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America Unlimited
By ERIC A. JOHNSTON, President of Chamber of Commerce of the United States
Before the Chamber's War Council and Thirty-first Annual Meeting Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 1943
Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol. IX, pp. 521-525.
THE most momentous year in all our nation's eventful history has passed since last we met. Those were dark days a year ago for all Americans, on battlefields and at home. Bataan had fallen early in the month. Brave as our fighting men were they could not eat courage nor fire it in a gun. And, so, a week after our last annual meeting, Corregidor had succumbed, and the enemy had further extended his hold on the soil of American territory.
Everywhere the enemy was attacking. The forces of the United Nations were on the defensive. We had just begunto train our fighting men. We were just organizing our war production, without assurance that American industry could accomplish what was to be demanded of it. Production requirements were about to bring a supreme test of the strength of the system of free capitalism.
Production Progress
Those were bleak days indeed for the cause of freedom. But history has marked the passing of a year tremendous in its effort and amazing in its achievements. From the defenseat Corregidor to the offense at Tunisia is a long, long way, but we have smashed all records in covering the distance.
American Troops, American airmen and seamen are at grips with the enemy on every continent and every ocean. American production of guns and planes and ships has soared to heights which we considered impossible a year ago. Slowly, but with rising momentum, the world-wide tide of battle is turning, and it is not too optimistic to hope that when next we convene in annual meeting the back of the Axis will be snapped.
Once again I gaze out upon many familiar faces before me. You and other American men of business, with your incomparable genius for management and mass production, have executed the manufacture of the weapons which are now striking deadly hammer blows at the Axis. Those of you not engaged in actual war production have nonetheless worked in the service of your country. You have performed the many duties necessary to the maintenance of a strong home front and a high national morale.
You have placed patriotism above profit. You have subordinated self to country in its time of peril. You have asked for no special privilege of your fellows citizens. You have only begged to produce the tools of victory of a quality and quantity to surpass our enemies. It is with pardonable pride and real emotion that I greet you.
Duty to Nation
In making this annual report to you I have no hesitancy in saying that the work of your organization has been conducted on a high level of social awareness. It has been permeated by a sense of responsibility—not merely to our own members but to the whole American people. We have sought to speak not alone for business, but for the nation—because we recognize that no group in American life has any meaning except in terms of its relations to all other groups.
The life of a complex society such as ours forms an intricate pattern. No matter how clear and balanced any phase of it may seem, it is irrelevant unless it fits into the larger mosaic of forces and interests and obligations. The great mistake that many organizations have made in the past has been to plan solely for themselves. Such planning is foredoomed to futility, even if it is good and high-minded. A program of principles and of action which may seem perfect from the vantage point of labor or management or agriculture or government—is useless unless it can stand the test of scrutiny from all other points of view.
Enlightened Self-Interest
I am the last to criticize those who think and act from motives of self-interest. On the contrary, I believe that enlightened self-interest, whether in the behavior of an individual or a nation is the most reliable basis for action. It's the dynamo that propels the machine of human enterprise. But we have learned from tragic experience that the machine will go dead unless full allowances are made for competing and conflicting self-interests. We have learned that we cannot have a healthy farm or factory, or a healthy business or trade-union, unless the country as a whole is in vigorous and healthy condition.
Selfishness is not merely morally wrong—eventually, it destroys those who practice it. Whatever immediate advantages any element in the population may grab, must be paid for a hundredfold ultimately in imbalance and chaos. Intelligent self-interest demands that the well-being of the whole American people be made the sole and the final criterion ofaction. We may even broaden the idea to include the whole world, by asserting, as I have done on previous occasions, that a reasonably peaceful and prosperous world is essential to a peaceful and prosperous America.
Chamber's Philosophy
I believe that something of this spirit is actuating all of the operations of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Without doubt, we make our human quota of mistakes and contribute our share of exaggerations. As soon as any body of men claims infallibility and a monopoly on wisdom, it merely confesses to hardening of its mental arteries. Whether we are right in our attitude on this or that public issue is important, of course. But far more important is whether the philosophy behind these expressions and actions is right. It will avail us nothing to have better business unless we have a better America. It will avail us nothing to have a stronger Chamber of Commerce unless it is geared to contribute something of enduring value to a stronger America.
It is to these over-all purposes that I want to direct myself. In our every thought and our every act we must leave no margin for doubt that we aim to contribute to the greatness of our country, and to the welfare and happiness of our entire people. Concretely, that means that we must dedicate ourselves to two supreme objectives.
Goals for Business
The first, of course, is the winning of the war. This is so clear and so obvious that it requires no emphasis. As individuals and as an organization, in little things and in big things alike, we must let nothing deflect us from that primary goal. We should drop the talk—and the psychology—of making sacrifices. In giving every last ounce of energy, devotion and substance to achieving a speedy, clear-cut and enduring victory we are not making sacrifices but are exercising a proud privilege. We are free men, fighting to preserve our free society against the most barbarous and odious onslaught that has ever afflicted human civilization.
The first purpose, I repeat, is to win the war. The second is to win the peace.
We won the first world war, but lost the fitful peace that followed. We all have the solemn obligation to see to it this time that our children inherit the kind of America their fathers fought and died for. Not an ersatz America polluted by the very tyranny over which we have scored a victory, but an America faithful to its own unique way of life. An America suited for free men, not robots. An America which rejects the bogus equality enforced from above by some superstate; but cherishes the true equality that derives from equal opportunity. An America that seeks diligently to remove unfair handicaps and protects those who fall by the wayside; but does not call off the race. An America that refuses to yield to the totalitarian contagions of this epoch; but adheres resolutely to its faith in the individual and its preference for high striving and full-blooded adventure.
Experiment in Freedom
We must recognize, of course, that the role of government must keep pace with change—the game has become so complicated that government in its legitimate character of umpire has vastly more to do. The responsibility of society as a whole for the welfare and security of the individual must of necessity be recognized. Yet, we must never forget that two principles are fundamental to America. One is a deep faith in the importance and dignity of the individualcitizen. The other is a deep distrust of too much government. These two principles, in truth, are the two faces of the same American medal. They were not invented in America, having been implicit in the hopes and dreams of humankind through the ages. But here in America these principles have found their most thorough and most successful application. That is why it behooves us, as trustees, to remain true to the great experiment in human freedom.
Political Democracy
In the field of government, this has taken the form of political democracy, marked by constant expansion of the franchise, judicial safeguards against encroachment of government on the right of the individual, and jealous defense of the Bill of Rights.
In the field of economy, it has taken the form of a free capitalist society.
The development of the two things side by side is not an historical accident. On the contrary, political freedom and economic freedom have proved to be integrated and inseparable. Wherever one was impaired, the other has been impaired in the same measure. Those of our planners who honestly believe they can curtail or abolish one without curtailing or abolishing the other are deluding themselves. They need only look at similar attempts in Europe to learn the towering truth that destruction of the free-enterprise system brings hideous political tyranny in its wake. Their assumption that it will be different in America—that somehow we alone can put our post-war economy into a strait-jacket without paralyzing political freedom is a delusion.
Political and economic systems cannot be put into separate compartments. Government cannot assume the job of dictating to business—or of running business—without arming itself with the arbitrary powers necessary for such a gigantic undertaking. Government cannot absorb the functions normally exercised by thousands of separate private enterprises without producing a fantastically swollen bureaucracy. And that bureaucracy—if only in the interests of efficiency—will tend to perpetuate itself until it becomes a ruling class apart from and above the people.
There are honest men in our midst who believe that democratic capitalism is played out, that it has run its course, and must give way to a super-state. Whether they know it or not, such people are singing tunes from the score written by Goebbels and other propagandists of the totalitarian way of life. Those tunes are false to the point of being grotesque. Far from being played out, free economy in our country is only getting into full stride. The horizons of opportunity being opened up by new industrial techniques, new materials, new products and new capacities for consumption are larger than ever before. Under capitalism, for the first time in history, we have developed the physical foundations for true abundance.
I say to those honest men who have been infected by the poisons of despair:
"Stop fooling yourselves and us with promises of a totalitarian economy which retains political liberty. The two things are simply incompatible. Ordinary decency demands that you drop this double-talk and offer your plans for your new order under frankly-anti-democratic slogans."
New Systems
The world has had the chance to observe three types of politico-economic systems:
The first is known as Fascism, or National Socialism.
We have watched its enfoldment in different forms in Italy under Mussolini and in Germany under Adolf Hitler. Private business remains in form, but its control is taken over increasingly by the government.
We do not need to judge this system theoretically. We know it as a grim fact. We know that its main consequences are complete political tyranny, vast concentration camps, the erasure of every vestige of human rights and private dignity. In the name of economic security it stamps out human decency and outlaws the human conscience, and in the end, ironically, does not even make good on its promise of economic security.
We know, too, that in order to justify such terrible monopoly of power in the hands of its rulers, this system requires scapegoats and consequently proceeds to single out helpless groups of the population—minority races or minority classes—for official persecution. And as a final result, under the pressure of cumulative economic disaster at home, such a system must seek adventures abroad in aggressions against its neighbors.
Freedom Outlawed
The second politico-economic system does not resort to the pretense of controlling private enterprise. Instead, it boldly outlaws it as a crime and condemns it as a perversion.
Call it Communism, or Collectivism, or State Capitalism, the consequences are the same. The frontiers for personal initiative are closed off, except in the field of politics which, in fact, becomes the main outlet for ambition. Whatever the professed idealistic objectives with which such a super-state starts its career, the logic of excessive power and the need for ever more of that power are too strong to be evaded. Dictatorship in its most extreme forms becomes inevitable. The ruthless crushing not only of opposition but of mild differences of opinion become no less inevitable. Every popular institution—including labor unions, or farm organizations—becomes a helpless appendage of the state. And a new ruling class emerges: an elite of bureaucrats and police officials and favored technicians and managers. It is a class which tends to draw to itself the special privileges of a controlled economy without assuming any of the risks which private ownership involves.
Russian Realists
We wish to join wholeheartedly in our gratitude to the Russian people for their heroism and their sacrifice against a common enemy at the European end of our global war. We in America will continue to give every help possible to the Russian people, fighting for their homeland. But, we do so without any hypocritical pretense that we want their social set-up introduced within our own country. The Russian leaders, who pride themselves on being realists, will readily understand this straightforward attitude. They will no more expect us to conceal our views on their collectivist economy than we would expect them to conceal their opinions on our democratic capitalism.
The third politico-economic system is competitive capitalism under a representative democracy. It is the American design—because it has found its fullest expression in our own country.
There was a time, not so long ago, when we uttered the word "capitalism" softly and apologetically, and there are still a few who search in the dictionary for euphemisms and evasions. But I believe capitalism has no need for mealy-mouthed apologetics. Despite all of its faults, all of its frailties and all of its failures, it glows with the colors ofperfection when compared with the other two systems. Our system of private enterprise has lived through crises—and emerged with new vitality. It has won for America a standard of life, a standard of popular education, a degree of self-government, a widespread relish and enjoyment not merely of the necessities but the luxuries of existence, without equal anywhere now or in past centuries.
The Test for Capitalism
In the critical months since Pearl Harbor our American system of economy has met a supreme test—and passed it with flying colors. Everyone speaks of the miracle of American war productions: not every one remembers that it is a miracle made possible by individual initiative, using the mechanisms and the driving force generated by capitalism. And let me make one thing clear. When I speak of capitalism I have in mind not only the financiers and the owners and the managers of business, but farmers and foremen and ordinary workers. Each of them has contributed his full share to that miracle of our war production. Each of them has his particular stake in the survival, fortification and the improvement of the system which achieved the miracle.
Totalitarian states have boasted of their productive capacities. Germany, for instance, built a vast and terrible machine of destruction in only seven years. Many of us were impressed by that industrial feat, though we know that it was accomplished by giving up butter for cannon, by enslaving capital and labor alike, by driving an entire nation with the flaming whips of terror and propaganda. There were even some who were so overcome by the spectacle of totalitarian achievement that they raised doubts about our own way of life. Yet today, only sixteen months after our entry into the war, we can look down on the Nazi accomplishment from the heights of our own truly amazing production records. In a single year our private economy has attained a tempo of output that dwarfs that of the Germans and all their satellites combined. What is more, we have done this without resorting to blood-letting, concentration camps, persecutions and the rest of the horrors which they require.
Packaged Economy
No, we have no reason to apologize for our competitive capitalism. It may be taken as a sign of the times that many of those who seek to displace it with some variation of the super-state now feel it necessary to offer lip service to private initiative and the competitive principle. It is becoming fashionable to present totalitarian schemes for government domination of economic life neatly packaged in private-enterprise slogans.
The pride that we take in the American capitalist system, however, does not imply that we fail to acknowledge shortcomings or that we demand uncritical acceptance of the philosophy of American business. On the contrary, we regard the flexibility of our economic set-up, its capacity for evolving new methods to meet new conditions, as an important source of its strength. Unlike the other two systems, it is not a rigid and unchanging pattern, but a living process, dynamic, constantly evolving, learning by trial and error, seeking and finding adjustments.
Fountainheads of Strength
However, it will remain alive and dynamic only as long as we make sure that the fountainheads of its strength are not blocked or polluted. What are those fountainheads?
They are, in the first place, the right and the opportunity for every individual to take the risks and reap the rewards of individual initiative. In the measure that government domination or private monopoly hampers or punishes individual initiative it is vitiating American economic vitality at the source. In the second place, those fountainheads are the right to free and open competition between individuals and between groups under strict rules of fair play. And they imply, finally, the right of every member of the economic community to function without artificial interference and petty persecution—the right of management to manage, of labor to dispose of its working power, or capital to seek wholesome and useful outlets.
As long as these basic elements in the free-enterprise system remain unchanged, we shall continue to enjoy our economy of adventure. Someone has said that in America every capitalist has a proletarian background and every worker looks forward to a capitalist future. Obviously not everyone can get to the top—but we must defend, with our fortunes and our lives, his privilege of trying and we must remove all artificial barriers from his path.
The Art of Distribution
We have mastered the art of mass production. It now remains for us to master the art of mass distribution, so that the products of our magnificent industrial machine may be ever more widely spread among all our people. This is no longer a pious wish. It is a concrete necessity. We are geared for unprecedented output of the essentials of life as well as the refinements of living. Some of these are known and a great many others now incubating in our research laboratories. To absorb that tremendous output, business and labor and agriculture must cooperate to maintain full employment, high wages, and maximum purchasing power.
Too many of us talk of capitalism as if it were an absolute—the same today as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow. Too many of us talk of competition as if it were an absolute, without degrees and shadings. Nothing could be more misleading and harmful. Along with our spirited defense of the basic free-enterprise concepts must go an intelligent appreciation of this continuous evolution.
Only the wilfully blind can fail to see that the old-style capitalism of a primitive freebooting period is gone forever. The capitalism of complete laissez-faire, which thrived on low wages and maximum profits for minimum turnover, which rejected collective bargaining and fought against justified public regulation of the competitive process, is a thing of the past. Those who would turn back the clock of history in this respect are as unrealistic in their way as the addle-brained paper planners of our economic salvation.
The New Capitalism
American economy is constantly evolving and expanding. We have all suffered acute growing pains in these last few decades. Today it is gearing itself for low profits on a great turnover. The fair distribution of the products and the wealth flowing from the industrial process cannot be left wholly to chance, but must be made one of the essential objectives of industrial planning. American economy cannot reject responsibility for the employment and well-being of the men and women who take a part in it: those who supply the raw materials, those who do the manual labor, those who do the brain work, those who manage enterprise. It must accept this responsibility as an intrinsic part of its function.
The new capitalism, as I prefer to call it, is shedding the last traces of its nostalgic memory of unbridled individualism. It acknowledges that the severe economic and social dislocations accompanying war and depression during the last quarter of a century have caused government to assume responsibilities which necessarily tend to burden and hamper the capitalistic mechanism. Such new functions as are justified in the public interest will require an extra effort by private enterprise. It has a right to insist that so far as possible the government limit itself to formulating the rules of the game and supervising their enforcement. More than that, it insists that the rules be so devised that they stimulate rather than suppress the immense motive power of individual initiative and ambition.
In the new capitalism, labor's role is becoming more clearly defined. The recognition is growing the labor organizations, when formed and administered with a sense of public responsibility, can be a useful cooperative element in making the nation's productive machine more efficient. Labor, in a sense, is going through the same process of growth and adjustment through which management has passed, and can learn a lesson from our experience. Labor need only observe what happened to management whenever its mistakes and excesses have collided with the larger public good to be forewarned against mistakes and excesses on its own part. Like every other segment in the mosaic of American society, labor surely will live up to the social responsibilities that come with growth and power.
American Obligations
Management and labor must come to understand that they can't have freedom of action without accepting the obligations that freedom entails. The survival of a free society within which both have their being and their chance of progress is at stake in such an understanding.
In the present crisis of war-time and in the decisive years that will follow the inevitable victory, we of the Chamberof Commerce have a vital part to play and a duty to perform. Attacks on the looming dangers of superstatism are so much futile flailing of water unless it is matched in full measure by constructive effort to meet the social problems of our time. Fortunately we are likely to have a breathing spell for intelligent planning. In the years immediately after the victory, America is likely to have a period of relative prosperity—by reason of immense accumulated purchasing power and an immense backlog of unsatisfied demand for goods. We must prepare now to utilize that interval to improve the mechanism of competitive capitalism.
It has been a fateful year in many ways. Perhaps we will remember this year as the turning point in the life of our nation. We have suffered heart-breaking defeats. We have rejoiced in victories—victories which will continue to mount. On fighting fronts Americans have demonstrated the courage and the strength of free men. Here at home American business and the American people have more than met the acid test of war. We have given the world unforgettable proof of freedom's power.
We can well be proud of our progress, but we cannot rest on our achievements. Still other hard, grim months loom ahead. Our efforts must be rekindled in the fires of freedom. In the hour glass of victory, no single, precious minute must be wasted. We are united for victory, and as a united people we will concentrate our strength with increasingly furious power against a tyrannical enemy.
The American ideal—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—is no idle phrase nor empty promise. It is a living reality. It is you and me and the men on the war fronts and the families at home. It means equality of opportunity, it means liberty and the self-respect of the individual. It means adventure, reward and security.
That ideal has always been our beacon in dark and stormy times. When peace at last is ours, it will be the inextinguishable torch which will light the world.


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'News' Category
December 14, 2014 by Steve Winkler
The Spirit of Winslow is alive and well as it celebrated the annual parade. With a less-than-440 population, it still exudes community and joy…plus some good cooks…the chilli was delicious. These pictures say it all. Good Night and Merry ChristmasRead More...
Category News, Slideshows, Winslow | Tags: Christmas Parade, winslow
Caring and Giving Season: Open Door Health0
December 9, 2014 by Steve Winkler
– Observer Staff- "We are here to stay," say the Advance Practice Nurses of Open Door Health and Community Services. Lela Shipman and Julie Thibodaux opened their doors to offer medical care to the citizens of south Washington County on April 15, 2013. Since that time the clinic has had about 1300 patient encounters, with over 400 patients.Read More...
Category County, Greenland, West Fork, Winslow | Tags: food pantry, Health Clinic, Shipman, Thibodeux
West Fork Water Commission Down the Drain?0
November 30, 2014 by Steve Winkler
-By Observer Staff- Did the city council just quietly dissolve the 40-year-old water commission? During a hearing on Nov. 24, the council passed an ordinance authorizing the issuance of a $350,000 revenue bond to pay for the "planning and design costs, other preliminary expenses and bond issuance costs." Detailed in more than ten pages, Ordinance 441 is a temporary bond that will be folded into a permanent bond to pay for construction of a sewer line from West Fork to Fayetteville. The permanent bond will be for $5,8000,000. The city needs the funds from the temporary bond to satisfy requirements for a $1.2 million grant. But it's the language buried throughout the ordinance that seems to indicate the dissolution of the water commission entirely, or at the very least, the transfer of its main duties to the city as a whole.Read More...
Category West Fork | Tags: bonds, ordinance 441, West Fork Water Commission
WF Ordinance 441, Full Text1
November 28, 2014 by Steve Winkler
This is the full text of Ordinance No. 441 passed by the West Fork City Council on November 24, 2014 at West Fork Fire Department.Read More...
Category West Fork | Tags: bond, Novembr 24 2014, ordinance 441, sewer, Water, West Fork
Search for New Chief Narrows1
October 26, 2014 by Steve Winkler
-By Steve Winkler- West Fork is a step closer to finding new leadership in the police department. Former chief, John Collins resigned in August 2014. Collins was appointed Interim Police Chief by Mayor Frances Hime in November, 2012, after Mike Nelson resigned the position. He became chief after a probationary period. Hime noted that Collins had received recommendations from numerous law enforcement officials including Washington County Sherriff Tim Helder and Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor, both West Fork residents. The Council vote to approve the appointment was 6-2 with council members Charlie Rossetti and Julie Shafer voting against Collins's appointment. Retiring chief, Mike Nelson, publically expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment of Collins. Mike Nelson is the father of John Nelson, a sergeant in the police department. After Mayor Hime's resignation as mayor in November 2013, the council appointed Rossetti interim mayor and after a special election in April, 2014, Rossetti became the elected mayor. Mike Nelson is now on the city council. John Collins was popular with the citizens but was left without the support from Rossetti's administration. He resigned. He is currently a candidate for a seat on the city council. Soon after Collins's resignation, the police commission began …Read More...
Category West Fork | Tags: police, police chief, police commission
A Decade of Yoga in West Fork1
September 16, 2014 by Steve Winkler
-Special to the Observer from Jane Bryant- Ten years? It's true. Yoginis recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of yoga in West Fork. Jimmie Thomas, yoga instructor extraordinaire, began teaching yoga in 2004 in the courtroom of City Hall. The classes recently relocated to Library Hall. Jimmie has her 200-hour and 500-hour certifications as a Variyoga teacher. Variyoga is a blend of different types of yoga that are adapted to the needs of the students. It can be quite gentle or very strenuous depending on the students and their capabilities. In the spring of 2014 Jimmie completed a week-long intensive course at Duke Integrative Medical Center on therapeutic yoga. She learned how to adapt yoga for people with various health issues, such as osteoporosis, heart problems, and COPD. Jimmie happily admits that she did not plan to become a yoga teacher. This path came about when she visited the West Fork Library after she had moved back to Northwest Arkansas. She mentioned to the librarian that she did yoga, and the librarian gave her name to the West Fork Parks person. When the parks person contacted her about teaching a six-week yoga program, she agreed to give it a try. Ten …Read More...
Category West Fork | Tags: Library Hall, yoga
WF RRC Board Report0
July 31, 2014 by Steve Winkler
We need volunteers at the RRC! Come work with us. I have openings every Saturday morning from now until forever. Please consider volunteering this Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00. Just send me an email to let me know if you can make it. If you have questions about volunteering give me a call at 200-6072 or stop by and chat with us when we are open. Right now I don't have anyone signed up for this Saturday morning! The RRC Advisory Board welcomed two new members. Jimmie Thomas and Lori Marsh have joined our group and we are a dedicated and energetic Board. Below are the minutes from our last meeting if you are interested in seeing what we are up to. ~ Patty West Fork Renewable Resource Center Advisory Board Meeting Notes Tuesday, July 29, 2014 West Fork Public Library Call to order: Patty called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm. Roll Call: Present—Patty Baker, President; Sophie Stephenson, secretary; Carolyn Griffith, member; Lori Marsh, member; Jimmie Thomas, member; Charles Rosetti, West Fork Mayor; Megan Webb, Parks Director Meeting Minutes Minutes from the January 2014 meeting were approved. Old Business: Discussion of dog waste stations Megan with Parks Dept …Read More...
Category West Fork | Tags: recycle

subset: commoncrawl


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(UNDATED) - The WBIW listening area isn't out of the woods yet.
The entire WBIW listening area is under a tornado watch until 7:00pm tonight, and a flash flood warning remains until 4:15 this afternoon for Clay, Owen and Morgan Counties as well as northwestern Brown and northern Monroe.
This storm system has already done some heavy damage to the Mount Pleasant area of Bedford, sending at least one person to the hospital, but there have been no fatalities reported by press time.
Lawrence County Chief Deputy Tony Siedl tells WBIW News he didn't know when everything would be back up and running.
As of 1:55 this afternoon, more than 360 Duke Energy customers in Lawrence County were without power, and more than 450 customers in Monroe County have the same problem.
However, eastern Greene County has also suffered heavy damage and the Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC reports between 2,500 and 3,000 customers east of Bloomfield are in the dark.
Keep tuned to 1340 AM WBIW and watching WBIW.com for the latest updates on severe weather, this week is looking to be full of it.
Have a question or comment about a news story? Send it to firstname.lastname@example.com
1340 AM WBIW, Bedford's Place To Talk. Serving Lawrence and surrounding counties since 1948!
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|WITCHFALL on Amazon
Enter the Harlequin Teen Goodreads Giveaway to win 1 of 15 Advanced Reader Copies of my forthcoming US edition of WITCHFALL!
Territories: US and Canada
London, 1554. At the court of Mary Tudor, life is safe for no one. The jealous, embittered queen sees enemies all around her, and the infamous Spanish Inquisition holds the court in its merciless grip. But Meg Lytton has more reason to be afraid than most - for Meg is a witch, and exposure would mean certain death. Even more perilous, Meg is secretly betrothed to the young priest Alejandro de Castillo; a relationship which they must hide at all costs.
In the service of the queen's sister, Princess Elizabeth, Meg tries to use her powers to foretell her mistress's future. But when a spell goes terribly wrong, and Meg begins to have horrifying dreams, she fears she has released a dark spirit into the world, intent on harming her and those around her.


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Articles Archive for March 2014
Featured, High-Profile People »
'Diamond' Ambassador. Exclusive interview with Cameroon international football legend Roger Milla The clock is ticking: in an exclusive interview just months before Brazil hosts the FIFA World Cup Tournament 2014, one of international football's living legends, Roger Milla, disputably one of the greatest footballers of all time and a Cameroonian icon, welcomes The Bridge Magazine to talk to him in his private residence in Cameroon.
At the eve of Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup, iconic Cameroonian former footballer Roger Milla shares with The Bridge Magazine the secrets behind his international fame.
In a bid to inspire a young breed of ambitious footballers worldwide and provide them with useful advice that might enable them to stamp their mark on the pitch in Brazil, and possibly for years to come, the legendary Milla …


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who picks up her beautifully perfect daughter the very second she cries. yes i tried to let her sleep with us but Mr.hubby nipped that in the bud. But during the day when he is gone where does she nap?! Right next to me in bed, i either nap with her or browse the interwebs or fold clothes or read, or write in here. [: I don't let anyone else watch her.. our dates always have her along with us. I am too stubborn to let anyone help or ask for help, with anything. there are multiple reasons really: I hate to hear her upset so i do everything i can to make her happy:i think because i have always gone to her when she cries: she trusts me:babies can't communicate what they want til they are older so i try to focus on figuring out what each cry means:i am a stay at home mommy and i have nothing else to do most of the time.
But really it just comes down to this, i love her more than anything. SHe is my ENTIRE life (aside from my hubby) and i am hers. She loves me more than anyone else!! (sorry daddy) She needs me more than anyone. She wants me above anyone else.
I won't say i take pleasure in the fact that she cries when i walk away (sometimes i do want me time) but it does make me feel good that she loves me.
But, one day that will change. One day she will not want me this much, one day i will not be her entire life, one day it will not be me that makes her the happiest, one day she will feel she doesn't need me and doesn't love me the most. (maybe or maybe not)
But this is all a possibility.
SOooO when she is 16 and screaming at me she wants to go do something when i said no.. and i go to bed that night cuddled up to Mr.Hubby crying that she hates me i will remember these days. When she only wanted me. When we take naps together and she is soo tired but will not go to sleep and the only thing that will comfort her is for me to hold her really close and rub her head and whisper in her ear. Because one day my baby girl will not need me and the thought kills me. It breaks my heart in thousands of pieces.
One day we will have other children.. But she will always be the first the baby girl our miracle baby girl.
So yes, i may not let her out of my sight,yes i may spoil her, yes i let her use the boob sometimes as a soothing thing, yes i started putting rice formula in her bottle at 2 months old, yes i started giving her fruit at 3 1/2 yes i make up strict schedules for everything, yes she did used to go to bed at 7:30 every night, (she is older now so we extended it to 9) yes my baby dresses better than me, yes i use cloth diapers, yes i did cry the day she started to play by herself, (a cry of thankfulness and sadness) yes i do all the things people say you shouldn't. But, i don't care because i know she is a happy baby and that is ALL that matters!! Lastly yes i will kill you if it meant protecting her. ;] [:
And yes, i am 100% positive me and my husband could use some alone time, but what would be the point if the whole time we are talking about her and thinking about her. AND BESIDES she is really good when we go out places usually its like she is not even there at all. So, as long as this is the case she will come along with us everywhere.
bottom line is i love my daughter i love my family. and my husband is not mad about any of this so we are good. because believe me he would in a heart beat tell me if he didn't like or want me doing something anymore the way i was.
i just thought i would say all this so people would know. look at this face who could do anything less than this anyway.


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Ok it's 2011 but feels like I'm still replaying 2010 issues. This is what happens when you just keep letting things slide and not making an effort to actually change your situation. Biggest issues now are my boyfriend's I am king you're the servant attitude and my mental body image of myself. I say mental because physically I'm actually only 10 lbs over my happy weight but I think and feel more like 200 lbs. First step to changing my situation is to start with what I can personally change which is my mental image of myself. I went and got a complete physical and got my real weight in black and white to force myself to acknowledge it's not as bad as I think. Overall I'm actually healthy all my test, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure etc were all normal and my doc actually said losing weight wasnt necessary health wise because it wasnt causing any health issues which was very surprising to me. So now I know I'm healthy and losing weight is optional I actual am starting to feel better when I look in the mirror and now I'm motivated to lose weight so that I can look as healthy as I am. I hate the treadmill but I got one because it was less expensive than the elliptical I wanted so for now I'm doing 15 minutes a day and slowly trying to build up to the recommended 30 minutes. I've also bought some free weights to tone up my arms because they are starting to get a little jiggly; thankfully I can't do any crunches because of a neck injury.
As for what I can't personally change my boyfriends attitude towards our relationship I'm ignoring it. Yeah not the right or mature thing to do but right now I just don't want to deal with it. Trying to explain to him why his attitude isn't working in this relationship turns into a shouting match and frankly I've had it. Right now it's work, home, take care of my lil one then hit the books cause I went back to school to get my B.A. so conflict is not something I can fit into my schedule. How does he feel about this change I have no idea because he hasn't said anything. What I have realized is now that I'm not trying to get him to see my point of view and I'm focusing on other things he's keeping his distance like he's unsure of what's going on in my head. Right now I'm just trying to get to my comfort zone and be joyful for my life and how I feel right now is either he tries to compromise so we can make it work or he just moves on either way I'm still going to be me and I'm gonna be happy.


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An excerpt from Doug Smith's Sports Blog:
Boy, some of you got pretty riled up with the Babcock/Hammond thing yesterday, didn't you?
Was just a thought/comment that seemed timely since I saw John for the first time in a while the other night.
But since you liked that . . .
What, pray tell, have been the four mostly ownership/management mistakes of the past decade or so? And I'm only going back that far because before that, the franchise was basically irrelevant.
So, whatcha got?
I've got these, in no particular order.
Firing Glen Grunwald
Made no sense, it wasn't necessary and it started things on a terribly slippery slope into oblivion for a while.
Glen had to put up with KO as his coach — a hire that had as much to do with the wishes of people above him than anything else — and the team wasn't that bad at all.
There was no reason to do it.
Trading Vince Carter
In no small part because of the horrible package they got but also because ONE NIGHT EARLIER Carter had spoken to his coaches in an attempt to work things out for the better.
One night earlier!!!
It wasn't as if the team was horrible, it wasn't as if the deadline was upon them and they had to do something quick to fix an entirely unworkable situation.
It was a panic move, pure and simple, or a move to teach the kid a lesson or something like that; it was ridiculous because he was, at that time, one of the biggest assets they had and they minimized it.
Gave it away.
Having no roster replacement in place made it even more shockingly bad.
Drafting Rafael Araujo
This might be the most ridiculous of them all.
If they feared, or knew, there might be an issue with Vince and the new general manager, wouldn't drafting someone who might eventually replace him make the most sense?
Guy like, oh, I dunno, Andre Iguodala, just to have some insurance?
Take the big guy who could not play because a consultant thought Araujo was a throwback to the Pistons Bad Boy era, even if that era was dead and gone. And everyone knew it.
Letting Bosh walk for nothing
The situation was misread, in large part — and this is the absolute truth — because Bosh was less than honest with management and ownership and they believed him.
Now, they tried to move him — they were willing to take back the atrocious Baron Davis contract from the Clippers along with a draft pick for Bosh and L.A. said no — but they needed to be more proactive, as it turns out.
Now, I'm going to hear all day about Jermaine O'Neal and Shawn Marion and I'm sure Jason Kapono but those moves were all defensible when they were made and I'd rather have a proactive guy in charge than one who makes what turn out to be mistakes and can't fix them.
Each, on its own, made sense.
Turk was the best free agent of a summer and decided to come to Toronto; that he was coddled at his first camp a bit and never warmed to his teammates or his coach or his situation couldn't be known.
Marion was a rental, pure and simple.
Kapono? Guy didn't make a shot but no one could have seen that coming.
They were blips, those other four were egregious mistakes that truly set the franchise back many steps.


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by Tim
by Tarn
TIMELESS POP-ROCK ... OBJAYDA-SOLAR...The bass and keys of Tim Howe, guitar & lead vocals of Tarn Ockenden, and drums of Richard Nash make up Surrey pop / rock royalty Objayda, who have been playing their melodic rock for 20 years. Tipping hats to the Pretenders, The Bangles and Kirsty MacColl, the trio remain one of our great underexposed bands and a mere fingernail away from top 10 success. Bitter Moon, Stairway To London and The Book all charm the ears via sweet guitar and exuberant vocals, and will always prove audience pleasers. Timeless. Keith Ames - MUSICIAN MAGAZINE - Winter 2008
1. Solar
2. Bitter Moon
3. Stairway To London
4. The Book
5. Teenage Fan Club
6. Is It Just Me?
7. Good For Me
8. Baby Blue
9. Don't You Ever!
10. Treasure
OJD CD15 Burning Ice Records 2008
CD album £5


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Retired KZN judge president awarded nearly R1m in damages claim
Retired KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Chiman Patel has been awarded damages of R900 000 - believed to be one of the biggest ever awards in South Africa - in his claim against provincial Director of Public Prosecutions Moipone Noko for malicious prosecution and reputational damage.
"This is such a relief… it has been four years and I am glad that the truth has prevailed," Patel told News24.
He sued Noko and the National Director of Public Prosecutions after being charged with crimen injuria, relating to an incident in his chambers with a stationery clerk in 2013.
READ: High Court to hear former KZN judge president lawsuit
He was summoned to appear in court a year later. Two months later, when the trial was due to start, the charge was withdrawn without explanation.
Patel, in his evidence in the civil trial before Gauteng Judge Aubrey Ledwaba, spoke of his humiliation.
"I became a virtual recluse… the stress led to my decision to retire early," he said.
The clerk, Lindiwe Nxele, claimed that Patel had shouted at her, pointed his finger at her and called her "nonsense, trash, rubbish and useless".
Judge Patel denied this, claiming he had said: "Do I have to cope with this rubbish." He said he was not referring to Nxele personally.
His registrar, Roma Morar, and court manager Karlien Marais, who were present at the time, backed him up.
In his ruling handed down on Wednesday, Judge Ledwaba said the fact that the word "rubbish" was used was not in dispute.
"What is in dispute is the context it was used. I am mindful, in a society such as ours with a diversity of languages, there is always scope for misunderstand and misinterpreting language."
Noko's role
Turning to Noko's role in the matter, he said it appeared she had only consulted with Nxele, and not Marais or Morar.
She had then referred the matter to the National Director of Public Prosecutions, who suggested that the issue be handled by means of a disciplinary process by the Judicial Conduct Committee, or through mediation.
If neither of these produced an amicable solution, then Patel could be prosecuted and: "It would not be improper to allow him to pay an admission of guilt fine."
In her evidence, Noko had insisted that Nxele wanted the matter to go to court. However, Nxele testified that she wanted to have a face-to-face discussion with Patel.
This, Judge Ledwaba said, appeared to be supported by an affidavit by one of the investigating officers, who attended a consultation during which Nxele was interviewed, where she stated that she was happy to follow the mediation process.
Nxele also testified that she had told Noko that - if Patel apologised - she would not have insisted that the criminal case proceed.
"We should all be concerned about the maintenance and promotion of the rule of law. Given the increasing litigation involving the NDPP, these principles cannot be repeated often enough. We ignore them at our peril," Judge Ledwaba said.
"The provincial director should have been satisfied that there was reasonable and probable cause, not just a prima facie case against [Patel].
"The docket should have been interrogated in its entirety... If I accept the version of Nxele, it implies that Noko was not a credible witness and she fabricated evidence.
"Crucially, Patel was also not informed about an opportunity to pay a fine, as recommended.
"She [Noko] was not a good witness and did not execute the duties reasonably expected from a Director of Public Prosecutions. She gave long-winded and argumentative answers when she testified," the judge said.
He said the charges were dropped after a three-woman prosecuting team, appointed by Noko to consult with Nxele and all the witnesses, told Noko that to continue would be "prosecuting maliciously".
"We are not persecutors, we are prosecutors… this matter impedes on our dignity," they wrote in a memorandum to her.
He found that the Noko, "who was intent on seeing the matter being heard in a criminal court", the national director, who also did not carefully consider the statements, and Nxele, who made contradictory statements about what occurred that day in chambers, had acted with an intention to injure Patel.
Early retirement
Regarding the damages award, the judge said Patel was a few years from retiring with an unblemished record of service to the judiciary and legal profession at the time.
"The incident was widely publicised in the media and he had to appear in court on two occasions as an accused.
"No meaningful attempts were made to pursue alternative dispute resolution methods.
"The defendant's counsel submitted that an appropriate damages award should be between R150 000 and R200 000. I disagree. They were aware that the case involved a senior judge.
"R900 000 is fair and reasonable," Judge Ledwaba concluded.
He said Noko could not be held personally liable, because she was acting in the course of her duties.
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