Tuesday, September 4, 2012

A Mentor of Mine Dies!



---
 John Bolge not sanguine about retiree's prospects!  (See 1 below.)
---
I want to make your day so play this again: " Mr. Scam Man
Dan Roberts recorded this last night.
Let's see how fast it goes viral.
Please Left Click Your Mouse Here:   Mr. Scam Man
 (To get the video, you might have to click twice and “X” out once.)
--- Capt. Bill Brewster passed away last week. He taught me Math in Military Prep School, was someone I greatly admired and our nation needs more like him.  (See 2 below.)
---
Pipes on what 2912 election means for Israel. (See 3below.)
---
Dick
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1)Vanguard’s Bogle: 'Financial Train Wreck' Looms for Retirees
By Forrest Jones

  
Retirees hoping to live on the proceeds from their 401(k) savings or similar venues are due for a big surprise, according to John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group, as such holdings aren't enough to sustain a decent lifestyle, which puts many aging Americans ill prepared for retirement.

In an interview with USA Today, when asked what worries him the most, Bogle replied "the coming train wreck in the financial system."

Too many people have not prepared enough for retirement.

"A 401(k) is a thrift plan trying to be a retirement plan. It was never designed to be a retirement," Bogle told the newspaper. 

"To be a retirement plan, you have to keep putting money in and can't be allowed to take money out, and you can't be allowed to borrow from it. And if you change jobs, you should be able to take it with you to your new job. The reality is that probably 70 percent of the citizens of this country will rely entirely on Social Security."

Meanwhile, more and more Americans are giving up hope of ever retiring.

About 35 percent of Americans don't expect to retire, up from 29 percent two years earlier, according to findings from the 2011 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey Report from the Society of Actuaries, The New York Times reported recently.

Four in 10 of the survey's participants nearing retirement age said they won't retire say because they are financially unable to do so, as they either need the income or the employer benefits. 

“There is a core group of people earning a paycheck who feel, for whatever reason, they aren’t going to be able to support themselves in their retirement years,” said Carol Bogosian, an actuary and retirement expert, The Times reported.

© 2012 Moneynews. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2)William R. Brewster, Jr., Captain, USNR (Ret) died on August 26, 2012 at
Fountain View Center in Atlanta, GA from natural causes.  His body was
cremated and his ashes will be buried at a private family service.  A
memorial service will be announced and held at a later date at Woodward
Academy in College Park, Georgia.

Born at Ft. McPherson, GA in 1921, he graduated from Georgia Military
Academy in 1937 and won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He
entered the Academy in June 1938 and graduated with the class of 1942
on December 19, 1941.  Assignment followed to the USS BERNADOU (DD
153), a WWI four stack destroyer which primarily served on convoy duty in
the North Atlantic Ocean, until it was modified to the APD (attack troop
transport).  On November 8, 1942 in Operation TORCH the BERNADOU
was purposely run aground in Safi Harbor, French North Africa and
disembarked its company of Army assault troops which proceeded to
secure the town and the harbor without the loss of a man.  This provided a
port to land supplies in support of General George Patton’s attack on
Casablanca.  The BERNADOU  was awarded a Presidential Unit
Citation and Brewster as its Gunnery Officer was awarded a Silver Star
Medal.

In 1943  he commissioned the USS PRICHETT (DD 561) as its Gunnery
Officer and a few months later he became its Executive Officer.  The
PRICHETT operated in the Pacific Ocean area as a close fire support ship
for several amphibious operations and later became a Tomcat picket for
various fast-carrier task groups.  During the period of October 12-14, 1944
while under very adverse weather conditions his ship was attacked and
damaged by night flying Japanese torpedo planes.  Brewster was awarded
a Bronze Star Medal with a Combat V for his skill in conning the ship, which
freed the Captain for his general duties of fighting the ship.

In March 1946 Brewster was assigned at his request for flight training at
Otumwa, IO, Pensacola, and Miami, FL.  While he was at Pensacola he
was designated a Naval Aviator.  The war ended and he resigned from the
Navy, but continued active in the Naval Reserve, serving as CO of a CVEG
Air Group.  When the Korean War began he requested recall to active duty
as a Naval Aviator.  He was, but not with flight status since he no jet
experience.  He was assigned to Atlanta as an Assistant.  District
Intelligence Officer (Air) for the 6th Naval District.  After the Korean duty he
continued in the Naval Reserve until he retired in 1981 as Captain.


Brewster’s life’s work after leaving the Navy was in private secondary and
elementary school education.  He returned to Georgia Military Academy
which his grandfather, Col John Charles Woodward founded in 1900 and of
which his father, Col William R Brewster, Sr., a West Point graduate, was
president at the time.  He began his new career as a teacher of math and
science, but during the next thirty-three years he worked up the
administrative ladder, and was the Academy’s president from 1959 to 1979.

During his  tenure as president he phased out the Army ROTC program,
changed the Academy from an all male military school to a coed college
preparatory school and changed its name to Woodward Academy in honor
of its founder.  It might be said that Brewster founded Woodward Academy.
He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Georgia Military Academy and
the 1979 Woodward Academy Yearbook was dedicated in his honor.
During his tenure as president he initiated the school’s first fund raising
effort in its 65-year history which in time raised enough capital to renovate
many old facilities while at the same time building necessary new ones.  He
integrated the student body, faculty, and Governing Board; and phased out
the Army ROTC program while admitting female students.  He  upgraded
the school’s academic program while introducing a faculty salary schedule
which provided a supplement merit incentive for excellent teaching.

All of the above was accomplished while he was an active participant in
Southern Independent School Associations.  He founded the Atlanta
Independent School Association and was its first president. He co-founded
the Georgia AIS and was its second president. He was president of the
Mid-South AIS, and president of the Southern AIS.  He was active in
integrating all of these organizations.

He was also active in community affairs. He was a Rotarian for 35 years, a
member at one time or another, of five different clubs and served as
president of the East Point GA club; where he was named a Paul Harris
Fellow by the Atlanta Airport Club.  He was also a director of the Bank of
Fulton County for 20 years, serving on its finance committee for 10 years;
and was a director of the Tri-City South Fulton Hospital for 5 years. He was
a life member of the Atlanta Chapter of the U.S. Naval Academy
Association, and the Retired Officers Association.

After retiring from Woodward After retiring from Woodward Academy, Brewster
served for 2 years as Headmaster of Sea Pines Academy, Hilton Head, SC, and
for 2 years as Headmaster of Frederica Academy, St. Simons Island, GA.  His is
credited with saving both of those young schools from early termination.  His last
years of activity prior to full retirement were spent in real estate on Jekyll
Island, GA and in writing and publishing the Jekyll’s Golden Islander and
The Glynco Observer both tabloids, twice-a-month newspapers.

He was formerly married for 57 years to Kathryn Cummings Brewster and
they had three daughters, Kathryn L. Brewster of Alpharetta, GA, Susan
Patterson of Stockbridge, GA, and Diane Brewster of Brunswick, GA; four
granddaughters, two great-grandchildren; a sister, Lucile B. Harder living in
St. Louis, MO.  After his wife’s death he married Helon W. Woodard, his
cousin William H. Woodward’s widow who now resides in Alpharetta, GA.
She has six children, Deborah Adornato, Carol Lawson, and Mathew
Woodward in Atlanta, GA and William H. Woodward in Raleigh, NC, Morris
Woodward in Prattville, AL and James Woodward of Statesboro, GA.; and
11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Brewster Scholarship Fund, Woodward
Academy, 1662 Rugby Avenue, College Park, GA 30337 or to the charity of
the donor’s choice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3)-

What the 2012 Election Means for Israel

Daniel Pipes - National Review Online,  September 4th, 2012

“President Obama has thrown allies like Israel under the bus.” That's what Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for president, said in the high-profile speech accepting his party's nomination last week, repeating a slang phrase forsacrificing a friend for selfish reasons. Romney had deployed this phrase before, for example in May 2011 and Jan. 2012. This criticism of Obama fits a persistent Republican critique. Specifically, several other recent presidential candidates used or endorsed the same “bus” formulation vis-à-vis Obama and Israel, including Herman Cain in May 2011, Rick Perry in Sept. 2011, Newt Gingrich in Jan. 2012, and Rick Santorum in Feb. 2012.
These Republican attacks on Obama's relations with Israel have several important implications for U.S. foreign policy. First, out of the many Middle East-related issues, Israel, and Israel alone, retains a permanent role in U.S. electoral politics, influencing how a significant numbers of voters – not just Jews but also Arabs, Muslims, Evangelical Christians, conservatives and liberals – vote for president.
Second, attitudes toward Israel serve as a proxy for views toward other Middle Eastern issues: If I know your views on Israel, I have a good idea about your thinking on such topics as energy policy, Islamism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, AKP-led Turkey, the Iranian nuclear build-up, intervention in Libya, the Mohamed Morsi presidency in Egypt, and the Syrian civil war.
Third, the Republican criticism of Obama points to a sea change in what determines attitudes toward Israel. Religion was once the key, with Jews the ardent Zionists and Christians less engaged. Today, in contrast, the determining factor is political outlook. To discern someone's views on Israel, the best question to ask is not “What is your religion?” but “Who do you want for president?” As a rule, conservatives feel more warmly toward Israel and liberals more coolly. Polls show conservative Republicans to be the most ardent Zionists, followed by Republicans in general, followed by independents, Democrats, and lastly liberal Democrats. Yes, Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City, also said, in Sept. 2011, that Obama “threw Israel under the bus,” but Koch, 87, represents the fading old guard of the Democratic party. The difference between the parties in the Arab-Israeli conflict is becoming as deep as their differences on the economy or on cultural issues.
http://www.danielpipes.org/pics/new/large/1880.jpg

Fourth, as Israel increasingly becomes an issue dividing Democrats from Republicans, I predict a reduction of the bipartisan support for Israel that has provided Israel a unique status in U.S. politics and sustained organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. I also predict that Romney and Paul Ryan, as mainstream conservatives, will head an administration that will be thewarmest ever to Israel, far surpassing the administrations of both Bill Clinton or George W. Bush. Contrarily, should Obama be re-elected, the coldest treatment of Israel ever by a U.S. president will follow.
Obama's constipated record of the past 3½ years vis-à-vis Israel on such topics as the Palestinians and Iran leads to this conclusion; but so does what we know about his record before he entered high electoral politics in 2004, especially his associations with radical anti-Zionists. For example, Obama deferentially listened to Edward Said in May 1998 and sat quietly by at a going-away party in 2003 forformer PLO flack Rashid Khalidi as Israel was accused of terrorism against Palestinians. (In contrast, Romney has been friends with Binyamin Netanyahusince 1976.)
Also revealing is what Ali Abunimah, a Chicago-based anti-Israel extremist, wrote about his last conversation with Obama in early 2004, as the latter was in the midst of a primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. Abunimah wrote that Obama warmly greeted him and then added: “Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.” More: referring to Abunimah's attacks on Israel in the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere, Obama encouraged him with “Keep up the good work!”
When one puts this in the context of what Obama said off-mic to then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in March 2012 (“This is my last election. And after my election, I have more flexibility”) and in the context of Obama's dislike for Netanyahu, it would be wise to assume that, if Obama wins on Nov. 6, things will “calm down” for him and he finally can “be more up front” about so-called Palestine. Then Israel's troubles will really begin.
Mr. Pipes (www.DanielPipes.org) is president of the Middle East Forum.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



No comments: