Too Many Regulations? Take a Chain Saw to Them ?

Some people would like to take a chainsaw to regulations governing businesses.  Well, they are costly, and the costs are passed on to the consumers whether they want them or  not.

HOWEVER!!  Do you know of any regulation that is not for the protection of the consumer?  There may be some, but I don’t think they are many.   Most regulations are to keep your food, driving, activities, and finances safe.  Plus, to allow companies to bid on government contracts and to keep prices competitive and meet safety standards.

Imagine if they were no quality inspecting engineers enforcing regulation standards in the Department of Defense

Also, many people have died from e coli infections because a food processing plant was not inspected because of a shortage of inspectors.  And the same has happened with other industries, where the budget limited inspectors.

Are speed limit signs on the side of the road there for a reason?

Ed Hunter the Policeman

Ed worked for Glover Machinery in Marietta.  He also was a Weekend Warrior; a National Guardsman.  In the National Guard he got to know Marietta Police Chief Blackwell.   In the 1930s Chief Blackwell hired Ed as a patrolman.  In the middle 1940s Mayor Sam Welch appointed Ed Chief.

In the early 1950s Cobb County Commissioner Rholie Ward appointed Ed as Chief of the Cobb County Police.

In the late 1950s Herbert McCollum became the Commissioner and replaced Ed with Cecil Holt and Amos Bates.

He was a Deputy Sheriff under Kermit Sanders until Ed and Buna Walker ran against him; Buna as sheriff and Ed as his chief Deputy.

He became a Kenneaw Patrolman.

Someplace in his career time line he was a Lockheed Guard.

He retired as a Wells Fargo Armor truck driver/guard.

Ed holding Eddie and Frances in front, Clay Homes

Brother Stanley Hunter and Ed.  Stanley was the first plainclothesman on the Marietta Police Force.

Jesse Cooper and Ed

Ed being sworn in as Chief of Cobb County Police

two above:  Ed as Chief of the Cobb County Police

As far as I know Ed only faced danger twice as a policeman.  One time he chased a suspect into a dead end alley in downtown Marietta.  The suspect, cornered, pulled out a gun and aimed at Ed and pulled the trigger.  It only clicked.  Then Daddy arrested him.   Another time while putting an arrestee behind bars the man slammed the cell metal door onto his hand, breaking it.

He was a very easy going gentle man.  He loved small children.  Before Christmas he called his small nieces and nephews as Santa Clause to go over their lists with them and check to see how good they have been and bellow out plenty of hearty ho-ho-hos.

He also loved to get his young nieces and nephews in his lap and tell them high adventurous stories that he made up as he went.... which he fitted the protagonists to be just like them.   The kids would become entranced in the high adventure.  I remember one little nephew got so upset he hit daddy in the face.

FOOD FIGHT!!

In the news I read that the seniors at Ola High School in McDonough, Georgia, had a food fight, I suppose in the lunch room.   That is where we had ours.

I only saw two food fights through my years in school.  The first one was in second grade at Waterman Street School.  I don't remember  what led up to the food fight but I do remember the finale':  Mickey Wilbur pounced on me with a little tap of honey and rubbed it in my hair - We were not having fun doing it, it was serious business.  Our teacher Mrs. Kinnebeck was horrified.  So was I. 

The honey was hard to wash out of my hair.  Whatever I did to deserve that, I bet I didn't do that again.

Our next food fight was in the Marietta High School lunchroom.  It was started by Jimmy Pat Presley, of course, and ended as quickly as it started.  We only threw rolls and beans at each other.  The lunch line wrapped around two walls in the room, the friends in line closest to us jumped out of line, first making sure their places would be saved, picked up some strayed rolls and started throwing  too.  As social functions society articles tops off the last sentence: "A good time was had by all."

But, guess what?  We were not arrested.  It was all in fun and was forgotten  before the day was out, by everyone but apparently me.  Nine of the students  of the Ola High School in McDonough were arrested and were thrown in jail.

I wonder what they were charged with?  Inciting a riot?  assault with a not so deadly weapon?   Acts of terrorism?

Whatever it was, what if the judge decided to make an example of them and throws the book at them?  Can you imagine locked up, when asked by their fellow jail mates what they were in for and they tell them for throwing food  and all the murderers, rapists, and the rest crack up giggling?

I watched enough Law and Order shows on TV to know the detectives will always come and visit when a similar crime is done .    A detective might visit a previous food-fight offender that  has settled down, retired, and enjoying his grandchildren and asked him where was he at lunch time on a certain day the previous week at a high school miles away.

Thoughts on Standing Your Ground and Feeling Threatened

George Zimmerman said he shot and killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law, in so many words say that you can kill someone you feel threatened by.

Trayvon wore a hood.  Was that a threat?  The only one that had a gun was the person that said he was threatened.  That is confusing.

It has been made public that Trayvon smoked pot and did poorly in school.  Was that good enough reason to shoot him?  Well, no, but even if it was, George wouldn't have know about that.  So, why do we the public know about it?  Maybe to slant public opinion to think George Zimmerman was actually doing a public service by getting rid of Tryvon.

If that is the case they need to put a few admendments on the Stand Your Ground Law pointing out that it is OK to shoot to kill pot smokers and people that do poorly in school.

Now some guy has used the same type of law in South Carolina, I beleive it was, to shoot into a car with three teenagers playng loud music, killing one.  He said he was threatened because he "thought" one had gun.

On the other hand, it might have been nice if that law was in effect in Georgia when I was in the 4th grade.  I was most defintely felt threatened by my teacher Miss Poole back then.  POW!

On the other hand, if Georgia did have the Stand Your Ground Law back then you might not have had the pleasure of listening to Billy Joe Royal sing "Down in the Boondocks".  Back when we were young in the Clay Homes sitting out in dark Billy Joe Royal, his brother Jack, somebody else I forgot, and I used to sit in the dark and tell jokes and carry one like preteens do.  A certain nervous old man named Mr. Caudell lived close by and it really bothered him for us to do that.  It was dark and we were in the dark, he could hear us but not see us.  He would come out with his cigarette's red front shaking, telling us to keep it down or go inside.  This happened almost every night we sat out there.  I'm sure that was very threatening to him.  POW!  POW! POW!  Problem solved.

Officers Down

Thursday evening after we attended the Roy Barnes lecture we walked a block away to Glover Park, the center of downtown. We heard law enforcers were paying a tribute at the park to their own that had been in killed on duty over the years.




It was a salute to  fallen officers. It was a memorial loaded with protocol.

And if you notice the camera shaking, besides my regular palsy, I had to deal with holding the camera with one hand while saluting.  It seems that if my hands were naturally trembling and my camera hand was trembling trying to keep the camera balanced the two trembling might cancel each other out, but it doesn't work like that.

One of the fallen listed on the handout is Officer John Hood. He died June 25, 1960. I remember that date and the next couple of days well. John Hood lived on Roswell Road, about where the Marietta Parkway would be built and go over it years later. Gene Latimer, my friend Larry, and I were hanging out at Varner’s. The time was getting late and I thought it was time for me to leave and turn in. I had to go to be at work early the next morning at the Big Apple grocery store. I left.




After I left Gene and Larry got involved in a drag race going down Roswell Road. At about the same time they were traveling at racing speed approaching the bottom of the hill where Marietta Parkway would be built, John Hood was pulling out his driveway. He went home for dinner. He pulled out onto Roswell Road. Apparently he forgot to turn on his headlights. He and Gene were killed instantly in a head-on collision.

That's My Daddy!

The other day I was looking through old Marietta pictures on Facebook when I came across a police raid on a moonshine still. It explains that the raid took place just off Cobb Parkway, near where Treasury Drug would be one day.

In the picture I noticed a tall looking man with a white shirt on. I clicked to make the picture bigger. I know that man. He’s my Daddy!

I remember where the raid was, some of those involved in the and … and…. well, it seems I don’t remember as much as I thought I did.

A young reporter, named Bill Kinney was there covering it for the Marietta Daily Jounral.. I read or heard he got tipsy over the fumes. Bill was courting his future wife, my 5th grade teacher, Miss Shouse.

I remember at the time it was the largest distillery raid of illegal non-tax made whiskey in Cobb County, and I’m not sure the record has been broken yet, and probably won’t now.

It wasn’t near what was would become Treasury Drug but on south down Cobb Parkway, or The 4-Lane, on the left either where Wal-Mart is now, near Windy Hill Road, or on up the hill, down the hill, and up the next hill, sort of behind the shopping center that has Olive Garden and Johnson Brothers Barbecue.

POW!

CLICK HERE to see a unique technique of angry management at IHOP (after the Blackberry commerical).

Rock on The Rock

My son Adam’s job took him to San Francisco about a month ago. While there he toured the old closed down Alcratraz Penitentiary, on its own island in the San Francisco Bay. Adam brought me back a booklet, which was reprinted from the book of rules for the inmates, which I suppose they were issued when they were checked in. Here are some of the copied pages.

It is interesting how everything is designed to be so orderly and regimented. Apparently their system worked. When you consider the inmates were the kind of men “that would not conform to man’s laws*.”

I think if I had to spend time on the “Rock” I would have a very hard time conforming to their neatness rules that everything has its place in your cell and it must be where they say it belongs. My argument that I like things I use a lot to be within reach would probably not impress them. I would probably spend time in solitary confinement after the guard gave me a 3rd warning to get rid of the clutter of little notes and stickums all over my cell.

One thing I am envious of, in a way, is the strict directions of your time by the minute. But, I would have to insist on some leeway….. back to solitary.

And of course, the first time a big bald headed bruiser with tattoos blew me a kiss I would break all the rules all the time just to be find in the nice private peaceful solitude of solitary.

*I got that quote from a judge and jury commenting on the status of one of ancestors, Hubert Patey. (True!).

Martin Luther King Day

The late Martin Luther King put his life on the line to get equal rights for a whole segment of the population.

How could anyone find fault with that?

Touring the New Cobb County Courthouse

Saturday we toured the new Cobb County Courhouse. It will not be officially opened for business until mid-January 2011, two or three weeks away.

The first room you see is the Jurors' Room. It is a big room. I think this will be the room you would first come to if you are a potential juror to be interviewed by the different counsels to either select you or scratch you. It was pointed out that there are all kinds of hookups for your laptop in this room, if you are a potential juror waiting.

We were lucky to be in the room when one of the officers of the building contractors was there with his family and he was pointing out a lot of things we would not be privy to otherwise.

The building is eight stories high. I think I was more fascinated looking down at downtown Marietta from hgh up as I was the inside of the buidling itself, as this video probably shows.

A couple of times looking out a window you can see Kennesaw Mountain. You can also look down on the Strand Theater and Glover Park..and look at all the church steeples!

Also, see the huge clock outside the window? I thought of Charlie Chaplain hanging on the big hand with his umbrella.

There are courtrooms all over. I'm sure there are more courtrooms than are presently needed, but might be needed in the future. Are we kind to future tax payers?

I noticed in each courtroom on the official side of the woodgate everything is state of the art designed; video monitors, computer hookups, positions of the desks and the judges bench. However, on the spectators' side are just plain wood pews and not very many - maybe ten or twelve pews to a courtroom. On high profile cases some of the press or members of a concerned family might have to sit outside if they are late.

The pictures on the wall are murdered victims. That is a reminder that justice is being served within these walls.

The last photo is a scene from my video camera riding down the escalator

Georgia is Number One Again

Georgia has made the top of a list again.

One in every one ten Georgians are either in prison, jail, county work farms, house-arrest, probation, or other types of accountable to the correctional authorities.

That is the highest percentage in the nation.

We live in a state with a lot of law-breakers. And to make it even worse, not everyone gets caught

In the Jailhouse Now

At the Good Old People's get-together yesterday evening I was talking to an old friend who told me as a teenager, in downtown Marietta, on Halloween night he was caught by the police throwing eggs.

He was arrested and thrown in the jailhouse. Then the jailhouse was an old building made of granite rocks. It had bars on the windows and sometimes the inmates inside would holler at you if you strolled by, taking a shortcut through Marietta's back alleys.

Fortunately, he said, he had to only spend a couple of hours in the clinker until his mother came and got him out.

He said there were some strange looking characters in there.

What he said made me think of the cover of CUD comic #2, by Terry LaBan (above). Click on it to read and see the details.

Fleecing the Poor

I am always looking for an opportunity to better my standard of living.

My basic philosophy is simple and to the point. Why should poor people keep their life savings when I could enjoy it more?

My current scheme, ahem, I mean plan are to help the people who live in poverty. They need hope. I think I can package and merchandise hope just for them…. for a price, of course.

If you live in a low income area one of your biggest fears is that without warning the police will appear at your door with a search warrant – with that warrant they can knock down your door. And once they are inside they can rip the drywalls off the walls, tear up your upholstery looking for what they suspect you are hiding.

If they don’t find anything they will probably say something polite, like “We’ll get you next time!”

And who is going to pay for all the damage they did looking for evidence not there? Probably you! I heard on TV many times of citizens that their houses were gutted by cops looking for illegal products and didn’t find any. Who is going to pay for this damage? If I understand it correctly, the law enforcement agency doesn’t have to.

I think I will start selling insurance policies to cover repairs for such police raids. Of course, premium amounts will have to be calculated on risks – the poorer the neighborhood you live in the higher the risk is of a police raid, thus the premiums will be higher.

There is only one problem that I foresee might happen. What if a person who has paid his premiums has his house raided, things are torn up, and that person files a claim?

How dare them? I earned that money, not them. How can I make a comfortable living if I give it away? I sold them hope and peace of mind and that is what they got.

Sorry, claim denied.

Guns Don't Shoot People

In Jackson, Ohio, an angry 4 year old shot his baby sitter. In South Fulton County, Georgia, a 7 year old girl was shot in the face, while watching TV, by drive-by shooters.

Both the baby sitter and the 7 year old girl are expected to survive.

Are the above reason good arguments for gun control?

Of course not! Owning firearms is our Constitutional right. After all, guns don’t shoot people, people do.

Therefore, outlaw people!

Chili, Brunswick Stew, Death, & Fast-Ones

At the dog park yesterday chili, Brunswick stew, and barbecue eateries were discussed.

Joe said that he, his wife, his brother, and his brother's wife as a team won first place in the Brunswick Stew division of the Stone Mountain Chili & Brunswick Stew Cook-Off. He said one year they won 2nd place and the next year they won 1st. .

Rocco’s Grill in Marietta… they won the Stone Mountain Chili-Cook-Off a couple of times, which their signs proudly say.

That reminded me of Vince DeSantes. a co-worker at the Post Office I worked at. He was a regular bar stool warmer at Rocco-s Bar and Grill. To hear him tell it he was a key team member that helped Rocco’s get all the awards. They even went to Texas one time with their chili recipe and got an award.

Vince was one day older than me. He was born July the 15th 1941. He retired from the Marines and had that gruff way of talking like lifer-Marines do. Well, being from Boston probably helped with his accent too.

Did you notice that I said Vince “was” one day older than me and not “is”? Vince reportedly or supposedly committed suicide.

The day before he was to commit the final act of his life the postal inspectors were going over his work. He was a window clerk. They believed he embezzled the Postal Service out of thousands.

Then the next day, the day a trap was set for him – the postal inspectors and management were waiting for him to come in at his regular time and he did not come in.

Later that morning the Acworth Police found a car with a body in it. It was Vince’s car. The body had a gun in one hand and Rosary Beads in the other hand. I don’t know who made the final decision but somebody identified him as Vince.

A few of his co-workers have their doubts. Vince was skinny as a rail with no body fat – he smoked all the time. Vince probably didn’t weight over 130 pounds. The body weighed around 225. There were other questions too… for one, he withdrew a large amount of money from an ATM 30 minutes before he killed himself. There other things that didn’t add up, but time has gone by – at least 15 years or more, so I forgot.

Back to chili: During our conversation about chili and Brunswick stew I asked has any body tried the chili on Brandi’s World Famous Hotdogs – not only does Brandi’s chili complement the hotdogs but so does the coleslaw and of course the other condiments.

Which brings up another fact I read recently: 3% of people prefer plain hotdogs. So, now I am wondering do 3 out of every hundred customers at Brandi’s ask for just plain hotdogs. If so, why are they eating at Brandi’s?

A Bunch of Hunter Brothers Pictures Found

above – My uncle Doug Hunter some time in his early manhood.

This past weekend I found in a old hardbound collection of comics I found stuck in between the pages a letter addressed to me from a Martha Todd of Orlando, Florida. It was postmarked November 1994. It was opened, apparently I opened it when I received it but sat it aside to read later and somehow got lost in the shuffle of my endless notes and paper trails of genealogy.

I do not remember the letter or the pictures inside at all.

Martha Todd was Martha Hunter. She was the daughter of Arthur and Gwen Westmoreland Hunter. Arthur Riley Hunter ( 1884-1967) was a younger brother to my grandfather Franklin Paris Hunter.

The pictures:




2 Unknown men. I have the least idea who these men are. They are probably related. The man on the right looks like he may be my uncle Stanley Hunter. Is it Johnny?


This is Paris Doug Hunter that looks like it was probably taken in a photo booth. I think in this picture Doug is a teenager.


Doug poses in a suit. Note the dog in the background checking Doug out. On the back it says : “From Douglas Hunter to a lovely little sweet heart, Martha Hunter.” Martha was Doug’s first cousin.



This is a picture of Doug after he rode a motorcycle from Marietta to Oklahoma. I know of a another picture with Doug and his motorcycle in Oklahoma. Which reminds me of another Hunter motorcycle and Oklahoma. I owned a Honda CL350 motorcycle and put it for sale. A man came to look at it and wrote me a check. He explained he had to predate the check for the following Friday, because the money would not be in his checking account until then (payday). I deposited the check the Monday after the requested Friday and it bounced. I went looking for the man at his house on Park Street in Marietta and found out they moved out the day after I sold him the motorbike. I went to see a DA assistant Sam Huff*, who was still new at prosecuting and he told me when I accepted a predated check it was no longer a criminal matter, when I accepted that predated date, I was accepting his credit, so it was a civil matter.

Shoot! On to the next picture.

You may not be able to see this picture very well. It has faded and not all that strong to begin with.
On the back of this picture it says “Two great big he-men out in the steel town, Ed – Doug.”


Ed is the one on the left, which is my father. Doug is on the right.


Herbert Hunter. Here my uncle who was a barber, dressed up. Someplace there is a posting about Herbert and his barber shop.



Brothers Jack and Doug Hunter with cousin Martha Hunter in the middle. I would have guessed that was Jack on the left.


Here is another picture of Jack when he was a sailor. He made a career of the Navy, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. He was at Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese invaded it.


My uncle W.C. Hunter, who his drinking cronies nicknamed “Peanut”. The back says” The One and Only W.C. Hunter.” And that is right, after that they threw away the pattern. He was a WWII casualty that never fully recovered.


above – My uncle Doug Hunter some time in his early manhood.
When I first saw this picture I thought it was my uncle Bus Hunter, but on the back it says, “W.A.or W.H. Hunter”. Martha Hunter Todd had a brother named William Allen Hunter (1911-1982), which fits the time frame of the other pictures in this envelope.

*Sam Huff went on to become a well known attorney in Marietta and also the Sam of Sam And Dave's BBQ.

That is What Friends Are For

My late little friend, the evil Jimmy Pat Presley, in early high school had several people who made it a point to sit close to him every day in class.

The teachers, or at least I know, thought it was just pure greed that boys would actually push and shove and almost fight to sit in a desk within arm’s reach of Jimmy Pat.

Every school morning several pre-driving age teenagers would meet either at Atherton’s Drug Store or Dupres and socialize before school.

Dupres was probably the closest to a country general store that downtown Marietta had to offer. Dupres sold furniture, TVs, Purina seed, farming supplies, sporting supplies, hardwire goods, and a small grocery store. Now, like other stores in the downtown area is an antique store.

In either Athertons’ or Dupres’ Jimmy Pat would buy him a Coke and he and his friends walked around the store and handled the merchandise.

Jimmy Pat was an expert shoplifter.

I have seen this happen more than a few times: Later in the morning, maybe first or second period over the PA system the principal’s office would call our class room and ask the teacher if Jimmy Pat Presley was there today. The teacher would say yes and the principal or the assistant would tell the teacher to send him to the office.

Sometimes when a request for Jimmy Pat’s presence at the office was made you could see out the classroom window and see a police car parked in front.

Then the action started – the reason it paid to sit next to Jimmy Pat. He would start pulling knives, candy, and other items he shoplifted just an hour or so earlier and start giving them to the people sitting close to him.

I remember watching one lean tall lady teacher just look at the giving away and the frenzy of taking and slowly and sadly shook her head.

She could have probably stirred the soup some telling of his famous give-a-ways before reporting to the office, but for whatever reason, she didn’t.

Duck!

The Supreme Court has ruled that everybody has the right to own a gun. The way it reads, I thought everybody has a right to own a gun to maintain a militia. Oh well, I'm wrong again.

All you innocent bystanders, don't feel like you got the short end of the deal. You have the right to own a bullet proof vest.

America Is Great!

One of the reasons America is great is that every one is equal in the eyes of the law.

Just ask Paris Hilton is America Great or what?

Lets hear it for the great enforcers of the law!

Hip, hip, Hoorah!

BUSHIT

A lady in DeKalb County, Georgia, has a bumper sticker that says "I'm tired of all this Bushit".

The police there pulled her over and gave her and charged her with Georgia law that prohibits lewd or obscene bumper stickers.

HOWEVER!! That law was ruled unconstitutional over ten years ago. The lady is now suing.

You can buy that sticker or other anti bumper stickers at Junkman's Daughter in Little Five Points in Atlanta.