Saturday, June 18, 2005
BACK TO PREPS?" Do you remember when we had "prep" schools? The term was used as a short form for "preparatory" schools and it had several connotations. The positive view was that this specialized, intensely personal arrangement with smaller students enrollments and higher teacher-student ratios, meant your child was prepared for college better than in the public version. Another meaning, and a common one with critics, was that it was a school where wayward or do-less children were sent to "prepare" them for some sort of get-by life , or simply as a place where lazy students could "make up" the work they had missed before so they could on to college level work with some assurance of success. The "Prep" school has class, too, in the view of many people. It could be a social thing. Many parents would withdraw their children from public school and send them off to a private, boarding school just to show their peers they had money enough to enable them to do so. Once established, the prep schools made a great thing out of those in a family who has "attended" classes there and Junior, was, very often, shipped off to prep school primarily because Father or Grandfather or Uncle Charles have been sent there years ago. It all seems to have had a strong snob appeal. It has always struck me that this was either holdover from the older school system of schools systems of England in the last Century or an attempt to retain they same sort of elite nature for educational of the affluent. They exist for girls as well as for boys and for pretty much the same reasons. Oddly enough, the feeling that children who have attended such-and-such a prep school are better educated than the average age has held on. Some few of the schools have been proved to have had excellent records and competent instructional staffs - a few of them would merit superior ratings - compared to public or "regular" systems - so they continue to attract students and to make money for their owners. The general public is impressed when they find that the political candidate for who they are going to vote "attended" such-and-such a school. Somehow that sets him or her apart and makes them more acceptable, more knowing and , by far, the better candidate. I still the primary value of private schools is in the remedial area, but voters don't seem to see it that way at all, but are impressed with the glamor of it all. Notice, too, if you will, how many politician's children are in private schools rather than in the public schools even while they devote endless speech hours to sustaining the public system. In recent decades a new type of religiously-oriented private school has emerged as important, too. This is the non-Catholic all-white "academy" school set up by local churches to defy desegregation laws. People are willing, even eager, to pay extra money to have their children attend an all-white academy and the quality of education varies a great deal, I'm sure, in such establishments. They have been growing in Hogwartsian abandon in recent year as if they were a revival of the old prep school concept. A.L.M. June 18, 2005 [c555wds]
Friday, June 17, 2005
HAVE NOT CHANGED
I have given serious consideration to modifying my views concerning the role former FBI agent Felt chose to play as “Deep Throat” in the Watergate area. There are those among us who say I have spoken of the aging man without respect for his age, without compassion, “off the handle” and with undue haste. I find that I am situated pretty much where I have been for many years concerning basic principles and I see no good reason for making changes. My natural feeling surfaced when I first heard of his role and evidence is plentiful showing that he, as some say, deserves special treatment because he admits, and even brags about his actions in the “Deep Throat” role. The very same feelings welled up again upon hearing his confessions concerning actions taken by him when he was an FBI man. He had sworn loyalty to that governmental section. He broke those vows which is simply not done. I find any indication of any special dispensations which give his type any right to simply disregard and such obligations. It remains strictly illegal for any member to simply pass information to outsiders. That which Felt did was wrong. I can say I do not feel enmity toward the individual himself would feel the same about anyone who did such a thing -'ashamed" might be a better word for. It's something a bit stronger that being "disappointed". I felt ashamed,I suppose, in a way, wondering how it could be is that a fellow citizen of this fine land of ours could allow himself to ignore and ,in so doing, place other persons in jeopardy. I understand the the conduct of the newspaper persons most often associated with the Watergate scandals. They work and live by what is often called a "news instinct" which urges informant protection to keep their supply of news materials flowing. In other fields of work it is called "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Once started, he or she will not reveal his or her source of information of material secure. I find it rather odd that a main memory of mine of the Watergate doings, remains a remark made by a young man who's name I don't know., He was, at that time - that would be about the fall of '72, right? - pumping gasoline for motor cars at a petrol point in northwestern London. He was genuinely puzzled and concerned when he asked me: "What in the world are you Americans doing to your president?!" ...I know. I know. Using both a "?" and a "!" are improper. A.L.M. June 17, 2005 [c443wds]
Thursday, June 16, 2005
OUR FIRST IMPRESSIONSWe tend to “make-up” our mind too soon when we meet new people. We say that when we are being critical of our own manners but kit is good that in almost the same breath, we seem to realized that we do, indeed, take a second look far more often than we admit. What a tests do you put a newcomers through, in your own mind, before you accept them as a close associates or as a personal friends? First impressions, while sound in many ways, can – at times – be deceptive. Wisdom dictates a second estimate in most cases. I can think of one case in my own experience in which I relegated a certain individual to a lower level in my estimation without bothering to find that she had experienced difficulties as a child which had placed the utmost demands upon her. Having overcome such physical and mental dis-advantages to a degree, or learned to live with them for the most part, she has been very successful in her own demanding field of work. I have recently had the chance to revise my opinions about her and to relocate her to a higher place on my unwritten, non-posted, scale of “like” and “dislike”. That one case reminds me that we should always realize it may well be our own ignorance f he person's genuine qualities which makes us place them where we do. After all, critics ask, who are we to judge what a person's true worth is at any one time? To do so, without inquiring into the basic truths of their living is wrong. Since that experience, I have made such placements with greater care. I have been fortunate in that none of my trespasses have, as far as I know – have harmed any other person- only myself in being denied that person and not absorbing, perhaps, some positive element from their special aura. This is all a two-way street,too. Don't let “first impressions” other people get when they meet you for the first time. Be honest. Be strait-forward and sincere. If you feel at all “uncomfortable” about what other people might think at such a moment, it is time to get busy doing some urgent revisions. A.L.M. June 16, 2005 {c388wds]
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
THE WANT ADS The classified ads in most newspapers tell us a great deal about who and what we really are these days of the summer of '05. First, the amazing diversity and variety offered reveals how complicated our "simple" lives have become. In the "For Rent" and "For Sale" items one is forced to describe what he means by an "apartment" and a "house". They come in all sizes - from too small to too large, it seems. If you haven't looked at them recently, the prices will shock you. What the owner thinks he is offering and what the renter wants to take on as a monthly obligation , are two widely divergent quantities, it would appear. Expect to pay $500 or so per month - and up. Prices start at around that for both and when utilities and basic maintenance costs are factored in the finished price is more or less prohibitive for the majority of us. Most owners place a high value on their offering and would expect to do some haggling or bargaining along the way before a final figure is reached. If you are not a born "horse trader" such bickering over price does not come easy for you. Nothing tells more about people that the luxury item ads. Musical Instruments - usually pianos, organs, drum sets and electric guitars, these days, are , perhaps, the most common in that group and each represents a drama of family life in which parents want their child to perform and the kid is far more interested in sports or dating. There is a steady flow of excess making up much of this type. Weight reduction machines, step mechanisms, presses , powered platforms and ski gadgets - all are advertised regularly and usually they are said to be in "top notch" or "like new " condition - as are the musical instruments - "used for three lessons only". In recent years ads of a personal nature have become so popular that they have been granted full-page sections in many papers. I hated to see this happen because the not-too-subtle innuendo of such ads puts them on the verge of porn and there is no sign than such a page to tell me that the paper is "hurting" and grabbing at random straws to stay in existence. In several such cases, I have seen them change ownership shortly after doing so. It has been said that shopping centers have a use-life of about twenty years and when the karate parlors, fortune tellers, herbal medication stores, and gaming places start moving in it is time to tear out and re-do the entire place or shut it down. Watch the classified ads to see if your local paper is on the way out. A.L.M. June 15, 2005 [c466wds]
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
ABOUT TIME The Michael Jackson "trial" went on-and-on for a period of fourteen weeks or so. A jury took about a week deciding in Jackson's favor and were over - and we all breathed that traditional "sigh of relief" because we anticipated a return of TV time and talents to subjects other than Jackson's alleged doings and Iraq, perhaps and few teasers concerning events of concern Aruba and other such places of interest. Little has turned out the way we thought it would. The nation and, I assume, the world in general was concerned the famed dancer, musician, news-maker M. Jackson had fared so well in the ten major charges against him.. When the jury cleared him on all ten counts, many people were shook-up -even disappointed because this trial was to be a bit more permanent than that. I ,for one, was among those who were glad it was all over because we innocently thought TV programming time would revert to other subjects. were defeated. The airways are more completely filled with Jackson trial and "rejuvenated career" talk than before! I have never been one who kept close account of events in the life of M. Jackson as an individuals. He is, I suppose, in some ways, typical of many within his generation called entertainers who, after a fashion, do, indeed "dance" or cavort in types of mathematical conceived and even poetic forms. Some others either hold,or actually play instruments. Jackson set forth an amalgam to please many eager seekers after vague goals. He packages lighting-fast gymnastics, twisting and turnings in to dance; he takes patches and swaths of swamp decor and then yells at them, berates them with fury seeking to make them flow uphill to become, melodies with meaning. And back of it all there is an uncertain vapor of doubt free to flow concern any and all of the truisms of living a human life. Michael Jackson's conduct over the years has puzzled me to no end and partly because he has such a large following of people of all ages who believe as he does - apparently. I could not have served on such a jury as the one which just completed the case at hand. In my way of thinking, they did their job very well. I think they made the only judgment possible in the case. Fortunately, there seems to have been someone in their midst who set the path clearly so that they dealt with the case at hand and did not get bogged down in events of year ago. We should be most grateful for their services. It is my hope that some of this will "sink in" at the Jackson camp and that plans for the future will be more in keeping with the second chance opportunities this affords their hero. A.L.M. June 14, 2005 [c484wds]
Monday, June 13, 2005
OKAY! LET'S GO! We asked for it to be prepared last December. And, now in June, it is here. Well, almost here. A Congressionally mandated panel will report this week at the United Nations building in New York concerning the way in which the U.N. is currently managing its affairs. The panel was put in place to urge the United Nations group to incorporate some type of corporate style system which would provide an oversight of personal, ethical, social and business and and enhanced ethical standards to be put in place as definite realities rather as than suggestions, however noble. It was hoped that such a new configuration of the UN might make it more responsive. The term ”rapid reacting” was freely used urging all members to build a rapid response potential and capability from its member state's armed forces to prevent violations such as genocide, mass killings, sustained human rights violations before they occur. Two well-known names have been associated the bipartisan panel. Newt Gingrich a Republican, and former speaker of the House of Representative, and the other, George J. Mitchell, Democratic, and a former Senate Majority leader. They have both served in many areas, and this bi-partisan chairmanship was a natural for them. It will be interesting to see what such a panel report contains. What, do you think it might offer? The manner in which in which this report is being presented to us is disquieting, to say the least. Why is it that a report of this magnitude and of such a nature, received during the week-end - presented in Monday mornings headlines - with a vague promise that we might see the rest of it by Wednesday? There are a few words in the lead paragraph of Sunday's he New York "Times" which will be more important as we go along: "but will acknowledge (in the report) the broad changes proposed for the organization by Secretary General Kofi Annan and urge the United States to support them." What such proposals? Where? A.L.M. June 13, 2005 [c354wds]
Sunday, June 12, 2005
"TIS THE SEASON.... It is now, officially, that time of the year when those who do reside in the State of Florida, usually express their doubt about the mental stability of those people who go back season-after-season,year after year to re-do, re-pair or to totally re-build - only to lose it all in then next hurricane season. Of course, it is not true that only citizens of the Sunshine State do such things, because,right here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, we have our share of individuals who insist on building or re-building their new homes right smack-dab in the middle of a known Flood Plain. They ignore serious studies made, even by their own favorite college or university and by favoring the view of the folklorist-fed Eco-nut come to have great faith in believing someone who had a dream about a hundred year flood in the area. I can, readily, understand and appreciate the urge some people have which makes them want to preserve and sustain the wealth their forebears left them but take notice how the habitual rebuilt dwelling becomes once the progression starts. He gradually shifts into be a builder of make-do, sacrificial pieces designed, made and dedicated to despair, disillusionment and various levels of artistic misery. It is, perhaps, a good thing to pay a bit of extra attention to the first one or two become they become "dull" and "routine". And they do become just that to people who must meet with the problems as best they can. Every section of nation has such problems. Those persons living in the general area of the Mississippi River system, dwell in what they call "Tornado Alley" and others have - which is more like the narrow strip of clarity at the side of a busy bowling alley than a wider, street-like and a middle passageway between two blocks of man's properties and a haven for tomcats by tradition. Other areas, just as unpleasant - leftovers from a time of industrial and seen as being indicative of "growth" and "progress" The slums, the orgasmic stench from landfills and reclamations are very real problems locally. Give the choice, most of us would probably rather face the savage but obvious strength of the sea and the winds of the Caribbean sweeping in vast field of energy and adventure. A.L.M. June 11, 2005 [c411wds]
|
