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In General You speak common sense a language totally forgotten in America today. Diane M. Bombard dbombardd@bnpmedia.com |
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Volume 1, Number 1 On
Presidential Elections You
are on the mark. During the
Peloponnesian War, when the Athenians met for their democratic
meetings and to vote on issues, some Athenians
Also, I visited an investment banker the other day and in the conference room there was a pie chart that said something to the effect that 8% or a presentation was the content, and the other 93% was split between appearance and speaking voice. . Norm
Berman ndberman@nyc.rr.com
Lagniappe B "Extra! Extra! Things Are Going Badly in Iraq It would look more like a democracy was being born if it was Iraquis doing the fighting rather than the Americans doing it for them, or if more of the Iraquis seemed to support what the Americans are doing. Chris Eakin mailto:sports@fairviewpost.com
Lagniappe! C If it looks like a
duck, Don't you think it's somewhat nearsighted to limit terrorism to "today's crop does it in the name Allah"? What about the Basque, who have been active for years? What about the Sin Fein in Northern Ireland? What about the Jews in Palestine in the late 1940's? Didn't/haven't these groups employed similar tactics to accomplish their goals? Bombings? Selected assassinations? General disruptions of everyday life? Granted these had a nation-alist goal: a separate country, but their methods were terroristic, weren't they? And please don't think that I'm somehow endorsing the fanatics who have drawn the spotlight to themselves in trying to destroy the U.S.A and its apparent values. The scary part is that we seem willing to abandon those values in order to protect them. Witness the "Patriot Act" and its extremes and the willingness to shoot first and ask questions later (Iraq) and the moving target of the justification for that war (WMD's, then Hussein was a really bad guy [whom we supported while he gassed the Iranians- Colin Powell was the National Security Advisor during that time and Chaney and Rumsfeld were working in the Pentagon] and not a word was said about WMD's then]; then we want the Iraqi's to be "free.") The ends (whatever they turn out to be) justify the means. It's a frightening time we live in because I feel we don't believe enough in our values to let them triumph over the terrorists values. We seem quite willing to abandon them and skip the rights to a trial (let alone a fair trial), to be represented by an attorney, probable cause to arrest, basic human rights that apply to all, including the incarcerated. Rather than leading the world in the application of these basic rights (we find these truths to be self evident), we are abandoning them and stating that we really don't believe in them. One of the charges that Saddam Hussein may face is waging a war without just cause. What of our C-Student-and-proud-of-it president? Will he face that charge? And will he be incarcerated as he has incarcerated Afghanis in Guantanamo Bay? Think about that. Mike Regan mikegregan@aol.com Lagniappe G For Freedom, Press 1 For Slavery, Press 2 Simply fabulous!!!!!!! Alan Altorfer ccxl@pacbell.net I am not particulary interested in proving whether people love the US government, but I am interested in paying for the current war, which is costing US taxpayers 6-8 billionn per _month_, according to the latest figures I heard on NPR. So as long as some people want to come to the US, I think raffling off green cards would be a great fundraiser. If not to pay for the war, then to sweeten the Social Security fund or pay for needed public services. We really do need to get creative about how we put money into our rapidly depleting national coffers. Carmen Clark ceclark@tds.net
Ahh, the faults. Only today was I pondering the source of fault-finding and nit-picking. It's largely a backlash defensive response to trying to please people and failing. The affectionate puppy after many failed attempts begins to grow into a junkyard dog; and that is what propitiates the cycle. The faultfinders who rejected the puppy produce yet another fault-finder to keep the cycle going. The person attempts to soothe their own hurt feelings and confusion by projecting the problem back to what seems to them to be the source. It becomes, 'I'm okay, you're NOT'. But the underlying issues never get addressed. Only the defensive mechanism gets cultivated, exercised and reinforced until it begins offensive to various degrees. Sort of like the person who failed in relationships and breaks them off BEFORE the other party CAN do it. Ahh the tangled webs people weave they cannot later extricate themselves from! People would be surprised at often differing semantics are the source of a lot of these problems. When people don't hear the same words the same way, what is sweet to one is bitter to another. I've refereed many issues that boil down to semantics. Today one was presented where the woman was fuming when she said another woman said that she tried to call her. The fumer said, "I KNOW she didn't call me because the phone didn't ring." I said, "The operative word is 'TRIED'. She didn't say she 'succeeded', she said she 'tried'. We have no idea why she failed at succeeding to make the call." Words ARE important, in every issue I see daily. Marsha Allen Marshaka777@msn.com Does the outpouring of love/remembrance of JFK Jr's passing the same for the Tsunami victims/and their families in S.E. Asia? Alan Altorfer ccxl@pacbell.net
Volume 1, Number 15 On Anecdotal Evidence v. Statistical Nothing has been more foolish and detrimental to business and quality of life than the popularized "spread sheet logic." Numbers factor human nature out of all of its equations. And are as you say, very unreliable and misleading. If I had to pinpoint the one single factor responsible for corporate failures and bad decisions, its their spread sheet logic that they have given priority over common sense. Marsha Allen Marshaka777@msn.com
Lagniappe S Actions Speak (Much) Louder Than Words I live in an urban area dense with voters that somehow were forgotten when the last 2 presidential elections occurred AND Republicans won. And here's another real experience. When Reagan won, I lived in a heavily populated suburban area that was "forgotten" also. But at least we were allowed to wait 6 hours inside a warm building and polls were held open until every voter exercised their right all the way to 1 AM. That DIDN'T happen in the Bush elections the general demeanor was "Too bad, you just don't get to vote this time." When Carter and Clinton won, there were no oversights, no long lines. I went to the polls in the urban area along with the usual large presidential turnout vote, voted in about 20 minutes and went on my way. To be honest, both the urban and suburban areas I have voted in are rust-belt cities and heavily Democratic. Oversights started to occur in my city when the fix was in for a Republican president (I assume). In fact, I even remember when Nixon won and I was at Michigan State University and registered to vote on campus. Something like 88% of the student body was registered to vote on campus; after all, this was the Revolution and everyone was politically active. I was in the Brody Complex dorms that held 2,000 students, so naturally that elections-clerk had "no idea so MANY students registered" (was she on vacation until November 8, 1972?) and we waited in line for 4-5 hours because there were only THREE VOTING BOOTHS . . . just another slight oversight . . . sorry . . . and the polls closed promptly at 8 PM. And about half of us were denied the right to vote. Up until right now, call me stupid but I never connected the dots. Now I understand why neither my brother or parents or 55% of the US population don't bother to vote. This is very sad. I would be curious to know if a Democratic president was elected, did people in largely Republican areas have "slight oversights" occur? Diane M. Bombard dbombardd@bnpmedia.com
Lagniappe V Knowledge, Schmowledge, As Long As You Have a Degree My parents wanted all of us to go to a university so we would have a chance at better paid jobs than they had. I went to qualify myself for the kind of work I thought I wanted to do. When I was there the professors said we were there to learn how to think. I'm not doing the kind of work I went to learn how to do, although I have and will again if I get the chance. I'm not sure how good a job the profs did of teaching me how to think, since I still find myself making mistakes based on faulty logic. I do know my parents were proud when I started work writing for a newspaper, even if I'm not making as much money as either of them were when they retired. I enjoyed university and would go back again if I could afford it just for the fun of meeting more people and learning more stuff, whether it was useful or not, whether it was knowledge or just information from books and lectures. If I had thought about other paths to the job I wanted than through university I might not have gone and I'm sure I would have regretted not going. I sure don't regret the time even if I didn't get what I thought I wanted at the time. Chris Eakin mailto:sports@fairviewpost.com
A Crabby Old Woman? Not Really Yeah! The crabby old woman hit home. Inside this aging body beats the heart of a sixteen- well, maybe forty -year old. All the hopes and aspirations are still there. A little rounded at the edges, perhaps, and more willing to give it all more time. I liked the poem. I liked its message. Thanks. Joy Luster mailto:jluster@luster.com
Lagniappe W Out of the Mouths of Football Players Y'know . . . another 2-3 mph more on the fastball coupled with, perhaps, more consistent control, and you could've been writing an 'Out of the mouths of baseball players' lagniappe about myself a few years ago. Sometimes in life we continue the pursuit of an endeavor when those supposedly in 'the know' tell us to stop. We're inspired by many things: tidbits of wisdom & perserverence passed from our parents, our 'idols' & role models themselves that overcame the odds, and often, simple messages & stories of inspiration passed on from the likes of yourself. As for me . . . my baseball dream fell short in the end but I'm proud it was ultimately halted by the Chicago White Sox in their (at the time) Spring Training home of Sarasota, FL after a few serious looks, and NOT by a high school English teacher that fancied himself a baseball coach and competent evaluator of talent. Jeff Naccarato mailto:jefnac@hotmail.com
Lagniappe AB On Mr. Bush's Second Inaugural Address There is a story I heard while at Dartmouth (where Robert Frost went for a few semesters). I don't know if it's apocryphal or not, but it sure is a good story. Once Robert Frost saw that a magazine was sponsoring a poetry interpretation contest. The poem that was to be interpreted was a Robert Frost poem. So he decided to enter the contest anonymously to interpret his own poem. As the story goes, he won 3rd place! Chris Armacost mailto:Chris.Armacost@genmills.com
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Volume 1, Number 22 On Conscience Yep. "What the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning." Words for the ages - thank you. Scott Armacost mailto:bebop4ever@aol.com
Volume 1, Number 27 On Skin Color I like the idea of the absence of any system that classifies people by race. Prejudice is often learned early as an "us vs. them" concept fostered by cultural or individual family myths and beliefs. Prejudice can lead to subtle and/or overt discriminations. These generate anger and fear and the negative cycles of hostility and suspicion are underway. I have been a member of a mixed race family for about fifty-five years. I can't imagine what it would be like to have missed the warmth, intelligence, love, help and enjoyment I have received from such a wonderful variety of people. Joy Luster mailto:jluster@luster.com
Lagniappe AE There's Always Hope and Don't You Ever Forget It A friend found a large lump in her breast and the doctor told her she probably had cancer and that the lump being so large it probably had spread. He went on and on about all the things that could be wrong and what the terrible outcome would be. I affirmed that this was NOT necessarily true, that the doctor had to give her the worst possible results before even looking at the removed lump. Time and time again I have found in the people I know that doctors always give bad news before the truth of any situation is examined. No hope my foot. I'll wait for a higher opinion . . . the truth that lies within and I'll speak my word. Doctors in any profession haven't a clue so they will continue to give the answer No Hope. Sally Cornett SUBSCRIPTIONS@BIGBEARGRIZZLY.NET
Volume 1, Number 31 On the "Disadvantaged" My late grandmother came from Poland, too--she left her position as housemaid to a wealthy family after the mistress had her head shaved (1907) so she wouldn't be attractive to the master. She buried 2 husbands, raised 7 of her own children, 2 of a relative--never spoke English fluently but had the kids translate everything, and then to the neighbors for a double check so she could smack the kids if they made a mistake one of the smacked kids became a millionaire and all the rest did well, and they got all their education in a one-room country school house. She died having a 300-head dairy farm. Talk about disadvantaged. Only in your mind! Diane M. Bombard dbombardd@bnpmedia.com
Volume 2, Number 18 On the White Man's Burden Affirmative action makes - has to make - one or both of two assumptions - and both are, at best, insulting. If one is a supporter of affirmative action, he or she must agree with at least one of the following two statements: #1 - blacks need the preferential handout because they are inferior and incapable of bettering themselves on their own, or #2 - most white employers are racist and should be forced to hire blacks. Again, keep in mind it is impossible to be in favor of affirmative action without agreeing with at least one of the two above statements. Statement #1 is insulting and contradicts the multitude of blacks who are successful. Statement #2 is even far more insidious, because it presumes and labels a large segment of our population to be inherently evil and actually creates more racism than it addresses. This nation was built by people of all races, genders, backgrounds that took it upon themselves to better their lives. Multitudes of history prove that handouts and appeasements dont work. Jeff Naccarato jefnac@hotmail.
Volume 2, Number 35 On Our So-Called Leaders Leaders? That always makes me laugh when it's used to describe the politicians and beaurocrats that make up our, and most any, governmental roster. Draggers, fight pickers, antagonists, posturing bullies, tuggers, pullers, rabble rousers, coercers sure, but Leaders? Ha! But I understand the usage of the word here is in it's common meaning. There was a booklet I read a few years ago that was (...supposedly an authentice English translation of a...) Soviet training manual of sorts. In it the author tried to explain how to, essentially, overthrow an enemy. I still have it, somewhere, but can't remember the title. Anyway, it didn't say to use bombs, or tanks, or mustard gas, or anything nuclear, or any physical weapons of any sort. It didn't say to barge in and start shooting all the people or to buy them out with food, oil, or whatever. It didn't really say what to use but there's only one thing that could be used - words. The book said was that the easiest way to overthrow an enemy was to subtly subvert their beliefs. Now I'm paraphrasing this of course but the key concept was to do it sloooooowly. It might take a couple of generations to start seeing results but it would, definitely, happen. It can also be used internally as with a government and the people being governed, or by a CEO and the employees of a company, or by a marketing machine and the public. This concept works especially well with children. Steve Eschenburg: seschenburg@yahoo.com
Volume 3, Number 1 On Political Activist Humbuggery In response to your article on political humbuggery, I always find it fascinating that there are Californians for Justice or Lawyers for Justice. As you note, given the positions some of these organizations take, I'd just as soon join an organization like "California Lawyers of Hungarian Descent for Injustice." Andrew Dosa: adosa@adosalaw.com |
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Introducing Two
Remarkable Books.
Either One Will Change Your Life.
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