ATTENTION MR & MRS. AMERICA AND THE SHIPS AT SEA...

THIS WAS PAST ON TO ME... WHAT AMERICA NEEDS ARE MORE MINDS LIKE CHARLEY REESE! Photo: (c) Jerry Pritikin

Subject: Charley Reese's Final Column ...

Charley Reese is retiring. His last column is this one. I know many will miss this southern gentleman. He had a great run and we are all better off for it. Farewell, Mr. Reese, and thank you. Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years. Be sure to read the Tax List at the end. This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be - read it!! The article below is completely neutral, not anti republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinal has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering! 545 vs. 300,000,000 EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE. 545 PEOPLE -- By Charlie Reese Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes. Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess! Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper. What you do with this article now that you have read it ... Is up to you. This might be funny if it weren't so true. Be sure to read all the way to the end: Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table, At which he's fed. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule. Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway! Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he ttries to think. Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears. Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass. Tax all he has Then let him know That you won't be done Till he has no dough. When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more, Tax him till He's good and sore. Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he's laid... Put these words Upon his tomb, Taxes drove me to my doom...' When he's gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply The inheritance tax.. Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Excise Taxes Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon) Gross Receipts Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Personal Property Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service Charge Tax Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax Recreational Vehicle Tax Sales Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?' I hope this goes around THE USA at least a million times!!! YOU can help it get there!!! GO AHEAD - - - BE A GREAT AMERICAN!!! Forward it to YOUR list! P.S. If you do the right thing and pass this on - which is entirely up to you - please do the right thing and highlight and delete any Email addresses you receive with it. Thanks.

October 17th,1989 I left my dream in San Francisco! By Jerry Pritikin

THIS IS MY BOARDING PASS FOR MY FLIGHT BACK TO CHICAGO OCT.17,1989

Back on this date in 1989, I was in San Francisco. I had returned to the Bay Area, for the Cubs/Giants playoff games the week before. When the Cubs lost... I decided to spend more time visiting old friends,and stayed with my brother Neil,in Navato. I planned to return to Chicago on the 17th. On the Morning of that day, I awoke from a very weird dream. Usually I was able to self analize my own dreams... but this was different. While having breakfast, I told my brother about my dream... it was a kind of out-of-body type of dream, like I was witnessing a newsreel of an devastating event, from a helicopter. There were overturned cars, and trucks hanging over the sides of rooftops, with people dazed all about... and Neil said I should stop smoking weed before going to sleep! A couple of hours later, he drove me to the San Francisco airport, and I borded the airplane on my way back to Chicago. About an hour and a half later, the pilot made an announcement... that there was a major earthquake in San Francisco, and the Bay Bridge had collapsed. There were gasps, and then almost silence for the rest of the flight. When we landed, I ran to the nearest TV, and they were showing video of the earthquake... and one of the first scenes showed the collapsed of the Nimitz Highway... with smoking cars, and smahed trucks, and dazed people looking over from the top deck... and it looked like my dream, except it was not rooftops, but looked very similar. For the next several days, I tried contacting my brother, and when I finally got in touch with him... The first thing he said to me was "THE NEXT TIME YOU DREAM, DREAM ABOUT MONEY!

Happy Birthday Kukla & Ollie! Thanks for the memories!

I can actually remember the first image on our first television, back on this day in 1947 when I was 10 years old. What was unusual, was that our TV set was the first in the Albany Park neighborhood, that was not in a bar or tavern. Prior to that event... I used to sneak into Steiner's Bar on Kedzie and Lawrence Avenue, to watch all kinds of sports on Chicago's only TV station-WBKB. I used to sit on the bar's foot rail, and look up to the 10" TV, after school or on the weekend. When my Dad heard that I was hanging around Steiner's, he wanted to nip my new pastime in the bud. I recall him coming home from work from South Water St. produce market on a Monday afternoon, and asking me to go with him, without telling me where we was going. A few blocks away, we stopped at "Little Al's Radio and Phonograph Store" who's slogan was printed on their window... WHERE THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG!"

He had ordered a 10" RCA Victor wooden black and white (color tv was years in the future!) consol TV. There were no credit cards back then, and I remember my dad paying cash... $450. for the set, $65. for an outdoor antenna and $65 for a one year warranty and then, along with Mr. Al, we took it back to our house on N. Troy St. with a 2 wheel hand truck... it was a very large box. Because RCA had to install the outdoor antenna, Al put up an temporary indoor antenna. Then he turned on the TV... and the first image was an introduction to a kids program called "Junior Jamboree". It was a puppet show. At first, I was not impressed, because one puppet who was called Kukla, mouth did not move, and was mostly bald. However, I liked the other puppet named Ollie, who had a big moving mouth and a single tooth! They had a beautiful friend called Fran Allison, who talked to them, and sang a few songs. As time went by, I forgot about Kukla's non-moving mouth, and even forgot he and the other character's were puppets... and they became my friends after school. Once in a while, they had guest like Roy Rogers. They changed the name of the program a short time later to "KUKLA,FRAN AND OLLIE". I began going down to the studio at 190 N.State Street on the 12th Floor of the State-Lake Building after school. Because their studio was very small, and the camera's very big... I watched the show on a Philco projection tv, in the little theater. I was treated royally evey time I showed up... and liked when they would mention my name on the air. I got to meet other TV personalities. I recall when Chicago got its second TV station, when WGN-9 went on the air, followed by WENR-7 and WNBQ-5. With the advent of coaxial cable, soon we were watching live shows from New York,and our living room became a the neighborhood landmark... for kids programs, Cubs and Sox games, wrestling, old movies and the latest news. In 1948, I watched the Boston-Cleveland World series, the Election results and in January of 1949, I got to see Harry Truman's Inaugural...

Looking back, I am thankful that my dad changed my bar habit, and replaced it with many memories of events that came into our living room via that new thing called television!

Running in Chicago's Marathon and Politics (c) J Pritikin

Rahm Emanuel (c) J Pritikin-2010

The leader's passing my 13th fl. window on Wells Street at 8:15 a.m. 10/10/10 (c)J.Pritikin

Fall colors and longer shadows, plus the runners in the Chicago Marathon... but the race I am

interested in, is the race for Chicago's next Mayor. When Rahm Emanuel was President Obama's Chef of Staff... he gave to the inner circle of his staff "Intersteller Propeller" Beany Caps with propellers. He gave those receiving them... the moniker "Propeller Heads"! Well I never ran in any marithon, and once in a while, I ran to catch a bus... however, I have been wearing an "Intersteller Propeller" Beany since 1981. It was when I was handling the public relations for the San Francisco production of the play, "Bleacher Bums". I thought there was a need for one of the cast of characters to wear a propeller beany, that would spin through out the play like the winds of Wrigley Field, the location of the set for the play. So I checked the Yellow Pages and found "Intersteller Propeller" listed out of Berkeley. The owner, a real character left over from the Haight Ashbury, named Stacy Samuels. I talked Lee Sankowich, the Director into the idea. The play, and my beany changed my life. I used to give celebrities beany's, then snap pictures of them. Back in the mid 1980's, when I became known as "The "Bleacher Preacher", my "Intersteller Propeller", along with my 10 Cub-Mandments, Lifesize Voodoo Doll, and Cub-Conversion's became a media hit. I switched to a solar powerd pith helmet with a propeller on it... and Stacy, rewarded me with a solid gold propeller to replace the plastic one. At that time the only other solid gold propeller, was given to Wavy Gravey.

So the Chicago Marathon for 2010 is now history... However, the race is on for the next Mayor of Chicago, and I'm tossing my "Intersteller Propeller" beany into the ring of Rahm Emanuel's supporters... for the next Mayor of Chicago. Last Thursday, I was at the Breaker's Senior Resident Apartment, because Rahm was speaking there. As he past me, he read my sign, and gave me a thumbs up! I am also supporting Mechele Smith, for the Alderman of the 43rd Ward. I am looking forward to having a great time getting involved in Chicago politics, again!

The first time was in 1948 when I was 11 years old. My future Brother in-law was supporting

Henry Wallace, the candidate of the Progressive Party for President. I attached a "WALLACE" sign to my back on Election Day, and as I walked next to the local polling place on N. Troy St. in Albany Park... a Chicago Cop ripped it off my back, because as he said" I was too close to the polling place!" The next time was in the late fifties, when I was made a Democratic Poll Judge for a day, by Patty Bauler, the famed Alderman of the 43rd Ward. He assigned me to 1550 Lake Shore Drive... a fashionable high rise on Chicago's Gold Coast. I did not have to work hard, because there were no Democrats living there! Well, in future postings, I'll write about my other adventures in Chicago, and San Francisco Politics ... until then Cheers!