I told our financial advisor straight off that the process was akin to going to the dentist.
What we did on my wife’s summer vacation: a whole lot of financial stuff.
For one thing, we worked on our will. The major, although by no means only, issue, is what would happen to the Daughter if something were to happen to both her mother AND her father. This is such happy business.
Then we worked with not one, but two financial planners. OK, I personally only went to one of them, trying to figure out how I can retire in a couple years and still be able to help the Daughter through college. And what would retirement look like, since I don’t play golf?
My young bride would also like to retire eventually, and she attended some additional workshops to get a better idea what her benefits would be.
We’re developing an “asset allocation strategy that is consistent with your risk tolerance, time horizon and investment objectives so there is coordination amongst all your investment so that all your accounts are working together vs independently.”
ZZZ, what?
My risk tolerance, it must be stated, is EXTREMELY low, When I was getting those quarterly statements during the great recession, the sole (not that much of an) upside was that others were taking even a worse financial bath.
I should note that my wife LOVES this stuff, reviewing our life insurance programs – she used to sell insurance before she became a teacher again. She taught for a couple years in the mid-1980s, then returned to it at the beginning of this century after back to graduate school.
But for me, MEGO – My Eyes Glaze Over. I told our financial advisor straight off that the process was akin to going to the dentist; it’s important but painful. That initial 100-minute meeting was probably twice what my attention span could take.
That said, he was surprised, given my stated disdain for the process, that I knew Stuff. Just because it bores me doesn’t mean I’m unaware.
Come September, our fun summer project will (I hope) blessedly be over.
The case violated the men’s rights, from the use of secret evidence to the judge’s “targeting instruction” to the jury.
Attendees at the rally Photo credit: Jeanne Finley
Telling the Story of Two of Our Albany Political Prisoners
Portraits of Injustice:
Yassin Aref and
Mohammed Hossain
August 2017 –
13 Years Later
“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.” ~ Montesquieu
by Jeanne Finley Banner made in honor of Yassin Aref by Max Grieshaber. Photo credit: Jeanne Finley
August 4 marked the 13th anniversary of the arrests of Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, two Albany Muslims who were arrested in 2004 and convicted in 2006 of terrorism after a phony “sting” operation. To commemorate the date, a coalition of activist groups held a rally, march, dinner, and panel discussion. Each year since the men’s convictions, the Muslim Solidarity Committee and Project SALAM have sponsored such an event so the community will not forget the men, their families, and the injustice done to all of them—and to us. This year we were joined in sponsorship by the Capital Region chapter of NCPCF and the Capital District Coalition Against Islamophobia, but representatives from several other peace and justice groups participated too.
Photo credit: Carl Strock
We started with a rally at the Masjid As-Salam on Central Ave., where Yassin was the imam (farther down Central Ave. was where Mohammed, a founding masjid member, ran his small pizza shop). Shamshad Ahmad, masjid president, addressed the crowd of nearly 100. Naturally once the march got underway, it began to rain. We planned to go only two blocks, to the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, but when we arrived everyone was pretty soaked (including cameras).
(Note: The photo at right was taken in front of Masjid As-Salam just before the rally began. Jeanne Finley is on the left. The man is Salah Muhiddin, Yassin’s oldest son.)
As soon as we arrived, of course the rain stopped. Thus we were grateful for a good dinner and for the peach pie dessert—which came with a story told by its originator, Michael Rice, a longtime supporter of Aref and Hossain. Michael planted a peach tree in 2007 at his farm in honor of the men. This year for the first time the tree promised peaches at harvest time—11 of them. Another supporter, Barbara Chapman Dworkin from the Interfaith Alliance, brought peach pies to note this hopeful sign––enough for second helpings for everyone.
L-R: Steve Downs, Carl Strock, Kathy Manley, Lynne Jackson. Photo credit: Jeanne Finley
The panel discussion, titled “Telling the Story of Two of Our Albany Political Prisoners,” featured attorney Steve Downs, who spoke about the necessity of community and how support for our Muslim community in particular is more important than ever.
Kathy Manley, Esq., Yassin’s appeal attorney and NCPCF Legal Director, spoke about the details of the case and how it violated the men’s rights, from the use of secret evidence to the judge’s “targeting instruction” to the jury – (“The government had good and valid reasons for targeting Mr. Aref, but that should not be a concern of yours.”)
Carl Strock, former columnist with the (Schenectady) Daily Gazette, spoke from a journalist’s perspective; he attended the trial, wrote several columns deploring the case up to and including sentencing day, and later received (along with his editors) a visit from the the FBI and the U.S. Attorney, who complained about the “intellectual dishonesty” of his writing.
Lynne Jackson, a community activist, described the effect of the trial on the men’s families and spoke passionately about the community’s response to the case. And Abuhamza Hossain, Mohammed Hossain’s oldest son, who at age 12 became the family’s media spokesman, was eloquent as he described his family’s resilience and hope through these long years of Mohammed’s absence. Questions, comments, and some emotional observations followed the panel.
Yassin will be released next year, in October; Mohammed’s release date is October 2020. We will continue to hold a remembrance event on August 4 every year until both men are free!
Note: For more photos of the event, click here.
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NCPCF Mission
Established in October 2010, the NCPCF is a coalition of national and local organizations as well as prominent individuals, whose mission is: To educate the public about the erosion of civil liberties and political freedoms in society; to provide legal advocacy and support for prisoners within the U.S. criminal justice system and their families targeted after 9/11; and to defend and preserve the rights of all people according to the U.S. Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Geneva Conventions
He, along with three of his six children, went on one final tour, recorded for the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me.
The first time I became really aware with Glen Campbell was when he became the host of something called the Summer Brothers Smother Show, the summer replacement for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in late June through early September 1968. It even featured the Smothers’ Presidential “candidate” Pat Paulsen. I watched it and liked it.
He had already had a couple crossover hits: Gentle on My Mind was penned by John Hartford, a regular on the show. By the Time I Get To Phoenix was written, as many of Glen’s recordings were, by Jimmy Webb. Plus he had a couple country hits.
Then he starred in the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour from January 1969 to June 1972, which I also viewed. It coincided with more hits such as Wichita Lineman, which has possibly THE most romantic couplet in pop music. Also Galveston, the Texas city I visited in 1995 or 1996 and kept singing in my head.
Sometime around this time, I learned that he had filled in for Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys tours for six months in the 1960s, and I thought that was cool.
I never saw him in the movie TRUE GRIT with John Wayne, for which the Duke won an Oscar. And I stopped paying attention to him as he went through what my buddy Johnny Bacardi called “his excessive wild man ’70s and ’80s-up phases, coke, and Tanya Tucker and all that nonsense.” But like Johnny, I learned he was part of the legendary Wrecking Crew of session musicians, and I developed a huge, newfound respect for him.
In this 2007 interview, Glen Campbell discusses his forgetfulness, which he attributed to his wild lifestyle of the past. But in 2011, it was announced that he had Alzheimer’s disease.
Then he, along with three of his six children, went on one final tour, recorded for the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, which I thought was extraordinary.
On Facebook, Jimmy Webb wrote: “I watched him in awe executing his flawless rendition of ‘“The William Tell Overture’ on his classical guitar in his Vegas show. Jazz he loved. He claimed he learned the most about playing the guitar from Django Reinhardt.”
For sale on eBay: heaps of classical records, courtesy NYS. I actually bid three or four times on this, getting up to $150. I was only slightly overbid – the winning offer was $1,125 But because I almost never use my eBay, the company has “reason to believe” that my “eBay account has been used fraudulently”.
What we did on my wife’s summer vacation: a whole lot of financial stuff.
