The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000 Page: 4 of 14
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4A The Baytown Sun
Opinion
Thursday, December 7,2000
®je ISaptotott gmtt
Founded 1922
Wanda Garner Cash, Editor and Publisher
Whitney Jones, Managing Editor
Richard Nelson, Asst. Managing Editor-Sftorts
Fred Hartman, Publisher Emeritus
. ' 1950-1974
Pearl Harbor attack
changed the world
Pj kies over the Pacific were
clear and blue the morning of
k-/ Dec. 7,1941. People in
Honolulu were going about their
business, U.S. servicemen and
women included. By all accounts,
the day started like most others..
Then, out of nowhere, Japanese
war planes appeared., Then, more
planes, virtually eclipsing the morn-
ing sun. Within mere minutes, .
bombs rained on Pearl Harbor and
other military bases on the Hawaiian
island of Oahu.
Understandably, it was a day that
neither America nor the world will
foiget. The attack sank or heavily
damaged 21 ships and destroyed or
damaged 323 aircraft. Sadly and
most importantly, 2,388 military per-
sonnel and civilians were killed and
1,178 more were Wounded.
Of the military casualties, 1,177
were crew members of the USS
Arizona. The ship’s sunken hull, a
final resting place for military per-
sonnel, stands as a monument to the
victims of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Thousands upon thousands of people
visit the monument annually, to
honor the fallen and to better under-
stand a tragic but vital chapter in his-
tory.
Today is the 59th anniversary pf
the attack on Pearl Harbor. The num-
ber of survivors is dwindling.
Military veterans in the Baytown
area said that they don’t know of a
Pearl Harbor survivor here. If one of
the brave souls who survived the
attack did live in this area, rest
assured that our veterans would
know.
We join Americans and people
■throughout the world in saluting both
the fallen and the survivors of the
attack on Pearl Harbor. Dec. 7,1941,
was a day that changed the course of
lives and changed the course of the
world.
Today’s editorial was written by
Whitney Jones, managing editor
of The Baytown Sun, on behalf of
the newspaper’s editorial board.
Black boxes tell driving tales
eneral Motors has put
f tt devices into hundreds of
thousands of cars that are
based on the same principles as the
so-called “black boxes” installed on
airliners to provide clues for officials
studying the cause of airplane crash-
es. The devices being installed by
GM in cars it builds are there to col-
lect 'information for study following
automobile crashes.
Government officials, engineers
and doctors want the information to
be used to help build safer vehicles,
improve treatment for victims of auto
crashes, and improve government
safety standards for autos. They have
failed however, to give due consider*;
ation to an important difference
between airplanes and automobiles.
An airliner is a public conveyance. A
privately owned car is not, and that
raises obvious privacy issues.
There is a very strong possibility,
for example, that following an acci-
dent, a plaintiff’s lawyer could j
demand information recorded by
such a device and then use that infor-
mation in a lawsuit against the car
owner. That would be intolerable.
This editorial was first published in
the Victoria Advocate on Dec. 2.
BUSH W
GORE 48%
MEDIA 01
Commentary
The first measured century has passed
www.comics.com
© 2000 by NEA, Inc.
PnVflKjG out*. SOI^G.
About Us
Our editorial board
Pie Baytown Sun's editorial board meets
weekly at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Individuals are
encouraged to visit theeditorial board to dis-
cuss issues affecting the community. To
make an appointment, contact Managing ’
Editor Whib icy Jones, (281) 422-8302.
Members of the editorial board include:
Vtenda Garner Cash, editor and publisher;
Whitney Jones, managing, editor; Eric Bauer,
marketing director; Dee Anne Navarre,
business manager; and Richard Nelson,
assistant managing editor-sports.
Let us hear from you
The Baytown Sun .welcomes letters of up to
300 wordsand guest columns of up to 500
wads on any item of public interest. Guest
columns should include a photograph of the
writer. V\fe publish only original material
addressed to The Baytown Sun bearing the
writer's signature. An address and phone num-
' ber not fa publication should be included. We
ask that submissions be limited to one per
month. All letters and guest columns subject
to editing.
The Sun reserves the right to refuse to pub-
lish any submission.
Letters endorsing a opposing political can-
didates a issues will not be published within
two days of an election, except in direct rebut-
tal to a letter previously published in The
Baytown Sun. Please send signed letters to:
Vtenda Garner Cash a Whitney Jones, The
Baytown Sun, P.O. Box 90, Baytown, TX
77522.
Or, fax them to: (281) 427-1880. Or, email
usat.sunnews@baytownsun.com.
Lucky you; this is not about
Florida, not directly.
Thanksgiving 2000 is history.
The real beginning of the new cen-
tury, Jan. 1,2001, is coming fast
upon us. It’s been a year since the
odometer came up with all those
zeroes, yielding a surge of interest
in American history. But all we
heard about on television or in
other media were stories, what
social scientists call “anecdotes.”
For example: Lindburgh, Titanic,
D-Day, Hiroshima, FDR, Ronald
Reagan, Elvis, O.J., Monica.
But there is another lens through
which to see American history,
probably a better one: through data
that measures what has happened
to everyday people within soci-
eties. We measure more, we mea-
sure better, we measure that which
has never been measured before.
This is the first measured century.
America is the most measured
country. We ought to take a look.
T ain the host-essayist of a soon-
to-be-aired PBS special and co-
author of a recently published ref-
erence book (AEI Press) both enti-
tled “The First Measured
Century.” I have spent much of the
last few years examining century-
long American trends. The num-
bers have made me think and link
in ways that I had not before.
It is clear that America moved
ahead along a jagged but clearly
ascendant line. The life expectancy
of newborn infants is 50 percent
longer than in 1900. Adults at age
60 live five years longer (about 30
percent longer) than they did in
1950. Most everyone has televi-
sion, phone service, a vehicle, and,
in the hot states, air conditioning.
Much of that is true in all the
developed countries. But the first
measured century shows that
Americans are, in very many ways,
unique. Why? Does the pudding
have a theme? It does for me. I
stare at the data, and they yell at
me, “It’s liberty, for good or for ill.”
Think of all words and phrases
that conjure up the American 20th
century: Free land, free immigra-
tion, free politics, free trade; free-
Ben
Wattenberg
The political system opened up.
Women were enfranchised. The
South was desegregated, and
African-Americans in the South
became a powerful voting force, as
we have just seen in Florida. The
advent of primaries let Americans
choose the candidates whom they
would consider for leadership. The
public opinion poll lets politicians
know what’s bugging the voters.
Radio and television came
dom now, free markets, Wars for
liberty, sexual liberation, free- __________________________,
standing homes, deregulation, and along. In most countries, most citi-
sO on and so on. zens received monochromatic gov-
The historian cum sociologist eminent broadcasts. In America,
Frederick Jackson Turner used we got a full menu of private
1890 census data to show that the views and values.
“American frontier had closed,” Until a few decades ago, fewer
although free homestead land was than 10 percent of Americans
given out until the 1930s. But owned stock. Now, more than half
Americans quickly opened up a of the population does, owning
new frontier: the suburbs. In 1910, the means of production. Damn -
about 12 percent of Americans near the whole economy has been
lived in the suburbs. Today that deregulated in the past two
rate is 52 percent. We are the only decades, making it easier for .
suburban nation. Thanks in some Americans to set up shop*on their
large measure to unique mortgage own. Adult education systems r
policies, more than two-thirds of allow those who missed the boat
us own our own dwellings. to climb aboard. "
Most of these are detached sin- We fought our wars for liberty, :
gle-family houses, just the kind and won. Around the world unfree 1 ■“
that snotty critics like to categorize nations seek free politics and free 'S
as “suburban sprawl.” But have markets.
you ever heard someone say “a Some conservatives think per- '-
man’s apartment is his castle?” sonal liberty may have gone too >;
I am asked these days: What has far. They look at rising crime
been the single most important rates, out-of-wedlock births, wel-
trend in American life in the 20th fare. They have a point, but in
century? Immigration. From 1880 recent decades, the trends haVe • ;
to 1930, on a base population of started to move in a healthier
50 million, America took in 28 direction.
million immigrants! They came And, finally, consider another ’
for jobs, and they came for liberty, hallmark of liberty: the litigation
Many elite social scientists of the boom. We sue ourselves crazy;
time believed that these Italian, witness Florida. But that will be.......
Jewish and Polish newcomers straightened out soon, and we m &
were biologically inferior beings. go on expanding our liberties.
The new, I.Q. tests categorized Have a good century, - j
them as imbeciles, near-imbeciles, Ben Wattenberg, a senior fellow .)
and morons. Eugenic theory at the American Enterprise
helped slam shut the doors of Institute, is the host-essayist of the ;
immigration in the 1920s, but such PBS special "The First Measured >'
pseudo-science is in the trash can Century " and co-author of anew .
now. In 1965, Americans re- book of the same title, He'ls the
opened the immigration flow, this host of the weekly public television i
time allowing persons from around program “Think Tank.” You may ';
the world to share and shape our send comments to him via e-mail: m
liberty. Watmail@aol.com. ■*,.
Officials
Texas
Governor
Geage W. Bush (R-2002) ,
State Capitol, PO. Box 1242
Austin, Texas 78711
800-843-5789
Lieutenant Governor
Rick Perry (R-2002)
State Capitol
Austin, Texas 78711
800-441-0373
Attorney General
John Cornyn (R-2002)
800-337-3926
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Carole Keeton Rylander (R-2002)
800-531-5441
Land Commissioner
David Dewhurst (R-2002)
512-463-5256
Commissioner of Agriculture
Susan Combs (R-2002)
512-463-7435
Railroad Commissioners
Charles Matthews (R-2000)
Michael Williams (R-2002)
Tony Garza (R-2004)
Senator District 4
David Bernsen (D-2002)
409-839-4444
512-463-0104
Senator District 6
Mario Gallegos (D-2000)
P.O. Box 41
Galena Park, Texas 77547
512-463-0106
713-678-8600
Senator District 11
Mike Jackson (R-2002)
1109 Fairmont Parkway 3
Pasadena, Texas 77504
713-948-0111
Senator District 15
John Whitmire (D-2000)
803 Yale, Houston, Texas 77007
713-864-8701
Representative District 20
Zeb Zbranek (D-2000)
P.O. Box 2050 •
Liberty, Texas 77575
800-438-6202 '
Representative District 127
Joe Crabb (R-2O0O)
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768
281-422-2233
Representative .District 128
Fred Bosse (D-2000)
885-A Uvalde Road
Houston, Texas 77015
713-453-6336
Harris County
District Clerk
Charles Bacarisse (R)
713-755-5711
District Attorney
John B. Holmes (R)
713-755-5800
County Clerk
B.F. Kaufman (R)
713-755-6405 T
County Treasurer
Jack Cato (R)
713-755-5120 V
County Attorney
Michael Fleming (R)
713-755-5101
Sheriff
Tommy Thomas (R)
713-755-6044
Constable, Precinct 3
James Douglas (D)
281-427-4791
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000, newspaper, December 7, 2000; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1019546/m1/4/: accessed June 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.