Saturday, July 06, 2002
BACK TO BEING
I have had a strange feeling, ever since the current
Administration took the helm in Washington, D.C. That rather vague
realization has grown, as the weeks and months have gone by, and I
feel I can, at last, put the sensation into words. I feel that we can now
think of ourselves as have gone “back to being”. We have had good
reason, in recent months, to be proud of our national leadership
instead of being a bit ashamed of it with scandal and chicaneryrunning rife.
I look back on the past few years and see how” adrift” we seem
to have been; how we lacked confidence in our national leadership
and, hence, in all levels of authority to which we are subject.
We have evidence of our having rediscovered purpose and
direction in our national life. We are free of having to be on guard in the
presence of policy makers of foreign powers and that we can now
speak out with confidence and assurance that our word will be the
bond which establishes true and enduring associations with othernations.
In a musical setting, it may now be said that we are no longer
playing in an ad lib fashion. We are attentive to the exact notations of
the score, exhibiting much more appreciation of the intentions of the
composers of our destiny among nations. We are no longer playing by
ear, winging it, jamming - and certainly not faking it! It is becoming
increasing obvious that other national leaders are listening with
greater understanding of our intended role in events which concern all
of us. They are showing greater respect for our conduct, by and large,
and our enemies of the Terroriost types must also have realized we
have changed dramatically and can no longer be viewed as apushover.
Some of our recovery has been slowed, perhaps, by uncertainies
which might follow coming out of a bad dream, or a recovery from a
time of ill health or withdrawal.
As I have seen the type of associates President George W. Bush
has chosen to assist him, I have grow more and more confident that
we are ,indeed, back on track and now moving toward worthy goals
once more. Even more impressive is the fact that he appears to have
let them do their assigned jobs without petty bickering from
headquarters. He is ,at the moment, a war time president operating
without an official Declaration of War and thus without some of the
authority which is usually accepted as “Presidential” by factions within
our government, segments of the much accused media, and even
among large groups of citizens-in-name-only.
It’s still too early, perhaps, to evaluate the present
administration. A hasty judgment can create questionable results, but I
do think we have early indications that we are free of a burden we
carried for eight years and ready, now, to regain and hold our proper
place among the nations. A.L.M. June 6, 2002 {c503wds]
REMEMBER?
In 1941, when our nation experienced a surprise attack on our Pearl Harbor
Installations in Hawaii, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked for and got a Declaration of
War from Congress. With that Declaration much that has “always” been considered
basic to or way of government changed.
Now, in 2002, we have been the victims of another surprise attack which took
thousands of lives at two locations - at the World Trade Center Towers in New York City
and at the Pentagon Building in northern Virginia. This attack - on September 11, 2001,too,
came from the air in the form of hi-jacked commercial airliners loaded with jet fuel and
piloted by members of suicide teams trained by El Quida located mainly in Afghanistan...
but not by a specific nation, as such. No declaration of war has been issued now at
almost six months after the two disasters.
This, in effect, means that President George W. Bush does not have the same,
special powers granted to FDR in 1941.
There is a special breed of politician and a corresponding group of egg-headed
critics in the private area, who rejoice in this sort of thing and make it their prime, lifework
to “defend the Constitution of this Great Nation” by publicly demeaning everything
President Bush might even consider doing to protect our country from this world-wide
menace of such a strange configuration as we have ever faced. Bush has made it very
plain that this is an unusual type of war , one which is totally different for any we have
been engaged within the past and that tactics to gain victory must also be different, as
well. Very often the critics fail to hear this view at all. War is war to them, it seems,
regardless of reality.
We are a “democracy” they are muttering now but the term has meanings for
them that the avenge American citizen does not see as being so absolute. President
Roosevelt infringed on the idea of habeas corpus when he decreed that all
Japanese-Americans be interred in prison camps until the war was over. He, no doubt,
cited the fact that when the Civil War got underway President Abraham Lincoln had
done him one better - the made the rule of habeas corpus illegal for all. When that
happens critics start using the word “dictatorship” without realizing they are contributing
to just that sort of impasse by refusing to accept the rule of duty elected officials.
There can be little doubt but that the French Revolution serves as a good example
of a proper American-style revolution gone wrong. We have been exceptionally fortunate
in this country in that, as we have adapted some of the socialist-oriented legislation of the
WWII emergency times to our normal, democraticlly-oiented peace time living, we have
been able to avoid excess. We accomplished much simply by using different terminology.
Instead of having a compulsory national insurance program, we have a Social Security
System. Most people do not even realize they pay a compulsory insurance premium - mine
happens to be in the $60.00 range each month, automatically and quietly removed from
my monthly Social Security “earnings”. The majority of recipients of Medicare think of it as
a “free” handout thing and do not realize they pay a monthly premium just as they would
to a privately-owned insurance underwriter. Those who are still working and not
“drawing” Social Security are unaware, for the most part, that they will someday be
buying such a health insurance “policy” and be charged a monthly fee - as a mandatory
exaction.
A person who has been, or is on any form of the welfare state relief program comes
to view the national entity in a different light than that in which he saw it before he or she
“benefited” from the system; started “drawing on their lifetime savings” as many would
put it.
We must keep these rather subtle changes in mind when we get involved in
fighting a “war” in any part of the world today. In order to exercise the need forcefulness
will be required. We are going to have to make sure we are strong at home - in all ways -
not just in superior armaments. Right now we are bickering about combining a hundred
government, often conflicting agencies, into one Cabinet level position. We are dwelling
on minor points and ignoring major ones, it seems, in favor of “political correctness”
We could well be writing our own ticket to Hell by failing to face up to realities and
pretending “things a pretty much the same as they have always been.” They are not.
A.L.M. June 2, 2002 [c781wds)
Friday, July 05, 2002
BANG
Do all Americans have the need for a bit of bang in their lives?
Or, it might better be stated as our being constantly in need of explosive, exciting
incidents in our lives. We seem to feel we must be shaken up a bit now and then for no
particular reason.
The continued fireworks displays are evidence of it, to me. This year, as usual, they
are all over the place, all around us in the night skies of July 4th. I had expected them to
be less evident this year due to the excessively dry conditions of both forest and farmed
areas, but that seems to have spawned new displays rather than eliminated even a few
of them. For some reason the public seems to reasons that if “the government”, “they” or
some cooperate entity undertakes to set off a display, it is permissible, while it is wrong for
individuals to do so. We commoners are restricted to lighting “sparklers” and small,
little-bang firecrackers. That’s very much like your being handed a cold hot dog to nibble
on while everyone else is eating steak and potatoes. Even those of us who never planned
to shoot off any fireworks, seem to resent being ordered not to do so.
Such restrictions exist in some states and are totally ignored in others. There is
evidence of bootlegging activities in explosives of this type and much border-crossing to
buy what is needed for home use.
Doesn’t that remind you, in many ways, of the futile attempts we made in the early
to eliminate alcoholic beverages? The town drunk simply found ways to get prescriptions
for his daily needs and went right on thinking.
At a time when many areas are asking people to be especially careful with fire in
any form, one would think there would be fewer fireworks displays. That is not so, it
appears.
At such moments, where are all the hosts of protesters writing letters to Ye Editors to
editors demanded that we do some to help suffering people in far off lands of great and
growing variety? Where are those who oppose the waste of public funds? Where are the
paraders and barricade builders who, so often, object to “harmful” or “decadent”
practices? Rather we see people flocking in large crowds to the local Mall, fairgrounds or
any open field to witness a colorful display of ear-splitting explosives that last, usually,
about fifteen minutes or so, and which are concluded in a swirling cloud of acrid, smoke -
all of it of the “non-polluting” kind , of course.
We are having are our cake and eating it too, it seems.
Naughty , naughty. But, very “patriotic”
A.L.M. July 5, 2002
A NEW FOURTH
We have a different Fourth of July to observe this year...a new one.
One doesn’t expect holidays to have a “new” quality about them. Most of them seem
to be celebrations of some event, memorable times, someone’s birthday, or for some other
reason such as Halloween. Seldom do we get one which is as flexible and this Fourth of July.
Let’s face it. The fact that the sentiment we call “patriotism” tends to wax and wane
with many people in this country.
That person who waves the flag one day, may well be among those who deride it a
few months later because they are in disagreement with the rest of the people on some
point which seems important at the moment. The exact opposite situation can be true as
well when we find people who have not been patriotic at all, suddenly, become primary
flag-wavers usually for personal reasons. We have all witnessed the changes which come
over an entire family when a son or daughter becomes a member of one of the nation’s
armed forces. The people who had never voiced much concern for the nation, are, suddenly,
transformed into people who are interested in so many portions of the nation’s well-being.
They tend to act out their patriotism as individuals and as a family unit, often in competition
with each other and kindred families when it comes to active participation on patriotic
affairs of the nation. One of the major influences of a young boy or girl joining the armed
forces is to be seen in the affect it has on the family back home.
We see July 4th in a new way each year, too, in that we are becoming, more than ever,
a polyglot people and new residents are added to our midst each year, often from cultures
quite distinct from our own. I was surprised to find just yesterday in the Harrisonburg (Va.)
“Daily-News-Record”, that our nearest city of around 30-thousand has ninety-six individuals
within it who are of Arab decent, eighty-eight are Portuguese, and eighty-seven came here
from Lithuania. It is good that the local paper makes such a comment on the diversity of our
local population, and I must get the Census report from which those random quotes were
selected.
It is increasingly important that we, each Fourth of July, must try to determine example
who we are and what we are becoming as of that moment. We need to make sure we grow
with the nation’s peoples to observe a common goal for all bound by a common good of
patriotic evaluation of our national blessings.
I always find it impressive to watch the special groups of newcomers taking the vows of
allegiance to the United States of America at Jefferson’s “Montecello”, and at other historic
sites on July 4th.
Listen and repeat after them - one and all.
A.L.M. July 4, 2002 [c489wds]
Wednesday, July 03, 2002
SORRY ABOUT THAT, JOHN!
Even since I was a kid - and that adds up to a good many summers, plus winters - I
have been unfair to a Scotsman by the name of John McAdam.
U.S. Route 11, when I was growing up in Southwestern Virginia was totally unpaved
from the outskirts of Salem, Virginia, in the Roanoke area, to Fort Chiswell, in the Wytheville
area. It was mud when rains came, and the rest of the time it was graveled and dusty.
Many years of accumulated horse shoe nails and other sharp gadgetry of that day which
fell from pounding hoofs and from swaying Knoxville wagons in transit were in the
roadbed. When we had rains those hidden hazards to progress, we knew, infested the
mud and it was almost a sure thing that, when our Dad drove the Model T FORD from
Radford to Roanoke - a good three-hour trip - we could expect to have at least one flat
tire. The tires of automobiles and trucks regularly picked up hidden nails from the gooey
mud when ruts deepened. If someone had saved all of those nails he could have made a
good shipment of scrap metal to send to Japan to help them get ready for World War II.
But, back to John McAdam.
I always sang his praises loudly and for years being uninformed as to what was,
exactly, meant by the term “macadamized” roads which I was told he invented. U. S.
Route 11 - the famed Valley Pike which served as the pathway to the opening west, was
finally paved in our area.
As I understand it, John McAdam didn’t just dash the idea for improving roads off
one hot afternoon in his native Scotland. Historians such as Arthur Herman, say he
journeyed some “thirty thousand miles” throughout Scotland, England and Wales. That’s
a lot of bone-bending, butt-bruising’ miles and especially so when one considers the
conditions which existed in the l790’s. McAdam ,apparently, saw enough by that time to
convince him that something had to be done to improve road systems. The woefully
inadequate roads of all sections of the lands visited were in bad shape where they existed
at all. The well kept secret, he decided once he was back in his relatively roadless
Scotland to rest up a while, was that the roadbed had to be elevated a bit to
encourage as much drainage as possible the actual road surface and he then applied
fairly large crushed rock with a layer of finer gravel on top of the silt and mud which
seeped upward between the larger stones. The more horses and wagons that traveled
over the stone and gravel, the more they drove the materials into the raised, drained
surface. That is what was meant, strictly speaking, by the term a
“Macadamized” road. The addition of tar, then asphalt came years later and you can
see the name changing as well. The English - logically enough - called the tarred,
macadamized road “tarmac”. The term is still used in England meaning any paved
surface particularly airport runways and associated paved areas. Americans, then when
asphalt was mixed with the gravel covering and pressed down firmly, came to call it an
“asphalt” road.
John McAdam can be said to have invented our modern roads and it was typical
of the Scots to improve things constantly so the transition to “paved” was a natural
progression. But don’t blame John McAdam for making our present day...ultra-laned,
super-highway systems what they have come to be and threaten to become.
We may have over-used John McAdam’s basic ides more than just a bit.
Sorry about that, John.
A.L.M. May 30, 2002 [c621wds]
Tuesday, July 02, 2002
AS BAD AS THAT?
Feeling sorry for yourself?
A first step out of that mood is to realize that your are not
alone.
It’s a matter of degree, perhaps, and the interesting thing is
that you are the one person who is most in control of the emotional
mechanism which causes it to register.
Take control.
Visualize yourself as managing the firm called “Yourself”...”You,
Inc.” if that sounds shorter and more workable to you.
What is the first task your must undertake as big wheel of “You,
Inc.?” Hire a staff, perhaps?
`You already have most of them if you stop to think about it.
Doctors, for instance, who are helping to do something about
staving off the worst of the physical maladies which helped put you
where your are;
they, in turn, are assisted by Pharmacists, nurses and other health
care people as required...sort of part-time help, in a way. Your
Minister provides spiritual guidance and a relationship with the God
of our lives.
Then ,there’s family which may be, at times, a problem, but which still
offers more love and supports than we might realize. As “employees”
of “You, Inc.” they tire of being workers and form unwise unions times,
and, from time-to-time, they can and will forment strikes and
demonstrations against “You, Inc” in spite of all the firm has done for
them.
This will be your most difficult task, no doubt.
To maintain good relationships with those marching up and
down and carrying imaginary banners and even screaming insults at
times, is not an easy thing to do. It will demand the utmost in
management skill; the utmost degree of understanding and a level
of forgiving you may never have even tried before or knew existed.
Such trouble with the work force is, so often, excaberated by outside
sources and wrongful forces but they are often shallow and weak
and fall in the face of steady, sincere and compassionate opposition.
As C.E.O. stand your ground!. The Board of Directors will be backing
you up on every straight foreward, sincere and honest tactic you
many undertake. Remember, too: No action is often better than
impulsive, short-sighted and vengeful recrimination. There comes a
time, as Grandma used to say: “ when it is best to let them stew in
their own juices.”
In such tense times, sit tight; tend to your own specific business;
keep the firm’s logo shiney clear and clean and, in time, wrongs will
be revealed for what they are and workable relationships can be
established once again.
It can be as good as that which makes you smile inside when
you remember good times.
A.L.M. May 30, 2002 [c448wds]
LINGUISTIC UNITY?
Do we really want to make one language superior?
In the late twenties or early thirties, as I recall, there was quite a drive among many
people try to make a new language called "Esperanto" into an official, universal
language to be spoken by all.
It was, I think, basically a clumsy combination of English and Spanish with
academically supported modifications in each language and very few innovative
additions. The merchants urging the change were, I think, intent far too much on how
easily Esperanto could be learned rather than any values which were to come to us by its
use. Too many people came to think of it as a sort of short-hand method as applied to
spoken as well as a written language and the idea bombed although Esperanto groups
are still around and the idea if not dead. Esperanto devotees are still around today. The
concept is dormant, but not dead.
There was another new language running as a far-off second behind Esperanto,
but I don't remember the name of it.
In recent years, Spanish has made noticeable inroads in both conversational and
other communications methods as well as various Asiatic tongues in some areas.
` Churches offer religious services in Spanish and other languages in many cities
including our local church community. Translation services are being added in business
and commerce, and radio and TV stations are becoming Spanish-only in some areas.
Our historical heritage has many examples showing how the languages which
came to America with immigrants from many lands often stayed with us in print
publications. It is very noticeable in Pennsylvania where Germanic dialects held forth for
years of years in newspaper and book publication. Scandinavian tongues, Slavic
languages and a few oriental ones left a mark on various cities and town. The various
Romance languages, by and large, were spotty and did not endure as long as others,
probably due to more cognate usage’s and basic similarities to American English. Note
to, that English English, in a strict sense, did not survive, either.
American lingo is an amalgam of many languages containing gems of wisdom and
perfection from many speech forms of other cultures, and with an open invitation to new
imports at any time.
Language innovations of recent years will, in time, be assimilated and they ,too, will
leave their mark on our language as have others.
At time it appears to many Americans that it ours maybe the language destined to
become the universal tongue after all, but we have rather provincial view of the
tremendous extent of other languages throughout the world. English may well serve as
the commercial language among many nations just as common, street versions of Greek
did for so long, but it is faced with numerical superiority in various sections of the world and
in particular those areas where population continues to grow. We are outnumbered.
A.L.M. May 24, 2002 [c491wds]
FRIGHT FREAKS
The last time I looked in on him on TV, a man was still standing on a twenty-two inch
square platform atop a ninety foot pillar in Bryant Park in New York City. He was going to
remain there overnight, I understand, after which he would jump into a pile of empty
cardboard containers on the ground below him. He has, I’ve been told, done this
particular dive before, but only from a forty-foot height. That bellywhoper resulted in minor
harm to his body.
I suppose he must still be on that column this morning. Or, he may have made his
dive successfully. Otherwise, the TV tubes would be bubbling by now with the froth of
fright-gone-wrong for all.
This same guy has been encased in ice for several days and lived; he has also being
buried six foot under the ground for a few days, he’s used to whatever happens.
I have learned on a thing or two from this stunt, among them a point which has
always bothered me with such displays. Diane Sawyer, of ABC-TV asked him if he wore a
catheter at such times. Yes, he does. Mother Nature demands that much, I suppose. I
glad to know that bit of sanitation information.
I do not know the man’s name.
Do you recall the name of the man who walked a wire strung between the two
former Trade Towers in New York City years ago?
Whoever he is, or was, he doesn’t have to worry about anyone else breaking his record.
Who would ever want to do so puzzles me.
Evil Knievel made a name for himself years ago jumping motorcycles over things
and places - cars and canyons - with bone shattering success.
‘Way back we had gladiators at the local arena on a regular schedule, some under
duress and others, presumably, in the business for kicks. In our more modern circus we have
had trapeze artists and others defying natural laws often as edited by Death’s cruel pen.
If we chose to believe statistics available which make us more aware of mortality or
injuries from automobiles, we’d all be walking to work each morning. Then, upon reading
other charts which show that one of the most dangerous things you might do would be
to walk to work, you might decide to stay at home and call in sick for the day - sick of
scary stats..
This is a free country, remember. If some people choose to do some freakish acts
which seem to endanger their own lives, they have a right to do, as long or as much as
they think they can get by doing it.
Just why and how it can be considered an entertainment attraction for the rest of
us is another point for consideration.
A.L.M. May 23, 2002 [c475wds]
Monday, July 01, 2002
MAY 22, 2002
THE CHANDRA LEVY CASE
The skeleton remains of Chandra Levy were found today by a man walking his dog in
Rock Creek Park in Washington, D. C.
Police searched the area “diligently” a year or so ago because it was a prime site for
wrongdoing against the girl. It was considered to be special because she had “talked” with a
unidentified someone on her computer just before she left her apartment some time after
one o’clock on the day she disappeared.
It is now being assumed she went there to do her usual jogging routine and it is ,once
again, an being assumed that the person to she had been writing on her laptop computer
knew she was going there and may have turned in the park area as well.
So the mystery has re-opened with many new ramifications now that the body has
been found.
In the mind of many, this latest development clears Congress man Gary Condit of any
complicity in the crime, but there will be some who will stand firmly against him, not so much
because they believe he was implicated in some manner, but due to the fact that he
withheld in the early days of the investigation. He finally revealed he had an affair with the
young intern. His political career has been ruined and he was not re-elected. Strangely
enough, Condit was among those who loudly proclaimed that President Bill Clinton should
come clean about this sexual scandal situations. So, many will say: “it serves him right.!”
Recriminations and innuendo are growing. The body has been found. It was primarily
identified by examination of dental records.
The D.C. Police will be criticized for not examining the Rock Creek Park area more closely
but the mystery of who killed Chandra Levy and why remains a special case for the District
police. Any case which has generated international news coverage almost automatically
becomes a thorn in the flesh for law enforcement personnel at any level. When other cases
have been forgotten, this sort of situation will hang on for many years and be used to make
police systems seem inadequate and inept.
The Levy case is not solved. The all-out media coverage this evening gives an illusion
that such is the case, and this can only harm the necessary investigation which is underway.
We learn from error.
The discovery of Chandra Levy’s underlines the need for both police and the public to
be more concerned about the hundreds of such cases which remain unsolved concenring
young girls who have disappeared. Three such cases exit in the District of Columbia alone
which suggests that a serial killer may be on the loose.
The search for Levy’s has just begun. Remember the dead body now identified as that
of Chandra Levy was discovered by a man walking his dog. Civilians have an important role
in seeking wrongdoers. It should not be left entirely to the police. Each of us has a responsibility
to our fellow citizens to be aware of our mutual, unwavering war against crime and to assist
police in any way we can.
A.L.M. May 22, 2002 [c526wds]
SAFER?
Now that our twenty-five thousand airport security search personnel have been
transformed into federal employees, do you feel any safer?
Actually, if there is really any safety in numbers, you ought to feel much better,
much more secure from in-flight suicide bombers and the like, because the number of
such employees on the federal payroll federal payrolls is approaching sixty-thousand, and
shows no signs of stopping until it is deemed politically correct!
It is not required that such personnel be American citizens, either, which makes it
interesting to see the number of non-citizens growing steadily. Pay remains minimal but
the flow of new employees remains steady because benefits are good. Language
requirements are not specified, either.
All newcomers should become aware, of course, as to which political party pushed
this legislation through the Congress and they will be expected to get qualified, one way
or another, to vote in the elections upcoming and to influence their friends and families
and anyone else to do so - especially those who have citizenship papers in order.
The alternate plans, you may recall, was to have airport surveillance people hired
by private firms working under strictly enforced Federal rules and regulations. This had
been the rather haphazardly supervised plan which had been in use previous to
September 11th. It all became suspect after the Trade Towers and the Pentagon
tragedies became a symbol for making quick reforms in the minds of so many people who
have never worried about such problems before. That brought in a host of amateur
do-gooders and followers and they, in turn, accepted, without question the panacea set
forth when the whole thing was made, unfortunately, into a political thing. It was speedily
passed and became law and now we see it speedily changing to accommodate itself to
political rather than airport safety and security needs.
The burgeoning bulk of new inspection people come to the front lines of airport
security virtually untrained and without practical experience in their work routines. The
airlines are experiencing enough hazards in trying to stay alive as business firms and
inadequate or incapable inspection personnel at the local airports will not help built
consumer confidence as to the safety of air travel.
Unless air traffic can be increased, our airlines face almost certain disaster.
Of course, we could, then, “federalize” all pilots and maintenance crews.
Would that make you feel safer when you fly?
A.L.M. May 21, 2002 [c410wds]
June 25, 2002
TELL IT RIGHT
When we allow Truth to become trite there’s trouble.
You see it often in the home, in business and in so many facets of human
communication.
You have, no doubt, heard the Oriental admonition to those who seek to create
interesting flower arrangements. The rule suggested is: “Less Is More”.” That’s true in much
of what we do, as well.
It is difficult to know when to stop.
When we realize a certain fact to be true and accurate, we ,so often, think we
must tell others. Fine. It is good to pass along knowledge, but to repeat that bit of
information until it become tiresome to the other person is wrong. To force them to do so
is even worse. We have seen good laws come into being only to go wrong when the
populace was required to follow that path; forced to abide by the new rulings. Rebellion
can be expected at such times.
History shows that it may be a slow process, but there are indications that it, almost
always, works that way. Excessive demands invite opposition.
Witness the career of Oliver Cromwell and his type who impose religious “truths” on
civic governments. It results, in time, in a restoration of the previous a pattern of living.
The so-called “Victorian Era” was typified by people who were pretending they
were what they were not. Social rules were set and reset only to be abused and
demonized at regular intervals resulting in a gradual decline of even the most
commendable concepts.
Our own debacle with the Volstead Act should be proof enough that such
situations do come about. Our Tax Code needs revision, too. It has grown so large as to
be grossly non-understandable. It is good thing for a nation to collect reasonable
amounts of tax from its citizens to provide for their needs, but it can be overdone in many
ways, too. The truth of its goodness is warped by excessive tangents and vague
variables.
We need to take a careful look from time to time at our “Truths” - those basics
whereby we live, to make sure we have not abused them in any way or pushed them to
far, too soon - upon others, in particular. Our form of Democracy might be right for us
but to impose it arbitrarily on others may sew the seeds of havoc for all concerned. To set
up a government on the same terms for others will not always work as planned. far better
to seek out the Truths those people hold dear and build on such values as a solid
foundation for lasting government which they can call their own.
A.L.M. June 25, 2002 [c454wds]
MAY 20, 2002
BASEBALL BUMMER
Just what we needed!
A potential baseball strike on top of the terrorist attack!
Why can’t we space these things out a little better?
This week the headlines have dealt heavily with the “possible baseball strike in the offing”.
It sounds as if both side are feeling us out in advance to see how we might react to another
baseball black out.
It strikes me... no, I shouldn’t have used that word - it just shows I’m not thinking any
clearer, at the moment, than the teams and the owners.
Thus far, no one has said anything of real substance and unless someone says something
with some real meat and bone to it before too long ESPN and others who make a living
talking about it’s vagaries are going to have a rough time filling air space allotted to our
national past time and its problems.
I can picture players and owners poring over their mail -incoming e or otherwise, trying to
decide if fans will take it all again. If they seem a bit leery, kick the “soft” pedal before they
get the dissonant tune too firmly in mind and start singing their own little song of rebellion.
From my boonie bleacher seat, I’d say I already miss it and it ain’t even gone yet! Just the
threat of a baseball strike goes against my ole American grain in some odd way.
Apparent the players and the owners all seem to think certain inequities have come about
in the financing of the game, and they are both probably right. Someone went g way out on
the financial limb with those fantastic deals some players have and they have forgotten that
the average Joe-player who doesn’t make anywhere near that much. Most of them would
have to outdo Satch Paige’s fifty-nine years
- most of them in baseball - before they could do half as well as their well-off brethren. The
average player needs some better recompense, however, just to keep tab with the times.
Owner say several teams are losing money, but, thus far, no one seems to be carting open
books around showing how and when or even where.
Let’s keep the playing field level, as much as possible with a mound where the pitchers hold
forth, and let’s play by the rules rather than by sandlot improvisations.
One would think that the game which relies so much on the judgment of umpires, referees
and coaches and accepts their
instant decisions as final would have little trouble solving economic and labor problems
without convoluted agonies for themselves and others, at every turn.
A.L.M. MAY 20, 2002
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