City of Prayer, Champions, Winners

MORE FAMOUS CLAIRTONIANS
Before we get started: Let me remind you that if you have not yet made a contribution to the fund to help defray the cost of the Championship rings for CHS players and staff, there is still time to do so. A rendering of the ring as well as pertinent information regarding where to send the check or money order is in last week’s blog (see next blog below). To date more than half the goal has been reached. On behalf of Trustee Sue Wessell and the players, staff, and their families, I thank all who have contributed.



Attorney, Poet, Mayor of Clairton: For those who were Clairtonians in the “Good old days,” the name Lloyd H. Fuge is one that you will remember. Blind from the age of 15, the result of a chemical accident, Mr. Fuge became a prominent attorney and public servant in Clairton. He served as Councilman and sat at the helm as mayor for several years. Today Barrister Fuge is eighty years of age and still productive. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh and from its law school with honors and served on the speech faculty at University of Pittsburgh two years. Mr Fuge practiced law 37 years and as an author and lover of poetry, has been doing readings for the past seventeen years. Oh yes, his readings have also included philosophy, cosmology, astrophysics, physical science, bioscience and various religions.

Mr Fuge is married to Dorothy--who has also been blind most of her life. Their 51 year marriage has produced two daughters and three grandchildren. Lloyd once listed four goals to achieve in his lifetime; to teach philosophy, become a lawyer, become a minister, and write a book. The latter goal was realized recently when he released “Melodies of Life.” I found the book online at Barnes and Nobel and find it to be uplifting, tender, and a doggone good read. He claims to have been formulating the book for 60 years. It is a collection of 47 poems about his life and those around him. The book includes rhymed poems with stories of infancy, love sonnets, various poems on ethics and cosmology in free verse and reverie poems which reflect on memories of life and the expectation of death.

All in the family: La Donna Fuge, the daughter of Lloyd and Dorothy is a family practice physician in Wilkins township. Her mentor and close friend, another physician, passed away a few years ago of breast cancer. She drew strength from the strength of her colleague, Dr. Gloria Kasey shared the triumphs, failures, sadness and joy of her own life through a series of stories that comprise her first book, "LHF MD: Love Humor Faith: My Destiny -- The Making of a Modern Medical Woman." The fund supports a lecture series open to other physicians.

From Kasey's courage, Fuge drew the strength to share the triumphs, failures, sadness and joy of her own life through a series of stories that comprise her first book, "LHF MD: Love Humor Faith: My Destiny -- The Making of a Modern Medical Woman." Proceeds from the book benefit Forbes Health Foundation in honor of her friend and mentor.

Dr. Fuge learned a thing or two about perseverance from her parents. Her own life has not been without challenges. She had a brief marriage, flunked out of medical school after her first year, and lived out of her car for a period of time. She remarried but was unable to bear children so she adopted a daughter who lost her vision. She then adopted a son and got pregnant – only to miscarry.

She eventually was readmitted to medical school and met Dr. Kasey during her residency. Dr. Fuge admired Dr. Kasey's understanding of family practice and ability to see "not just something broken or some pill needed, but really seeing a patient on a personal level."
She wrote more than 100 stories over a 2-year period and culled 44 of them for her book.

That’s not all folks: A Clairton author is enjoying some success from his first science fiction thriller, and is working on a second in a series.

“The McKenzie Files” by Barry K. Nelson was published by Leucrota Press from California in August 2008. The paperback product is the first of three anticipated literary efforts from the 1977 Clairton High School graduate. The author hopes to continue writing books as a series. His second book in the series picks up where the first left off. He’s also planning a third; a prequel to the first book.

“The McKenzie Files” features a lot of classic sci-fi themes. A deadly virus, the Pandora Simplex, threatens to destroy Earth. A mad scientist, Dr. Howard Fenlow, is hell-bent on destruction and rising to power, and a group of super-powered humanoid weapons known as Reploids led by Colin McKenzie, Diane Christy and Kelly Lydton band together to thwart the scientist’s evil plans with their respective electric, super strength and fire capabilities. The book took about a year to write.

The author works at Giant Eagle in West Mifflin and draws inspiration from authors such as Stephen King and Ray Bradbury.

Networking works: As a boy in the booming 1950s steel town of Clairton, Ira Weiss worked in the small grocery store that his Eastern European immigrant grandfather, Harry Weiss, opened in the 1920s. His allowance was spent on baseball cards and at Pirates games at Forbes Field watching his favorite player, Roberto Clemente. Away from the park, his transistor radio was always at his ear to listen to Pirates announcer Bob Prince, whose colorful phrases and descriptions stirred his imagination.

His imagination also was sparked in a history class taught by Don Taylor at Clairton High School. The experience spurred a lifelong love of history and what he calls "intellectual curiosity."

After graduation, Mr. Weiss attended the University of Pittsburgh and then the Duquesne University School of Law, where he earned his law degree.

Harboring an interest in politics, he contacted attorney Lloyd Fuge, and got a job as a law clerk one summer; which eventually led to the establishment of the Fuge & Weiss law office. But the education Mr. Weiss received through his association with Mr. Fuge went beyond Mr. Fuge's work and reputation as a school district and municipal solicitor and mayor of Clairton.

Mr. Weiss drove the pair to meetings, where Mr. Fuge used an apparatus to create Braille cards. The next day Mr. Fuge would type the information on a Braille typewriter.

In 1979, he left Fuge & Weiss to form Goldman Weiss & Gross. From 1981 to 1992, he served as deputy county solicitor and was an adjunct professor of law at Duquesne from 1985 to 1992. In 1991, he opened the law offices of Ira Weiss and was the firm's only lawyer.

Beginning in 2005, and every year since, he was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for his career accomplishments by "Law & Politics" and "Philadelphia Magazine," based on peer polling, research and a candidate credential review process.

Another Clairton Wordsmith: Can you say prolific? Joyce Milton was an author who just kept writing biographies. Her subjects included the life and times of such luminaries as Charles Lindberg and wife Anne Morrow, George Washington, Hillary Clinton, Martin Luther King, Jr., Pocahontas, convicted spies Julius and Ethyl Rosenberg, Indian guide Sacajawea, Olympic diver Greg Louganis, Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, Charlie Chaplin, Ronald Reagan, and others. She wrote children’s books and books about dinosaurs, gorillas, bees, bears, bats, cats, wolves, whales and mummies. She wrote books for children, teens, and adults. Joyce was one of the most versatile and prolific writers of our time. And oh yes, she is a Clairtonian. Born and raised. Graduated CHS in ’63 and attended Swarthmore, one of the prestigious “Sister Schools,” then earned a Master degree in Library Science from New York’s Pratt Institute. She lived and wrote in Brooklyn for most of her career then returned to the Clairton area to care for her parents when her mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Her mom passed away a year ago last November and the world lost Joyce four months later, also of cancer. Joyce Milton, Clairton girl.

A little blogging Maestro… “My Little Town” by Simon and Garfunkle

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Bears need a boost

Clairton Needs You
Clairton and Oldies: Few things grab my attention more than Clairton and oldies. Sometimes the two combine in my mind. Such was the case with a spate of recent emails. The words of a Neil Diamond song rang in my head, “Startin' soft and slow like a small earthquake... And when he lets go half the valley shakes…” That is how this whole thing started. But let’s roll the picture back a few months and start with a flashback of the beginning of football season.

The previous season the Clairton Bears football team had had their most successful season in recent years, winning the WPIAL again and state championship for the first time ever. They were about to embark on their 2010 season. They knew they were good but were not sure just how good they would be nor how strong their opponents would be. They soon found out, rolling over team after team until they won an unprecedented second state championship.

Startin’ soft and low, like a small earthquake: I recently received an email from CHS alum Bob White. He included a letter from CHS alum and teacher Don Taylor. Later the same day I heard from classmate Adele Kunz and Valerie DeBellis. Then I heard from another alum and another, and so it went, all with the same theme; PLEASE HELP THE BEARS!

The gist of the letters was that CHS would like to purchase championship rings for the players and coaches but there was no money budgeted to do so. School Board member Sue Wessel spearheaded a movement to collect donations. Two years ago she was instrumental in creating a golf tournament to raise money for CHS athletics. This year the efforts have been expanded to help defray the cost of the rings. Each recipient has already paid a portion and the fundraising efforts will pay the balance. If the goal is exceeded, monies will be put toward the purchase of white game jerseys.

The fundraising goal for the rings is a little under $11,000. By my fuzzy math that would be about $1.00 for every living CHS alum, so the goal is doable. My plea is that each alum and Clairton resident past and present make a donation. Each ring costs about $200 and if you are able to purchase one or more, your donation will be graciously accepted. Otherwise, please send what you can. Send a check or money order to:

Clairton Athletic Champions Club
c/o Sue Wessel
512 N. Sixth Street
Clairton, PA 15025

Last year the school district was able to purchase orange game jerseys and the fundraising group purchased sideline capes for inclement weather protection. The club also pays for food for the team when it travels long distances.

An awards banquet will be on March 26, 2011 and the rings will be presented. That day a parade will begin to assemble about 11:30 and at 12:00 noon march from the stadium on Miller Avenue to the High School where an assembly for the team will be held. At 6:00 pm the awards banquet will be held at the Ascension Hall on Park Avenue.

A Clairton tale: A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about Churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and began working east from there.

At one particular very large church, he began taking photographs and noticed a golden telephone on the vestibule wall with a sign which read "Calls: $10,000 a minute."

Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone. The pastor answered that this golden phone is a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. He visited churches in Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and throughout the United States and discovered more phones, with the same sign and got the same answer from each pastor. Golden phone. Calls $10,000 per minute, directly to God.

Finally, he arrived in Pennsylvania and went off the beaten path and somehow ended up at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Clairton where he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read "Calls: $0.35 cents."

Curious, he asked to speak to the pastor, "Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only $0.35 cents a call. Why?"

The pastor smiled and replied, "Son, you're in Clairton, Pennsylvania now; home of the Clairton Bears; four straight WPIAL titles, two state championships, home of the Honeybears, top notch marching band, 20 churches to choose from… friendliest people in the world! We’ve been humbled but never broken. You're in the City of Prayer, God's Country. From here it's a local call."

Wonders of the net: While we are on the subject of CHS, many graduating classes have stayed in touch over the years. None has done so more than my own CHS class of 1960. A core group of class leaders has arranged a reunion every five years. In addition, Anna Marie Bochter has been diligent in maintaining our class web site http://www.clairton1960.com/ and our class has taken an active role in helping with the annual multi-class reunion held each year at Clairton Park.

Comments and questions: At the bottom of each post is a place for comments. Each comment must first be moderated to see if it is legitimate, as many are inappropriate. Until I approve comments for publication they are seen only by me. However, the process for leaving comments is cumbersome and awkward and there is no mechanism for me to respond to questions in the comments section. Thus, if you have a particular question about one of the blog posts, be sure to leave an email address and I will respond. Several questions have been addressed about past posts, especially those about former Clairton resident Annabelle Bucar and other high interest topics. I respond to every email.

Oddz and enz: Catching up on several Clairton tidbits I offer you the following: The Pittsburgh Athletic Association on recently named Rushel Shell of Hopewell and Desimon Green of Clairton winners of its Mercury Award, given annually to the WPIAL's top football player… Clairton City middle and high school students might become eligible to get a private school education on the state's dime if a tuition voucher plan announced recently is signed into law… OSHA fined U.S. Steel and one of its contractors, Power Piping Co. of Etna, $143,000 for safety violations in connection with a July 14 explosion at the Clairton Coke Works that injured 20 workers… Clairton native and jazz musician Lee Robinson loves working with kids at an area museum, teaching them about the origin of sound and music making… CHS Grad Mike Super (Supernovich) was named Entertainer of the Year by the International Magicians Society. He was presented with the Merlin Award during a performance in South Carolina.

A little blogging music Maestro… “My Hometown” by Bruce Springsteen.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

Thanks to Jim Hartman for tech support
www.mifflintownship.org

Pre-Super Bowl Saturday

As the game nears, I share the following poetry sent to me. It was credited to A.K. Young.

'Twas the Night Before the Super Bowl
'Twas the night before the Super Bowl, when along the gulf shore,
Steelers fans were praying for "just one more;"

The players were nestled all snug in the sack,
With visions of number 7 against the Pack;

Coach Tomlin was young, but wise for his years,
So I drifted off to sleep without any fears;

When at the stadium there arose some strange chatter,
The Packers feared, what was the matter;

We heard "Okel Dokel", we heard "Double Yoi,"
We jumped from our beds, our hearts jumped for joy;

He stood at the fifty with a grin ear to ear,
Steelers fans everywhere started to cheer;

Then in an instant to our surprise,
This little old man had tears in his eyes;

He went to the booth and there took his chair,
While Terrible Towels waved in the air;

Then over the airwaves came his shrill voice,
The Steelers Nation began to rejoice;

He said, "I am back, but you know I can't stay,
I just had to see my Steelers play;

From my home up above, I have a great view,
But I wanted to celebrate here with you;

So bring on the Pack, we'll send them a flyin',
On the way back to Greenbay, they will be cryin';

Ben, Hines, Troy , Wallace and all of the rest,
No matter the outcome, to me you're the best;"

The airwaves went silent, the stadium still,
Was this just a dream, it seemed so real;

In our team we have faith, in our team we have hope,
But the game's not the same without Myron Cope

For want of a ticket...
A woman Steeler fan had 50 yard line tickets for the Super Bowl. As she sat down, a man came along and asked her if anyone is sitting in the seat next to her. "No," she said, "the seat is empty."

"This is incredible," said the man. "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event in the world, and not use it?"

Somberly, the woman says, "Well... the seat actually belongs to me. I was
supposed to come here with my husband, but he passed away. This is the first Super
Bowl we have not been to together since we got married in 1967."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that, that's terrible. But couldn't you find someone
else - a friend or relative or even a neighbor to take the seat?"

The woman shakes her head, "No, they're all at the funeral."

You gotta love those Steeler fans.

A CLOSE SHAVE
Pleasures of life: As we reach “a certain age,” the desire for and pursuit of money fame and power lessens and we take the time to enjoy the pleasures of life. Fine wine, a good repast, and classical music become more important. A good massage is another. Hence, the blossoming of a plethora of massage spas have sprung up over the past decade. All these things are included in my “pamper me” list but for years I have reflected of a time when I enjoyed what has to be one of every man’s fantasy and simple pleasure – a great shave done with a straight razor.

In the 1970s I toured Europe. My purpose was to see the European countryside, trace my roots, and write the great American novel. Well, I did two of the three. I spent several months in what was then Yugoslavia, particularly in the states of Serbia and Croatia and the Dalmatian coast. The word for barber was Frizer, and I discovered that the duties of a Frizer included shaving clients with a straight razor. I would only shave every few days and nearly always have it done by a Frizer. It only cost pennies back then.

As recently as the 1970s barbers usually finished a man’s haircut with a neck shave with a straight razor, but as the barbers became hair stylists. The neck shave, if it was done at all was done with a cordless electric shaver. I longed to go back to Croatia and Serbia if only for the good old fashioned shave.

Last Christmas my wife surprised me with a gift card to “The Art of Shaving.” She told me that they did straight razor shaving so I immediately set up an appointment with Michael. It turns out that not only was the shave every bit as pleasant as the ones I remembered from the Frizer, it turned out that Michael is a master barber and a lifelong Las Vegas resident. He has been cutting hair since he was a teen. Feels like he has been shaving that long as well. Ah, hot towels, warm shaving cream, cool mist afterwards. It is everyman’s delight.

A little blogging music Maestro, anything from www.steelerfightsong.com or "Shave and a haircut; two-bits."

Dr. Forgot

Get your Stiller on...

Super Bowl Week
A Clairton icon passes: Before we get on to the Steeler stuff, I would be remiss if I did not mention the passing of one of Clairton’s icons. When I was a lad and walked to school (did not take a ride on a school bus until I was 21) up St. Clair Avenue, I passed the Corner Store, Cities’ Service, Tomich Atlantic Service, the Blue Bird, Gazda’s Electric, Russo’s Hardware, and many other businesses, nearly all locally owned. Over the years most closed or sold out; some such as Beckavac’s, Clairton Hardware, Skapik’s, Clairton Sport Shop, and Russo’s Hardware were taken over by the next generation. We recently received word that Rose Russo passed away. She was so typical of Clairton families whose businesses provided the food, clothing, hardware, and even funeral services for our community. She was a wonderful woman who raised a great family. May she rest in peace.



Keeping in touch: I have been inundated with emails about the Steelers and Pittsburgh ever since the post-season began. My thanks to Bill Whitworth, Carol Walsh, Neil James, Jean Jordan Dorothy Valvo, Steve Rudish, Ralph Posmoga, Mitzi Buechele, Dee Martin, Kathy George, Doe Smoyer, Joe and Regina Klein, Mike Hollowood, Jay Graft, Bernie Stokes, Earl Maksin, Margie Porreco, Louise Taylor, Carl Blackburn, Geno Tolari, Anna Marie Bochter, Bob White, Maryann Achorn, Cal Sabo, Lee Weber, and all the other wonderful Clairton folks who sent along Steeler good wishes. My apologies if I missed your name. Below is a sample of the good words:

PITTSBURGH WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT STEELER FOOTBALL?

Being a Steeler fan means so much more than football. It means being from a corner of the world unlike any other.

It means being from a place where the people are so tough-minded that they have
survived the Homestead strikes, the Johnstown flood, the Clairton Works explosion, and most recently the Etna Floods. These people have the DNA of hard work, in mills and mines, without the necessity of complaint. They live simply, with no frills. They don't have movie stars or fancy cars.

Instead, they have simple traditions like kielbasa, Kennywood, and celebrations.
They live in distinctive neighborhoods like Polish Hill and the Hill District and all of the surrounding counties. These people are genuine.

They don't have chic internet cafes and cappuccinos, but they have The Original Hot Dog joint, Primanti's, Eat n' Park and Iron City Beer. People from Pittsburgh don't have sunny beaches or fancy boats, but the rivers roll gently, connecting the small towns of people whose histories have been built on strength and humility.

People from Pittsburgh don't have the biggest shopping malls or the best nightclubs, but they'll take Friday night high school football and Steeler Sunday over anything.

Steeler football means so much more than you think. It symbolizes a Diaspora of generations who had the best childhood they could imagine. They ran free without a care or concern in the valleys of those Allegheny Mountains. Their blue-collar world was easy ... there was no one to tell them that they lacked material things. There was no one to tell them that they needed more.

As the steel mills closed and the jobs disappeared, some of these people had to leave. While the world benefits because they spread their Pittsburgh values, they long for their home where things were simpler and more pure.

They teach their kids about Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, L.C. Greenwood, Joe Greene, and Myron Cope in hopes of imparting not just the knowledge, but the feeling that they represented.

They are everywhere, those Terrible Towels. They wave, not just for the team, but for the hearts they left behind.

They wave in living rooms in Fort Lauderdale and in the bars of Washington , D.C. They wave all the way to the Seattle Superdome! They wave for the Rooney family, whose values mirror our own - loyalty, grit, and humility.

They wave for football players like Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward, whose unselfishness and toughness have allowed sports to be about the game and the team.

Make no mistake that Steeler football is not just about football. I could not be prouder to be from the Pittsburgh area than I am right now!!

Even if you no longer live in the area, you have South Western Pennsylvania in your blood no matter where you go.

And deep down in your heart of hearts, you can still hear the Super Bowls of times past, the excitement in everyone's voices especially our fathers, cousins, and anyone else who gathered around the TV on Football Sundays!

Make no mistake, its just as exciting right now! It's not just about rivalries and who is better than the other; it's about family, tradition and roots! It's more than football, but its football at its finest! If you now live in Arizona , Colorado , Ohio , Indiana , California , Florida , Nevada , or Texas , be proud of where you were born and who your FIRST favorite football team was!

Go Steelers

Picksburgh GO STILLERS! Ah yes! "Picksburgh"

Yunz is from the Picksburgh area or maybe you grew up there if:

1. You didn't have a spring break in high school.

2. You walk carefully when it is "slippy" outside.

3. You often go down to the "crick."

4. You've told your children to "red up" their rooms.

5. You can remember telling your little brother/sister to stop being so " nebby."

6. You've gotten hurt by falling into a "jaggerbush".

7. Your mother or grandmother has been seen wearing a "babushka" on her head.

8. You've "worshed" the clothes.

9. I ask you to hand me one of those "Gum-Bands" an' you actually know what I'm talking about.

10. You know you can't drive too fast on the back roads, because of the deer.

11. You know Beaver Valley, Turtle Crick, Mars, Slippery Rock, Greentree and New Castle are names of towns. And you've been to most, if not all, of them.

12. A girl walks up to three of her girl friends and says, "HEY,YUNZ GUYS!"

13. You hear "you guyses" and don't think twice. Example: "you guyses hause is nice."

14. You know the three rivers by name and understand that "The Point" isn’t just on a writing instrument.

15. Someone refers to "The Mon" or "The Yough" and you know exactly what they're talking about.

16. You remember the blizzard o f 1993 (or 1976, or 1950, or 1939,or...) and remember not being able to go outside because the snow was over your head and you would have suffocated.

17. Someone starts the chant, "Here we go Still-ers!" and you join in the proper cadence, waving the appropriately colored towel.

18. Bob Prince and "There's a bug loose on the rug." hold special meaning for you.

19. You've either eaten a Farkleberry Tart or know someone who has.

20. You drink pop, eat hoagies, love perogies and one of your favorite sandwiches actually has coleslaw and French fries ON it.

21. You know what a "still mill" is.

22. You expect temps in the winter to be record-breaking cold and temps in the
summer to be record-breaking hot.

23. You know what Eat 'N Park is and frequently ate breakfast there at 2:00 AM
after the bar closed and made fun of people.

24. You order "dippy eggs" in a restaurant and get exactly what you wanted.

25. You spent your summers, or a school picnic at Luna Park , Kennywood, Westview, Sand Castle , or Idlewild.

26. You've been to the Braun's Bread Plant or Story Book Forest for a school field trip. We went to the Heinz plant and the Isaly's plant for Cub Scouts.

27. "Chipped ham" was always in your refrigerator when you was growin'up.

28. You refuse to buy any condiments besides Heinz unless a Pittsburgh athlete's picture is on the side of the container.

29. When you call the dog or the kids you shout, "Kum-mere" and they come.

30. Franco, Roberto, and Mario don't need last names and you can recite their exploits by heart.

31. Food at a wedding reception consists of rigatoni, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut and polska kielbasa.

(from an IUP coop teacher over in Johnstown .)
It's winter in Pennsylvania
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Pennsylvania
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Pennsylvania
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!
A little blogging music Maestro… “Those Were the Days,” by Mary Hopkin.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com

More thoughts on guns and the Tucson massacre

The United States of A-Massacre?
Guns, A follow-up

My recent commentary on guns in the wake of the recent shootings brought many responses; some angry, some thought provoking. Several who wrote thought I was attacking the Second Amendment. Others felt I was picking on the political right. One person, in response to the weekend mass murder in Tucson, stated, “He could have done the same thing with a stick of dynamite.” Many defended their right to carry a weapon, either concealed (with a proper permit) or not. The responses led me to do additional research that revealed the following data. I draw no conclusions, but report the data.

Definition: the term mass murder or massacre is defined as the taking the life of three or more people during the same incident.

Mark Kopta, a professor of Psychology at the University of Evansville, IN has studied mass murders. In a paper presented to the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago in 2009, he reported that between 1930 and 1970 a total of three mass murders were reported in America. Three more followed in the 1970s. The 1980s had a total of 10, the 1990s 17, and before the close of the first decade of the new millennium there had been more than 25 mass killings. Six occurred in 2008 and within the first four months of 2009 there had been eight.

I then Googled Mass Murders by year going back 20 years and discovered the following PARTIAL results:

1991: Austin TX, four killed, Killeen, TX 23 killed, 20 wounded.
1992: Olivehurst, CA, four killed, 9 wounded.
1993: Palatine, TX, seven killed. San Francisco, CA, 9 killed, 6 wounded.
1997: Jonesboro, AR, 5 killed, 11 wounded
1999: Ft. Worth, TX, 7 killed, 7 wounded, Honolulu, HI, 7 killed, 1 wounded, Atlanta, GA, 13 killed, Littleton, CO 15 killed, 26 wounded.

2000: Wakefield, MA, 7 killed, Wichita, KS, 5 killed.
2002: Washington DC Beltway area: 11 killed, six wounded.
2003: Meridian, MS, seven killed, eight wounded.
2004: Fresno, CA, nine killed, two wounded, McKinney, TX, five killed.
2005: Red Lake, MN, nine killed, Brookfield, WI, eight killed.
2006: Santa Barbara, CA, seven killed, Indianapolis, IN, seven killed
2007: Blacksburg, VA, 33 killed, Salt Lake City, UT, six killed, Amish School, PA, six killed.

2008: Henderson, KY, six killed, one wounded, Kirkwood, MO, seven killed, one wounded, Chicago, IL, 5 killed, one wounded, Covina, CA, 10 killed, three wounded, Omaha, NB, nine killed, four wounded, Dekalb, IL, five killed, 18 wounded
2009: Upstate, NY, 19 killed, Ft. Hood, TX, 13 killed, 30 wounded
2010: St. Louis, MO, four killed, five wounded, Appomattox, VA, eight killed, Manchester, CT: nine killed, two wounded, Kennesaw, GA, three killed, two wounded, Huntsville, AL, three killed, two wounded.
2011: Tucson, AZ: six killed, 14 wounded.

With the exception of six of the above who were stabbed to death, all others were shot.

Guns per capita: The following countries have fewer than ten guns per 100 people: Nigeria, China, India, Philippines, Iran, U.K., Columbia, Brazil, Ukraine, and Russia. Only three countries have more than 40 guns per 100 people. They are: Switzerland (46 guns per 100 people – the government supplies the weapons for their citizen militia), Yemen (61 guns per 100 people) and the United States which has 90 guns per 100 people!

There are about 82 people killed by guns in the U.S. every day and 547 people per day wounded. Only Mexico, Estonia, and Brazil have a higher firearm-related death rate than does the U.S.

The United States has had four presidents assassinated by guns (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy) two injured but not killed (Roosevelt and Reagan), and at least 20 known assassination attempts on sitting, former, or presidents elect. Our neighbors to the south have had two presidents assassinated (Abraham Gonzales in 1913 and Venustiano Carranza in 1920) and our neighbors to the north have never had a presidential assassination.

Guns have been part of America’s culture since the U.S. became a country. Militias of the early U.S. stood in lieu of a standing army. As the country’s population expanded westward guns were used to provide food, keep the peace, and settle disputes. But we are no longer under the direct threat of invasion from another country – at least not an invasion that would be repelled by handguns. And the only game-related shooting takes place while shooting the bull during shopping for dinner. Disputes are still sometimes settled with weapons, especially in poor inner-city ghettos, but as a rule the law settles disputes. Perhaps it is time to reexamine our gun culture to see whether or not changes need to be made.

Postscript: In my previous poston this topic I might have left the impression that political vitriol was somehow responsible for the shooting in Tucson. The converse of such a statement would suggest that if only vitriol were removed from politics, such incidents would not happen. Of course that is folly.

Commentary on guns

An American Tragedy
The Gun Culture

Let me preface my diatribe today by saying that I was born and raised in the community in Western Pennsylvania that was the setting for the movie “The Deer Hunter.” During part of my youth my father was a police officer, so I am not unfamiliar with either the mentality of man’s need to hunt, as depicted in the movie, or the issue of having guns in one’s home. It is reported that nearly one-third of Americans own registered guns. In my youth I was among them. Because of a business and the daily receipts carried home after closing. I purchased a small .22 pistol for security. “Shooting parks” for gun owners exist throughout the country and most make a handsome profit as the result of the millions who patronize them. There is a time and a place for guns. I get it.

But somehow, as we so often do in our society, we have allowed gun ownership to become a right of every American regardless of race, creed, national origin, criminal history, or mental status. Proponents of guns cite the second amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The purpose of the constitutional amendment is rarely discussed when it is used as a club to support a political position. The Second Amendment was written because, having been oppressed by a professional army in the 1700s, the founding fathers of the United States had no use for establishing one of their own. Instead, they decided that an armed citizenry makes the best army of all. I daresay that no sane, rational American in the year 2011 believes that an armed citizenry would be called upon to fight an invading foreign enemy today. And oh yes, today we have our own Army…. and Navy…. and Air Force… and Marine Corps…. and Coast Guard…. and National Guard….. and Reserve units. So it is safe to say that the purpose for which the second amendment was established no longer exists.

Still, guns proliferate in our communities and are available to anybody willing to attend a gun show and purchase one, buy one legitimately at a gun store, or break into a house to steal one, can obtain one or more guns. The result is that so many innocent people have been victimized, their families shattered, and the lives of so many who become collateral damage and are changed forever. There have been hundreds, if not thousands of mass shooting incidents. Nearly a half century ago a young man named Charles Whitman locked himself in the tower at the University of Texas and began shooting people on the campus, killing 16 and injuring 32. More than a decade ago two students at Columbine High School in Colorado went on a killing spree, and nearly four years ago, Seung-hui Cho went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University, killing 32 and wounding scores more. And of course, last Saturday, a gunman in Arizona shot 20 innocent victims, including a congresswoman, a federal judge, and a nine-year old girl, killing six. After each incident, and others too numerous to list, there is a short-term hue and cry but no changes to our gun culture or gun laws. In fact, after each such incident the opposition to gun regulation spends even more money to lobby harder to allow, if not encourage the gun culture to continue to proliferate.

The availability of guns is only one symptom to the disease that has infected our country. Hate talk and heated political rhetoric that foul the airwaves daily often imply that violence is not only acceptable, but is the answer to issues in our society. When our current president took office the point was made. The head of the National Rifle Association, a pro-gun lobbying group that pays tens of millions of dollars to politicians who vote in their favor stated, “The guys with the guns make the rules.”

During the most recent presidential election and participants in Congressional forums and Presidential debates made a point of carrying guns openly in public at the events. A candidate for office in my own state was quoted as saying that citizens unhappy with election results should consider exercising their “Second Amendment remedies.” During the most recent elections, a former vice-presidential candidate placed gun targets, cross-hairs, on those who she felt should be ousted from office. Sadly one of those cross-hair targets became prophetic when Congresswoman Giffords was murdered in Arizona Saturday.

From Washington we have heard eloquence from our political leaders that offered prayers and condolences. We’ve heard them express shock and horror at the loss of innocent lives. We heard a moment of silence and the cancellation of all work in the House of Representatives to commemorate the loss of one of their own. We’ve heard nothing about hate speech, a gun culture, or the ease of obtaining them.

The guns used by Cho at Virginia Tech, and the alleged shooter in Arizona are said to be Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistols, a type of rapid-fire weapon available only to police in virtually every other country except the U.S. Here they can be legally purchased in thousands of gun shops, gun shows, and other venues. It is estimated that there are more guns in America than there are Americans!

The alleged shooter in Arizona does not typify political discord any more than the shooter at Virginia Tech typified college students on that campus, or the shooters at the University of Texas and Columbine High School and the many, many other shooting tragedies typified mainstream America. But the ease with which they were able to secure the guns that are literally “weapons of mass destruction,” and the impunity with which they used those weapons must be addressed. But how? My suggestion follows:

Every politician who has ever run against an incumbent has done so with the promise of change. I suggest we use that model and adopt the slogan, “Change the gun laws, change the hate culture.”

The gun laws: We must first examine legitimate reasons for having guns; handguns for target shooting and protection - long guns for target shooting and hunting. Any weapon is not designed to those activities must be banned except for law enforcement. Just is a 9mm Glock rapid fire with clips that can shoot dozens of bullets in a fraction of a second are not needed for target shooting or protection, neither are Uzis or assault rifles needed to bring down game.

The hate culture: I’m not so sure this one can be legislated. Just as morality or, for that matter, stupidity, cannot be legislated, neither can a “kinder, gentler America.” That task falls to the people of America. I’ve lived through eras during which Americans cared for their fellow man instead of spewing hate at those who would think, act, or talk differently, so I know it can be done. But I leave the “how” to those who are smarter and more energetic than I.

About the author

Clairton post #100

On this last week of the year 2010 I post my one-hundredth blog about Clairton. Although my blog site includes nearly 450 total posts to date, 100 include my hometown and its residents past and present. Over the past three years or so of my writing this blog I have been asked several questions which I will answer today.

Question: “Where did you live in Clairton?” I was actually born in Clairton, not McKeesport Hospital as were so many of my fellow Clairtonians. I often tell people, “I was born at home because I wanted to be near my mother when it happened.” My parents purchased a lot at the far unpaved end of St. Clair Ave. in 1939 and built the house that they would live in until they passed away – Dad in 2002 at age 87 and Mom in 2006 in her 91st year. The street address was easy to remember, 900 St. Clair Ave.

Question: “Do you still live in Clairton?” No, I left in 1960 at age 17, the summer after high school graduation and have never returned to live on a permanent basis, although I frequently returned to visit my parents, sisters and extended family. Thus, I am 50 years removed from being a Clairton resident.

Question: “Why did you leave and where did you go?” As a youngster I was filled with wanderlust and by default, disdain for everything traditional. As a child we traveled on family vacations to Florida and Arizona, and I fell in love with everything not Clairton. My desire was to join the military service after high school and see the world but my father insisted I attend college and had me enrolled at Westminster College, not far from the City of Prayer. But I really wanted to get away so when a classmate told me she planned to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, 2,000 miles from Clairton, I too applied, and was accepted. Talk about a stranger in a strange land!

Question: “What was your college major?” From day one, I majored in Psychology. I was not sure exactly what Psychology was or what a psychology major did for a living, but Psychology was NOT an extension of English, History, Math, or anything traditional that I’d studied at Clairton High School. I stayed with it and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Question: “So you became a psychologist?” Well, no. Once I graduated I discovered that a Bachelor’s degree in psychology was not something that most people hired. It prepared me to sell cars, be a custodian, or perhaps apply for a manager-trainee position at a department store, but unless I wanted to go on to graduate school and get a Doctorate in Psychology, I was pretty much limited in pursuit of job opportunities.

Question: “So you became a car salesman?” Actually, yes, for about two weeks until I was fired for telling a customer what was wrong with a used car that he was considering to buy.

Question: “Then what?” A friend of my family offered me a job teaching sixth grade in the first middle school in Pennsylvania. It was a bit of an experimental school and the superintendent thought a psychology major might be a good fit as a sixth grade teacher despite the fact that I had not taken a single class in Teacher Education nor had I done student teaching.

Question: “So you became a teacher?” Well, more or less. I taught that first year in Oxford, PA, and then returned to the west where I took a job teaching in Pocatello, ID, then Salt Lake City, and in 1968, Las Vegas, where I’ve lived since.

Question: “And your career?” I taught elementary school for a year in Las Vegas, and then taught high school Psychology. During nights and summers I drove taxi and limousine and did several other gigs including writing a newspaper column, opinion pieces and even writing comedy routines for comedians. By 1978 I had earned a Doctoral degree in Gifted Child Education and moved on to the university where I became a professor, directed the academic support services for athletics, and was an administrator.

Question: “So who is Dr. Forgot?” While I was working on my Doctorate I was scheduled to attend and speak at a Gifted Education conference. I thought I had forgotten my notes at school so on my way to the airport I stopped to pick them up. It was Sunday morning and the first thing I discovered was my notes were not in the school, they had been in my briefcase the entire time. The second disaster of the morning was that I locked myself inside the school and had to have my wife drive to the home of the principal to pick up his keys to let me out of the school building. I did make my plane, barely, and when I returned, the school administration had given me the moniker, “Dr. Forgot.”

Question: “Why the blog?” Over the years of my career I have developed an affinity for writing, having published more than a million words between writing grants, newspaper columns, guest writing, professional papers, and the like. Writing became a part of my daily routine. When I retired from the university the thing I missed most was writing. So I started this blog using my pen name Dr. Forgot. I have used several pen names over the years including I. O’Pine, for a series of opinion pieces, and Fred Lance when writing several freelance articles. I called the blog, “Olio” since I was not sure what the content would be.

Question: “How do you find all that information on Clairton and its residents?” Most information comes from one of three sources; my own recollections, emails from readers, and internet research. Also, Jim Hartman president of the Mifflin Township Historical Society has been most generous in providing photos and information about Clairton, including past editions of The Clairton Progress. I answer every email I receive.

Question: “How many people read the blog?” Readership ranges from fewer than a couple hundred hits per blog to over a thousand. I have two data bases of Clairton reader emails that contain several hundred addresses each, and whenever I send an email blast promoting a post, readership spikes.

Question: “Do you have a favorite blog?” Probably the series I did on Annabelle Bucar, Clairton girl who worked as a diplomat at the American embassy in Moscow. She became disenchanted with things she’d seen in the American Embassy, married a Russian opera singer, and wrote a scathing book about the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. Except for a few rare visits to visit her family in Clairton she remained in Russia until her death. I received a comment on the blog from her grandchild in Russia thanking me for writing the blog about her.

So there you have it; the history of Dr. Forgot and the Clairton blogs.

A little blogging music Maestro… “Paradise City” by Guns ‘n Roses.

Dr. Forgot
http://drforgot.com