RUST COMMENTARY: BIG-BAND EVENING FEATURES FIRST-RATE MUSICIANS, SINGERS, DANCERS

One of the more enjoyable evenings I've spent in recent years was delivered by the big-band performance of the JERRY FORD ORCHESTRA in CONCERT last week.

Besides the individually talented members of the orchestra ... the lighthearted but informative introductions of each performer lent a positive respect to the players' talents, which let us audience members just feel good.

Only a Jerry Ford ... comfortable in his own talent as a trumpet player and bandleader (and surprisingly good vocalist on "Kansas City") ... could have lent this personal touch which made the evening.

Besides the many strong solo performances of almost every band member ... the torch singing of PAT BLACKWELL, the soul-felt jazz solo by Jackson freshman sax player JONATHAN KLEINHAMPLE, and the dancing of KEVIN LINDER and TONYIA TURNBOW (from Paducah) were the extra ingredients which made the evening a complete delight.

Incidentally ... all of the performers donated their time and talents for the fund raiser for the CAPE RIVER HERITAGE MUSEUM, which has been adding new exhibits.

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Cape is blessed with many talented artists, musicians (catch some of the blues, rock, country groups performing in the Main Street entertainment area weekly), landscape artists, designers and architects.

Another artistic surprise was the reception for DR. JEAN CHAPMAN'S "Celebration of a Hobby" art show at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri's gallery located on the corner of Spanish and Independence.

The show is continuing, free and open to the public 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday..

Unbeknownst to me, Jean has been painting and sculpting for years and is more than a hobbyist ... but rather an accomplished artist.

The "Artist's Program Statement" is as follows:

"Jean A. Chapman, except for time away for medical education and armed service, is a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau. Interest in art was stimulated by Miss Durfee, head of the Southeast Missouri State Teachers College Art Department, who invited him to attend college painting classes and to participate in the ceramic classes while attending the sixth, seventh and eighth grades in the laboratory school. He has been painting with oil paint, drawing with pastels and throwing pots and sculpting in clay since that time. During his tenure as a general medical officer in the U.S. Air Force, he attended San Rafael Junior College (California) ceramic classes. All of these media have served as a wonderful outlet as a hobby during a very busy and stressful medical career."

Also on simultaneous display at the art gallery is a juried show of the best of submitted art works by regional artists.

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Friday and Saturday RIVERFEST will be displaying some of the art crafts, food and musical talents for which it's noted.

But ... the real fun comes from being part of the crowd and not just being a spectator.

The BLACK FOREST craft, food and entertainment semiannual event was held last weekend. This popular event will be repeated this fall for those who missed it.

Another upcoming calendar event will be the CAPE AIR SHOW July 10-11. Aerobatics, military aircraft, airplane rides, parachute jumping.

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Retire the system: A baby boomer making $28,000 this year who retires in 2020 will have to live to 90 just to make back all the payroll taxes, adjusted for inflation, that he invested in the Social Security system. An average earner born in the 1920s. by contrast, had to live to 68 to make his money back. Put another way, Americans born after World War II will get a rate of return of 1.86 percent on the taxes they paid in, said Laurence J. Kotlikoff, economics professor at Boston University. Someone born this year would get back just 1 percent after inflation. -- Orlando Sentinel

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Character is much easier kept than recovered. -- Thomas Paine

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Capitalism for everyone: The looming Social Security crisis -- in about 15 years, as the baby boomers reach retirement age, the system will be paying out more in benefits than it is taking in through taxes -- is an opportunity for reform that would enormously expand the wealth of the nation and of working Americans.

Social Security has saved millions of older Americans from destitution. But Washington has made a hash of the system's finances. Despite the existence of the Social Security Trust Fund, surplus money isn't really set aside for pensions. It is promptly spent on existing and new government programs.

As tens of millions of baby boomers reach retirement, the system will undergo enormous stress. People are realizing that even if obligations are somehow met, the "return" on their Social Security taxes will be pitifully small or nonexistent.

This nation is rich enough to meet its obligations to those on or about to go on Social Security. There is no need for cutting benefits or for increasing taxes on those benefits. But while we have time, we should rapidly phase in a new system for younger workers -- Social Security Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs), similar to IRAs or 401(k)s. Young people should have the choice of staying in the current system or of investing part -- and eventually the bulk -- of their Social Security levies in their own PRAs. This way, people would have far more in retirement funds than the current system can possibly give them. A young couple today making $36,000 a year could retire with over $1 million if their Social Security taxes were invested in stock mutual funds earning an average 7 percent real rate of return. Such a new system would enable Americans of modest means to accumulate real capital.

Under current Social Security law, if you die prematurely, you have nothing to pass on. Under the new system you would have something to leave your spouse, children or grandchildren. People would realize that what happens in Washington has a direct impact on them and would thus have zero tolerance for political shenanigans in the capital.

Married couples would share benefits equally, with the money split evenly between two accounts. In the event of divorce, no one would have to fight over those assets, as they would already be divided.

A small portion of your money would go to buy your own disability insurance and life insurance. You would be free to choose and to change investment companies. You would have a menu of sound investment choices: mutual funds, government bonds, bank certificates of deposit. But you could not speculate in Siberian diamond mines. Your account would not be subject to federal income taxes or death taxes. And you, not Washington, could choose at what age you retire.

Finally, the federal government would guarantee a minimum benefit. But it would take a major catastrophe for this to be needed. For example, if an average-income worker split his money, with 60 percent in stocks and 40 percent in bonds, and the stock market lost 80 percent of its value on the day that worker retired, he would still have a higher pension than he would get under the current Social Security system.

Washington sees Social Security reform as a zero-sum gain -- if someone gains, someone else loses. It doesn't understand the positive dynamics of free people and free markets. Real Social Security reform could lead to the greatest expansion of wealth for working families that America has ever seen. -- Steve Forbes, Forbes magazine

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The safest road to hell is the gradual one -- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. -- C.S. Lewis

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Serb haggling puts NATO peace plan in jeopardy -- as reported in London: The rebuilding of Kosovo is likely to cost England $4 billion over three years, while the total bill for the Balkans region could be more than $32 billion according to EU estimates.

So who will pay? The cost will be divided among the international community with the EU paying a large slice. Britain's bill will run to "billions rather than millions," according to government officials. In truth, nobody knows the exact cost of the reconstruction. "Until we go in there and see exactly what needs to be done it is impossible to give precise figures," said Nico Wegter, the spokesman for Hans Van den Broek, the European Commissioner for Eastern Europe. "We need to make the place secure, get rid of mines, find out how many houses, roads, bridges, and water systems have been damaged, then think about bigger things like factories and electricity plants. It will take a long time."

It was "inconceivable", said Mr. Wegter, echoing the words of Tony Blair at the EU ministers meeting in Cologne on Friday, that reconstruction aid would be given to Serbia as long as Yugoslavia's President Slobodan Milosevic was in power. He said "all possible steps" would be taken to ensure that no aid fell into the wrong hands.

The U.N. Security Council (not NATO) is expected to pass a resolution on the peace deal this week and a conference of donors including the EU, NATO and the World Bank, will be called soon after to discuss who pays for what.

Britain has already contributed $64 million in humanitarian aid in the Balkans region since the start of the NATO bombing campaign in March. The bill will continue to rise and will be dwarfed by the amount of money needed to rebuild Kosovo when the peace deal is implemented. The EU's total aid to the Balkans since 1991 is more than $16 billion.

The EU is also to consider increasing its aid to Russia. Whitehall officials said it was "likely" that Russia would receive a substantial financial reward for its diplomatic efforts in helping to secure President Milosevic's acceptance of Nato's terms for a peace deal.

British companies could also reap a substantial dividend from the end of the war. British engineers are already in the region working for charities housing Kosovar refugees. The Institution of Civil Engineers is confident that British contractors could win lucrative deals to rebuild the Kosovan infrastructure shattered by 10 weeks of NATO bombing. But which firms from which countries get the contracts could depend on who draws up the list of approved contractors.

If the choice is made by Yugoslavia, then firms from NATO countries may find they lose out to companies from Russia, China and other Belgrade-friendly states. Apart from the cost of fighting the war for the past 10 weeks, and our contribution to the reconstruction programme, Britain may also face another longer term outlay. The Ministry of Defence is likely to demand higher defence spending, arguing that if Britain is expected to have a military role intervening in other countries' affairs, its budget will have to rise. -- The London Telegraph

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~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.