going away to school or just a few miles down the road, you will want to make sure you are prepared with the necessities for college life.
If you are staying in a dorm room, space will probably be at a premium so determining what is absolutely essential to bring will alleviate a lot of packing headaches. A dorm room that is comfortable, organized, and a reflection of your personal style will make the transition to college life that much easier. Here are a few solutions that will keep you organized as well as help you maximize the available space in your dorm room.
Determine what you will need. Start the packing process early. Take some time to sit down with your parents and decide on what you will actually need while away at college.
No need to begin making lists, this can come later. For now, just brainstorm about all of the things, even those that may appear outlandish, that you want to take to college. I recommend that during this exercise no one is judgmental; after all, this is simply an exercise in what you would like to take to your dorm room.
Once you’ve determined your “wish list” for college, it is time to organize it into categories such as toiletries, school supplies, clothing, electronic equipment, linen, and storage, etc. The good thing about making a list is that it helps you remember things to bring. It is not necessary to bring everything to school; there are some items you can purchase once you arrive at school.
Before you go shopping, create a budget and stick to it. Stay away from purchasing things that are ultra-expensive, use your budget wisely. Start at retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Warehouse stores before moving on to boutique and specialty shops.
Even though college is a new experience, all of your purchases don’t have to be. Use what you already have in your bedroom and closet e.g.
Recycling what you already have will not only save money, but the extra savings can be put into a bank for spring break travel or something on your wish list. Call your potential roommate and decide on what things you all will share such as microwave, refrigerator and television to avoid duplicate purchases and save space. Visit the College Board website at http://www.
collegeboard.com/parents/apply/college-applications/21383.html for ideas on what to pack.
Also, you may want to purchase a mini-safe or rent a safe deposit box for important papers. Don’t forget to utilize the wall space in your dorm room, many companies sell adhesive products that stick to the wall without creating holes. Prepare to Pack.
Ensure you bring special keepsakes and pictures of family and friends to make your dorm room feel more like a home away from home. Use duffle bags instead of suitcases because they are collapsible and can fit underneath your bed. If you buy storage containers, do not leave them empty.
Pack clothing and supplies inside of the containers. Since you probably won’t have a lot of time to do laundry in the first few weeks of school, it’s a good idea to pack extra undergarments, socks and easy wear/fold clothing. Make sure you bring your important admission papers, files and high school transcripts, just in case you need to reference them once on campus; leave a copy at home for safe keeping.
If you are going to a school which requires winter clothing, wait until you come home for a visit and then pack up your winter clothing. Also, for those folks from California and other warm climates, consider purchasing your winter clothes at school because you will have more options and possibly warmer fabrics from which to choose. For students who need to ship items in the mail, look for the most economic option.
For instance, if your parents are accompanying you to school, consider utilizing their luggage allotment at the airport to save on shipping costs. Buy the proper packing materials to ensure your fragile items arrive in good condition. Always place a label inside of your boxes in case of a mix-up.
Check out www.usps.com for more information on shipping your items to school.
Take Care of Your Mail. Use your parent’s address as your permanent address and your dorm room or post office box as your temporary address. Inform all of your friends and family of your new address.
Because of the pervasiveness of identity theft, you may want to consider having credit cards, driver’s license and social security cards sent to your permanent address. The list of dorm room packing tips could go on and on; hopefully, this gets you to thinking about what you will need at college. Remember the key to success and less anxiety is to start packing early so you can spend your last few days at home enjoying your friends and family Each week I’ll write about college-centric topics that are informative, witty, inspirational and above all intended to give you “The Edge”.
Regina Thomas is the founder of College Admissions Counselors; a private, one-on-one admissions coaching service that assists high school students and working professionals with the college application process. She has a Master of Education Degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from the University of California at Berkeley. Regina is happy to answer your college related questions.
She is also available for public speaking engagements. Send your inquiries to regina@yourcollegeworld.com.
PEOPLE OF NOTE: Telma Hopkins: Reviving the Next Generation of Roots *Telma Hopkins participated as a guest on my radio show “Topically Yours,” on BlakeRadio.com, Rainbow Soul. We talked about her role on Roots: The Second Generation, an award winning mini-series due to air Sunday, July 8th through Sunday, July 15th as part of TV One’s 30th Anniversary’s telecast of Alex Haley’s popular book “Roots.
” A marathon showing of the first six parts will run from noon to midnight on Saturday, July 14th. After it runs one night, the same episode will air the following day at noon. Cast members such as Leslie Uggams, LaVar Burton, Ben Vereen, Lou Gossett, Jr.
, Lynn Moody, et al, will host segments and talk about how “Roots” impacted their lives. Roots followed the generations of a slave family from Africa in the 1700s through the Civil War up until Haley traced his roots back to Africa. The epic program which won an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award aired 30 years ago.
During that time, the saga had a stunning impact and touched the conscious of America. “Roots” was my first acting job,” stated Telma. “I was primarily a singer.
My agent introduced me to black casting director, Rubin Cannon, who was casting the film. I had already seen the first Roots. Cannon asked me to read for the sequel “Roots: The Second Generation.
” I had never auditioned before and was scared. I got the role,” remarked the comedic actress. My sister attempted to do our family tree and traced my grandmother’s side of the family but it became hard to trace both sides of the family so we never completed it,” explained Telma who was born in Louisville, Kentucky and later moved to Detroit as a child.
“Detroit had cars and music and lots of talent contests. I auditioned for Motown but was too young. My group was sent to Golden World Studio.
The studio hired us that day and we started singing background. Tony Orlando wanted to put a singing group together and heard about my group. He called me but I was working with Isaac Hayes.
At the time I wasn’t interested. It took a lot for Tony to get me to leave Isaac. Tony was very persistent and finally he convinced me to try it.
I told him if he took me and my best friend, Joyce to Europe I would do it. Our first tour was in Europe and Joyce and I became Dawn. We were billed as Tony Orlando and Dawn,” reminisced the singer/actress.
Their song “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” became a hit. “Yellow Ribbon” was really about a guy in prison who wanted to know whether his lady would take him back so he told her to tie a yellow ribbon around an oak tree to give him a sign he could come home,” explained Hopkins. It took on a life of its own.
It became synonymous with bringing the boys home during Viet Nam. And now we are engaged in the Iraq war. This is another war that is taking kids from their families.
There is something wrong with that because these young people don’t know if they will return. Some are young parents. What happens to all those fatherless/motherless babies?
This war is an endless quagmire with no end in sight. We just keep sending our kids into this bottomless pit,” remarked the former star of “Bosom Buddy,” “Gimme A Break” and “Family Matters.” “Singing was great but I like the normalcy of acting,” claimed the daredevil who actually rode a bike across a high wire.
“Singing kept me on the road and I missed events in my son’s life. That was heartbreaking. Acting is stable and I can come home every night.
“I did the “Odd Couple” before I did “Bosom Buddies. Tom Hanks starred in that show. “I had a sense of humor as a child.
My grandmother would tell me stop being so silly and be more serious. After I got my first comedic role and made money, grandmother bragged to everyone,” chuckled Telma, who played Aunt Rachel and show mom to Bryton McClure who played her son on “Family Matters.” “I’m proud of Bryton,” said Hopkins about her former TV son who recently won an Emmy for his role on “The Young The Restless” soap opera.
“He is a good actor and singer who still calls me his pretend Mommy,” said Telma proudly. Hopkins has appeared on “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” “ER, ” “Suddenly Susan,” “Any Day Now” and “Half and Half.” A humanitarian Telma brought awareness about arthritis through her association with “Act On Arthritis,” an organization that informs the public about the disease.
She works with AIDS babies and via her association with the PTA, reminds parents to get involved in their children’s education. “There is so many ways to help. Sometimes you think you can’t do enough.
I mentored a young boy and I saw the difference I made in his life,” remarked Telma who is presently working on producing a spiritually based talk show hosted by women of color and representing diverse women of all ages. The talented actress does voice over work and is looking forward to producing artistic projects. “I advise viewers to check out www.
tvoneonline.com or http://www.tv-one.
tv for information about the upcoming Roots series,” suggested Telma. “Roots” and its sequel “Roots: The Next Generation” is a piece of our history that will never get lost. “Roots” should make us proud, serve to motive us and reminds us to stand strong because we are survivors.
” BETWEEN THE LINES: Commuting Scooter Libby: Another Act of Gangsters In The White House *With President Bush's decision to commute Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby's two and a half year prison sentence, it has become obvious what this administration is all about. The American people are being "straight gangstered" by the most extreme group of political ideologues since the President Buchanan administration. Taney on the Dred Scott case in an attempt to save (and expand) slavery through their own interpretations of the Constitution.
The people ultimately revolted against both Buchanan and the Court's decision and the Civil War ensued. Well, now the people-already disgruntled with the way Bush was (s)elected-already disgruntled with the way he lied about the war, handling the rights of the people with the Patriot Act, mishandling Hurricane Katrina and Guantonamo Bay, not to mention the economy and gas-gauging that has taken place, revolted and took back their Congress. You would think that Bush had gotten the message.
Instead, he went into straight "gangsta" mode, choosing to use the remainder of his lame duck term to do whatever the hell he wants in commuting Libby and stating that a pardon is not out of the question. Those of you young kids out there who want to be gangstas when you grow up, turn off BET and MTV and turn on CNN, C-SPAN and FOX cable news. Watching the Bush White House will show you how to gangster legitimately.
Today, the Bush Administration has its own interpretation of the Constitution, presidential powers and its level of accountability to the American people. In fact, they don't believe they have to be accountable to the American people. This group of ideologues are just accountable to each other regardless of the law and appearances of impropriety.
A kind of "loyalty thing" that gangsters demonstrate. Gangsters don't care about the law. Gangsters don't care what things looks like, or appear to look like.
They just care about how things shake out, and if you get in their way-you get crushed (unless you ask for forgiveness). Pundits had long predicted that Libby would not go to jail. He knew too much and always had that look like, "you guys better not let me go down.
" Can't you almost imagine President Bush saying, "Don't worry, Scooter, we're going to break you out." Libby was (is) in the top tier of the Bush circle. His trial revealed that the President may have known about his actions and even condoned it.
This administration has attacked anybody who has attacked the war. The meanspiritedness of outing a CIA agent after her husband criticized the Bush Administration's justification for the war (and he was right, by the way), showed the type of retaliatory behavior gangstas are known for. No one working in government would be bold enough to risk a felony conviction, for breaching national security and the life of an undercover agent, if they either didn't have sanction from above or knew the consequences would be "handled.
" Libby's act was too abrasive and too swift not to be "greenlighted." Of course, the rumors were that Libby was the fall guy for Dick Cheney, and all the "higher ups" were in the loop on this. Unlike in the case of Nixon, there were no tapes to corroborate the act so the President could hide behind a denial that keeps him one tier removed from the actual crime.
Just like the top tiers of organized crime. Very rarely are they caught holding the "smoking gun." Except for Dick Cheney, and even in his case, the "friend" he shot ended up publicly apologizing to the Vice President for getting in the way of his shotgun pellets.
Cheney, who most recently said that he is not accountable to any legislative authority, forgave him. And obviously, both Cheney and President Bush forgave Libby and rewarded his loyalty in not giving them up. Bush has even said that a pardon is not out of the question.
Former President Bill Clinton, who, like the Presidents before him, pardoned supporters and friends alike-criticized President Bush's commutation as improper, because of the potential criminal "cover-up" ramifications that could go all the way to the top, was then attacked by administration spokespersons and aspiring Republicans for handing out pardons like candy. Yeah, but Clinton didn't hand out any pardons to top level personnel convicted while still in the administration (remember, Libby never resigned-he was placed on administrative leave while he fought the case) and Congress is still trying to follow the invisible paper trail. Clinton faced impeachment for less than what Bush and Cheney have done.
The administration has all but told Congress to "bring it on." You know Bush has said that before. I thought that was the cowboy in him talking.
Turns out to be the gangsta in him. He just did it under the guise of correcting an excessive sentence. Like the criminal justice system doesn't hand out excessive sentences on a regular basis.
Just ask Blacks and Latinos. What he meant was, it was "excessive" for his boys. Don't be fooled by these guys' nerdish looks and goofy personalities-they understand the play and are pushing it to the hilt.
They will push the world to the brink of war, the environment to the brink of destruction, to enrich themselves, and will attack anyone that calls it out. They know that they have all the laws, all the force of the government, and the loopholes of the law, at their discretion. And if they break one or two (or three or four)-they have the President's pardon and reprieve power to fall back on.
O'Kelly can be reached at mokellyreport@sbcglobal.net and he welcomes all commentary.
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