Blue Skies, Palm Trees, West Coast Air And Lizard Tails  Although it took a couple of visits to Los Angeles for the place to grow on me after my first trip to L. A. close to decade-and-a-half ago, in truth I've always been, and continue to be, enchanted by the palm trees and bright blue skies that grace that part of the country,   ...and can make even a supermarket parking lot or strip mall look rather idyllic.     And I never tire of that first moment of stepping outside of the Los Angeles airport and catching my first glimpse of the palms off in the distance,  ...and realizing that the enchantment has not yet worn off.  And I still swear that West Coast air smells differently from East Coast air - in a good way - though I can't exactly describe how. After our recent arrival at LAX we Ubered - Los Angeles having caved to the might of the Uber behemoth and now allows Ubers, along with taxis, to ply their service at the airport, which is fine by moi - to our Los Angeles destination.  The house where we stayed also smelled to me like the West Coast, mayhaps because here one could keep the doors open all day without any bugs flying in,  ...though they do get an occasional visit from a small lizard, or an occasional still-moving lizard's tail. When a predator - in this case the resident cat - grabs one of these L.A. lizards by the tail, the tail detaches and continues wriggling for some time, probably to convince the predator that it has the critter, rather than just the critter's tail, in its mouth. Here is the resident lizard tail-catching cat, showing her excitement at our arrival on her turf.   
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 ...Continued from posts from 8/6, 8/8, and 8/9/2018:
 ....Ohio State's winningest football coach in forty years, architect of a national championship team whose winning streak brought glory to to Columbus, Ohio and $7 million per game to the university, a man who was loved and respected by team members and fans alike, a man held up as a paragon of morality, honesty and sportsmanship, a man considered ethically beyond reproach, a man who wrote a book about his personal philosophy that he entitled "Above the Line."  Coach Meyer was suspended - with pay - over his possible mishandling of allegations of domestic violence against his wide receivers coach, Zach Smith, whom Meyer fired this past July (see posts from 8/6, 8/8, and 8/9).  For days after the story broke the suspension of Urban Meyer dominated the news, talk radio shows and conversation in Central Ohio. The main points of discussion and argument among the citizenry of Buckeye Nation were whether it was fair to hold Coach Meyer responsible for the behavior of a subordinate and, amidst rumors, speculation, and Zach Smith's denial of any wrongdoing, whether both Urban Meyer and Zach Smith might not in fact be the innocent victims of false accusations by Courtney Smith, who, it was speculated, could well be nothing more than a jealous, scheming, emotionally unhinged woman posing as a victim of domestic abuse. The Ohio State University administration subsequently hired an independent panel of investigators to determine the truth of Courtney Smith's allegations against her ex-husband as well as what Urban Meyer knew and did about the allegations. And so the local media coverage of and public preoccupation with the fate of Urban Meyer calmed while Buckeye Nation waited patiently for the findings of the panel's investigation. Two days ago those findings were published and revealed that during his time as Urban Meyer's assistant coach 34-year-old Zach Smith had a history of gross misuse of university funds, including maxing out credit cards and spending $600 one night with a high school coach in a Florida strip club; of missing meetings, blowing off recruiting trips, and arriving late to practices; of drug use, of having a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff and having sex toys delivered to his Ohio State office; of erratic behavior and inappropriate sexual behavior, of unreliability and overall poor job performance. And, according to Courtney Smith and a number of police reports, of violence, harassment, and threats against Ms. Smith,  The Meyers, as well as Zach Smith's family and Courtney Smith's own mother, continually pressed Courtney not to bring charges against her abusive husband. And so, for as long as they were married, she didn't. Urban Meyer's consistent response to Zach Smith's crimes and transgressions was to cover up for or turn a blind eye to his young assistant's misdeeds and to continually arrange for whopping pay raises for Zach Smith - sometimes not long after Smith had committed some offense that would be more than grounds for firing if committed by anyone else - until Smith's yearly salary reached $340,000. It was only last month, when Urban Meyer's hand was finally forced, that he fired Zach Smith. All this Urban did for Zach Smith because Smith was the grandson of another legendary Ohio State football coach, Earle Bruce, here with his grandson.  It was Earle Bruce who gave Urban Meyer his first assistant coaching job and who mentored Meyer throughout his career. Urban Meyer has referred to Earle Bruce as a second father. And so it was out of devotion to this second father that Urban Meyer protected a wayward grandson. The investigators also discovered that when Urban Meyer learned that Courtney Smith took out an order of protection against her ex-husband last July Meyer immediately consulted with a university administrator over how to delete old texts on his cellphone. Upon examination of Meyer's cellphone the investigators found that a number of texts from over a year ago were missing. Urban Meyer has not been fired for his cover-up of Zach Smith's violence against Courtney Smith and offenses against the Ohio State University.
 As for Courtney Smith, a young single mother and survivor of domestic abuse whose well-being was sacrificed by high-ranking members of a wealthy and powerful organization in order to protect their own and the organization's interests, she'll likely continue to be vilified by Zach Smith's family, Urban Meyer's adoring fans and supporters, and both men's lawyers. Neither Urban Meyer nor Ohio State University has given Courtney Smith a meaningful apology. But then Courtney Smith doesn't bring Ohio State $7 million a weekend. References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/sports/urban-meyer-zach-smith-ohio-state.html http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180824/ohio-state-investigation-urban-meyer-apologizes-to-courtney-smith-in-statement http://www.buckeyextra.com/news/20180823/ohio-state-investigation-gene-smiths-lawyer-says-client-urban-meyer-were-sacrificed https://sports.yahoo.com/urban-meyer-misses-mark-buckeye-nation-apology-declining-address-courtney-smith-033236516.html https://sports.yahoo.com/urban-meyer-misses-mark-buckeye-nation-apology-declining-address-courtney-smith-033236516.html https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/08/22/urban-meyer-suspension-apology-ohio-state-courtney-smith https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mother-zach-courtney-smith-claim-ex-ohio-state-assistant-victim-retaliatory-plot-ex-wife-223132593.html
The 2018 Mid-Ohio Indie Author Book Expo  ...Continued from yesterday: Just as last year's Mid-Ohio Indie Author Book Expo was my first book event (see yesterday's post), so it was also the maiden voyage of the event itself. The Expo is the brainchild and labor of love of Columbus author Alicia Wiggins,  ....who wanted to give independent and small press Midwestern authors a venue for showcasing their work as well as provide an opportunity for local readers to meet the authors and discover their work. Last year the Expo was a rather small affair with about fifteen authors participating,  ...though there was a pretty good visitor turnout all the same. 
 .with double the number of authors,  ...representing a variety of genres.           
 ...and some beautiful pieces of edible art for sale, courtesy of Carmy's Cakes.  
 ...and author of her memoir, "Unwavering Perseverance: an Olympic Gold Medalist Finds Peace."  Mary was among the half-dozen Expo authors I interviewed for yourbookmybook.com (see yesterday's post).  In her interview Mary spoke eloquently about her struggle to gain confidence in herself, her years of hard work and perseverance to become an Olympian, her post-Olympic career as a second-grade teacher, and her book, in which she chronicles her search for peace and resolution of inner conflicts that rose up in her adulthood from painful events in her childhood. Here is the link to Mary's yourbookmybook.com interview: https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147520085505546/ I also interviewed Daniel Miles, co-author of a series of graphic novels dealing with Japanese historical themes;  https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147556682168553/ ...murder mystery writer Linda Lee Greene,  https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147577378833150/
 https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147598022164419/ ...poet Leo Jones,  https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147612428829645/
 https://www.facebook.com/yourbookmybook/videos/2147627965494758/
 I joined the book-browsers, 
 ...Mary's memoir, 
 I hope to soon immerse myself in the books. I've already immersed myself in the cookies.
 Exactly one year from yesterday I, with a pile of copies of my newly published book in tow, attended my first author event, the Mid-Ohio Indie Author Book Expo, which took place in the Columbus Suburb of Urbancrest, at the Vaughn E. Hairston YMCA. Since this was my first event as a real, bonafide published author (that is to say, published book author,  - up until now I'd been a mere published short-story author, my book being the expansion of one of my short stories published years ago in "First for Women"),  ...I was soaring with enthusiasm. I really put on the dog, as the saying goes, for the event, 
 ...free bookmarks and cards, 
 ...which I managed to drop on my white blouse and grey pants, but which I tried to be philosophical about, figuring it made me more like one of the characters in my book to whom embarrassing things are always happening.  (However I have since foregone offering messy foods at book-selling events, though I continue to offer the rest of the swag items, and have even added free refrigerator magnets and candies to the giveaways). It was also at my first book event a year ago that I was interviewed for the first time on the book podcast yourbookmybook.com, which was at the event doing author interviews.  As it turned out, I hit it off that day with the yourbookmybook.com media coordinator, Miguel Lopez. 
 ...I wasn't there to sell my book, but to interview other authors who were there selling their books.     Funny how one thing leads to another. To be continued...
,...Continued from yesterday: A man in a management position knows that the wife of one of his subordinates called the police on his subordinate for domestic assault but no charges were brought. The manager knows that his subordinate's wife has complained of abuse from her husband in the past. Then the subordinate and his wife divorce. Over the years the subordinate and his ex-wife continue to have a turbulent relationship, and on a couple of subsequent occasions the ex-wife calls the police on the subordinate. The subordinate is good at what he does on the job and his personal life has never interfered with his work life. Should the manager have fired his subordinate for assaulting his wife? Is a boss responsible for the behavior of his workers when they're at home? That's been under deliberation for the past week here in Columbus, Ohio, not only among the sizeable portion of the population known as Buckeye Nation, but among the Columbus community in general, since Ohio State University football Coach Urban Meyer,  ...was put on administrative leave while an independent board investigates how much Meyer knew about allegations of domestic abuse against his wide receivers coach, Zach Smith (See posts from 8/6/2018 and 8/8/2018).  In truth, among Buckeyes fans the prevailing sentiment - shared on local talk radio shows, in letters to the editor of the Columbus Dispatch and in conversation - seems to be that Urban Meyer's job is to coach the Ohio State Buckeyes to win at football - a job he does spectacularly well - and that he should not be held responsible for what one of his coaches did off the field. And yet Urban Meyer is being held responsible, if not for Zach Smith's private behavior, for what he, Meyer, did or didn't do about Smith's behavior. But for Urban Meyer, taking action against his young wide receivers coach may well have posed a knottier problem than it would have had the case involved a different assistant coach.
 It was Earle Bruce who gave Urban Meyer his first assistant coaching job at Ohio State in 1986.  Earle Bruce continued to be a mentor to Urban Meyer throughout Meyer's career, and the two shared a mutual respect and a close friendship. Zach Smith has known Urban Meyer his whole life. When Urban Meyer was coach at Bowling Green Zach turned down scholarships at other colleges to be a walk-on player on Meyer's Bowling Green team. After Zach Smith graduated from college Urban Meyer took him on as a graduate-assistant coach at the University of Florida where Meyer was then coach. And in 2009 when Zach Smith was arrested and charged with aggravated battery after, in a fit of rage, picking up his pregnant wife Courtney by her tee shirt and throwing her against the bedroom wall, it was Urban Meyer and his wife Shelley who recommended to the couple that they get counseling.  And, according to Courtney Smith, it was Earle Bruce, accompanied by a lawyer, who pressed Courtney to drop the assault charge against his grandson, which she did. In 2011 when Urban Meyer was hired to coach at Ohio State he brought Zach Smith with him as his wide receivers coach, offering Smith the job in a touching moment at the wake of his grandmother, Earle Bruce's wife. Now, when I started writing this post I was intending to wrap it up around this point with the idea that there is an underlying ideal in our society that we are all each other's keepers - hence this post's title - and, according to this ideal, if a person knows someone who is doing harm to another, the person has a moral obligation to stand up for the one who is being harmed. But just now I clicked back to the internet to do a quick last-minute fact double-check, and apparently this story has within the past few minutes taken a sudden strange new turn: Both Zach Smith's mother and Courtney Smith's mother claim that Zach Smith never abused his wife, but that all the abuse allegations are part of a revenge plot 5 years in the planning by Courtney Smith to bring down her cheating husband and Urban Meyer with him. Here's the link to one of several sports sites reporting this new twist to the story: https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mother-zach-courtney-smith-claim-ex-ohio-state-assistant-victim-retaliatory-plot-ex-wife-223132593.html I believe I'll end this post here and, like everyone else in Columbus, just continue following the story as it plays out. It hasn't been pretty so far and promises to become less so. I feel for Courtney Smith. References:
http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20180805/urban-meyers-close-relationship-with-earle-bruce-zach-smith-reaches-far-into-past http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24265385/ohio-state-faq-know-urban-meyer-zach-smith-investigation https://www.thelantern.com/2018/08/football-police-reports-depict-pattern-of-domestic-cases-against-zach-smith/ https://sports.yahoo.com/report-mother-zach-courtney-smith-claim-ex-ohio-state-assistant-victim-retaliatory-plot-ex-wife-223132593.html ONLY $3.99 ON KINDLE
The Question Of Urban Meyer ...Continued from yesterday: There's been no joy in Buckeye Nation since last week when Ohio State University Football Coach Urban Meyer - well loved, well respected, and OSU's winingest coach in forty years - was suspended over the Zach Smith domestic abuse scandal (See yesterday's post).  Here in Central Ohio the story continues to dominate the news, local radio talk shows, and conversation among the citizenry, many of whom are still in shock over the chain of events that continues to unwind.  Here's a much-condensed synopsis of the convoluted case: In 2015 Courtney Smith, soon-to-be divorced wife of Ohio Sate wide receivers coach Zach Smith, here with Smith during happier times,  ...called the police on her estranged husband for assault and harassment and told the responding officers that her husband had abused her on multiple occasions. No charges were filed; however several weeks later Courtney Smith again called the police on her husband, at which time Smith was issued a restraining order. In 2017 Courtney Smith called the police on her ex-husband, at which time the police issued Zach Smith a warning for criminal trespass; again,no charges were brought against Smith. In May of 2018 Zach Smith was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass against his ex-wife. On July 20 Courtney Smith was granted an order of protection against Zach Smith.
Later that afternoon Zach Smith was fired by Urban Meyer, who publicly offered no reason why he'd fired his wide receivers coach. On July 24 Urban Meyer denied to the press any knowledge of the 2015 accusation of domestic abuse against Zach Smith. Meyer expressed puzzlement that anyone would make up such a story. On August 1 Courtney Smith told Brett McMurphy that in 2015 she'd told Urban Meyer's wife, Shelley, that Zach had assaulted her and that Shelley had assured Courtney that she'd tell her husband, Urban.   Later that day Urban Meyer was suspended with pay. On August 3 Urban Meyer confessed that he had, in fact known about the 2015 domestic abuse against Zach Smith and that, while he didn't fire Zach Smith at that time, he followed the correct procedure for reporting such an incident to the proper Ohio State University authorities. Urban Meyer is now under investigation by Ohio State University. The university has hired an outside independent panel of investigators, led by high-powered former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White,  ...to determine what Urban Meyer actually knew, when he knew, and what he did about the 2015 abuse allegation against Zach Smith. And so the person on trial in this story of domestic assault is not the perpetrator, Zach Smith, who, at this point, is little more than a secondary character on the periphery of the story line,  ...but Urban Meyer, who, though up until now has been considered the best of coaches and best of men, may well lose his job and his legacy over the private misdeeds of a 33-year-old underling. Is that fair? That is the question that continues to be begged, discussed, and pondered, sorrowfully, here in Buckeye Nation. To be continued... References:
http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/zach-smith-urban-meyer-timeline-domestic-violence-allegations-ohio-state-florida-courtney-smith-ex-wife/qdgwf1d3j9n41skbguxgqsql0 https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/08/03/urban-meyer-statement-tweet-zach-smith-interview-media-days http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180806/woman-leading-investigation-into-ohio-states-urban-meyer-is-familiar-with-high-profile-cases http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24265385/ohio-state-faq-know-urban-meyer-zach-smith-investigation
A Private Matter You cannot put a fire out; A thing that can ignite Can go, itself, without a fan Upon the slowest night. You cannot fold a flood And put it in a drawer, Because the winds would find it out, And tell your cedar floor. -Emily Dickinson
 Or else Zach Smith, by his own account, didn't technically assault his wife but rather, in his own words, "things got out of hand and I had to defensively kind of restrain her," although, "I’m not saying she didn’t get a bruise or a mark.” In any case, Zach Smith contends that what happened between himself and his wife was "a private matter" that should have stayed "behind closed doors." But it didn't. And it's ponder-worthy that the violence inflicted behind close doors in private moments between a man and his wife has had so many far-reaching reverberations, like the outward ripples from a stone suddenly hitting still waters. It was because of what happened in private moments that Zach Smith lost his marriage and a job that paid him, at 33 years old, $340,000 a year and accorded him great honor, status and prestige in the world of college sports. He lost the means to support his children, who will soon be old enough to understand what their father did. Because of the those private moments of one of his assistant coaches, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer,  ...the indomitable ruler of a winning college football empire, loved and respected by team members and fans alike, a man who walked on water in Columbus, Ohio and who'd built a career on his flawless reputation as an honorable, admirable man, has lost that reputation over a lie he told to cover for Zach Smith and possibly his own inaction when he learned of his young assistant's behavior. Urban Meyer has been suspended with pay from his job and will likely lose that $7.9 million-a-year job along with his good name. Bob Evans Restaurant, which was about to begin a new cleverly-conceived marketing campaign featuring Coach Meyer as Breakfast Coach, has had to jettison the campaign. 
 It's come out that Zach Smith is the grandson of the late Earle Bruce, the legendary former Ohio State coach whose memory as a man of character is revered among Buckeyes fans.  But it has also come out that when Zach Smith was arrested in 2009 for assaulting his then-pregnant wife, Earle Bruce compelled Courtney not to press charges against his grandson. Lynn Bruce, who is Earle Bruce's daughter and Zach Smith's mother, also pressed Courtney to keep silent about the matter.
 But this morning, while making an appearance as a guest on a local radio talk show to promote her upcoming fund-raiser, Lynn Bruce was put in the position of having to defend her son to the radio audience, because the Zach Smith/Urban Meyer/Ohio State Football scandal dominates all media in Columbus, Ohio, day after day.  It's' been hinted by some commentators that, depending on the results of the investigation that's been opened into the Zach Smith abuse scandal, the whole Ohio State football department may have to be fired, maybe the director of the entire athletic department as well. It's been suggested that the fallout from the investigation could potentially take out the president of the university. And the football-loving populace of Columbus Ohio who refer to themselves as Buckeye Nation are bewildered and heart-broken over the of downfall of their beloved Coach Meyer. All over what a naive, heavy-handed young man thought was a private matter. References:
https://sports.yahoo.com/ex-osu-coach-zach-smith-found-investigated-abuse-ohio-state-ad-220120736.html http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180803/powell-police-refuse-to-release-report-involving-zach-smith http://www.buckeyextra.com/news/20180803/urban-meyer-says-he-reported-allegation-regarding-zach-smith https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/heat-ratchets-up-as-urban-meyer-zach-smith-try-to-pass-the-buck-in-confounding-media-tour/ http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/zach-smith-urban-meyer-timeline-domestic-violence-allegations-ohio-state-florida-courtney-smith-ex-wife/qdgwf1d3j9n41skbguxgqsql0 https://www.iheart.com/podcast/76-Joel-Riley-28190899/episode/lynn-bruce-the-fedora-ball-is-29675149/?campid=homepage_featured_shows&pname=0&cid=%2F&autoplay=true  The Transportation Security Administration is considering eliminating security screening at 150 small to medium-sized airports around the country that serve planes with 60 or fewer seats. According to the TSA study group that came up with the idea, cutting out screening at these smaller airports would mean a "small (non-zero) undesirable increase in risk related to additional adversary opportunity." I, for one, do not like the TSA's language in the above statement. I don't like the (non-zero) appositional. It's confusing: at first glance (non-zero) appears to mean (less than zero), as in there's a less than zero increase in risk. One has to think a minute before realizing that a non-zero increase risk actually means a not zero increase in risk. Not zero means anywhere from one to one hundred percent increase in risk. Right? So why did they even add the (non-zero) in that phrase? To confuse people, of course, make us think the risk was no big deal, less than zero. And look at the rest of the phrase: What is additional adversary opportunity other than a soft, squishy euphemism for more terrorist attacks? So why is the TSA considering putting our country at more risk for terrorist attacks from the sky? Because this move would save the federal government $115 million dollars annually. I'm serious. Apparently it's been determined that security at America's larger airports needs beefing up. Now, Congress just gave a sweet tax break to the rich that's going to pile another trillion dollars on top of the national debt. Hence agencies now have to be looking in drawers and under couch cushions and cutting corners for operational funds. The TSA came up with the idea of shutting down security at small airports and using the $115 million saved in loose change on more security at the bigger airports.
 He also deems necessary a military parade in his honor this fall that will cost between $10 million and $30 million 
 But apparently funding for airport screening is not necessarily necessary for our national security. The rationale put forth by the TSA study group in their proposal is that terrorists aren't that interested in launching attacks against the United States with small planes because the payoff is too low. Terrorists, says the TSA study group, are only interested in using big planes for attacks. I'm serious. However the study group did not address mentally deranged shooters who'd now have the added option of smuggling guns on board small planes. Commented a TSA field leader at a large airport who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, "This is so dangerous." Uh, yeah.  References:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/01/politics/tsa-considering-eliminating-screening-at-smaller-airports/index.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/us/politics/senate-democrats-border-wall-cost-trump.html https://www.newsweek.com/how-much-will-trumps-military-parade-cost-some-estimates-say-millions-1031960 https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/apr/18/center-american-progress-action-fund/how-much-do-donald-trumps-trips-mar-lago-cost/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/20/trump-visits-mar-lago-cost-coast-guard-nearly-20-million/715905002/ |
"Tropical Depression"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY 
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa or from The Book Loft of German Village, Columbus, Ohio 
Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
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