Congratulations to all the contestants in the "Reflections" contest at CHS. This year, they were all excellent, and it was very difficult for the judges to select the winners. Entries in literature, photography, art, music and dance are sent in by students for a chance to go to the state level. Thankfully, Lynne Heller has supervised this contest for several years, not only do the students have a chance to show off their talents, there are monetary prizes for the winners. Great work.
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Don't forget "Murder at the TonyLou Awards" at the Gold Dust West this weekend (883-9386 and 883-6442). Take care of yourselves, and have a great week.
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The birthday list goes on and on and on ... this week's honorees are Jim Costa, Father Edgar, Bill Nutt, Karen Copp, Spenser Olson, Ellie Stevens, and Wayne Perock. Obviously, no one heard of Zero Population Growth. (teehee) We met two lovely ladies at ZBistro the other day. Cheryl McClellan, and her daughter, Shirenda Davis. It's always great to meet nice people. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Bettye Ruggeri and her family on the death of husband and father, Geri Ruggeri. He will be sorely missed, especially by us because he always loved to see his name in our column. We did, too.
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Why o' why, post Katrina, are we still slow at providing aid to those in need. The earthquake in Haiti was a week and a half ago ... in two days, the Israeli Army was there with tent hospitals, operating and helping the Haitian people. We came in with supplies and troops, but our tent hospitals and doctors were unable to get going until Monday, five days later (per the news services), and we're only 200 miles away. If anything can be learned from this disaster, it's that many people of the world, including those we consider 'enemies' (i.e. China, Venezuela, etc.), have come in with aid for the Haitians. We would hope the world takes note and acknowledges that we are all people on the same planet, and need to get along and help each other. Congress should learn the same lesson, instead of "us against them." Thanks to all the good hearts out there.
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Speaking of Congress, let's have four-week campaigns, a cap on campaign spending, and ban lobbyists. And, while we're at it (dreaming, that is), keep the heads of agencies (i.e. CIA, FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, etc.) from building their own little fiefdoms and make them share some of the information that supposedly keeps us safe.
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Some days you just need a good laugh... Sandy and Wayne Ritz sent us this one off the Internet: "Ever since I was a child I've always had fears of someone under my bed at night, so I went to a shrink and told him about my problems. 'Just put yourself under my care for a year, see me three times a week, and we should be able to get rid of those fears,' said the doctor. 'How much do you charge?,' I asked. 'Eighty dollars per visit.' 'I'll sleep on it,' I told him. Six months later, I saw the doctor on the street. 'Why didn't you come to see me,' he asked. 'Well, eighty bucks three times a week was an awful lot of money, but a bartender cured me after a couple of drinks and I was so happy I went out and bought me a new pickup.' With a bit of an attitude, he asked, 'And how did a bartender cure you?' 'He told me to cut the legs off my bed ... ain't nobody under there now!'" "Moral of the story? Forget the shrinks: Go have a drink and talk to your bartender."
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Now let's go to the amoral: Many of the banks that we bailed out with our tax money, are paying bonuses of $700,000 or so to their high-falutin' executives. "They will leave us if we don't pay them." Sooo, let 'em leave. If the government capped their bonuses (to any company who took a loan), they'd have nowhere to go, plus, there'd always be someone else to take their place. If they get back to being-on-their-own-rolling-in-dough again, then, and only then, could they pay their insane bonuses.
• Carolyn Tate and Maizie Harris Jesse are longtime Carson City residents. They can be reached at editor@nevadaappeal.com.