Give the Masses another 5-Year Plan, Boris...

  There is nothing a politician adores more than an expensive study done by a Irvine consultant to tell them something they already knew in the first place. That was the impression I left with as I attended the most recent "round table."

For the most part it was like watching paint dry. Every so often you were brought out of your comatose state by Mary Jane Binge. My hat is off to her and boy did she cut through the bull with just plain facts.

The council and their planning commission are again planning on piddling away our tax dollars on yet another redevelopment study. A decent redevelopment study was done 6 years ago with a build out of five years. I am with Mary Jane, what the hell happened to it?

It's like working with the Politburo. One five year plan after another with nothing to show. They now want to once again drop tens of thousands of dollars in to yet another 5-Year Plan. How about just dusting off one of the plans that have been done before and take the novel approach to make it a 5-Year Project?

It's starting to look like it is the same crap just different shovelers.

Ms. Binge.... You go girl !

Crossroads Across America

Every year about this time we are honored for a couple of days with the young adults from Crossroads.

Crossroads was founded in 1994 by Steve Sanborn, a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio) as a response to Pope John Paul II's call to take an active role in the pro-life movement in order to establish a Culture of Life.

An integral part of Crossroads is their yearly pilgrimage across the United States. Each summer, young adults walk from San Francisco and Los Angeles, California to Washington, D.C. witnessing to the dignity and sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death.

Since 1999 these fine young folks have been traveling through our valley during the Memorial Day Weekend. This year as in the past 6 years my wife and I do our part to be a good neighbor to the world and make our home their base while they walk through the Morongo Basin. Ron Brault and his wife as always helped out with the yearly BBQ.

This year we grubbed out 8 hungry mouths, washed a ton of clothes and a lot of showers. A Better group of kids you will not find anywhere.

For more information please go to http://www.crossroadswalk.com/

From these honored dead

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863

Law enforcement out in force this weekend

Inland law enforcement agencies are working overtime to prevent drunken driving this Memorial Day weekend. Eighty percent of all CHP officers will be on the road this holiday looking for drunken driving, speeding and seat belt and car seat violations, Officer Chris Blondon said. Moreno Valley police are planning a DUI checkpoint from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. tonight, Sgt. Dave Fontneau said. Authorities recommend designating a driver, taking alternate transportation, or staying put until you are sober. The San Gorgonio CHP office is also putting extra traffic officers in Morongo and Cabazon to keep traffic flowing this weekend, Blondon said.

More from the Press-Enterprise

New coalition sought against illegal immigrants

LAS VEGAS - Prominent activists against illegal immigration joined together this weekend to call on public officials to enforce federal immigration laws and protect the country's borders.

I Honor.....

During this time we celebrate the sacrifice and service of our fathers to our country.

I honor my son who served during the first Gulf War. I honor my cousins Chris and Rick who along with me served during Vietnam. Shot down and gravely wounded Chris still bears the scars of sacrifice.

I honor my father a Marines Marine, who along with others in the 1st Division, fought on Bougainville and New Britain and then on to Bloody Nosed Ridge.

I honor my Grandfather and his brothers Emmett and Vernard who were called up for the search for Poncho Villa and ended up in the trenches of France.

Honor too to my Great Grandfathers and their brothers who fought with the Grand Army of the Republic to save the Union.

Today, a new generation of heroes are being forged in the crucible of war. I give my eternal respect and pledge to always honor their service.

Desert Trail, Remember their sacrifice

Memorial Day Weekend has come to take on multiple meanings over the years. Long considered a time of reflection, when we remember those military men and women whose sacrifices earned us our freedom, it has more recently taken on a somewhat more frivolous subtext.
These days, the Memorial Day weekend is seen more often as the first weekend of summer, the first day to head for the river or the beach or the pool or somewhere else where a barbecue is waiting to be fired up.
There are, however, some hardy souls who will continue to insist that Memorial Day is a time for solemn reflection.....

http://www.deserttrail.com/articles/2005/05/25/editorial/opinion1.txt

Well said, Kurt.....

Desert Trail, Voters in WV say yes and no

By KURT SCHAUPPNER / The Desert Trail

WONDER VALLEY - Voters taking part here in a mail-in ballot election said yes to paying more money for fire protection but no to paying more for increased road maintenance.

More
http://www.deserttrail.com/articles/2005/05/25/news/news2.txt

Here we go again.....

What in the hell is this DJ on the radio bragging about his sexual prowess at 15? While the rest of the world is concerned with teenage pregnancy and STDs, this guy is promoting underaged sex to his young listeners.

One Hell of a community leader!!! Next he will be bragging on how much coke he snorted in the 80s. Gee I want my kids listening to that station.

Blood on the Highway

Sunday, a 36-year-old Modesto woman died in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 62 east of Twentynine Palms at 6:41 a.m., coroner's officials reported. She was ejected when the pickup she was riding in overturned. The driver was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Bullhead City, Ariz. Outside of Needles a few hours later, two vehicles collided on Highway 95 three miles south of the Nevada line, San Bernardino County fire officials said. Five people were reported dead, and a sixth was flown to a Las Vegas hospital in critical condition.

Because of the deteriorated conditions of our local State highways they are becoming killers. I know the guys on the CalTrans crew and their hands are tied with a budget that doesn't cover the cost of pothole repair let alone highway improvement. Unfortunately the squeaky wheel gets the grease so the Metro areas get the lions share of the tax dollar.

We are stuck with a 1940s-50s road system. An accident on our highways often includes a visit by the coroner. Rural Californians continue to be second class citizens up in Sacramento.

Blogs and Ideologues

A Blog is what used to be called in the bulletin board days as a "Flame Board." A place where users gather to react to current events or similar interests. Blogs were never intended to take the place of the Main Stream Media (MSM). Their existence goes back in one form or the other to the days of FidoNet and BBS systems, where one would connect at 300 baud to your local BBS to react to the most recent postings.

With the advent of the internet the ability to express ones view became global. As the internet grew and information was placed in the public domain, search engines like Yahoo and Google made it possible for anyone to become a fact checker. Combining both the ability to fact check and post opinion on a website, Blogs were born.

A blog's intent is to spark controversy and to inspire those who read it to think and react. Reactions very from complete agreement to total distain, but in every case those that read this or any other blog think. By its very nature a blog is a fact checker. Sometimes we get it wrong, but most times we get it right. Our users are quick to correct us. (see current thread: In the Desert Trail: Common sense rules the day)

Unlike a blog those in the mainstream media are slow to react to their readers, viewers or listeners. They have been so used to banking on their AP Awards or their  claim as "Publication of Record,"  they often loose sight of the pulse of the community they serve.

Not to say they can't get it right, they often do. But Sometimes the local MSM become so interdependent on those in government that feed them their weekly  copy, they forget that there is always another side to every story. It often takes a shocking event to awaken the journalist in some to bring them back to the fundamental rules of fairness.  Then sometimes over a period of time a fellow just makes a course change when he sees the unfairness around him. Such is what it seems has happened  at the Desert Trail. We hope we see more of the present balance in future stories.

Then we have Ideologues posing as "award winning reporters." Unlike a Blog or a local paper's "letters to the editor," where the user or reader can make quick and certain comment or correction, these lost souls have let the power of the Mic and the red button go to their heads. Bla, Bla, Bla they throw out outrageous allegations. Bla, Bla, Bla, they make cruel jokes at others expense. Bla, Bla, Bla, they foist opinion as real news.

Some Ideologues make for good entertainers. Limbaugh, Savage, Leykis or even Franken will be quick to admit that they are entertainers not reporters. Our local dime store Ideologue is neither reporter nor entertaining. His slash and burn style of self promotion has managed to alienate everyone from the lowly citizen to whole government agencies. His need to be the big man in town has worn thin with just about everybody in the basin.

Its time. It is time to go to the mattresses. No more doing business with him. No more advertising with him. No more buying from his advertisers. The way to this guys heart is through his bottom line.

In the Desert Trail: Common sense rules the day

"What happens when common sense and bureaucratic regulation meet? Sometimes common sense wins out but more often than not the red tape emerges triumphant, if only because of a greater sense of stubbornness."
Read More.... http://www.deserttrail.com/articles/2005/05/18/editorial/opinion1.txt

Someone Pinch me, I must be dreaming! Kurt must be born again! Common sense exudes from this editorial by the Editor of the Desert Trail. We've been preaching for years that the Development Codes are confusing and ambiguous. Come on folks is this a dream?

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

A Twisted Web

For over 4 years we have been championing a need to streamline the current city development codes. Everyone thought that we were nuts. Well now that we are free from the tyranny of the last Development  Director, its become apparent to his most ardent supporters he was a power hungry low brow.

Because of his buffalo, bull and bravado he managed over several years to twist the codes to make his chair the most important seat in local government. This deposed czar of property rights over the years convinced some intelligent and well meaning folks in government that he knew best. The truth is now exposed. The development codes are a mess. The only consistency is contradiction. No activity is free of some violation of the code.

Its going to take years to untangle this twisted web he wove.

Desert Trail, Military feels housing heat

It seems civilians aren't the only ones feeling the heat from the shift in housing availability and prices in the Morongo Basin.
When the commander of the Marine base in Twentynine Palms appealed to local realtors for advice on housing his Marines and Sailors recently he was told houses and even apartments in the Basin are, on average, too expensive for enlisted men and women.
How about that? Housing here is too tight and expensive for the group of people on whose presence a good portion of this community's success was built.

http://www.deserttrail.com/articles/2005/05/11/editorial/opinion1.txt

Kurt's editorial makes some great points, we join with him asking are we pricing ourselves out of a home?

Realignment proposed for Marine Base

 By KELLY DONOVAN/Staff Writer

BARSTOW -- Friday's release of proposed military base closures and realignments contained recommendations that would result in the loss of 419 jobs at the Marine Corps Logistics Base if approved by the government.
 The loss would represent about 24 percent of the Marine Base's 1,720 jobs.
 The total number of military jobs to be lost is 140, and 330 civilian jobs would be cut. Of the total 470 jobs to be cut, 51 of them would be contracted out.
 Fort Irwin was not included on the list of proposed closures and realignments.
 While city officials are grateful the Marine base is not recommended for closure, the realignment proposal isn't good news, Patricia Morris, assistant to the Barstow city manager, said. "There are approximately 12,000 jobs in Barstow -- that's the economic base," Morris said. "So we're talking about a significant loss. And these jobs are the cream of the crop ... they pay well, have full benefits. They're not minimum wage jobs." Morris noted that the Department of Defense's Office of Economic Adjustment has estimated that Barstow's economy is more than 11 percent dependent on the Marine Base.

http://www.desertdispatch.com/2005/111608769997417.html

Cutting through the Crap about BRAC

Ah.... We hate to burst the bubble but if you haven't already figured it out, Miramar isn't realigning here. While MCAGCC is safe in this round of base closures the rumors concerning the moving of Miramar to our facility can once and for all be put to rest. Our base will grow but without a NAS onboard.

Logic will tell you that if Miramar is ever closed it's units will be going to either China Lake NAS or Lemoore NAS in Kings County. Why would the Pentagon build a brand new facility when they have one of the finest hard deck facilities on the West Coast in virtual mothballs at China Lake?

China lake is just a short after burn away from Twentynine Palms, and will be a perfect place for both Navy and Marine air operations to lend support for Bridgeport, MCAGCC and Ft. Irwin.

In other news: Friday's announcement that the Pentagon has no major changes planned for Camp Pendleton, North Island Naval Air Station and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar or March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County will affect on ongoing search for a new regional airport.

The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has each of those bases on its list of prospective new airfield sites. But those could well be taken off the list now that none is recommended for closure. More....

China Lake Wins Big in BRAC

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will propose shutting 150 military installations from Maine to Hawaii, including 33 major bases, The Associated Press learned Friday, triggering the first round of base closures in a decade and an intense struggle by communities to save their facilities.

The closure list contained a dozen California installations, but did not include Edwards Air Force Base and China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center in Kern County or Lemoore Naval Air Station in Kings County north of Bakersfield.

China Lake and Edwards will both gain missions as a result of the realignment process. The Naval Air Warfare Center will gain 2,469 jobs and Edwards will see 51 new positions.

"While we do not yet know the full scope of the projects and personnel that will come to Kern County's bases, today's news is very positive," Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, said Friday in a statement. "I look forward to working with the BRAC Commission over the coming months on implementing the secreterary's recommendations."

Admits the slew of base closures, China Lake Naval and Air Weapons Station will remain open under officials’ recommendations.

China Lake has become world famous for developing and testing many of the most effective and affordable weapons for the United States and its allies.

A commanding officer at China Lake said many in Ridgecrest were breathing a sigh of relief after the announcement.

At Midway Cafe, one of the oldest coffee shops in Ridgecrest, dozens gathered to hear if their hometown base, China Lake Base made the cut.

Not only did the base survive, but there was also a proposal to increase personnel by more than 23,000 civilian positions and 150 military jobs.

More

BRAC report's: Barstow Marine Logistics Base

Barstow Marine Corps Logistics Base
Perhaps some good news for Marine operations at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms is that the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow could shed many of its specialty functions, including some optics and weapons repair operations, which would increase space and personnel devoted to refurbishing Humvees, Amphibious Assault Vehicles and other vehicles for Marine Units returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Barstow is the only West Coast facility that completely overhauls Marines vehicles and weapons that require more work than can be done at the unit level or local motorpools.

The Pentagon said the consolidation could add to the West Coast Marines' ability to rapidly ramp up or recover from military operations.

The communities around Barstow could lose as many as 140 military and 330 civilian jobs, however.
More

Huge Victory for San Diego

Balboa hospital faces job cuts

May 14, 2005

Two years of intense lobbying and countless hours spent extolling San Diego County's value to the military seem to have paid off.

Yesterday, the Pentagon recommended that 33 major bases in 22 states be closed as part of the largest-ever downsizing for the U.S. armed forces. Absent from the list were any substantial bases in the county, which is remarkable given the area's high concentration of military operations.

That doesn't mean the region is spared completely.

More

The Hit List

California
Armed Forces Reserve Center Bell
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Oakland
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Bernardino
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, San Diego
Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Seaside
Naval Support Activity Corona
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Detachment Concord
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Encino
Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center, Los Angeles
Onizuka Air Force Station
Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant

Most San Bernardino County Bases lucked out this round. Its been a lucky Friday the 13th for us.

What's going on down there?

It is hard to figure out what is going on down at city hall.  While we here believe that the development codes are a confusing hodgepodge of rules and regulations that are long over due for a overhaul, they just keep adding more. Believe it or not sometimes it is alright to do absolutely nothing.

We have 195 ordinances. 195 silly rules that contradict themselves. It is a wonder how our forefathers created our perfect government system. The reason we say this is that in over two hundred years we only have 27 amendments to the Constitution but in 17 years less than 20 of the most well intended people, managed pass 195 additions to our city charter and to make doing business or building a home or any other activity a three ring circus. A simple application for a business permit can turn into a absolute bank busting nightmare that can last months.

We have rules that limit or prohibit the most American of activities, from signage to yard sales. What started out to be a way of cutting the red tape that came from the County Seat in San Bernardino has developed into a sea of crimson that splashes waves of red tape on everything and everyone.

It is time boys and girls.... It is time we take a good look at the development codes and be unafraid to trim them down and at least put them in simple understandable English.

Development codes

Now that he is having to do the job as development director as well as City Manager, Michael Swigart has found something he can agree with recall29 on...... The Development Codes Suck.

Sights set on observatory

A high desert nonprofit group has big plans to build an observatory on 10 acres of land it owns near the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.

Now all it needs is money. How much is unclear, but Jerri Hagman, an innkeeper in Twentynine Palms who heads a fundraising campaign called Sky's the Limit, says she is seeking enough for an amphitheater, observatory and solar-powered projects. She hopes to break ground in six months.
more
http://www.latimes.com/

Bull Run......run bull, run

Vietnam, the word alone brings to the surface such raw emotions that it is still not a subject for polite parlor conversation. I am struck by the level of survivor guilt that is often expressed by those of my generation who did not make a stand.

I was honestly surprised at the response of my article last week on the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Yes, I still have a certain amount of anger as do most Veterans of a war we wished would never have happened.

There are those who enlisted, those who waited for the draft and those who by the courage of their conscience refused to go and went to prison or jail.

The guy who managed to get a deferment for collage or physical impairment can rightfully justify his failure to serve. Even those lucky enough to have a high draft number can be justified not to serve. Those that refused by reason of religious or political conviction and suffered the consequences of their actions can to themselves justify their actions.  

Then there are the cowards who abused both the system and our freedoms to refuse to drink of the bitter cup. The liars, the cheats, the thieves and the dodgers, they continue to suffer their shame to this today. Excuses, more than 30 years later, everyone seems to have one. It now has come to my attention the lamest excuse of all. The excuse of sexual orientation for a failure to serve. That excuse is obscene by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it is no excuse at all.

Depending upon what research one feels compelled to trust, as few as 1300 and as many as 5700 of those names on  the Vietnam Wall might well have belonged to those who were gay. Their blood was just as red and their sacrifice was just as meaningful. Gays have served in the military for as long as man has seen fit to battle against one another.  To openly use the excuse that one did not serve because one was gay serves to promote the stereotypical myth that gays can not be trusted to serve their country.

True Story. There is a nice old fellow down the road. His life partner and him live a quite life tending their gardens. In World War Two he was at the "Battle of the Bulge" where he fought the Winter cold and the Nazi Panzers. The "Silver Star" he won proves he is a hero. It turns out he happens to also be gay. He never used his sexual orientation to shirk his patriotic duty. There are thousands of stories like this one. There may well be thousands who serve today. As it has always been, in the military, it is a private matter, best kept to ones self. Those that serve do not let their orientation stand in the way of their duty to their country.

Heaven's Stars

Often we forget on Mothers Day to give thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Blue Star mothers who gave to this country their sons and daughters. While young men and women are overseas in harms way we forget the sacrifice and bravery of the moms who gave to our country their most precious children.

I would like to thank  those mothers that have sons and daughters protecting my freedom today. I wish to honor those Gold Star Mothers who bravely forge on with life after the loss of a son or daughter in service to our country. Your sacrifice is not in vain. You are what makes America Great.

Let us all say a little prayer for all who have children in service to our nation and maybe if we pray hard enough all will come home whole and safe.

In the Desert Trail: Zzzzzzzzzzz.

Another slow week in local politics. Other than good reporting on the Amboy Rd. accident, nothing really in the news not much happened last week. Kurt's editorial was limp.

Twentynine Palms combat center called 'irreplaceable'

TWENTYNINE PALMS - The Marine Corps and this dusty desert town have had a happy marriage for 53 years.

It's a marriage that grew during the Cold War and still thrives as a new generation of Marines train at the Rhode Island-sized Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center before heading to Iraq and other hot spots.

Whether that marriage lasts much longer hangs on a decision by the Department of Defense this month.

While military experts, politicians and Twentynine Palms residents feel confident that their base will survive the 2005 round of the Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, process, Pentagon planners say no installation is sacred.

The process is expected to claim up to 20 percent of the nation's 600 military installations and shave several billion a year from the Pentagon's $400 billion operating budget.

California political representatives are paying particular attention to May 13, when the list of bases recommended by the Department of Defense for closure or downsizing is made public.

The state lost 29 of its 90 bases in four previous rounds, moves that cost California $9.6 billion a year in economic activity. Inland Southern California took three particularly nasty hits, with the closure of Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino and George Air Force Base in Victorville and the downsizing of March Air Force Base outside Moreno Valley to a reserve base.

Those cuts lopped $3.1 billion a year out of the Inland area's economy.

Highway 62 to become Blue Star Memorial Highway

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (April 29, 2005) -- What does the Twentynine Palms Highway, California Garden Clubs, a blue star and a button all have in common? Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce is selling those buttons to pay for a plaque for Highway 62, which was designated by California Garden Club to become a Blue Star Memorial Highway, to dedicate to the men and women of the military. "We're very excited [the California Garden Club] brought us the opportunity," said Christina Dooley, Twentynine Palms chamber member. "We're even more excited we were in a position to take it and run." The price of the plaque is $940, and the chamber has raised $400 so far. For $1 per button, anyone can help contribute to the plaque. Those interested can purchase buttons from the Twentynine Palms High School Interact Club, the Chamber of Commerce and Jesse Allen, Combat Center community relations officer. After World War II, various state and national highways were designated "Blue Star Memorial Highways" in tribute to the nation's armed forces. The National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc., approved the Blue Star program in 1945. California Garden Clubs, Inc., accepted the program in 1947 when the California Legislature designated Highway 40 (now Route 80) and Highway 99 as Blue Star highways. There are currently 19 dedicated highways and 54 highway markers within California.

http://www.usmc.mil/

USMC to purchase lightweight howitzers

A joint service program office at Picatinny Arsenal has completed development and is managing the purchase of 589 lightweight 155mm howitzers for the Army and Marine Corps. An $843-million four-year contract has been awarded to BAE Systems, of Barrow-in-Furness in the United Kingdom, to manufacture the weapons and 94 digital fire control retrofit kits, according to Jim Shields, deputy program manager for the lightweight 155mm howitzer program. Shields said the howitzer is known as the M-777A1 howitzer in the services' inventories. "The M-777A1 will replace all of the corps' current M-198 towed howitzers and will be the artillery system for the ... Stryker Brigade Combat Teams," he said. As the first ground combat system to make extensive use of titanium in its major structures to trim weight, the weapon is 7,000 pounds lighter than the one it replaces. The weight reduction improves transportability and mobility without impacting range or accuracy, Shields said, adding that the system is compatible with the entire family of 155mm ammunition. The howitzer is transportable by the Marine Corps' MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft and two can fit on the C-130. Currently, BAE Systems is manufacturing 94 howitzers under a low-rate initial production contract, Shields said. The first 94 weapon systems will be equipped with an optical fire control system that incorporate digital fire control under the full production contract, he said. All 495 full-production units will be manufactured with digital fire control systems also known as towed artillery digitization. The 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, located at Twentynine Palms, Calif., will be the first unit fully equipped with the weapon.

http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/pentagram/10_18/national_news/34816-1.html

Cabbage Patch Kids

Guess who has been spending cozy moments together at the local watering hole?

An odd combination it was indeed. Sky King, and JJ the developmentally challenged, along with  Councilman Cabbage Patch were seen nuzzled together speaking sweet nothings at the end of the bar. Some thought they were going to have to get a water hose to separate them.

Considering that an independent thought would tax cabbage boy, we can only suppose they were proctoring him on their new script for his next meeting.

Considering C's vast knowledge on the subject of the Political Reform Act he should well know the limitations of lobbying by ex-officials and ex-officers. But then the poor fellow needs all the help he can get.

Can Anyone spell the "Ethics in Government Act."