Tuesday, May 31, 2005
SUPER PARENTS If you are of the opinion that you and your spouse might qualify to be called “super parents”, think again. Alasdair McGregor, who writes in the Norwich, England “Evening News 24”,(today May 31st) of Lee and Sue Tutton who hold that title for giving foster home care to over sixty boys and girls in the past decade, in addition to raising three of their own. The experiences of this Tivetshall St. Mary couple are genuine. Both have experienced turbulent lives and know, first-hand, what it can be for a children growing up in foster homes. They got started when Sue's younger sister -fifteen at the time- ran away from her foster home and came to stay with them. Social Services suggested steps to be taken whereby they could legally become foster parents and she became the first of the sixty who have stayed with them. McGregor has set forth one of the few articles on this subject which tells both the good and the not-so-good ciao good information concerning g it. Lee and Sue Tutton, married sixteen years, have been honest, sincere and realistic since the day they started. It does take money and anyone who even thinks of it as an income-producing business is dreaming. Lee owns the “K&S Limo” service and Sue owns the “L&s Bridal Wear” shop, in nearby Diss. Lee says” he grew up with five brothers and sisters in his time, three dads and several uncles. ...so , in some ways,” he says, “ I know where the kids are coming from.” Sue Tutton grew up in London pubs and she has said often that if they give a child a happy, relaxed home and they choose o stay with us it is a big boost for all of us.” They speak of changes in the children - no two exactly alike - and lament the few who have run afoul of the Law. They beam with pride when they speak of the accomplishments of those who have prospered in their extended family. Now, after a decade of more child rearing, it must be truly a family which if growing in number. I was unaware that English regulations forbid foster parents from contacting their charges once they have left their home for a new one, or to return to that of their real parents. If you are in any way connected with foster homes and the care of children in need, urge you to take time to visit the Norwich paper: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk. Read the article: ”Meet the proud parents of 65 kids.” As soon as this page is on line, I am doing a “Thank you” note to Alasdair McGregor who is by-lined in the Norwich paper with his URL:al.mcgregor@archant.co.uk. A.L.M. May 31, 2005 [c473wds]
Monday, May 30, 2005
FRANCE ONCE MORE I seem to be at odds with France once again. This time it came about rather suddenly, when, in yesterday's voting, the French people refused approval for the new European Union constitution. They are the first nation which has disapproved the document which was largely formulated in France. Exactly how much damage has been done to the overall project is uncertain at this time. The vote in France brought out about seventy per cent of eligible voters which is high but opposition has centered on the problems presently associated with France's rising unemployment figures, a fear of foreign workers flooding the work areas, and, in general, all opposition against President Jacques Chirac which has been aroused to help defeat the acceptance of anything to do with European Union. About fifty-five percent of the eligible voters opposed the Union. A few days earlier the voters of Netherlands faced a like situation. Opposition to European Union was louder and more organized than it was in France but EU supporters in the Netherlands mounted a damage control program which was designed to overcome fears of failure and wild cases of being inundated with free market workers and wares. Political factions will make the most of this. The have declared EU to be dead. They have called for the resignation of J. Chirac. Twenty-five nations must sign. Nine have done so. Austria, Hungary, Italy, Greece, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. The date we must all keep in mind will be: November l, 2006. Will France fare better as the only holdout? A.L.M. May 30, 2005 [c274wds]
Sunday, May 29, 2005
DOMENSIONS IN SPEECH How can it be, I find myself wondering , that the planet Earth on which we live, can seem to be shrinking and becoming smaller while, at the same time, there is plenty of evidence that insists it is also maturing, even growing larger at the same time? Just as we do in the so many of our defenses again life's more harsh circumstances, we often deceive ourselves by making strange uses of our connective quality we call “language” or “speech”. We can, if speech is seen as a means of attaining unity, see it also as being an active ingredient in the recipe for friction, failure, rumors of, then, conditions of actual war. At such times we can even make use of the very same words as we re-use them to bring about the opposite view. Some curious uses are made of terms which prove cooking up of real boil, and even double-bubble boil and trouble cauldrons to be a common political diversion. The world is, at best, and ally rather than a friend. Living has never been easy. It demands involvement and the exercise of special cautions to avoid or minimize conflicts and to encourage understanding, tolerance, and empathy in various social areas. If we Americans can permit our legislative governmental officials to bicker over petty things such as that which have been commonplace during the past few weeks as “outs” have tried to filibuster nominations made by the “ins” - to death. Such childish harangues are hardly to be called statesmanship. The willingness of certain political leaders to take a public stand on such a silly subject, might well serve as an indication of weaknesses of their other stated beliefs. One redeeming point I have found to be in all of this to-do about all this change of rules tactic is found in the fact that not one party member has stepped up to say how proud he is that his vote recipient stood forth in such a manner for the poor, put-upon and mis-treated minorities. A.L.M. May 29, 2005 [c356wds]
Friday, May 27, 2005
THEY WENT THAT 'A WAY! Edward L. Ayers, who is the ”Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History” at the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, Virginia also serves Thomas Jefferson's fine establishment as ”Dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.” Two such fine titles such as those certainly qualify him as a man who has seen college students come and go in sufficient numbers, varieties, and a wide gamut of potentials to sorted out as types and to some determinations applied as we wonder how they may evolve academically. In a short preface-editorial in the June 2005 edition of “Arts & Sciences” magazine, concerned with special regard concerning the choices students make of degree programs available, Dean Ayers included this comment: “Serendipity strikes in other cases when young graduates end up happily doing something they never dreamed of.” I am thankful that such a superbly qualified educator has spoken out and made this type of graduate problem a possible subject for serious discussion when degree guidelines are being considered. It is more than ever of importance that colleges and universities begin to take flexibility of degree qualifications more seriously. The obvious increasing “diploma mills” and marked tendency to acceptance such a farcical structures as multi-million dollar business in the print media and on the Internet. Just a glance at drop-out figures shows how more-and-more students are giving upon college because it has lost meaning for them as an antiquated amalgam of ideas, ideals and imagines of by-gone eras. Thomas Jefferson had in mind, it seems, that which he called he called and education which “was broad, and liberal and modern”. Few of today's college and universities can assure those qualities in that which they offer today. The present system uses “broad” to mean “width” or “mass”.The number of courses being offered b y a school grows longer - so much so that, a decade ago,it was being noised about that a student would,have to attend classes eight hours per day for five hundred and four years to “take” all of the courses offered by Harvard. That would seem to have been “broad” enough. Jefferson's second term “liberal” has been warped and re-woven to allow it to appear to suggest a variety of meanings. The most popular twist, perhaps, is to speak of it as as being “politically correct” which can be said in scorn or praise by patron or foe alike. The term ”modern” changes as it is being said or written. It fails many a college graduate as he attempts to associate it with today's world in which he has to live and vie with others to attain and hold a worthy place. If it is to be a working system he find he must modify it to suit his preset-day needs. There's a real threat, too, in accepting “modern” and turning to faddish futuristic farce. Business leaders need more “serendipity” graduates in their working ranks. Educators, too, might find it to be wise to make room for several, as well. A.L.M. May 27, 2005 [c524wds]
Thursday, May 26, 2005
BOIL AND BUBBLE The complexity of some days can prove to be an adventure. We are called upon to face up to problems which are foreign to our ways of thinking and knowing and we are, then, forced to seek guidance and help we feel we must have and we turn to those men and women trained, experienced and more aware of the those subtitles, often unique, areas of learning concerned. We acknowledge and accept Truths in existence beyond our awareness of their being available. I can understand, and even agree, to some extent, with those people who insist that those persons who have always had everything their own way; seemingly free from any real setbacks, living in a near-perfect settings determined, usually, by mis-applied love from doting parental or even grand-parental caregivers – can also be among the world most miserable individuals. There can be no one more certain way by which you can be certain to give your child a miserable adulthood than to be overzealous in protecting hem from all mishap or ill fortune. The ultimate tragedy is even larger than it might appear to be. You see a genetic portion of yourself in your child and may feel sorry to see it mis-spent or even wasted by unseemly conduct. Their example causes others - spouse, children, friends, - even strangers who follow their example in living outside the natural standards of excellence demanded of us by our creator. Fortunate, indeed, are you if you can sincerely and quite naturally append the terms “sustainer” and “redeemer” to that word “creator”. It is the resurgence of our faith in the Lord that we will, in time, bring an end to our miseries - both great and small. Since the very first line of this page I have intended to say that when it came out. It may strike some as an easy way out. It is. There is nothing difficult in acknowledging God's overlord ship of all. Our Congress can continue to gather in caucus, conclave or clique to haggle endlessly over terms and words and other courts in the nations - both old and new – can do the same. All are, however, subject to the Word which has,long ago, been set. Penitent prayer would seem to be the most likely stance of the moment. But, gently. Our nation, though showing signs of doing so, is not yet ready for a genuine, long lasting religious revival. Ask yourself, why not? A.L.M. May 26, 2005 [c422wds]
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
TWO UNKNOWNS I often think of how grateful we ought to be as citizens of a nation of our very own, marked as being distinctive in many ways, ought to be especially grateful for two things we do not know. Such negative philosophy is not often applauded, or even mentioned in public, less we be thought of as being inherently stupid and unaware of what makes us “tick” as a governing mechanism designed and built by men and women not unlike our own sum and substance. During recent weeks with all the hassle about those elected officials we insist on calling “Senators” have been engaged in playing an enlarged version of a silly little poly-play game called “filibustering “. If it gets started, one side has to keep talking to prevent the other side cannot say anything... and it's all said to be legal, too. I have been wondering what might have been fermenting in the mind of Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia who is now is now the sole remaining super-filler-blustering champion since Strom Thurmond stopping talking and hence, assumed to be dead. Byrd is no slouch at it and kicks off bluster like he does one of his endless fiddle tunes. Back in 1999 we were in a snit about putting our entire Constitution of our States United on line along with a time-line study which would tell exactly what it had been, what it seemed to be then, and to guess-to-mate and what it might be to us for us now in the next century. Some wanted to do a “plain” text version which would enable all know what the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and other such documents said and how the Constitution's writers are supposed to have summed it all up. One of enduring qualities of our present system is that it cannot be pinned down absolutely and definitely to favor a specific concept without allowing for potential changes and modifications. Cataloging the nationals Constitution in such a way would have been a tragic thing , and it is entirely possible that it will all come up again that faction wish to do so. And, I am in favor of retaining the “Star-Spangled Banner” as our national anthem, too I may not sing it well; I may not play it properly to keep the high note within reasonable distance, but I have felt” what it can mean - on several occasions in my life time. A simple little tune invites parodies and demeans our being what we ought to be. A.L.M. May 25, 2005 [c442wds]
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
FIRST BOW While we were having our evening meal, we were entertained by an electrical storm trying to form itself off to the west. It was not a severe storm for the spring time of the year. It had started with the appearance of a long, gray, forbidding-looking gray cloud stretched out from what seemed to be the entire length of the Appalachian mountain range which formed a very real wall prevented the eastward passage of storms to the East. Since they were anticipated and expected to start, showers arrived in the Valley almost without being noticed. Sudden hurried winds, however, scudded quickly through and thereby called some attention to the actual arrival of the storm. Large raindrops fell, lightening flashed, stabbed and shattering strands of thunder rolled and rumbled over the Valley's undulations. The proclamation of it presence roared and rolled across the Valley from the northwest. The rain was not too heavy, but we could see the floods spattering on the boards of the deck just outside the great, glass window-door The storm had competition that particular night, because that was the evening champion trivia-quizzer Ken Jennings returned to “Jeopardy” in the first of a three-part, two million dollar run off. The storm just had to wait until we found out how Jennings fared in this long-awaited competition. We were pleased that he did well and he “will, be back tomorrow “ One of our four daughters, Babara, took one of her grandchildren who, then, is on of our great-grands – Dakota Fulk – to the front porch to see the rainbow. Little Dakota, barely learning to talk, had not the slightest idea, of what a rainbow might be... but off they went. The storm spent itself quickly. Bright stabs of sunlight came washing over the Valley from due west and a rainbow was a sure thing . I watched Ken Jennings finish up and, while standing near the door saw, to the south, a splendid rainbow. I issued a loud call and they came running. Do you remember your first rainbow? The little boy Dakota didn't know where to look for that sort of thing. He quickly scanned the lawn area, and when he looked up there could be no doubt but that he had discovered what a rainbow should be .. all the world's natural colors on display!. One of us oldsters – probably me and my big mouth - mentioned that the rainbow would go away... die... fade into nothingness. Dakota protested with “No!“ but , even rainbows, he agreed need rest and sleep. In the final moment he seriously bid the rainbow a “Goodnight” and a “Good-Bye”'. I wondered what the small boy was thinking. Do you remember how nice it was talking to your first rainbow? A.L.M. May 23, 2005 [c970wds]
Saturday, May 21, 2005
“SWEET PEA” We were just sitting around shooting the front porch breeze one sunny afternoon a week or so ago when one talker shifted his rocking chair a bit and lamented what he called the “fact” that our Commonwealth of Virginia - rich in so many ways - did “not have a well-known pro boxer.” ”Not even an uno - not a single one of 'em” And, encouraged by a lack of listings he started calling off all the others - Arthur Ashe in Tennis, someone else suggested Ralph Sampson and the mention of that name reminded some one of Alonzo Mourning, another basketball great from Chesapeake via Miami Heat. Several voices contributed the name Moses Malone, 76ers-Philly... born Petersburg, Va. Quickly, into football: Lawrence Taylor, Williamsburg, NY Giants, Hall of Famer 1999; Bruce Smith, Tech-Bills-Redskins. Before they could jump into Virginia's golf-bag owners, I inserted what was to be my total comment for the session. “How about remembering RING Magazine's 1989 “Boxer of the Year” for 1989? He used was “Sweet Pea” ....and others took over: “Right! “Sweet Pea”, out of my own home town of Norfolk, Virginia.They immediately went into some of the events of Whitaker career, and said he was now retired. Oddly enough my only knowledge about Pernell was the result of writing a story years ago and learning the difference between a WW which he was at times– a Welterweight - and also, when had been seven pounds lighter - a Junior Welterweight. I found there are twenty-three such categories of fisticuff fighters. Sweet Pea Whitaker stayed in the 140-147 pound area which caused him to be listed as WW and JWW. The twenty-three levels go from l05 pounds - called “Strawweight” or “SW.” It would be nice fall if the weights went up in some definite sequence such as five pounds a jump, but such is not the case. If a SW gains 8 pounds he become a SSW which is, the same as a Junior Lightweight Weight” or JLW. You can stay at that weight or gain to 108 pounds and become a LFW (Light Fly Weight”) if you wish ,or a fully fledged fly if your weight edges up to112-pounds. You then work your way up though the Bantams to about 130, 135 and 140 lbs. That's about where “Sweet Pea “ stayed - from JWW-Junior Welterweight which is the same as Super Lightweight at 140 pounds. Imagine! Eight more classes to go! Professional boxer Pernell Whitaker, born January 2, 1964 at Norfolk, Va, was one of the truly great of our time. He was our lightweight medalist at the 1984 Olympic games and held world championships in both Welterweight and Lightweight divisions in his pro-career. A.L.M. May 21, 2005 [c467wds]
Friday, May 20, 2005
MY MAMA'S SAYIN'S All mothers, in caring for their offspring, devise, pilfer, copy or just started saying terse reminders to let their charges know who the real boss was in the home. Such unofficial rules and regulations were, at least in our household, mixed with humor and good cheer. I think my mother sensed that such guidelines to more acceptable and proper conduct were more respected and most effective because they were almost always said with a background which showed we, as a family, had a sense of good humor My grandfather on my mother's side was something of an actor as well as being quite capable and qualified to be a decent carpenter as means of earning a living. He, I think, as a small kid and into teen-hood, wanted to become a jolly musical personage. He ofgen joked about his having gone wrong and allowed himself himself to become what he called "a wood butcher." I have a idea many of mother's sayin's came, a one time or another, from under or through Grandfather John Loeffert's generous mustache. "Never stick anything in you ear except your elbow!" The immediate reaction, of course, was to try what he intimated could not be done. It couldn't and we learned some practical, common sense rules about being careful from a grown man who had been a carpenter all his life and still had all of his fingers. Even if the witticism was not his originally. I've known others who grew up hearing that one, but once they had Grandaddy's stamp of approval they seem to have become his. Every time my older brother and I said anything about going either swimming or fishing - anything associated with water in quantity - mother would usually give her permission by warning: "...but, I don't want to see either one of you come home drown-ded!" If, on an occasion when things were not moving as fast or as well as we thought they could, we'd look dissappointed; frown a lot , make ugly faces to express our displeasure and Mom would comment: "Some day your face is gonna freeze like that!" I still get some verbal mileage out of one such sayin. It's best saved until the Fall of the year in November. Youngters still like it; older folks don't always think it is so funny. When you enter a room where others are present or when others enter a room where you are, issue a loud, friendly greeting announcing " Awright! Awright! You can take that funny face mask off now! Halloween is over!" A.L.M. May 20, 2005 [c441wds]
Thursday, May 19, 2005
DON'T MESS WITH 'EM! I have never actually seen an animal known as a "pangolin".And, from the nature of the talk which I keep hearing about this strange mammal, I think I'd just as soon maintain my distance from them. The feed all night and sleep all day, which is contrary to my liking, for example. And, while they are adequately prepared to defend themselves they have a habit of giving up - simply rolling themselves into a ball and lying still pretending danger is not really close by or even in the area. When threatened, they pull in their retractable legs - all four of them - and ,as their very name says in Malay - literally roll themselves into tight, scaly balls . The would appear to be like giant doodlebugs facing up to danger by pretending it isn't really there. Their very name means "to roll up" in the Malay language They have strong legs and simply retract all four of them when they feel they are threatened; roll up tightly. The sharp edges of their scales stick out a bit like razor-edged knives so finders who think they can be keepers have some second thoughts about taking possession thereof and they seldom kick the balls around a second time. Pangolins sleep that way all day in the crotch of a tree, a stump or a cliff side opening. They have a have a prehensile tail, scale-studded, which they can used to hang from a limb and which can be used defensively with amazing agility. They also have scent glands very much like those of the skunk and spray their foes in a like manner . Very few pangolins remain. It is partly due to their non-aggressive habits but their skins are very much in demand for the making of belts, straps and shoes and boots of all kinds. There is also a soup on the side menu at many native eating places, as well. There are eight species. None of them have teeth. Being primarily eaters of bugs they have little need for dentures, but they do have a tongue that merits special comment. The long-tailed type measures, perhaps, three feet in length; the giant model comes to about six feet in length and that one has a tongue that measures two feet in length. and the base of the tongue is anchored to the pangolin's hip bones which suggests the leverage they have at their command. It can run on two feet , too, in a chase. In have no particular plans to visit Central Africa or Southeastern Asia - the two termite-infested spots on Earth pangolins love best. I say leave 'em be ... right where they are. A.L.M. May 9, 2005 [c461wds]
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
STRAWS As far as I know, the meaning of the old saying that had to do with "grabbing at straws" has not been modified. It declared a feature or fact of life to have become obsolete or modernized to get rid of the old horse and buggy era term "straw". The old, established meaning, for me a least for me, has always been that when a person in distress feels all is about lost and that a deluge is overdue which may strip away all that their wealth - even their lives - such persons will reach out for any kind of support. They, in desperation, will grasp at straws. Recently, as successful series of television program have reached that point a when those in charge making them start thinking "this is enough" patterns. Unspoken reason behind such moves will prove to be money and the ability to make additional funds available from reruns and other uses of TV properties. "Raymond" was the last to go." And, production people - and writers in particular - very wisely avoided trying do a show that was supposed tool outdo everything they had done. Instead they used snippets, clips, whole chunks and routines from various "Raymond" shows to exhibit the breadth of talent the people possessed and used with such wisdom. Maybe you have a feeling, as I did , that they were parading more others than of Raymond himself ...which the show itself did when it was really rolling. His brother, his parents across the street, his co-workers, his wife - they were all featured. People like that in a hero to worship and Raymond has a loyal following of viewer's who see him always as a modest, unassuming , smart and and street-smart as well. Always humorous, too rather than comical; an individual somehow above just a comedian in their definitions and yet not a stuffy thespian, either. The best shows are dying off. That's not an elegant way to say it, but that's the way TV viewers are saying it. Count 'em, yourself - from "M A.S.H.", if you like. Your favorites - dropping off one by one like ripened fruit. It is to be expected. It is natural. That's the way the crumpet crumbles. Now, the grasping at straws... It is being done by TV production people all the way up and down the complicated chain in and out of agencies, individuals with their whims and wishes, groups, schools, labs, arty enclaves of experimental education, labs as well as slob-centered groups who feel they alone are aware of just what tomorrow's TV shows must be. The people now charged with replacements of the departing shows have had a dismal record. Each group feels it to be incumbent upon them that they must issue bulletins concerning fined show which will replace the departing favorite. Thus far, they seem to have trouble keeping viewers away from watching reruns on "those other channels." You may also have noticed that "those others" always mentioned the final Raymond show was in the offing. I am sure scores of viewers think they saw the final "Raymond" show. Seeing a worthy replacement is a long way down the TV production road. A.L.M . May 18, 2005 [c537wds]
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
EVERY MINUTE As I read the day's news I am often struck by the frequency of deceptions in the events of the day. How could people be so dumb? At the same time, I am aware that people may be looking at me and having identical thoughts about my actions, lack of them, odd decisions and, at times, some strange ways. I suppose we are all likely candidates for being victims of con schemes...expecially self-induced ones. We can all be conned in a wide variety of ways, I'm sure. A common area for such willingness to be scammed can been seen today in the medical and health products fields. Any figures you care to come up with will, in all likelihood, be away off base in estimating the amount of money spent on fake medications or diluted substances. Fraud and deceptions are running rampant in the medical field and just about all of us have fallen victim to them at one time or another....unwittingly or knowingly under the guise of curiosity and adventurous experimentation.. The weakness is evident many segments of our society. The victims of deception are to be found educated and affluent are a prime target for such deceptive practices as well. They are a costly target as well, because they have a marked tendency not to tell others how they have been "taken" . Less than legal business practices are, tempting to the newly rich, in particular. It's part of "Sudden Wealth Syndrome" which we are hearing about in this time of new millionaires being created faster than ever before. Health fads fool more people than we might imagine. Many such schemes operate -some legally (more or less) - for many years and build large followings. Thousands of people are "taken" daily by so-call vitamin products in pills and capsule form.... all colors, all sizes and shapes, shaped and styled to suit the imagined need of men, women and children. The edge of the medical field is also home to far too many charlatans practice pseudo-doctor careers at great profit - preying on the aged and infirm. "Man's gambling instincts often rule our lives far more than we admit. The readiness to be conned is evident in just about every field of man's varied occupational interests. No one is totally immune. Deception leads to intolerance, too. Racial and ethnic differences are turned from mole hills into mountains for monetary reasons and thousands of people "buy into" such tangential thinking, a great cost to all of us. Few of us escape the common enemy of fraud. "Charity" campaigns often play on our gullible nature to forward other ends. We all need to re-examine our thinking along these lines from time-to-time....especially concerning "self-deceptions." A.L.M. May 17, 2005 [c474wds]
Monday, May 16, 2005
BETTER In recent weeks we have all started to see more and more outline maps of Central American nations as well as those of nation of the lower half of this western hemisphere in our papers...from Mexico on down. This geographical switch is part of another round of Trade Agreements - this time with those nations to the south. I have a feeling it is the best suggestion we have heard thus far Remember the last time we did that? Ross Perot warned of a dreaded "sucking sound" of our economy oozing elsewhere.By this time we all know the "sound".It is very real.. It is very real and we a just beginning to realize here in the United States share of such profits have moved elsewhere and that the suggest plan has some redeeming qualities we might find to our advantage. We have No on can claim one system to be the "best", but it does seem this new plan found that the old marketing concept of supply and demands and in need of some changes.. We could determine quite accurately how profits from that exchange and it was, for the most part, a mutually interactive procedure. The present system, as it has evolved, dictates by scarcity what, when and whom one might buy a product or service locally. Profits go to foreign governments distant and also removed from our social structure in so many ways. We have, at last, come understand that our industrial capacity is a thing of the past. It no longer exists and we have become a dependent, recipient, consuming nation relying more and more on foreign ownership. Profits go there; not here. We are finding more reasons daily to be concerned about the products and services to which we have become accustomed; certain. products or services we deemed to be important for the survival of our selves and of our families of four or five individuals. We were not concerned so much with luxury items but with those much-needed things - clothing, housing, food, medical supplies and equipment gadgets to pride better better communications one with the other, and, in many cases, some support in funding various institutions we deemed to be of special value: churches, schools, hospitals, or worthy charity needs. The new suggested plan shifts some of the industrial manufacturing activities closer to home as a welcome mans of earning stability and building pride in accomplishment for our neighbors. I say - go for it. A.L.M. May 16, 2005 c426wds]
Sunday, May 15, 2005
THE RIGHT MOVES It happened during our last presidential election, I'd say, that voters were heard discussing quite openly and seriously, the possibilities of our electing a woman as President of the United Nations. The "some day" element was no longer a part of the suggestions. The word "maybe" was discarded. Two names kept coming to the forefront, and each with good reason. Hillary Clinton was, perhaps, the leader in most of the earlier suggestions and I remember Elizabeth Dole being suggested as a possible candidate. There were others but it was Hillary Rodham Clinton who, more or less led, the short parade in the earlier days. Then, with the Bush administration the name Condoleezza Rice took hold, wavered a bit, perhaps, but steadied as she moved into prominence - first as wartime advisor to our President then as Secretary of State following a man who will long be remembered for his generous endorsment of her. As such she became something more than advisor in any limited sense. She became an active participant in actual events which become our history. Since that time, many voters have been watching and listening as each can be plainly seen making prepreparations of such runs. One is a dedicated Democrat who has, in her Senatorial capacities, been rapidly back-paddling to take on a somewhat more conservative or middle-ground aspect prior to election time. The other, a Republicana would face and opponent who has had full-term, first-hand experience serving as the nation's First Lady and owner of valuable inside-the-beltway living know-how. Our purpose is not to conduct a plebesite in which the relatived popularity of the two personalities is judged but rather one to deal with government problems. Such an election would be a glittering one, no doubt. but with the actual citizens voting ...but rather the political ideas they stand for and espouse in the public forums. To many people -primarily non-voters - the election will be "Hillary" or "Conde". We will have many such feminine trappings too our election but, basically it will be much of what it has been. Underneath all such interest in such an election there are two facts, we don't about which can kill all interest in any such contest. Hillary must show she is not Bill. And, Condaleeza must deal with being black. A.L.M. May 14, 2005 [402wds]
Saturday, May 14, 2005
HOLIDAY I have had one holiday plan in mind for years, but I rather doubt that it will ever come to be a reality. There are logistical, financial and and semantic problems involved. I have been there before which may be the reason for delay and hesitation. Personal experience and that of others tells me that a second visit is never the same as that discovery visit years before. Perhaps its best to just put this plan aside and think of it as a trip which might have been a fine one. The place is that waterway located in East Anglia, England just a few miles north of the city of Norwich, in Norfolk. The village is Wroxham. It is best seen in Spring when the full,finest colors are in array and on display which is almost overdone. Every cottage owner seems to be bent on outdoing all others with flowers, shrubs, and trees of every type. You get the feeling you are visiting the place where artists find those ideal calender art pictures ...ornate, dipped in tinsel and good cheer. Wroxham shares a portion of the River Bure on the south bank the other back a bit on the north shore. Hoveton, I've been told, meant "a hill near the water" and Wroxham meant " a place frequented by buzzards." It is, today, however, frequented by thousands of renters of other types of water craft. I would like rent a houseboat and spend a month or so leisurely visiting and revisiting coves of "The Broads. While I'm wishing for such a thing, I might as well include a fine laptop computer so I can get my writing done. Wroxham also shows off what may well be the initial shopping mall arrangement for blanket merchandising of goods and services of all kinds. One of the first things I noticed when I first biked into Wroxham in 1944 from Salhouse-Rackheath way is that about eighty per cent of the real estate of the town seemed to be to be the private possession of one man named Roy! Shop after-shop, pub-after-pub, store-after-store, restaurants, petrol points, beauty salons, insurance brokerages, boot repair ...everything! There was the neatly painted red wooden sign saying it , too, was: "ROY'S". The store started in 1895 and is still doing well, I understand. Alfred and his brother Arnold members of a family named "Roy" in the village of Coltishall not too far away, started buying up troubled business firms; and refurbishing them with the intent of making money. They are today a disjointed shopping mall, a department store with stocks spread out all over town, including any ship chandler's supplies you feel you need You can visit Roy's by rail, highway or water. Anglia Railways serves Hoveton as a scheduled stop on their "Bittern Line". The narrow guage Bure Valley Railway runs between Wroxham an d Aylsham and during summer season and school holidays and summer season including "Boat Trains" which combine a narrow-gauger rail trip with a 90-minute boat trip. Off season they offer "Train Driving Classes"; you can buy or rent hiking equipment to take on the trails beside their tracks or camping out, or, a bike if you want to work out on the bike trails nearby. I'd like to vacation there if only to ascertain for sure if any of that is something that might now belong to Roy, as well. A.L.M. May 14,2005 [c580wds]
Friday, May 13, 2005
FRIDAY ONE THREE I've read several good articles recently urging more and better better planning in each and every project we undertake to do. We can all readily see that need and I, personally, have problem with one step: knowing when to stop "planning" and to take to "doing." I find that to have been a flaw in my planning plan for years. It has haunted me more than I like to admit. I've always been practicing and seldom performing. That's bad. Much that we do each day as we go about our living seems to be decided by forces outside of our control - Time, for instance, the Relative Ease with which a particular thing can be done, the weather outside or the the humidity inside... that sort of thing. At night, I have found myself, when I am unable to get back to sleep to be able to get drowsy by "planning" precisely what I intend to do the next morning. It can be a deadly dull routine. The things I plan are usually physical in nature - such as working a specific area of the garden or of the yard.Very seldom do conditions allow me to get the if I were back in condition to do so. That one has served me well over many years. It was good "therapy" , I found. By setting gardening goals I laid off a work plan for the next morning . In recent years, as I have slowed "up" or "down" or physically, I have gradually learned to replace physical plans with mental ones. I can now set a writing work plan for the next morning and doing so serves me in different ways, too. I feel that it ,too, mcan be called "good therapy". Deep down, I have to admit I could do so much better in so many thing if I did, indeed, plan ahead and work toward specific goals. I awaken with a sense of having accomplished some planning in my mind, but it very seldom carries over into practical physical change. When it does, however, the results are excellent. If, by chance, I do recall my plans during the night, I actually get specific work done because of it. I keep a small clipboard with paper and pencil at my bedside and jot down reminders of "things to do" for the next day. When I can read my notes, it helps. We are all aware, I'm sure of the wisdom of "taking time to smell the roses." Life should not be "all work and no play." For that very reason, I find that much of my "planning" is really "dreaming". It is good to dream because it is planning with potential; a promise of betterment in Tomorrow's activities and, in a way, we are, in doing so, setting up goals for attainment - however high or grand. Much of my planning is, I think, based on my interpretation of a word-of-wisdom my Mother used to use with us in a effort to teach us basics of housekeeping. "Always leave very room just a little bit better than your found it.!" If every member of a family follows that simply, easy rule it cancels the need for "Spring Cleaning", for "Getting-Ready for Company", for "Here Comes The Preacher!"and a host of other such household emergencies. It applies quite aptly to other aspects of our living, as well. If we plan our every hourly room so that it makes the area better than it was when we entered it, we're making progress without even trying. Today - Friday the 13th of May 2005, is a good day to remember that attempts to rely on luck, happisstance, or any voodoo-ish system is a waste of valuable time and effort. A.L.M. May 13, 2005 [c636wds]
Thursday, May 12, 2005
FORESIGHT There are times when we get the feeling we should have known would happen. I am not speaking of clairvoyant experience or of any magical potient or words or anything of that nature which is so often paired with any such skills of prophecy. It is more, I suppose as the old folks used to say so often: "I should have known better!" If we are truly aware of of exactly what has happened to us in the past a willing and capable of admitting any individual errors which led us to make any misjudgment when we had such an opportunity for choice and change. It is not to learn to change events, but rather that we might make better use of those elements which may work best with our plans for advancement. I suppose we might think of it as a sort of preview of a preface or a glimpse of a tentative sketch of the concept to be developed with Time. Hindsight often tells us we have missed like opportunities in the past concerning such adventures in living. It occurs to me, now that the U.S.S.R. has broken up, and other regimes of a like nature show evident signs of doing the same sort of thing, that we should have anticipated what was going to take place in the U.S.S.R. years ago. When any communist state begins a series of repressive measures within their own area designed to strengthen their hold on the people, we should look at such a campaign as one indication of doubts and weaknesses within the governing body of that state. They are showing doubts by insisting on "purification" of the basic tenets by which they have hold power. The only reason a dictatorial state has to declare a need for purification is the fact that ideology cracks and crevices are beginning to show. There is always a reason for someone being especially "good" when that has not been their demeanor most of the time. It is much like a child who anticipates the arrival of Santa Claus bearing gifts well in advance of the holiday season and who earnestly tries to improve his or her behavior to merit special gifts. In 1979-80, when Kosygin was Premier in the Soviet Union, he ranted at great length upon how improvements could only be brought about by more diligent adherence of the people to the old Marxist-Leninist package. The fact that such an emphasis was deemed to be necessary should have told us that the economic conditions in Russia were in a ferment and that people were discontent and complaining. Leonid Brezhnev was quite ill for a time and the power struggle that went on in the Kremlin should have been a textbook to us at the time concerning the future of the Soviet Union, but we failed to read it all properly, I suppose. Returns to Stalinist terror techniques were tried before the Politiburo realized that counter-offensive action was needed to muddy the public opinion waters a bit more throughout the Soviet Union. It was evident the public was getting to know too much and the old rules would take care of that - they thought. Happily for the world they proved to be in error. I dare say the advances in our communications systems had a great deal to do with the demise of the old Soviet system. Year by year the Soviet citizenry has become more and more aware of what goes on in the world. The Kremlin had to loosen it's traditional grasp on sources of information because it became more and more evident that the people actually knew more than officials thought they did about world events. They questioned the tinted versions they had been receiving Right now we are attempting to "read" what some people see as "Putin's doubts". A.L.M. May 12, 2005 [c601wds]
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
LESSON 5-11-05 I think it may we said that the American people did well on their first alert. May 11th around noon. Evacuation ordered for the halls of Congresss and other federal government sites. Unidentified aircraft were reported to be present four miles away. For those closely concerned, four miles was a about the same as nothing. Someone estimated as it was happening that the people leaving the buildings in our national capital had "about a fifty-six second warning" had it been a standard military aircraft ...even less if that plane had already launched a guided missle to do the actual hit. Is the "no-fly" zone around our national capital city large enough? Of course not. No such area is ever what it is said to be. And, to be effective must be more complicated than most taxpayer citizens would ever allow it to become. It, to be effective, would need anti-aircraft concentrations, in-air confrontation forces and barrier and absolute control of all land-traffic movement by the military. There are far too many variables involved to allow for multiple source decisions. An early time overview of the whole event, I think, indicates that the American people will take such things seriously. I think that was evident in public actions earlier. All of the expected types of evacuees were present except those who become subject to hysteria. It was evident, I felt, that this was being cosidered as being something more than reheresal or practice session. I had a good feeling about the general conduct of the departure. People moved along the sidewalks and pathways in a steady manner and with urging from police along the way. People in the lines followed those ahead of them seemingly confident that there was some one ahead of them who knew where they were going. One has to have been under an actual threat of this nature to realize that people play "roles" under such pressures. Older men tend to try to be what they have always hoped the would be under such dire circumstances; older women turn to romantic views caring for others, young boys and girls find they have to make decisions they had never faced before. That which is learned during such moments is not so easily forgotten when the "all clear" has sounded. I found myself wondering how it came to be that the specators in the balconies above the floor of the congressional bodies seemed to become aware of the alert a good minute or so ahead of those members of congress and their staff workers. I supposoe that will all be explained some day when it is determined how many cell phones, hand-held computers, TV sets and radios there were in use in the balconies. The spectators were up and about well ahead of the congressional staff and membership who were about ready to issue a general call to quell the disturbance in the balconies when they first became aware of the alert being under way. We need to study our actions of this day. We have a great deal to learn and lives may be affected. We must learn well, and soon. A.L.M May 11, 2005 [c544wds]
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
WHAT WE'RE READY FOR. We seem to stay in an agitated "state of readiness" since the new century got started. I don't recall any time in the recent past when were beset with such a conditions of many of which continually distract us over which we don't seem to have any real control. We have busied ourselves in gathering as many such problems as seems possible, under the common label of "Terrorism" with the possible hope that we might see their mutual evils and falseness as being potentially harmful to our national existence. We have been urged to make preparations for the defense of our homeland as a unit. It is difficult for many citizens to readily see what they view a silly, incidental, irksome things as being dangerous. Continuing stress in many areas around the world demand that we continue to make special preparations. Most the time, we are called upon to "be ready " just as a matter of routine and past training. Your need for readiness may come upon you rather suddenly when not to be ready could be costly? We so seldom enjoy the luxury of time in which to get ready. The injunction must, justifiably, be, then, to "be" or "stay" ready rather than to "get". We learned that much from the Boy Scouts, member or not. "Be Prepared" is a good slogan in whatever age group or social division one might find himself, or herself, to be. It is possible, as every college kid can tell you, to "cram" - to make all sorts of last minute arrangements if you know what the emergency is going to be - such as an exam on a subject you have been lax in studying about recently. How many of us are prepared for the surprises of our daily lives? Few, I dare say, in a strict sense. Most of us are content to "muddle though"..."get by"... or, "wing it". By and large, we do very well with this sort of conduct mainly because we are more prepared than we realize to met the common sameness and routine of our lives as a rule. Only when something comes up which is of an unusual nature do we realize that we are , at times, ill-prepared to cope with emergencies. One prepares for tomorrow with every second of today, of course. It might not appear to be a set pattern but those things which help us get through situations of concern one day will help us on another every more so. We learn from doing. That is why it is so important that we give detailed attention to what is happening at the "right now" time of our lives, because it can determine, to some extent, what is going to take place tomorrow and tomorrow. Maintaining good health is of prime importance, of course, for all of us. If you don't feel well; you won't do well. Proper rest and genuine sleep are essential in being prepared . We must learn to eat well and sensibly, too; drink moderately, or not at all, exercise within reason without taxing our fibers and functions unduly. Misguided and selfish preparations can be costly in many ways. Witness the "Y2K" panic we "survived". The strange madness which came upon normally "average" people during those pre-Century months has been hushed up now and we don't hear about what such people did with their massive stores of canned foods, gasoline, batteries, - you name it - which they piled up in preparation for something which didn't materialize. The same things happens on a smaller scale with many every day who plan from for things which are most unlikely to become a part of their actual experience. This is no time to Get Ready. We must Stay Ready. A.L.M.... May 10, 2005 [c637wds]
Monday, May 09, 2005
MANAGEDIf you get a feeling that there seems to have been a rather definte change in manner by which we express our political, social, military attitudes with various foreign powers,try not to be among those who seem to condemn such "management" as being a bad thing for the nation and for world understanding. Many critics express some strong doubts about a plan which enables President Gorge W. Bush to move about freely in a series of foreign "outposts" this week. They find it difficult to believe that a policy has been devised which makes it possible for George Bush to meet publically and to commiserate with the President of Latvia concerening the post-Hitler occupation of the Baltic States by the Soviets, when one the very next day of his tour, he will be meeting with his coungterpart in Moscow. Russia's Putin will, quite logically – from the Soviet point-of- view, not see the Baltic "occupation" as having been that at all. For the first time, such problems can be discussed openly and perhaps, we can make some real progress toward peaceful settlements based less on political values and more on human being qualities. Obviously, these steps have been planned or "managed". Certainly the Presidents of these nations did not, with whim-like frivolity decide it might be a good thing if they could try some melding for a change. The fact that our leaders can meet at such a level of mutual understanding is remarkable in its simplicity and it has come about through the management skills of such people as Colin Powell and Condaleezza Rice. Add to that credit the workm of a score of men and women - edicated "others" on the staff at the State Department.Their management skills have been set forth to the benefit of all Mankind. A.L.M. May 8, 2005 [c312wds]
Sunday, May 08, 2005
PACIFIC RIM The word itself means "peaceful", does it not? Tranquil? Untroubled? Yet in the Pacific area we have about three hundred thousand soldiers, airmen, marines and other armed forces personnel who are stationed there to maintain the peace. The Pacific Ocean rim is not exactly peaceful and the potential for trouble in the future is quite obvious in several areas. Our military manuevers and training programs are fashioned with the idea that China or North Korea, or both might well be our advisaries but we strive to call such preparations by other names with connotations of friendliness and cooperation. That idea has been there in the back of our planning ever since the Chinese came charging across to aid North Korea during the Korean War. It is considered, by many, to be inevitable. Just exactly constitutes a nation and what makes up an off-shore nation claiming to be separate and distinct nation in itself is being discussed - and in terms which are disquieting .A nation in its own right is living as such very much moreso right now in Taiwan . Estimates of around 40,000 marines soldiers and in Asia, in general, 120,000 seaman afloat and they are at about ninety locations, in addition to about 37,000 in Korea. The general public is aware of the "occupational troops" being in Korea but few know about joint exercises" we have carried on in cooperation with the Aussies and the Japanese at Narathinatt, Thailand or,more recently, at Shoalwater Bay, in Australia. The Thai operation, called "Cobra Gold" and the "Foal Eagle" exercises in Korea both were practice routines against a possible Oriental aggressor. In spite of recent attempts to establish better relations between China and the United States, much suspicion and distrust still exists - and with good reason - on both sides. Sword rattling by Red China concerning Tiawan and the "One China" concept are disconcertng to say the least. Since getting Hong Kong back from the British, China has been more confident in the field of international relations but just how far she might go in retaking the island is a point for study, and preparations to meet such a moment. It is not a pleasant prospect, but harsh reality of times present and of the past suggest that talk of tranquility is to be questioned. It is my hope that we can continue to have a Media and a Congress both of whom realize the importance of maintianing a strong front again possible Chinese/North Korean aggression along the Pacific rim. A.L.M. May 8, 2005 [c000wds]
Saturday, May 07, 2005
INTENT TO TILL Agriculture...farming, that is... has lost it's sense of purpose with young people, it seems. Oh, the basic yearnings are still there to a degree, I suppose. A young lad sees things growing and feels an affinity with the Creator in a real, tangible way, and he would like for such feelings to remain, even to grow stronger. They are good feelings. There is a bit of this yearning in most men, I'd say. It has something to do with survival and of being related to the Source. We are all farmers at one time, watching things grow and feeling a responsability to keep them doing so and to help them grow bigger, better, more rapidly and then something else enters with the idea that such growth and maturity must be profitable. At that point the art becomes a job. It now entails work and worry. This is the point at which many lose interest in farming and think of other ways to earn profits easier. The temptations toward being a butcher, a baker or a candlestick- maker become practical lures - whatever seems to need doing that has more certain promise of profits. No, that is a not "selfishness" or "greed", nor is it to be condemned. It is a natural system of selection which should be encrouraged - not stopped. Farming today requires dedicated doers just as it always has. In true farming one is more closely associated with the basic "makings" of civilization. Other occupations, while essential in most cases, are one step removed from the creative process, in a sense, and are given more to frills and thrills along the way like icing on a cake that is already delicious and worthy within itself. While farming is fundamental; other occupations seem to be add-ons, supplements, or "fixings." Young folks no longer want to farm in the traditional sense. It has become something it never was before - something we call "big business". Any sensible youngster today, given a choice, is going to see farming as the organized costly and somewhat risky business it has become. Other types of work appear to be - and are in most cases - more profitable. This change has taken place, too, in my lifetime, too. (1916 to now..- and holding.) It is a whole, new world! A.L.M. (at 3 a.m.) 5-23-2000
Friday, May 06, 2005
PERCHANCE TO SCHEME We are, as the esteemed bard so eloquently put it centuries ago, but actors playing roles upon a haphazardly constructed stage we call life. We are often cast to act out some strange situations. Look honestly at the characters we play as citizens, for example. If you can honestly say that you understand exactly what is expected of either one of us as to the proper fulfillment of our governmental duties and obligations, I'm proud to know you. You are exceptional and your name should be entered on the list political thespians as one of those to receive and Oscar award some day. In all honestly I have never been clear on many points concerning what I am expected to be doing as a citizen of my nation, of my state or of my local community for that matter. Many years ago,I think I learned, perhaps in grammar school days, that one was expected to live a clean, orderly, decent life in those formative years up to twenty-one. I cannot say that I remember became a voter. I was so designated during a time when my state had a "Poll Tax" law which provided means for making it difficult for black people to qualify as voters. When I inquired about the proper forms designated to be filled out to achieve such a status was told no such forms existed. I think all I did was sign my name and address on a plain sheet of paper an hand it to party person. Come election day, my name was on the proper list when I went to vote. Two other problems have faced me in this civic duties phase of living. One, I have never been able to decided what I believe concerning the very existence of the Electoral College plan in our national elections. Since youth-hood I have argued on behalf of each, both and every combination for both sides. Should we have it or not? That is the question. Or, one of them, I'd best say: the other is this thing which is being batted around in Congressional courts right now called - rather loosely, I think - the Filibuster. he Jimmy Stewart did it on the screen it was fine, but when I see one of our esteemed statesmen engaged in the routine I am ashamed for him and worried about some other governmental concepts we hold regionally dear. A.L.M. May 6, 2005 (c410wds]
Thursday, May 05, 2005
BEHIND SKED It amazes me that we continue to experience with all sorts of difficulties in our educational system without anything seriously being done about correcting obvious wrongs. We have had a plethora of suggestions as to what needs to be done, some of them quite valid, I'm sure, but very little, if anything, actually gets done about making the adjustments needed to bring about such urgently needed changes. We should regret the day the term "educators" became common in our language with the intent of giving the word "teachers" - a more glamorous aura. It has become a common term which now seems to include everyone from the "almost"or "soon- to-be" or, "barely" certified teacher - on up to the ladder to the holders of Masters Degrees - as well as everyone else who happens to have a job , doing almost anything in or around the school area. All are spoken of as being "prominent educators in our community" It is time to put "teaching" back in the respective niche it once occupied... an area set apart to mean someone trained to teach youngsters - a graduate of a college or university dedicated to the specific training of teachers for the specialized job of teaching the youth of our land. All colleges which used to proudly bear the name "Teacher's College" have erased the name and the concept that went along with it. The term "educators" has seeped into politics, as well. and our President and Vice-President talk at great length - and loudly, at times, - about their expertize concerning "education". Our previous president talked about "hiring one hundred thousand new teachers", but he never mentioned where those trained teachers were to be found or where they are going to find classrooms in which to do their teaching. Few colleges, today, make any pretense of trying to prepare young people for teaching. "Teaching" is , in the main, now considered to be a by-product of the educational process which centers on a wider variety of subject matter than was ever thought possible. The attitude seems to be "they can always teach." if they are unsuccessful in their specialized field. Far too many individuals do not find suitable employment in their exotic field of study at college and they apply to the local high school to become a teacher. Here they are welcomed with open arms by administrators - who, remember, are "educators" - who are looking for a body to fill a job-slot which is open on the staff. So, magically, the Phys. Ed. major from college starts teaching English, French, Math or Biology - whatever happens to be open at the time. Hiring a mob of new teachers to work in non-existent classrooms is hardly the way to go about it. As long as we continue to have this ostrich attitude it is all costing vast amounts of money, time and youthful minds. We need basic reform and a large part of it all, it would seem to me, would be that we redefine what we mean - really mean - when we say "educators." If, in the next decade we can find a way to actually train even a cadre-size group; just a fraction of the mythical 100,000 young people, to be genuine teachers in the finest sense of the word we will have taken a first step toward solving some of our problems. What University will have courage and leadership enough to start and to sustain a legitimate "Teacher's College"? A.L.M. May 4, 2005 [c588ds]
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
OTHERS LIKE US Sooner or later someone is going to ask you if you believe there are other "civilizations"- somewhere out there in the expanse of the Universe? When they do, what will your answer be? In these post Hubble times when we have had a glimpse of what may be out there in the beyond beyond the beyond, we continue to judge what we think about the future judged by standards we have considered to have been exceptional. I have already been asked the question many times and my answer is "Yes, I do." But, if I have the opportunity to add a thought, I say that so much depends on exactly how we define a "civilization". Our present definition may be less than we think might. If it were so advanced - so near to what we might see as perfection why have we never learned to live in peace with one another world-wide. What we call by such names as seem to fit properly at the moment - or, something close akin to it -. seem,often to mutate even at the moment the are being tagged. Itis a complex thing developed over centuries and never really perfected, I think, if we go by the examples we have set here on Earth. I also think that many of those asking about it really want to be told is that the civilization way out there in space is not as "good" as ours. A few would like to think of it as being "better", but that cuts off the brag instinct which comes so naturally to most of us. We tend to think that our version of being civilized is, naturally, a good thing, but since we have only our selves to compare it with - and no inter-galactic counterpart which which to compare or contrast it, we are never quite sure about our possible standing on a scale of, let's say, one-to-ten. At our very best,do you think we and our way of doing things better than anything the other side of nowhere has yet devised. We are a superior lot, we feel, by nature. Otherwise, we would not have been able to achieve what we have thus far. We often have a very narrow view of "civilization", too - as we think of those social systems other than the American brand. The Englishman thinks somewhat differently, perhaps, as does the older Greek, Roman, Sumerian, Egyptian not to mention the Aztecs, Mayans and an endless assorted of Oriental and African cultures. Since we have survived, we feel that we must be better than those which have gone before. We are plural, too, remember. As mankind's adventures down through the ages show, leaders were often at the head of things but the civilization was a group effort involving masses of people. Cultural divisions formed in a maze of ,sometimes, conflicting ideas, and out of it came both advancements for civilization as well as set-backs. If you were called upon to describe our civilization, what you end up with could be far from flattering. Regardless of how well-formed much of it appears to be , there are flaws. Our "place" among civilizations, if others do exist, may not be as secure as we like to think it would be, and that worries some people who think along these line lines, perhaps, too much. Those who think of little else, end up writing books which scare the civilized pants off of the rest of us at times. Don't take it all too seriously. Our Creator never did or does anything without sufficient reason for doing so. A.L.M. May 4, 2005 [c617wds]
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
WHO SAID SO? I have often wondered how those people who accept the use of the term "they say" as sufficient proof that they are hearing quoted is true. It happens so often in relation to news stories that before too long one has valid reasons for questioning which portions are and which have been added by "they." Just who this "they" might be is never made clear and the sayer, obviously, does not know who said it or they would want to add extra stability to assertions they are proving by appending a well-known name as back-up for the their statement. We've heard so much "they talk" about the relationships of various individuals in the current "Runaway Bride" story out of Georgia, thatch "maybe" information. When someone knows for sure who said a thing, they go out of their way to mention names to add validity to what they are saying. They feel that will compel you to accept it as truth. The entire concept of home remedy medication is based on this premise of "they say", it seems, but it is often augmented by using such terms as "the old folks used to say," instead of just plain "they say." Still others attribute what is being said to"grandmother", "your grandmother," ,"my grandmother" or "our grandmothers" - anything which seems to give the statement validity. A even more direct approach is to name a group: "Doctor's say: ..." makes a good lead in for something about which you are not quite certain. We run into that one daily on radio and TV when we are told: "Leading doctors and hospitals say..." one painkiller is supposed to be better than all others because they use more of it. We are not to wonder even day or two las them supplies of the medications at no charge or at a very low cost, so they "use" more of it than others. It lends assurance to the statements made - however wild. Gossip is based on "ify" ins and outs. These days, it is sometimes difficult to tell gossip and rumor from fact. Fiction and fact are often blended ,even in the best of news presentations today, and the mood oF the "anchor person" seems to add interpretations to the "writer's "materials set before them to read. Personalities often take over, so when we to echo that story later one we often "quote" that small-screen star. "Brokaw said.". Or, better still, set it back a few years with:, "as Walter Cronkite used to say..." or," was it Ed Murrow who used to say?" Make it years ago.. . any one of them can become "theys" and will append credence to whatever you wish to say. The overall result is that truth does not have to be true at all in order to be believed. It is little touches such as "they say" which substantiate weak and wobbly assertions far too often. One must keep a wary ear out for such sounds these days. A.L.M. May 3, 2005 [c522wds]
Monday, May 02, 2005
"DUM SPIRO SPERO" To allay any first-seen ideas, the above title has nothing whatever to do with Spiro Agnew. The term "spiro" seems to be bring up memories of the flamboyant Governor of Maryland and Vice-President of the United States for a time. His is remembered positively as a prime user of subtle English terms and negatively because of corruption in office. All that was years ago ...now, notice that the opening word "Dum" is a followed by "spiro" and "spero" - with the "i" in the first one and the "e" in the other. It is the proud motto of the Lindsay Clan in Scotland and translates as "While I Breathe , I Hope." I know one member of the Lindsay clan who recently moved to Texas from Southwestern Virginia. Sam Houston, I'm told, is an important name down there and I find it interesting that she has moved from a hundred from Sam Houston birthplace and at about the same distance to the south is Austinville,Va birthplace of the Vice President of the Republic of Texas.. With a house by a lake, she hasn't moved so far away after all. And she can still It reminds me so much of what my father used to tell people when they asked him how he had attained the 95 years or so of age. He admonished them to "Just keep on breathin', Brother." It is so close to the same idea of the Lindsay motto that I have wondered if the McCaskey's, on behalf of the MacLeod, ever mixed it up with the Lindsays at one time or another long ago. Visiting Dunvegan Castle in the Skye area might indicate some pattern of association of the one clan, and its septs, with the other. I will assume it is in Latin. until someone tells me differently. I don't remember enough High School Latin to recall the "dum" ..."Dom" seem logical, but "dum" conjures up the image of Spiro Agnew once again because he did some dumb things in his public career. Dumb Spiro. Like a fox, perhaps? I have often though that it would have been rather rough for a person to have to live up to some of the family slogans we read about. This one for the Lindsay's would, however, seem to encourage members to look after their good health and maintain standards of survival. Of course, it could have been that were being told to exercise special care in clan warfare if they expected to be around for a few more centuries. The Lindsay family is one I have never inquired into thus far, and I don't know that they were one of the more warlike clans of the Highlands or not. The motto told them that, if they should fall, they should get up again and continue in the fray. It urged them, I would say, not to give way to despair in times of negotiations and disagreement, but to stick right in there to the bitter end and they would win out eventually. If they fell they were to get up quickly. Only in doing so, could they maintain the bulwark of "hope" which would serve as the means of their ultimate success. A.L.M. May 2, 2005 [c547wds]
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