Columns/Opinions

   What goes around, comes around.
   Interesting phrase that.
   Over the years, I’ve come to see it play it several times, mostly in my own life.
   And I’ve seen it unfold around me.
   Last year, Mayor Mark Bricker interpreted the city charter to contend that Council Member Chrystal Folse should not receive City of Bay City employee insurance benefits.
   Folse, ironically, was told by other city officials that her enrollment on insurance rolls was permissible by their interpretation of city statutes.
   Bricker was successful in getting her removed from the insurance coverage.
   Now, fast forward to now and it’s the mayor who’s under scrutiny for his interpretation of the charter.
   He interpreted the city charter that the mayor is part of city council.
   Previously, the mayor could vote only in the case of a tie among council members, an exceedingly rare event on a five-member panel.

   The library held the first ever open mic comedy night last week.
   I managed to gather my thoughts and at least come up with a few topics to joke about before stepping up to the microphone. 
   Even with no real stage or backdrop, the whole thing made me ridiculously anxious and nervous.
   But, I could only blame myself, since I elected to go first over all.
   On one hand it was to get the whole ordeal out of the way and on the other it was so I could take photos of everyone else after I was done.
   Technically, it’s been over a decade since I was on a stage for any reason and my nerves got the better of me in the beginning.
   I even got a bit of tunnel vision, but, managed to power through it.
   I can’t recall much of anything I said at current and I don’t recall how funny I was, but, the sense of relief when I was done?
   Oh, yeah, I felt that.

   Well it is deep into the long hot summer and the equities markets are just about where they began the year. It is no surprise that the large gains of January and February were given back with the concerns over a trade war impacting the economy. 
   We will see this week what the earnings reports for companies will provide as an indicator for the economy. 
   One of the FANG stocks, Netflix, announced lower than expected subscription additions and was immediately punished in after-hours trading by over 15 percent. 
   When you are flying that high any turbulence will put your stomach in your throat. 
   The impact will be felt across the equity indexes as the FANG stocks have accounted for nearly 90 percent of the rise in the indexes. 
   This is not unusual as a small group of stocks have a tendency to drive markets. 
   There is the other side of the coin that historically, July has not been kind to the stock market.

   When you retire, would you like to relocate to be near grown children or to experience a different climate? 
   If so, you’ll need to weigh the costs involved and how they might affect your investment decisions.
   When evaluating a possible retirement move, you’ll want to consider a variety of factors, including housing, health care and taxes. 
   These and other variables will give you a good sense of the cost of living of a particular location.
   Once you know how much it will cost to relocate to your chosen destination, you’ll need to determine if your current strategy is on track to get you there. 
   If not, you may need to make some changes.
   Where you live in retirement also may affect how much money you eventually withdraw each year from your 401(k) and IRA, so you’ll need to create an appropriate withdrawal strategy.
   Ultimately, you’ll want to choose a place to live that makes you happy. 

   “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” is the third film in the “Hotel Transylvania” franchise and rated PG for some action and rude humor.
   It is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and written by Tartakovsky and Michael McCullers, and features Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Keegan-Michael Key, Molly Shannon, Fran Drescher, and Mel Brooks reprising their previous roles as well as new additions to the cast like Kathryn Hahn and Jim Gaffigan.
   The flick takes place a few months after the events of the second film with the story centering on Dracula (Sandler), Mavis (Gomez), Johnny (Samberg), and the rest of their family, both human and monster, and friends as they take a vacation on a luxury monster cruise ship. 
   Mavis surprises Dracula with a family voyage on a luxury Monster Cruise Ship so he can take a vacation from providing everyone else’s vacation at the hotel.

   Last week on vacation, I witnessed something that was column material. We spent several days at the JW Marriot in San Antonio. 
   I felt blue when it was time to pack up. The staff, the food, the lazy river, and the beds were top notch. Home is always good, but I could live at a vacation destination like this one. 
   I promised my crew that we would build a sand castle upon arrival. As usual, my own children blew me off and rolled their eyes at my childlike enthusiasm. 
   However, I found a friend to join me. We plopped down in the sand and got to work. 
   My eyes could not focus on the task in front on me. They constantly drifted over to my left at another castle being built, and I mean a castle! 
   This father-son team was a dynamic duo. The dad was about my age, large, and sunburned on his back. The reason for his redness was that he was on his knees and hard at work. 

   “‘Cause every night I lie in bed. The brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keeping me awake. I think of what the world could be. A vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it’s gonna take.” 
   Those words from the Greatest Showman soundtrack still ring in my mind. They speak to inner dreamer that is inside of all of us. God has created us with a purpose and mission.
   As great as each of our dreams are, sometimes they do not always arrive. We may ask ourselves, why is there calamity in this world? 
   I believe a proper understanding of the Bible will help.
   Paul told the church in Ephesus, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 

   Parasites have and will always be a concern of livestock producers regardless of the species where they have placed their investment. 
   The need to acknowledge and decide on the manner in which to address the parasite decision sometimes can be of low importance on one hand. 
   This hesitation to address the issue do not mean it will go away. 
   Livestock infected with parasites, whether internal or external, will see decreases in productivity one way or the other. 
   Bulls, studs, rams, or bucks with heavy parasite infestations can experience reduced or lost fertility in extreme cases. Reproducing females of the respective species can be impacted as well. 
   Heavily infested females can see lacks in productivity in instances of decreases lactation, and body condition, as well as in breeding back. 
   Parasite infestations have been speculated to be the culprit of young being born with decreased vigor, birth weight or even dead.  

   There is a lot at stake for Matagorda County and the lower Colorado River basin when the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission reviews LCRA later this year, County Judge Nate McDonald said.
   The judge is encouraging Matagorda County residents to tell what they think of LCRA to the Texas Sunset Commission, which is reviewing the river authority in 2018, with hearings on LCRA Dec. 12-13 in Austin.
   “We’ve got to tell legislators what we want LCRA to do – try to determine future course of LCRA,” the judge told a recent meeting of government and business leaders.
   Bay City Chamber of Commerce President Mitch Thames said it’s important for the Sunset to know how important the river’s flow is to lower basin agriculture and to the health of the Matagorda Bay system.
   “Lower river basin residents have to tell state their story,” Thames said.

    When I heard that Bay City ISD was considering standardized dress a.k.a “uniforms” for students I had a mix of reactions.
   First there was anger, followed closely by disbelief, a bit of amusement and overall curiosity.
   As more facts came to light at how this decision was being made, annoyance became the end emotion.
   Throughout his discussion forums, Superintendent Dr. Marshall Scott, III claimed that “statistics” showed a standardized dress code would alleviate bullying.
   My main problem was that there’s no conclusive and widely accepted statistical proof of uniforms helping with bullying.
   You can’t take data from European, urban or metropolitan areas and try to shove it into our rural district.
   Plus, when it comes to bullying there’s a variety of reasons for children to do it: grades, handicaps, physical fitness, sexual preference, and other perceptions.