Commentary

by AMAC Certified Social Security Advisor Russell Gloor,Association of Mature American Citizens

Ask Rusty - Railroad Retirement Benefits vs Social Security

Dear Rusty: My neighbor was a long time employee of the railroad and has told me that he doesn’t receive Social Security like I do, but rather gets Railroad Retirement Benefits which are, according to him, better than Social Security. This irks me a little bit because I’ve worked my whole life paying those FICA taxes, so why should my neighbor have a better retirement benefit than me? And just what exactly is this Railroad thing he’s covered by? Signed: Annoyed

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By Pete Abington

CREATING JOBS

Creating jobs by any means necessary has long been a goal and a hot topic in Louisiana politics. 

They state this many times to pass laws. A Louisiana budget project released recently shows Louisiana has 1.98 million jobs, which is 53,800 more than in December of 2007.

The “new jobs numbers” should be more than 100,000 to keep up with the population growth. Job growth remains slow, wages are depressed, and many workers are stuck in low-quality jobs, stated the survey.

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By donna smith ammons

Three years ago plus six months, I said good-bye to a very dear friend and partner in crime, Melanie.

She battled cancer valiantly, took medication, underwent surgery and never gave up hope that she would beat this horrible disease. She had the prayers of hundreds, including her former Many High students, her Stanley High students, her First Baptist Church family, her Sunday School “sisters” plus one, and many more. People who didn’t even know her, said prayers on her behalf.

We didn’t want to give her up, but we were forced to let her go live with Jesus. In the end, she was at peace and was able to spend precious moments with her husband, Al; her much-loved son,

Alan and his wife, Christina; her sisters and friends. Two of us moved in for the last week of her life, helping to take care of her. Others filled the house during the day, taking care of the caregivers, seeing that everyone was fed and comforting each other.

By Pete Abington

ELVIS

This past month, August of 1977, marked the death of Elvis Presley. He is thought to be the most commercially successful solo musician artist of all times.

He has been rated the fourth conquering death celebrity in America, trailing only Michael Jackson who coincidently was married to Elvis’s daughter for a brief time. When he was discovered in an upstairs bathroom his body was racked by opioids and his death was mourned throughout the nation.

He remained revered. It was actually how we were able to look at music by his method of singing.

By donna smith ammons

Three little grandchildren make my heart sing. First, there’s Riley Kate, 11; followed by Braeden, 6; and then two-year-old Darby—all are lined up by the lake where we camped at Gator RV Park in Bunkie recently.

This Grammie’s heart nearly burst watching them and listening to their conversation. “Braeden, don’t throw big pieces of bread; make them smaller,” big sister directed.

“They like them big,” the little brother shot back. “They have big mouths!” “Yesh, big mouths,” Darby added. And so it goes, standing by the lake feeding the ducks. With a quack-quack here and a quack-quack there…

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By donna smith ammons

I thought I had loaded the camper very well in the two times we’ve used it. I knew where everything was and I was quite efficient in the tiny kitchen.

On out first trip to South Toledo Bend State Park, I only forgot one item: the ketchup!!

I did much better on our second trip to Bunkie’s Gator Park. We had plenty to eat, including snacks for PaPaw and the kids. I felt pretty good about myself until my red-headed daughter-in-law decided I needed to get organized.

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by Pete Abington 

It seems everywhere you turn these days they are trying to politicalize everything that’s happening. Very frequently we see this in our sporting events: football, basketball, whatever. What makes these people attack America the way they do and interrupt a pleasure which we all enjoy, generally, with their political philosophy. This was particularly true last year when Colin Kaepernick pulled his stunt and took a knee during the National Anthem. He hasn’t found a job yet and now other have gotten involved. Just recently ten to eleven professional athletes for the Cleveland Browns prepared a video to express their distaste for America and even asked the owner to join them and, I understand, he and his wife did. Fortunately, it didn’t make the airways much.

by Donna Smith Ammons 

Saturday morning dawned a bit early for Grammie. We had a peaceful night at Gator RV and Water Park in Bunkie and our big day of fun had arrived. Darby began whimpering and tossing in bed about 6 a.m. I sneaked up to the front of the camper and she peeked at me. She shook her head “No” and hid her face in the pillow. I stood there and watched as she drifted back to sleep. (Hooray!! Another extra hour of sleep for everyone!!)The sun was shining and we all ate a wonderful breakfast prepared by PaPaw. Soon we were in our swimsuits and headed out to the water park. My main focus was the Lazy River. No water slides for this gal! Soon, we were all floating on inner tubes around and around the river. We were “just relaxing”, listened to 7os music and trying to avoid the waterfall and other attacks of cold water.

by donna smith ammons

We have a “new to us” camper and we ventured to Bunkie on our second adventure.

Davy, Kt, and our three grandchildren, Riley, Braeden and Darby met us Friday night at the campground of Gator Grounds RV Resort, Water Park and Golf right at suppertime.

Braeden, an active six-year-old, jumped from the van and ran to me, yelling, “Grammie, I am here to sleep in your camper.”

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By Pete Abington

It appears there is wide-spread support for the idea of providing some form of legal support for “DREAMERS” - undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children and they have no memory or allegiance to any other country. After President Trump’s election last year, 72% of respondents said they thought it was very important for the immigration policy to make some accommodations for those childhood arrivals.

Although some of the Democrats who said harsh things about our President, as well as some Republicans who also spoke out, did nothing under the Obama Administration to address this problem.

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