July 31, 2008My conspiracy theory on Tim Kaine...Hizzoner, the guv, is a willing diversion as the Obama campaign throws the public off the scent of the real veep choice. I can't imagine the campaign approving of anyone seriously being considered for veep soaking up as much air time as is Kaine. The guy is all over the place...the entire hour on Charlie Rose!? That's unsusual. That said, if the VP race were a traditional popularity contest, I couldn't think of a more likeable and personable guy than Kaine. s Kaine's shortfalls counter benefitsTim Kaine for vice president? He played that one right. The Virginia governor had absolutely nothing to lose -- and everything to gain -- when he became one of the first governors in the nation to back Barack Obama over then-front-runner and presumed nominee Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race. "I didn't endorse Senator Obama to get anything or get appointed to anything," Kaine said this week. Maybe not, but his name is rumored to have landed on Obama's short list for vice president. July 29, 2008Roanoke mechanic is more than Everyman Walter Williams prepares a service order for Catherine Hagan-Aylor at Boxy Swedish Cars. Her Volvo has 128,000 miles on it. Today's column is about the Invisible Everyman. The dry cleaners, the cleaning ladies, the baby sitters, the plumbers, the alteration guys -- in-the-background folks who perform jobs that keep our lives clicking along smoothly. Walter Williams is one of the mechanics. Without the Walter Williamses of the world, we'd be broken down on the side of the road somewhere, unable to get to work or pick up the kids. July 27, 2008Pining for a classic 'cool'I was at the bank Monday talking to Gwen Mitchell when she stopped in midconversation. "Girrrrrrl," she asked, "did you see the new Ebony with Barack Obama on the cover?" Tuesday I was out on an interview when my new buddy Hazel Williams brought it up again. She made a break for her copy but stopped when she realized she had taken it home. July 24, 2008Let 'Joe Smith' slink off, not PACJoe Smith? If anything, Brian Wishneff should be investigated for lack of originality -- but nothing else. You may recall the eleventh hour, full-page smear job in The Roanoke Times against political newcomer Court Rosen just before the May 6 Roanoke City Council election. The ad claimed it was paid for by "Joe Smith, Citizens for Sensible Decisions." A few days later, Wishneff 'fessed up to his involvement in the ad. July 20, 2008"Who wants to see a butt in public?"I couldn't agree more with Minnie Boyd, an 81-year-old woman in my hometown of Flint, Mich. Boyd was responding to the interim police chief's decision to start arresting "saggers," men who walk around with sagging pants and exposed underwear (and butts). If you recall, a few years back, a Virginina lawmaker introduced "droopy drawers" legislation in Virginia to clamp on saggers. It didn't get anywhere. But in Flint, the chief has decided to act. Police are issuing warnings now but plan to start arresting "saggers" on a disorderly conduct charge, punishable by 93 days to a year in jail and fines of up to $500. As much as I agree that sagging is totally disgusting, law enforcement acting as the fashion police is a waste of my family's tax dollars. The blue-collar town 70 miles north of Detroit has far, FAR bigger issues than going after clowns who want to go around showing off their boxers. It is the third most dangerous city in America, and recently laid off 48 officers. Are Flint police right to clamp down on this fashion faux pas, or, as the ACLU already has chimed in, does this new local mandate violate saggers' freedom of expression? Credit union promotes EconomyYou probably met Paul Economy the same way I did. You were zipping south on Interstate 581 toward downtown or headed north on U.S. 220 near Elm Avenue. Suddenly, you noticed a huge friendly face looming on a billboard. No shoulders. No arms. Just an affable, goateed guy. It didn't hurt that the man was offering 50 million big ones to qualified takers. "Come See Paul," the billboard announced. "He has $50 Million to Lend." July 17, 2008Troubled history still rings of truthEvery day in this job, I hear from people who want to weigh in on something I've written. Some of the calls and e-mails are enlightening. Some are disturbing. Some are bewildering. An e-mail I received about my Tuesday column fell into the last category. July 15, 2008Brother, can you spare an HDTV?Look, gang: I've always kept this blog focused on my columns and the news affairs of famous people. But consider this a rare timeout to share insight on my consumer habits. The TV in my bedroom is dying. It was a college graduation gift received during the heydays of the Reagan administration. So I went TV shopping. (Don't tell Sears the economy bites. The TV department on Sunday afternoon was hopping!) One voice doesn't speak for all blacksWhen former Roanoker Rene Marie foolishly chose the wrong venue to make a political statement about the national anthem a few weeks back, her ill-conceived idea had nothing to do with Barack Obama. Yet some narrow-minded, ill-informed people projected one black woman’s miscue upon an entire race, suggesting that “this is what we can expect if they are in charge.” July 14, 2008The jokes on ... New Yorker?Give it to New Yorker magazine. It pulled out every rumor and stereotype the far right has dredged up about Barack and Michelle Obama for its current magazine cover. They're standing in the Oval Office, and he's dressed as a Muslim. She's a terrorist. It's supposed to be satire, a comical way of shooting down all of that nonsense circulating on the Internet about the presidential candidate. Problem is, not everybody is as intellectual as those New Yorker readers. Some anti-Obama zealots will take the satire as gospel truth---and run with it! (Trust me, I get their e-mails. Some of these folks are a few croutons short of a salad.) Notice, I said "zealots," not "critics." I know lots of Obama critics who will easily see the cover as satire. Some people don't "get" satire. I learned that earlier this year when I wrote a satirical piece about Advance Auto moving to Minnesota. Even when I came back the next week and wrote a column explaining that the original was satire, somebody named Pat accused me of being like an ex-spouse, willing to say anything to cover for a mistake. Huh? Anyway, hit me back with your take on the New Yorker cover. s July 13, 2008Was justice already served?We see the best in our loved ones. The friends and family of Corey Ramsey are no exception. They saw Ramsey as the guy with a faint, warm smile peering out from a photograph at a candlelight vigil. Or as a high school athlete sporting a black and brown letterman's jacket in another photograph. To Violet Barber, Ramsey was a fiance. To friend Vanessa Moore, he was "a good person." But there was another, darker side to Ramsey. July 12, 2008Backlash talks nukes...any takers?On June 7, 1981, a squadron of Israeli Air Force F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As, bombed and heavily damaged the Osirak reactor. The Israeli "Nuclear Reactor Strike" and Syrian Weapons of Mass Destruction October 24, 2007 The attached analysis shows, however, that several things that are clear about Syria's position, and puts any Syrian nuclear efforts in context. In brief: Syrian chemical and possible biological capabilities do not give it a meaningful deterrent to Israel, do not rival Israel's status as a nuclear power, and might do more to justify an Israeli use of nuclear weapons in retaliation than achieve strategic benefits. Iranian president says war with U.S., Israel ... including threats to hit Israel and U.S. Gulf bases with missiles and stop oil traffic Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., stated that sanctions and direct negotiations are the best way to deal with Iran Missile Test situation. I respect the ideals of our youth yet, If Sen. Obama thinks Israel is going let Iran Reactor go on line then he is delusional. History proves no matter who is in office Israel will attack that reactor. Backlash July 10, 2008Interns taking politics to the streetsWhen Scott Ackman signed up to be a foot soldier for democracy and social change, peacocks weren't supposed to be part of the deal. The 20-year-old Virginia Tech student was three weeks into his summer job canvassing neighborhoods and asking voters what they considered the most important issues. Their answers would be used to attempt to influence state lawmakers. But one afternoon in early June, no one was home at a house in North Roanoke County. So Ackman neatly tucked a health care flier and a 2008 voter guide in the door, turned and started walking down the driveway. July 8, 2008TAP group guides kids to schoolYoung black men are in peril. We see it in the barrage of statistics that define the challenges of being black and male in this society. More disturbing, we see it in the faces of too many boys and teens whose paths we cross. From presidential candidates to pundits, everyone is talking about it. But thankfully, Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke has joined the ranks of those trying to do something to save the next generation of black men in this community. July 6, 2008Vinton, keep the park openFor pete's sakes, let the kids skateboard! In typical fashion, the adults on the Vinton Town Council overreacted because a few bad apples have defaced a Gearhart Park skating area that, shamefully, town officials weren't taking care of anyway. So what did the town leaders do? Voted to close the skate park by the end of this month. There, that'll show those troublemaking kids. Problem is, the council's shortsighted decision hurts the good kids, too. July 3, 2008Our girl, ReneRoanoke native Rene Marie caused a dust-up Tuesday in Denver when she sang the lyrics of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" to the tune of the national anthem. "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" is known as the black national anthem. Our homegrown jazz singer, who now lives in Denver, pulled her switcheroo without the prior knowledge of her hosts at the mayor's State of the City speech. Was Rene right or wrong? Roanoke needs to think like businessAt times during his four years as mayor, Nelson Harris very easily could have donned a flak jacket as standard gear. But give the man props for firing a few relevant salvos of his own before leaving the job. In an "exit interview" published Sunday in this newspaper, Harris served food for thought that Roanokers should chew on. In a lengthy interview, Roanoke Times reporter Mason Adams asked Harris what the city needs to move forward. Predictably -- and correctly -- the former mayor cited better schools and regional cooperation. But where Harris made me -- and others -- sit up was his mention of who is absent from the city's governing bodies. Without disparaging the current council members, Harris tactfully noted who isn't there. July 1, 2008Wet workoutsDoing exercises in the middle of the newly renovated YWCA pool Monday morning, Helen Kitts of Vinton was a trouper. Every time aquatics coordinator Bernetta McGuire called out another exercise routine, Kitts, who turns 82 this month, did them effortlessly. Until the dastardly leg kicks. Clasping the edge of the pool, Kitts grimaced the first time as she slowly raised her right leg. She hung in and completed that set of five. Then she soldiered through the next set on her left leg. They don't call folks such as Kitts "The Greatest Generation" for nothing. She was among a group of older women Monday who helped inaugurate the reopening of the therapeutic pool at the YWCA. The heated, 60-foot-by-17-foot pool is the largest aquatic outlet for the elderly and disabled in the Roanoke Valley. |
About this blog In her signature plainspoken style, Michigan native Shanna Flowers peels away the layers and gets to the heart of the issues. No pretense. Just straightforward perspective. Shanna writes about local people whose circumstances reflect decisions made as near as City Hall or as far away as the halls of Congress. Other times, she weighs in on a topic because it is incredibly ridiculous. Or heartening. Or fascinating. Read Shanna's column three days a week, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at roanoke.com
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