THE ALPHA TALES
From the real 1984 and beyond
By Dr. E.A. Richards, P.E.
Moderator: The Society of Alpha-Omega
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Winter 2007
DEDICATION
Dedicated to the Richards Family, in the lineage from Thomas Richards who left England's Weymouth Harbor on the Hopewell with his wife and family on May 8, 1635, later arriving in the New World, and ultimately to help found Hartford, CT, down to E.A. and Alice Richards, along with Marilyn, Carol, Todd, Scott, Marie, Eric, Michael, and Andrew.
Bless them all, then to now!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Frontispiece: i
Dedication: ii
Table of Contents: iii
Forward: iv
Greeting: v
1. General Topics 12. South of The Border 259 3. Extraordinary 269
4. Middle East Morass 298
5. Whimsical 334
6. Reagan and Bitberg 367
7. Just enough History 371
8. Of Spies and Smugglers 390
9. Physical - Cerebral 399
10. The US and the Soviets 424
11. Science and Alchemy 434
12. South Africa in Crisis 476
13. Faith, Hope, and Clarity 496
14. The Philippines 521
15. Ingestibles, Recipes, Receipts 530
16. The Waldheim Affair 570
17. Literary 578
18. Viet Nam 610
Epilogue 612
References: 613
Pages: 621
FORWARD
THE ALPHA-OMEGA GATHERING
Name it what you will, Discussion Society, Debating Group, Roman Forum, Greek Peripatetics, Philosophical Metaphysics, Gossiping Bunch; by whatever term used, the Society of Alpha-Omega presented a unique forum for member interaction on the issues of the day.
Such interchange was natural to the thinking, communicating human assemblage, each participant deftly attacking and disengaging, parrying, cutting, and thrusting with sabers of wit instead of steel, yet with each intangible blade still owning an ability to injure or fatally wound a vulnerable premise, or perhaps shatter on an impregnable argument.
Consider the merrie companie lounging about the sideboards and tables of the legendary Mermaid Tavern, a capital group of the time's best and brightest, dwelling on the events of the day or year. There was many an evening when William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and their fellow players, writers, and intellectuals of the time came together, arguing and gossiping the day's affairs over a fist of ale, or a flagon of rhenish.
Contemporary Mermaid counterparts, such as the Algonquin Hotel, Lindy's, Sardi's and similar haunts providing jousting fields for such antagonists and protagonists such as Alex Wollcott, H.L. Mencken, Dorothy Parker, J.S. Perlernan, and a contemporary set of intellectuals, to regard and argue, accept and reject, slice and suture, in the same atmosphere of the Mermaid, albeit centuries removed.
The meeting sites and participants just described likely began as informal gatherings, and continued on driven by the wit and camaraderie of those present. In parallel, the Society of Alpha-Omega had its own beginnings at an informal meeting in 1984, when the reality of that significant year, and its contrast to the Orwellian version, was discussed in detail. The conversations were broad and compelling, developing such a pronounced degree of interest that A-O came into being, initiated to provide an arena for comprehensive discussion, with participation open to all, with argumentative input allowed from anyone or any source.
Perhaps to equate A-O with the greats and places mentioned is an arrogance; however, wit is wit, and exists where it exists.
However, to attempt publishing every speech, every conversation, every argument or every fragment held in the A-O archives in one volume would be beyond capability; therefore, this book will treat only the various essays, statements, views, responses, and comments, plus some data and quotes from other sources, generated during meetings of the Society by the very modest, always present, Moderator, Dr. E.A. Richards, P.E.
Greeting!
Horatio: "O day and night but this is wondrous strange!"
Hamlet: "And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are
more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt
of in your philosophy.
GREETING DISTINGUISHED VISITOR
Welcome to Alpha-Omega, the forum that provides an arena for various discussions, arguments, and opinions. Any topic is fair game; and of primary importance, is the fact that one does not have to be a genius to contribute on any matter, in any manner, and on any level. There is no issue, subject, or concept that Alpha-Omega will not accommodate. Be humorous, be serious, be whatever; but, be warned only that the Moderator will comment both objectively and subjectively on what you say.
Please note that the letters P.E. behind the name of Dr. Richards, stand for Professional Engineer, and their usage is compelled so that no strangers, casual acquaintances, friends or relatives will mistakenly assume that he is a medical doctor, dentist, or psychiatrist, and therefore independently wealthy.
Carry on!
1.0 GENERAL TOPICS
After the initial discussion of Orwellian possibilities, the tenor of the A-O meetings rather quickly shifted to topics of national, state, and local interest, and General Topics came to constitute the bulk of archived data. There was much spoken on domestic politics, which is natural, inasmuch as everything that occurs, no matter the immediate label, is basically related to politics whether directly or tenuously.
Life is political; sex is political; death is political. There is no other consideration. Siggy couldn't have said it better!
Moderator's comments follow:
BREVITY ALWAYS!
The Alpha-Omega forum, after due and careful consideration of certain regrettable practices which have recently been brought to its attention, is desirous of again reminding you of the fact - which has, of course, been pointed out on several previous occasions, but which nevertheless has apparently been overlooked or ignored by an all-too-preponderant proportion of our present group - that all users in this organization should make an earnest, sincere, continuous, and persistent effort to eschew and avoid all excessive wordiness, repetitive phraseology, unnecessarily complicated sentence structure, lengthy, involved, or obscure paragraphs, and other tautological and/or grammatical errors to indite or transcribe an internal communication of any nature whatsoever to one or more fellow members - just, you know, like you and me!
OF GEORGE ORWELL AND 1984
The author, George Orwell, was born on June 25, 1903 in Motihari, India, where his parents belonged to the Indian Civil Service, and died in London on January 21, 1950. He attended Eton College in England, then joined the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, which provided the background for his novel Burmese Days.
His various novels, documentaries, criticisms and essays written during the 1930s and later gained him the reputation as one of the influential and important writers of the 20th century.
One of his novels, Homage to Catalona, was based on his experiences fighting on the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War. Orwell, a socialist, had joined an anarchist unit, and subsequently was wounded by the communists who were trying to eliminate their far-left allies. He fought the communists, but was forced to flee for his life.
Animal Farm, an attack on Stalinism, was written in 1945 and became a great success; however, his finest and most prophetic work was the novel 1984, in which he described a totalitarianistic society, a bureaucraticized state of the future where newspeak, a language based on the denial of truth, was the accepted mode of communication.
To Orwell, writing in 1945, the year 1984 was indeed in the faraway future, but because he feared the effects of an intrusive government, tracking everyone in every activity, being Big Brother to all, he used his novel to warn the world of what might be if just and honorable men took no action to maintain rights and freedoms.
George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair...
COMMENTS ON ORWELL
Once could conclude is that Orwell may have been on the right track, at least in England, if world events were allowed to take their course untrammeled by wisdom. And if this allowance occurs, only Orwell's date may be incorrect; however, democratic powers, led by the United States, will ever take action to negate the imperialistic concept driving the Soviet Union.
In the true 1984, no Big Brother has yet shown up to take over in Britain and the US. And, if indications are observed, it appears that the Soviet ambitions are getting too big for their capabilities. If President Lyndon Johnson couldn't swing guns and butter during Viet Nam, in the biggest and wealthiest nation in the world, then how would the USSR accomplish it?
President Reagan and SDI may force the Soviet hand. If Moscow tries to keep up with United States talent and treasure, they will surely fail. They simply don't have the resources.
It is China we must watch...
THE CYCLE OF NATIONS
A statistican once pointed out that the average life of most once-great civilizations was about two hundred years. Each of these passed through the following evolutions:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith.
2. From spiritual faith to great courage.
3. From courage to liberty.
4. From liberty to abundance.
5. From abundance to selfishness.
6. From selfishness to complacency.
7. From complacency to apathy.
8. From apathy to dependency.
9. From dependency directly back to bondage - where it all began.
The United States celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1976. At that point it was in cycle three, touching on four. So far, so good.
ONE-GUN GOETZ
Many of us think that Bernard Goetz struck four blows for liberty when he tried to eliminate the armed hoodlums who tried to rob him. I think so too.
Throughout our own American history, the only thing that has really made one man equal to another was the firearm. Now, in our litigous society, the shysters are trying to take over that function, shooting off their mouths instead of guns, but inflicting even more harm in many cases.
Two questions:
1. Do you feel that the state should prohibit citizens from owning guns of any kind, confiscating those now owned?
2. Do you think that ordinary citizens should be allowed to carry arms on their person for purposes of self-defense?
My response? No! Yes!
ESSAYS AND ORWELL
Orwell was the author of several brilliant essays , written in his stunningly clear style, that were characterized as being among the best of type ever published. One of the most influential was Politics and the English Language, (1950) that linked linguistic decay with authoritarianism.
A four volume publication, Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell was published in 1968.
Sustenance for the intellectual mind!
KILL THE KILLERS!
Do you think the death penalty should exist in our State? Should the death penalty be mandatory for all cases where one person kills another or others in passionate anger, or in premeditation, in what is known popularly as first degree murder?
I think it should!
TRUER WORDS
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena -whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, a leader who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions- who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievment, and if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat"
(I don't know who composed those lines, but I wish I would have. It might have been Theodore Roosevelt)
BAN THE SECOND AMENDMENT?
It was stated that guns should be banned; but, my own thought is that if a law were passed to do so, and all honest people complied, who left would have the guns? Probably only law enforcement officials, the military, and the criminals. Is this a good condition?
I think what was meant about decreasing killing by removing guns was flawed. Crimes of passion or violence would come to involve other weapons, such as knives.
Mexico has had a no-gun law for many years, mostly to protect the existing government of the time from righteous revolt by the masses. Thus a macho philosophy based on use of the knife was developed, instead of the gun, and is just as deadly.
What seems to be said is that it's all right for the thugs to rob people if they are not professionals, and the victims should simply acquiesce in the process, meekly and humbly. I say that a few would-be robbers blown away by honest citizens resisting would go a long way towards cutting down on this sort of thing.
And if only 5% of the armed robbers are professionals, that means in one million armed robberies a year, 50,000 would be done in a professional manner. That's really reassuring! Nothing like getting killed by someone who knows what he's doing.
My own position is that if someone murders someone else he should get the death penalty, and let the bleeding hearts bleed away. Ironically, there is nothing that turns a bleeding heart into a gun/death penalty advocate as quickly as having a member of his own family assaulted or killed by some gun-toting criminal.
Armed robbers and killers are irrational animals who only think about psychiatric care when they are caught and their life is on the line. If guilty, they should be exterminated as quickly as possible. Reinforcement for this attitude can be found in the many reports of killers robbing and killing again while out on bail, parole, or release.
The NRA, a realistic organization, has a good one-liner that I can appreciate even if not a member: "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."
How chillingly true, but that's the situation in which some would put us.
TRANSIT LINE TALE
A man standing next to the driver on a long Milwaukee bus route remarked, "The county took over the transit line and the service has really gone down hill. Why, it's not even as good as it was back in Christ's time."
The driver laughed and said, "You're completely wrong; they didn't even have bus service back in Christ's time."
The man replied, "All I know is that in the Bible it says that on Palm Sunday Jesus rode into town on his ass; I haven't been able to do that since November of 1983."
(Sorry, it's the best I can do in honor of the occasion)
DEFENSIVE WEAPONS
Proposition: That any citizen who wished be furnished with a non-lethal weapon with which he could defend himself at any time, carried on his person either openly or concealed. Penalties would be assessed for use without cause, such as non-self defense use, but no penalty when used to defend from robbery or attack.
Of course the weapon involved is not yet developed, but probably could be; I'm speaking of a small hand-weapon, simple enough for a woman to use, that would render an attacker helpless for a short time, with full recovery later. How many strong-arm robberies or sexual attacks would there be if all of us law-abiding people were so armed?
REGISTRATION AND CONFISCATION
My feeling is that any honest person who wants to own a pistol or rifle or shotgun is not afraid to have it written down somewhere that he owns the weapon. What most gun-owners fear, I think, is that a formal registration list may allow someone some day to confiscate more easily, just as has happened in totalitarian societies.
In our state and city, we already have an effective gun registration program, a fact deliberately overlooked by those who would confiscate. When an individual purchases a gun he must fill out the various firearms forms involved, and the dealer also has his set of forms to complete. There is no such thing as simply buying a gun without any sort of identification. That, in my opinion, is registration enough.
It is peculiar that the same folks who would have confiscation seem to have the same notions, in the main, cut down defense spending, reduce our military capabilities, are pro-abortion, anti-death penalty, feel that criminals have more rights than victims, believe in more social programs, would do anything (including groveling) to accommodate the Soviets, who would discard friendly nations they don't like in favor of promoting unfriendly communist countries, who don't mind the tyranny of the Soviet Union but hate the fact that we are trying to win freedom for the people of Central America, and in essence, live by the old double standard. It all goes together where they are concerned.
GOOD, EVIL, YAWN
What if there isn't anything such as good or evil in the world, and those labels are used only as categories to segregate the breakers of man-made rules from the non-breakers? What if the Powers-That-Be just couldn't care less what we do, and what we do has no bearing on any future existence? I think the supreme commandment governing conduct should be: "Do not hurt anyone, but defend you and yours." That ought to do it.
DESERVING DEATH
I know how repugnant it is to people to think of taking another person's life; however, there is good reason for its being done on occasion. For example, a particular piece of Milwaukee north side vermin has sexually assaulted and then strangled a 14 year old young boy. The charges so far are ludicrous: 2nd degree murder and assault, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor with death as a consequence. This odious individual had been a guest of our tax-payers for ten years after raping and attempting to murder some woman in 1972.
How nice it would have been for that bright looking youngster had society seen fit to eliminate this piece of vermin ten years ago; the boy would still be alive and the tax-payers would have saved some money. Now it will cost us more dollars to keep him in prison for another eleven years until the liberal idiots say he has been rehabilitated and let him out for another whack at some other victim.
When I look at a dope-ridden sleaze like that, and see that the bail is only $85,000, I wonder at the scale of values of Assistant District Attorneys, such as you know who. Is a black person's life only worth $85,000? How much for a white girl, how much for an oriental, or a Latino? Where is the price list?
When you say that a human life should not be taken, I have to agree; but only if you agree that a fungus like Flakes is not human, and should be exterminated like the societal disease he represents. If he does go back to jail, and I'm not even sure he will, let's hope the other people there do us all a favor and eliminate him.
Let us also hope that no ACLU lawyer will try to prove that Flakes' civil rights were violated by the victim because the victim struggled too much. The charge should have been first degree murder and the penalty should be nothing less than death; Wisconsin must bring back capital punishment, if only to deter and/or eliminate scum like him.
NO COMMENT
I won't comment on the fact that you must have missed the meeting that agreed Alpha-Omega would be an informal society of people who can argue anything on any subject.
And I won't continue by saying that anything of interest is acceptable, and that Alpha does not categorize its arguments, nor does it care what discussions may transpire elsewhere, worthy as it may be.
You can talk science, politics, civics, poetry, occult, mysticism, the price of sausage at Kohls, prehistory, future history, biblical history, space visitors, Dr. Who, movies, any likes or dislikes, science fiction, non-fiction, non-science fiction, or about anything or anyone else - as long as you can take the flack. Personal attacks are not forbidden, if you feel strongly enough, just keep the language non-scatological. You are very welcome, but too new to voice in-depth criticism.
POUR!
Come fill the cup, and in the fire of spring,
The bird of time has just left the runway,
And he can't fly on one wing.
Make it two fingers each! (One finger is not a drink, it is an opinion)
YOU ARE FORTUNATE!!
How lucky you tempered your last response; I was about to unleash my squad of Killer Tomatoes after you - they are straining at the stem! (And you know how deadly strained tomatoes are; almost as bad as herniated tomatoes. I would have loved seeing them catsup to you, and paste you in the mouth. What a tomato surprise)
CODDLED YEGGS
I don't really follow religiously all the precepts of the Bible, even though some may. My position is that certain crimes against other human beings place the perpetrators into a sub-human, bestial, class, and that the elimination of the perpetrators lives is a boon to the rest of humanity.
The animal that was just sentenced to 100 years in jail for the show-off rape should have been executed; had you been the victim the odds are that you might feel the same way.
One of the world's flakes in the news recently sexually molested, then killed, a 14 year old boy. Is this hmsl (homosexual) hominid a human? Should he be allowed to live? Not in my scale of values. A long jail sentence to those collective freaks is simply free room and board. And sending the flake to a male prison is like sending some happy youth to girls' camp, or Vassar.
BONANZA
Back in 1949 when you were still a fignewton of someone's imagination, three of us pilots formed a partnership and bought a Beech Bonanza thin wing for 7750 dollars. Know what that exact same plane would cost today?
We also got a Republic Seabee later on (215 hp Franklin, slower than hell) with which we had nothing but fun on the lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada. This aircraft also cost under 7500 dollars in '49. They're difficult to find (I think old Tommy Bartlett still has one up in the Dells area) because South American bush pilots bought a lot of them, installed a 500 hp engine, and used them to get in and out of rivers and lakes in jungle areas. With a whole 500 horses pushing, they must really junp off the water.
THE WRONG MAN?
I would find it a matter of grave concern if the courts had convicted the wrong man and executed him. However, this is a rarity. Generally in capital cases the evidence is compelling for guilt. Perhaps the weight of the evidence should be under consideration by the sentencing judge, and/or an appellate court addressing each particular capital sentence. In the case of the show-off rapist or the boy-killer, the evidence would appear to be adequate to justify a death penalty.
EVER RISING....
If hot air rises then you must reach the heights. As I told you in past communications, your favorite sport is building those phony straw men and then revel in knocking down your own creations. Had you read Abe Lincoln's Gettysburg address with the same fervor you read a couple notes on DMSO, your rendition would take up more volumes than Anthony Adverse.
I can't believe that you would grasp at a few of those leftover straws (God knows the leftover ones are few and far between considering your usage) like the laetrile idiocy. I really call that the pits of logic. It would seem as though there were no efficacy in laetrile except that of the placebo syndrome inasmuch as there is little if any laetrilian proof of cure or remission. However there have been positive results with DMSO.
Your thoughts on the subject (among other subjects) are reminiscent of the scientist who proved mathematically beyond a shadow of a doubt that the bumblebee could not fly, yet the ignorant bee just keeps buzzing along not knowing it should not have got off the ground.
Now, you may simply be instigating for effect. I hope that's the way it is, because if you are writing from the head and heart, you may need liberal applications of DMSO over the frontal area. But, knowing well your obviously conditioned reflex towards the stuff, use instead a bit of liniment. It will make your head smart for a while, but perhaps that's not all bad.
GOOD-BYE PAN AM?
It appears as though a pioneer air line is going to figuratively crash in a few weeks. Pan American has been operating in the red by a few million dollars a year, barely staying in business in hope of achieving a profit in future days.
Now, a two-bit union with a death-wish has convinced the suckers belonging to its organization that they should go on strike to force the company to pay them higher wages while the company loses money. Ridiculous!
It's sad to note, but it seems that one more airline is destined to be no more; how can any of the executives of that line realistically expect to continue losing even more money? My suggestion would be to close up shop, sell the airplanes and/or the real estate, and count the money. Let the unions and their dupes find other jobs - if they can.
Heartless? Maybe, but when a man who has a job that pays the wages air line employees get, and gives it up through a strike, he's not too bright. One other alternative would be for Pan Am to fire the strikers and hire new workers. This would work if the government or courts didn't get involved, but that proposition is too iffy.
Saddest of all is the fact that the pilots say they will honor the picket lines. Well, they can always go from a $120,000 a year left-seat job to a $20,000 job as whatever, if they can get one.
It doesn't make any sense? Well, not much does in these times where the unions are concerned. They are building the erasers to rub themselves out of the national picture; they'll go with a whimper!
GILDING THE FLYWAYS
I can still remember when a little outfit called Wisconsin Central Airlines started up with its main flights to Chicago, MKe, Madison, Green Bay, and points between. They were an eager bunch and worked those DC-3's to death. Then came the horizontal twins and they were off and running into the big time. Next they took a close look at the Wisconsin tax laws and fled to Minneapolis becoming North Central.
After a few years the service began to sag along with the passenger bookings. It was the same way with another podunk line called Southern, and a marriage was made which ended up as Republic.
What changes have been made? Well, back in North Central days a one-way trip to Chicago cost $8.00; now it's about 5 times that much, but you can save 9 minutes a trip. A flight to Green Bay was once $8.50, but in this day it's better to drive.
Incidentally, one of the significant reasons for Pan Am's past losses was the high cost of fuel; now that fuel is down, and the company could make a buck, the union greedies want theirs first, profits or not.
THINLY PROFOUND
Did you know that the human skin varies from .02 inches on the eyelids to .17 inches or more on the soles and palms?
And among individuals, some have thicker skins than others.
BRAIN FOOD
When you get to the student's paradise, and you're sitting in the Union or the Library at 11:30 pm boning up for a quiz at 7:15 am the next day, the importance of proper diet will become one of the least significant objectives in real time as you wolf down a cold sandwich, lousy hamburger, or chips, along with a gallon of coffee.
As you progress along the first four years, visions of dietary excellence will not dance through your stomach except as an afterthought on breaks or vacation. There will be plenty of time later to consider proper eating; get the sheepskin first!
MY OWN COLLEGE DIET
I take strong exception to your statements concerning the results of my college diet, even though long ago, even though in use since then. I have a magnificent body!
It's down here underneath this one.
MEATY OF THE MINDS?
I don't want to hear it for raw nuts and fresh fruits; the less publicity for the San Francisco life style, the better. Vegetables are OK, though, so here's one cheer for broccoli (collie flower is a dog, however). Are you implying you will indulge in underprocessed foods from now on? Watch out for the terrible ptomaines! If I could spell czrnina I'd tell you to stay away from that also. (Let's see: charnina, czarnena, czharnina, charneena... Oh, what the hey, Polish duck blood soup)
LUNACY IN IRAN
Far be it from me to attack anyone's religion, but the nonsense expressed by the Ayatolla How-many really repels me.
On the news this evening I saw the buses in Teheran taking martyr bands of 10 to 15 year old peasant youngsters to the front lines so they could walk through enemy mine fields and locate active mines with their bodies to let the tanks pass through safely.
One of the kids had a sneak attack of common sense and jumped off the bus, crying. I hope they didn't shoot him!
All of those idiots who worked so hard to get the Shah of Iran deposed, the white government out of Rhodesia, Somoza out of El Salvador, Batista out of Cuba, are now working to get the white government out of South Africa, and Marcos out of the Philippines. They always know what is best for other countries, even if the people hurt later, as in the nation of Ethiopia.
Why is it that the do-gooders of the world see so much evil they want to change another nation's system, except for those nations where Marxism oppresses its people, or in the case of Iran, where the How-many loonies prevail?
The Iranian dictators call America the 'great satan' and say they will martyr themselves in any attack against the US. I say it's time for the President to have US forces assist in a mass, How-many martyrism, and the sooner the better - maybe we can save some of those bright, young Iranian kids.
CURVED LEARNING
Any child in the learning process should be told that what they are being taught represents the facts as seen at that point in time. If they are told that a scientific principle works at present, but they don't have to believe it works, that is not opening his horizons, it is closing them with confusion.
Simply because a child is taught a bedrock of knowledge to date, that fact cannot limit his imagination. Anything can be questioned, that is, if the child has the intellectual capability which drives him to ask the questions.
Man has nothing to inhibit him except inhibition itself....to paraphrase.
FOLLOW-UP
In follow-up to the last part of your argument, there are any number of aboriginal tribes left in the world whose children have a splendid opportunity to develop imaginative theories without having had the orthodox rules of present science thrust upon on them.
Haven't heard much from them lately.
SHOCKLEY RESHOCKED
Back in 1956, Dr. William Shockley, along with Walter Brattain and Dr. Bardeen, received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their efforts in the development of the transistor.
For this scientific feat, well-deserved praise and honors were given to Dr. Shockley, and the world was at his feet - that is, until Schockley branched off into an anthropological area, considered out of his limit of expertise, when he stated that after studying the races of the world it was his conclusion that the mental abilities of the blacks were slightly inferior to those of the whites.
That is when hell broke loose in the 3rd world and the US black community!
Dr. Shockley reverted from an erudite individual, gifted in science, to a dastardly racist, having no worthwhile redeeming value. It is a reputation he is tarred with even today, even though he provided statistics to reinforce his point.
My opinion? There are dolts and geniuses in all racial groups
NO JUSTICE FOR POLICE OFFICERS
The grim news concerning the shooting death of two of Milwaukee's Finest is certainly a tragedy. One of the factors in the Officer's killings could well have been the split second of forebearance episodes like the Bell case and others have caused in such situations.
Already the brayings of Laura Liberal, a notorious advocate of gun control and gun confiscation has been heard in the hinterland. She wants to pass another law against guns on county property. I'm sure the crooks will really pay attention to her nonsense.
Where are the millions that the dead officer's families might collect from the black community?
You're right!
GOVERNMENT ETHICS
On the wall in tiny U.S. Government office in Washington, D.C., is mounted a dusty, age-yellowed poster which has the following on it:
CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE
Any person in Government Service should:
1. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or government department.
2. Uphold the Constitution, laws and legal regulations of the U.S. and of all governments therein and never be a party to their invasion.
3. Give a full day's labor for a full day's pay, giving to the performance of his duties his earnest effort and best thought.
4. Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.
5. Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not; and never accept, for himself or his family, favors [or] benefits [under] circumstances which might be construed by reasonable persons as influencing the performance of his governmental duties.
6. Make no private promises of any kind binding on the duties of office, since a government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.
7. Engage in no business with the government, either directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of his governmental duties.
8. Never use any information coming to him confidentially in the performance of governmental duties as a means of making private profit.
9. Expose corruption wherever discovered.
10. Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.
NOTE: The above Rules of Ethics apply to anyone in government service at any level, except for the President, Senators, Representatives, and their staffs, persons that are appointed by the foregoing and their staffs, other elected and appointed officials and entrenched bureaucrats. Lawyers are automatically exempt at any level or status.
AN HONEST EDGE
There's one thing about the average buyer - he doesn't want to appear stupid in front of the sage salesman, especially if his wife is with him. This effect gives an edge to the hustler; the couple doesn't want to be embarrassed in any way, have their credit questioned (even though they may be far better off than the salesman), and try to seem more sophisticated than they really are. The peddler plays these types like a violin.
Having been caveated by the emptorean process once or twice in my youth, I've learned that rock bottom price (close to cost) must be established, and final price must be as near as possible. I've learned that it's no personal detriment to haggle like hell, and make impossible offers to find out what the salesman's bottom line is. As long as he can make something on the deal, even if it's a minimum, it's better than losing the sale. However, the sales object must be of value to even talk at all.
SAL PETRAE
Back when we were fighting the Spanish American war (or was it Korea? I forget) I remember they used saltpeter in the military food; however, with the proper provocation, it was rendered ineffective.
Actually, saltpeter is a catchall name indicating both potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate. Actually, gunpowder is made by judiciously combining portions of KNO3, Sulfer, and Carbon, boiling the lot, and carefully drying it. This is the historic black powder. Modern cartridge propellants are much improved.
FRESH AIR
You made a comment about the lack of adequate air purification systems in taverns and bars, decrying their lack of effectiveness, or at worst, their non-existence.
Anyone who has spent time in a bar remembers the smoke hanging heavily in layers where there was enough light to see it. But in most of the larger and classier restaurants there were just as many smokers but the air was much clearer. The reason for this was that the restaurants had heating and ventilating equipment to handle the load more effectively. It's one thing to drink and play pool or dance in a cloud of smoke....enough to drink and it seems no one cares......but to eat in a layer of smoke is anathematic.
So what does this imply? Simply that the big places can afford the type of equipment that can change the air in an area a number of times a minute for the benefit of its eating patrons. To equip a small bar or tavern with adequate equipment costs money in terms of capital cost, power cost, maintenance cost, and heating cost in winter (if fresh air is exchanged x times a minute the incoming must be heated).
Too bad we don't live in a climate where we can eat and drink at sidewalk restaurants or bars, but even then, there are other forms of pollution with which to contend, depending on air currents and neighborhood.
(I think it was somebody from the arthritis foundation who once uttered the immortal line, "people who don't want to get stiff in the joints should try to stay out of them!")
AW, POOR BABY!
You started it with your usual verbal flatulence, so don't go bleeding on everyone's shoulder. You may be somewhere in the range from far left to far right, but anyone to the right of Norman Thomas would still look left to find you.
You have established your position many times as anti: Reagan, Republican, Defense, Military, Conservative, and on some occasions, took the side of the enemies of the United States, such as the marxists of Nicaragua and their Soviet siblings.
You're fortunate you live in a country where even people with yours and other left-wing viewpoints can say what they want to say and still live. But I guess that doesn't hold true for the right wing groups, according to the news lately.
We all know what you are against, but not too much about what you are for. However, deductive reasoning can many times indicate preferences simply from knowing the dislikes, and your port side position is becoming more apparent with every word you say, drivel that it is.
In any case, Alpha continues to provide an arena where both dedicated Americans and those who oppose its principles can argue their cases, so feel free to continue writing. Our rejection slips here are only electronic and descriptive, with only your ego's being bruised.
Note: If being a fascist comes of being completely against the totalitarian communist philosophy, willing to strive against it in any part of the global arena, then I accept the label.
P.S. Certainly the Constitution allows the CPUSA and the White Knights of the KKK both to flourish, but I'm not compelled to like either group.
SOME WERE THERE
My dear wife, Alice, remembers the times in Europe, where she was born of American parents; she spent much of the war on a prison farm run by the nazis.
ONE KNIGHT IN VALETTA
Actually, the last, great Maltean Orgy took place in 1387 when the Knights of Malta threw a party with plenty of wine and slave girls, got drunk as hell, and decided on a glorious venture involving the fabrication of a priceless, jewel studded, gold bird as a present to the Pope.
I wonder what happened to it?
SAME OLD STUFF
I felt that the appellation 'Comrade' would loosen up your fingers but I didn't realize it would have the opposite effect on your mind. All those books you love to quote were written, in general, by cuckoos of your own port-side philosophy; it's like the cretins quoting the cretins.
No matter how cutesey poo you and are with your back patting billet doux, the fact is that your left-leaners lost the presidency, and a few got booted from the congress. We can only hope that the '86 elections throw out a few more of the leftist weirdos, like the flaming Dr. Studds for example, and the Massachusetts Mafia.
Say what you want to say about Reagan, none of it will change the fact that he has done more for the country as a whole his first two years than Carter did in four. He's brought self-respect back to the nation, except for those liberal losers who never had much self-respect to begin with, much less any respect.
I think your problem is that you speak out of your own context, if that's your idea of a good time!
(Sorry Groucho, wherever you are)
MESS!
I remember in another aspect I said, "These are the times that try men's souls..."
Somebody added women to the equation since then, which unbalanced everything
and made quite a mess out of US politics.
(Summer soldiers, and some aren't)
NO RACIST YOU
I'm thrilled that just because my skin is sort of pinkish-white that you won't hold the fact against me: inside I'm red, white, and blue.
That's more than you can say for some!
HOT PLANE
You were telling me about that nice Bonanza, a plane I can appreciate; however, I rolled up a few hours in the company Aerostar, a little 6-place twin that will cruise at 3000 around flight level 18. It wasn't slow, but you had to watch it all the time, even on auto. It's more fun to fly the Banana or the Mooney......or even the Archer II, which is affordable.
WELL SAID
Your most effective answer to the purveyor of poofery saved me a good deal of mental workout. My appreciation.
However, correct as you are - based on the facts - don't assume for a second that any of what you said will have an impact on a liberal mind-set. The peregrinations of the leftish thought process is invulnerable to the more direct route of truth. They believe what they want to believe.
Your point about past Democrat Congresses providing the bases for the present deficit is well taken. The overdose of Keynesian economic philosophy brought the country to an over-programmed society where the producers were working for the defense department and the non-producers. I didn't mind the defense allocations, I just don't like throwing over 50% of my money into the social-program kitty. In any case, prepare to be booked and quoted to death.
NOT THAT HOT
I got a letter today from the manufacturers of the Aerostar; they said that, contrary to what I proclaimed so proudly that our Aerostar will not go 3000 mph at any flight level unless attached to the shuttle.
That machs sense to me!
CUT TO THE QUICK
Wow! I'm sure you cut your party to quick, saying no one should blindly support any leader; but, when your Demos blindly supported Franklin Roosevelt, the people got the following:
1. More socialistic programs than in all of American history.
2. Thrust into WWII when FDR, to satisfy the foreign and domestic banking house interests, allowed the attack on Pearl Harbor to take place when he knew a day in advance it was coming.
3. Were sold out, along with eastern Europe, when FDR, with the help of his communist helper, Alger Hiss, let the Soviet Union gain tremendous amounts of territory they didn't deserve.
The list of nefarious deeds by FDR is too long to be posted here; the most positive accomplishment of Roosevelt's life was his leaving it, albeit much too late. Had Harry Truman been President during the Yalta conspiracy, the face of Europe today would be much changed, and for the better.
IDIOTOLLAH
Perhaps you noted in the news that the Iranians are beginning to riot in the thousands against the religious regime there. That unrest isn't happening spontaneously; we have a finger in the pie somewhere there. Maybe the Iraqi war is a great part of it but there is nudging from the west going on. The first few cracks in the Idiotollah's armor are beginning to show.
SAYING IT
Does your saying it make it so, the old technique of basis for disparagement? You weren't called a liar for citing the articles, merely for saying the publication endorsed the article. Where did it say that? Give us the quote from the paper. Whose source is discredited, and for what? Your pinning the entire philosophy of an organization on a conjectural hypothesis in one article in one issue is nonsensical, yet expected, from a world class straw man builder-destroyer. Many times the path to your conclusions is based on such a distortion of assumption and presumption that the result is ludicrous. I understand the reason for your utilizing the bubble simile.
You certainly have the head for it.
TOO TRUE GRIT
I had heard that the rescue mission helicopters took off into a blinding sandstorm. Having worked on oil lines in the Arabian deserts, I can tell you they are dangerous simply to drive in, much less to fly in. Also, having had some experience in military scenarios, I would guess that there was a huge operation set up for the rescue involving agents in place along the route to Teheran and inside the city proper at various strategic positions. There had to be safe houses, firepower backup, escape routes and contingency plans, the entire works.
As in many critical operations, timing had to be all important. It is more than likely that the choppers were forced by circumstance of schedule to leave at a certain point in time, and decisions had to be made to initiate. The choice to start was a brave one by brave men; the elements were against the success of the project. I salute Carter for trying. Just think of the weeks of planning and setting up for the try; must have been an enormous task, logistically.
NAY - SAYERS
The nay-sayers, like the poor and stupid, will always be with us, and I'm not so sure that old age makes someone know more than you do.
But there is a certain feeling of pride and satisfaction that most of the Americans get when they see the flag go by no matter what their age. I feel sympathy for those who don't ever experience that feeling.
On another note, the clearances in jet engine turbine blades with respect to the walls is in ten thousandths; sand will really scour the balance out of the jet system; filters help, but cut down horsepower and eventually cause an engine to fail. Even if reciprocating engines were used in the choppers, sand particles would have been a fatal. But, I must agree with you about Carter in general; his one great failure was probably his most shining hour.
BE PREPARED!
I completely agree with your self-proclaimed role as peace monger. But in order, as someone said here recently, to keep the peace one must prepare for war.
And as for the treaties you quoted, all of those dealing with arms buildup have been broken by the Soviet Union who used the time period involved to increase their nuclear and conventional armaments. It is recorded fact.
Do you want us to unilaterally disarm, then depend on the good nature of the Soviet Union to do the same? Not me! Their record has proved them to be untrustworthy in every sense of the word. Certainly the concept of all nations ridding themselves of nuclear weapons is commendable; if they would, we would.
But which nation is it that continues to utilize aggression as a key part of its desire to gain more territory, that foments revolution and terror in all parts of the world, that refuses to act as a reasonable participant in the world community, that causes its citizens to live in fear and repression, that erects walls to keep their people from escaping instead of others coming in? Not the United States. All want peace and nuclear disarmament; what are your suggestions as to how to go about it?
MID-AIR MEETING
What a great job that student pilot did to get back to the airport after the two planes collided, and congratulations to the instructor, and the planes themselves.
It's a tribute to the design and fabrication quality of the air frame manufacturers that events worked out as they did. And, somebody up there sure must have liked them.
CHALLENGE
Before we meet under the clock at midnite and exchange left and right propaganda, why don't you elaborate somewhat on the authors, their groups, their political positions, and their dull axes waiting to be ground.
Just as info, if one has 1000 missiles, and 5 warheads are put on each instead of one, there are still 1000 missiles, but 5000 warheads. Do your authors take this impeccable mathematics into consideration?
(If we did force down a Soviet recon, half the members in congress would wet their collective breeches, if doves wear breeches)
JUVEN'DULTS
I'm taking the liberty to answer your juvenile/adult question here;
My feeling is this: In order to commit the crime of rape, with all of the attendant physical reactions and responses inherent in the mature male, the male that performs with such must ipso facto be considered an adult.
In many societies of the world, the ability to impregnate is the criterion for adulthood. Perhaps this yardstick should also be used in a legal determination, at least for the crime of rape.
For other crimes, the definition is more difficult. My position might be that the mental and physical ability to load a gun, communicate to a victim the concept of money or life, and the prowess to aim that gun and pull the trigger might establish adulthood.
It might be that standards could be derived which, if met by the offender, would constitute his achieving adult status for that particular crime, no matter what his chronological age. There is a possibility that sophistication with regard to elemental life in the immediate environment also would be a factor in consideration of the adulthood level.
KIDS ARE THE VICTIMS
I agree with your criticism of the repetitiveness of the program scheduling. The best show in the world suffers when being shown over and over again ad nauseum.
And another thing the program does not really stress, as does not the little missing kids clips on WTMJ Channel 4 and others, is the fact that these children were not kidnapped in the accepted sense; they were children that went away with mothers or fathers (usually fathers) who didn't agree with some judge's decision about custody.
In Wisconsin, and other states, it has been historically assumed that the mother was automatically the most fit parent to have custody, an assumption not always valid. Even if the mother were a street-walker she would get the kids in almost every court case with such an issue. It just wasn't fair.
Nowadays, judges seem to be looking more closely at the custody issues, and in some cases award to the father, but not often. A father and child who are very close may simply fly from some jurisdiction together to escape a decision. Immediately, the kid is placed on someone's missing child list, even though the child is only missing from one parent.
And too many times the child is simply an emotional weapon that is used by one parent to injure another, looking on custody as a triumph over an opponent rather than really considering the kid's best interest.
I would say there is a great deal of heartbreak involved in all relationships which are forced to end in a family dissolution. There are many factors involved which cannot all be considered by a judge because of time constraints. Many times a parent pleads emotionally for the child because of the child's supposed needs, when revenge is the only motive.
There are many situations of tragedy in the world; breakup of the family is one of the more tragic, for both parents and offspring.
POOR INNOCENT KIDS
When you heard what I said, please don't assume that it was in any criticism of the TV show itself. It was a sad but heartbreaking story that pointed out one family's experience with a vicious animal who harmed them and their child.
My concern was not for those who post pictures and notes about missing children who have not been kidnapped but are with one of the parents. But, it's tough to discuss objectively what happened to the little kid that was actually kidnapped. Being the type that I am I believe in capital punishment for all such kidnappers of children, and would volunteer to pull the switch myself - even though I know I would have to stand in line.
THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
The Milwaukee Journal serves a useful function in that it provides a service to liberals who can't afford to get the NY Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and the L.A. Times. The Journal reprints most of the items from the news services of the above named rags.
Besides, if I didn't get the Journal, I wouldn't know what the enemy was saying; plus, I would miss that reactionary cartoon about Daddy Warbucks, not to mention the Wiz, Opus, Andy Capp, Snoopy, and the upper part of the editorial page, good comics all!
WRITING ON WATER?
It's unfortunate that the Journalism fraternity can see only one end in their work - scoop the other guy. There is that kind of competition ongoing here in Milwaukee even though only two major papers exist - the Journal and the Sentinel.
Touching the thinnest of veneers on a subject does not afford a writer the actual grasp of the subject in any sort of depth. All that reporter was looking for anyway is the by-line, and he doesn't care about the necessary research for a comprehensive exposition.
WHAT, ME ABUSIVE?
Please don't stint on the question of inflammation and abusiveness on my speaking about the Journal; it was all intended as such, and the fact that it appeared where it did was a low point in my moderating career.
All kidding aside, I think that including some of the speeches of the members would have been a welcome addition, addressed to Journal reporter. I think that our group deserves some small attention because of the overall erudition and sophistication of its members, plus our its well-known feminine defender of the left.
THE JOURNAL
Of course we can agree to dislike the Journal; I have always felt that their stories were slanted too much towards the left, a flaw grown out of their old, socialist past. The religious section of all newspapers is a sop to the truly spiritual, and a phony one at that.
MY BONNIE LIES OVER THE WIRES
The usual procedure when a wire service issues a story is to do it in a long number of paragraphs. The local receiving it can print as much of the story as they wish, and alter what they wish, but there is usually enough pro and con in the wire story to go left or right depending on which paragraphs are used.
As I noted before, the Journal not only gets wire reports from AP & UPI but also from the major liberal papers in the nation; that accounts for the intended liberal slant of the Journal.
NONE DARE...
That book you recommended, "None dare call it Treason," wasn't that a fragment of a couplet along the lines of:
Treason never doth prosper
And this be the reason,
It treason doth prosper,
Than none dare call it treason....
I always thought Robert Welch was one of the kookier rightists after he said that Eisenhower was a conscious tool of the communists. But Phyllis Schlafly is one of the more articulate writers of the right, and one of the most effective voices of the patriotic faction in America.
BAD MOUTHING REAGAN AGAIN
The latest diatribe on Reagan and sundry is a capital example of unnecessary foaming at the mouth over fancied occurrences, whipping the writer into a self-inflicted frenzy through tired positional reiterations, as though the retelling would make all accusations true.
Fat chance!
What it boils down to is that the Reagan victory is resented so much by the left that they lose any modicum of perspective and simply blast mindlessly away in a mad explosion of anti-Reagan rhetoric, with some side snipes at people who favor the Reagan style. Analyze the words; it will help to explain some of the irrational rationales.
UNION MOTORS
I think that the description of the AMC problem at Kenosha was self-explanatory - the Union in its arrogance will drive the company under. Beside the Union, the second strike against the Kenosha plant is its being controlled by French interests. The combination of the two will be a knockout blow to Kenosha.
Perhaps there should be a plant-wide vote by the workers, not under the jurisdiction of the union, as to whether or not the cuts in pay and benefits will be accepted by the workers in lieu of losing their jobs.
My prediction is, if that would happen, the workers would vote for the jobs and the paychecks, and the Union would wind up with egg on its goons. I just don't think anything that reasonable will be allowed; instead the workers will succumb to the inevitable union death-wish, and vote themselves into oblivion.
REAGAN SPEECH
Even when he lost his teleprompter, Reagan came out again as a master of Communications. His response to the hecklers was appreciated even by those European heads of state who deal with the bellicose adversaries of their own parliaments every day.
That line about congressman walking out in time was a gem; unfortunately, none of them will ever walk out never to return. They all will be tied to their shields and carried out quivering and jerking spasmodically after losing an election.
Bitberg turned into a massive media non-event, just as it really was; as the commentators said, the network coverage was a masterpiece of media inadequacy, especially on the part of CBS. Of course, this point, dwelled on in tonight's Journal, sounded almost conservative, though their affiliation is NBC slanted anyway.
Here's to Reagan and the United States, and bad cess to both their enemies!
WE'RE ALL MASOCHISTS
Any of who join this forum must have masochistic tendencies. Just remember the personality changes involved: When we argue our position, we're masochists; when we answer dissenting arguments, we're sadists!
That's what makes it so interesting!
I guess my own basic sadistic impulses, plus the fact that one member's words are so figuratively jumpable, cause my caustic rebuttals. Some statement establish a graven premise with a built-in dare to disagree with position, no matter how indefensible it is. Mix that positional slant with a liberal dose of base innuendo and you have the basis for my kind of answers. It's the same in reverse...
COPYING VIDEOTAPES
Concerning the videotape copying controversy, I think the pressures of the marketplace will handle that. If the laws will be enforced in a draconian manner, consumers will gravitate to the tapes and programs of least possible problem. You will see, in the future, those items released by manufacturers without qualification, allowing free copying, thus killing the competitors who will be perceived as greedy by consumers. Just wait for it.
REAGAN THE DEMOCRAT
With regard to Reagan once being a Democrat. Back in the 30's and 40's, the Republican party was conservative to the point of extreme stuffiness, and could have been rightly called the party of big business and wealth. The Demos of the era, in spite of Rooseveltian Socialism, were a party of the people, most of the time.
Many old-line Democrats feel today that the Democrat party has passed them by in an inexorable sweep to the left; many of them have changed their registration, realizing that the Republican party of today espouses many of the concepts inherent in the Demo party of the past. As Reagan has said on many occasions, he didn't change - the Democrat party changed.
Take notice of the events to come soon; many Democrats, like the black legislator in Michigan yesterday, are changing affiliation to Republican because they think the Republican party best represents their views of the real world. I've been neither a Democrat or a Republican, simply a Conservative, but I find my sympathies lie more with the GOP than with the ultra-liberal Demos of today. There are big changes coming, changes which will rock them!
QUOTES
This morning on the news the Reagan repartee struck again. When asked by a network hack about his reaction to the Gorbyechev statement about the US being the one to foment trouble in the world, the Reagan response was, 'he should talk.....'
Instead of a five minute speech on why Gorby was incorrect, those few words were enough to say this:
Statements accusing the US of the world's troubles, made by the head of a nation whose raison detre seems to be one of conquest, are mealy mouthed lies obvious to all thinking people.
Not bad for a Pres who some dupes say is stupid.
KIDNAPPING
I suggested that the case was not kidnapping in the classic sense, that is, stealing a human and holding him for ransom. As for one parent taking the child from another, that's a tough judgement. Until every fact is known in the case it is impossible for a settlement in equity.
Last evening I read where some goofy judge had given someone's child to a pair of males living together as man and wife. If the natural mother or father had taken the child from them, I wouldn't have called it kidnapping, but simple justice. Fortunately the child was removed through other means.
The tragic aspect of the entire missing children situation with regard to one parent or another taking or keeping the child is that there can be no real solution because there is no longer a real family. The loosening up of moral standards in this nation is a root cause for the early breakup of families, another accomplishment of the liberals' decadent policies.
HAPLESS HECKLERS
I'll just give you one of the last; when the communists in Portugal's parliament got up and left as Reagan entered, he said "it looks like some of the seats on the left side aren't very comfortable." I guess when the leader of the world's greatest Republic speaks, the communists, as is usual, don't want to listen.
NOSTALGIC NOTES
I don't suppose you're old enough to remember what Dixieland is, but I was once part of a dixie band that played up at Devils Lake back in my old undergrad days in Madison. We had a trumpet, clarinet, bass, trombone, and if lucky, a piano player. We were an elephant band - lots of fun but worked for peanuts. Have times changed any?
REAGAN'S BOOK?
I didn't even know that the President had written a book with that title; goes to show how up to date I am. However, I feel that if the book would have hit any of the lists there was
a good chance I would have seen the information on it.
Controlled press? Not only the press, but also the distribution lines. There are a great many books not given distributive coverage because certain elements of our society do not want them publicized. If you want some examples, let me know after the meeting.
THE SUB FLEET
I would have counted the deadly submarines you mentioned, but when I last looked they were all underwater, and my scuba gear is at the wet cleaners.
(Was this Luxembourg's submarine fleet you were mentioning or was it part of the US navy contingent in Omaha, Nebraska? They really do have a US Navy base there)
USURIOUS?
Being blessed with the ability to read the printed word quickly, one of the more interesting diversions I use to pass the time during commercials is to read the fine print in the huckster ads. (Audio off, of course)
If you watch the Tapper Store stuff, it seems that the fine print offers an interest rate approaching 16%; for Nelson Bros. furniture, the very fine print lets you know (rather quickly) that the interest rate is almost 25%. I think that's over the old Wisconsin law defining usury.
I know that times have changed somewhat, and I realize that you and I and the rest of the Alphans would be wary of such a high rate, but what about the guy who can only read the big print, goes into the store, buys a grand's worth of furniture, then gets charged 250 bucks just for interest.
And this interest may even be higher when clothing is purchased by the minorities at some hustler's store who is not really in the clothing business, but in the garnisheeing business. When I worked at a car wash during my college days, I would have to go down to a few of these shyster places to get a release for one or more of my workers so they could get a check for food and rent.
While there, we saw that whenever a minority worker would buy something on credit (on scandalous terms) a garnishment form would automatically be filled out ready to have served if the worker was over ten seconds late on a payment. These joints had their own full-time lawyers working; some were company owners; all were in the human misery business, a profitable line then, and seemingly now also.
The most expensive words today are, nothing down, pennies a month.
WAVING THE FLAG
If the time ever comes when no one will want to wave the flag - it will probably no longer be worth waving. Let's hope that time never comes, no matter what inadequacies you may perceive in the system.
GUNS AND THEIR USES
We've been arguing this question over many areas, and I'd like to re-state my position and let you, and the members, agree or disagree.
1. I think people who use cheap handguns for robbery are reprehensible, and am totally against their existence - the people, not the handguns.
2. I am totally against legislation keeping the people from buying any firearms they wish to buy, except for licensed, fully automatic weapons.
I also deplore the fact that people are injured by handguns, expensive or cheap; but, I also think we should maintain the freedoms given to us by the documents written by our founding fathers.
BLIND LOYALTY
Don't think for a moment I was impugning your patriotism; what you stated about blind loyalty to the kind of people you mentioned is largely true. For example, Wilson promised to keep us out of the first world war but inevitably we were drawn into the conflict to pull the British and French chestnuts out of the fire.
Roosevelt was elected in 1940 on the promise to keep American boys home, then immediately did everything in his power to get us into the second world war. Why? Because the British and French interests were declining rapidly due to the deteriorating military situation, and it took the US to again save their butts - and their financial empires.
When Roosevelt said that Pearl Harbor day was a day that would live in infamy, we didn't realize that it was his own infamy with regard to American lives that would be discovered down the line. Roosevelt, by the way, was the President who recognized Soviet Union in the 30's, setting the stage for the aggressive communist plague which exists today.
Roosevelt was idolized by the millions in the 30's and 40's, and still is today by those liberals who can't believe their hero could do any wrong. The world is a sadder place because of the doddering Roosevelt and his communist advisors, Alger Hiss, for one.
Yes, let's look at the lessons of history, one of the more prominent being the detrimental legacy of Franklin Roosevelt, a socialist President who makes Richard Nixon look like a patriotic American saint. Why? Because both houses of Congress in his era was dominated by Democrats who would vote down any Republican who dared to ask for investigations of the liberal schemes - just as in the Lyndon Johnson reign.
When the Democrats are in control of either house, crooked goings-on are a matter of course, the latest example being the thievery involved in the Indiana congressional election, where they voted to overthrow the legitimate decision of the state in order to seat their liberal flunky who really had lost.
PLAYING FOR PEANUTS
It looks as though times haven't changed much. A dedicated musician just wants to play no matter what the money, and only a few hit the big time. I heard that the pay scale in Hawaii is at least a little better than it is here - they pay in macadamia nuts.
ANCHORS AWEIGH REVISITED
During an engineering job in Omaha some years ago, we always had lunch at a particular restaurant downtown. We'd get in there about noon and leave about 1:00 pm. As we entered we would see the Naval Officers from the Navy/Marine installation seated in their usual booth. We would also see them when we left, envying their military two-hour luncheon. We found they were regular navy stationed in Omaha. If you would like to call the naval commander there and verify this, it's 402-558-7909. Tell him to watch out for whales and icebergs!
HOME DEFENSE
Citizens who are brave enough, and prudent enough, to keep a firearm in the home as a defense against predators should keep some basic rules in mind so they won't be sued, according to a popular publication.
1. If you hear someone trying to break in, but he is still outside, turn on the lights; he will probably go away.
2. If he is in your house, use your weapon to disable or kill; don't waste time with a warning shot. He won't try to warn you.
3. If the predator is still alive after your action, and escapes from the house, don't fire any more shots if he is outside. If you merely wound instead of kill, you may be liable for civil damages.
4. Very important: Teach your wife and children how to respect and handle firearms; they are tools for certain jobs just as chain saws, axes, knives, and autos are - deadly devices all.
5. If you are liberally oriented, and feel no house should have a gun, or no family should know anything about guns, then pray that your house will never be invaded by one of the predators.
You won't have a chance to argue rationally against the concept of crime. Let me say
good-bye to you now, before it happens.
359 -1066
This recognition of the above phone number was written in honor of the 1066 Norman Conquest, when William the Second, Duke of Normandy, invaded England and established himself as King William the First, of England.
I note this event because it was the first time since grade school I have been able to use this information that I sweated so hard to learn back when Sister Florentina was cutting a swath with her ruler.
SIMPLE EQUATION
Trying to look at the problem from your standpoint, I can see many sincere reasons why you think the way you do; it looks as though neither of us will change the other's view.
Let me put it in terms of a simple equation:
Criminal + cheap (or any) gun may = robbery, injury, or both.
Remove Criminal from the equation, and the cheap gun by itself won't on its own either rob or injure someone.
Oversimplification? Maybe. But all the laws in the world didn't keep those MOVE idiots in Philadelphia from stockpiling guns, ammo, and explosives. I hated to see the place burn down, but I salute Mayor Goode for his stance on the responsibility.
There's a law concerning the purchase and use of dynamite; law-abiders respect it; the MOVE's didn't even care.
CSA
I have to confess that I am a full Colonel in the Confederate States Air Force, a short step up from former military rank for me. Our job is to guard the air and land within the borders of our beautiful nation, keeping it secure.
When I last looked, no one had stolen a square foot of continental US territory, so we must be doing a great job!!!
The CSA is always looking for good officer material. One of the stringent mental and physical requirements that must be met is for the applicant to have five or ten bucks he can send for his commission as "Colonel." If you can meet this demanding qualification, send your application to:
Confederate States Airforce, 5892 Denison Drive, Venice, Florida 33595
You don't have to be a pilot, military or civilian, to qualify - it only takes the bucks. Join, and you will be assigned to my squadron, the leader of which is determined by the flip of a coin. The loser gets to be Squadron Commander.
3:00 AM
Note: At 3:00 am every red-blooded CSA Colonel is contemplating jumping out of bed and facing the day. And shortly after jumping back into his bed, noting that the thick haze before his eyes which would surely prevent anything but IFR.
CHIPPING THE RIGHTS AWAY?
You picked an unfortunate time to discuss the Supreme Court's chipping away at our rights and freedoms, even though they only classified motor bus type units and did not address house trailers up on blocks.
The reason I'm saying this is that female Milwaukee Judge threw out a confession wherein that murderer 'Bobo' had admitted he killed the woman and the child. What if he is now set free? Is that the way you want the laws to work? Knowing you, I think not.
That so-called 'judge' really loves the rights of the accused; how is she on the rights of the dead victims - even if they no longer care. There must be a way to use that type of evidence......
NO PROBLEM
If we wait long enough the navy will not have to lift a rudder to flood out many areas. When the earth's axis tips a few degrees in the right direction, the heat of the sun will melt the polar ice caps, thus raising the level of the oceans.
New York will be under water, possibly clean for the first time, the Mississippi will be 200 miles wide or more, forming a great inland sea. Like the saw says, Las Vegas will have beachfront property, and condos on the Rockies will be in style. The US Navy in Omaha will be afloat at last.
The Soviet Union will no longer be a threat as they will finally have the warmth and moisture to farm and feed their people. Don't sell your flippers!
KORN
When we dished out the corn back on the farm I remember who most ate it up. Spelling and pronunciation were never my strong points, and I'm trying to think of any strong points existing that could be discussed. Give me a few weaks.
UNION LACKEY
William O'Donnell, one of the minor league mentalities of the county bored, won't let Coors beer be sold because the Colorado brewery won't let the union parasites in their plant.
Thus Coors has withdrawn their sponsorship of the free lakefront concerts.
O'Donnell said that his decision was based on saving jobs at Pabst. What an outpouring of horse manure. Coors has been non-union for years. Why? Because the workers voted that way; they didn't want to give a percentage of their pay to the union bloodsuckers.
This information has been available to O'Donnell for years. Why just now has he taken this idiotic action? Probably because his union mentors are pulling the strings on his back and moving his lips. Too bad they don't massage his brain on occasion; no, then he might have an original thought, and the union can't stand lackeys with original thoughts.
One of the other giant intellects of the county, Parks Director Robert J. Mikula, said he would not sell Coors, the reason being that Coors was a non-union company. Mikula said he was given the orders on removal of Coors, but didn't say who gave the orders. Donald Weber, who works for O'Donnell, said that the county exec gave the order.
What a trio of fruitcakes. What a stupid union. What a bunch of kooky union members.
Why are unions going down the drain in the US? You've just heard why!
WHAT, ME WORRY?
The picture of the sub-normal chap with freckles and big ears found on some old calendars, was featured in a 1950's comic book, and given the name, Alfred E. Neuman.
In truth, there were two such hill-billy families, one with the fictitious name of "Jukes" and the other named Kallikak. The face of Alfred E. Neuman was on a family portrait of one of those families, and was picked out by some hustler to make a buck, and sold to myriad printers.
The "Jukes" name was given to that family group by sociologist R.L. Dugdale, who had concluded that feeblemindedness, degeneracy, and criminality were inheritable characteristics, a theory since disproven by the experts.
I saw that family portrait personally in a high school Civics Book many moons ago. I wonder if the descendants of that family could sue some corporation for damages?
To anticipate your question, no, I was not in the picture.
POISON PEN
Perhaps you saw another of Carlson's poison pen cartoons in the paper today, the one where someone sees a bomb-carrying thug type in Philadelphia and another identifies him as a member of the police department.
This is, of course, the wimp-like reaction of the bleeding heart type to the Philadelphia story where the unwashed stenches of MOVE caused the situation leading to a fire breaking out and destroying a number of row homes.
What Carlson, in his infinite ignorance, doesn't relate in the cartoon is that the police dropped a concussion bomb on a roof-top bunker. This type of explosive device blows things up, but it just isn't an incendiary device; in order to produce the conflagration that was, there had to be inflammable materials in the area, such as gasoline, gunpowder, and the like.
Too bad Carlson has such a liberal, knee-jerk reaction to these things, with a lot less emphasis on the knee.
The fact that many houses were destroyed was unforgivable; the thought that the police caused this situation is inconceivable; the culprits were the filth from MOVE, and no others.
Carlson's rationale might be described as blaming police for killing bank robbers just because the robbers were trying to get away with the money.
We had better wait to get the entire story on the action before we react to the Carlson sludge; in his case, a word is worth a thousand pictures.
Curtis, where are you now that we need you?
GRINDING IT OUT
It seems that what you're saying in that Niagara of words is that First Amendment rights are only for groups that you truly like; but, I think not!
And, I note you've quoted me at length in some of your arguments. Good! Doing that adds some modicum of reason and thought to that tripe issuing from your sausage grinder. I really understand your motives in actions you've taken, but I don't doubt that the others will see through your approach. I told you once it wouldn't work to hammer me with the anti-semite club, and I'll tell you again you're spinning your wheels, as usual.
And all this talk about nukes and shovels and such; just answer one question - whose side are you on? America's or the communists? If it is the American side, then why are you continually downgrading our right to make weapons with which to defend ourselves?
And why didn't you quote the argument from that Chicago writer that caused Von Trier to defend what he thought? Didn't fit your needs, right? Too bad only your left eye works.
SECRET SOCIETIES
One more thing, , could you please name some of these secret societies of neo-nazis, fascists, reactionaries, etc., that you know of here in staid old Milwaukee? I'd like to see who they are and what they do? I asked my lawyer (a well-known Jewish, liberal, Democrat, attorney) what he knew about these types of clubs. He didn't know of any for sure. Help us out with some pearls from your vast lexicon of trivia. If you wish, say it in Esperanto. We must keep these things secret, right? Or, are those groups so secret that even their members don't know they exist?
MINORITY CONTRACTORS
I've been involved with engineering and construction jobs worth millions of dollars that use dozens of subs. In my experience, the minority contractors gave us the worst value received for the money. They were always late, did poor quality work, never kept adequate records, and just weren't up to competition with the regular companies.
Were they too stupid to work? No way; most of the minority subs were bright people; they just lacked the training and experience to compete, right from top management down. Perhaps one of thirty minority subs did quality work, but they knew how to work.
For most minority subs it's a catch 22, they don't perform well because of inexperience, and they can't get experience if no one will hire them on their own merit. If the Bradley crowd wants to do things that way, let them; it's their bucks. Just don't ask me to sit there under a Wisconsin snow load in January, with a full house bringing down the roof; it really might come down.
PERVERTED CHILD CARE?
When I mentioned that the fact that a child had been given to a hmsl's family, then taken away, I didn't have it correct. There were in fact two children turned over to those creeps. We can guess what kind of upbringing the kids would have had. What a perversion of the word family! What kind of idiotic judge would have allowed that in the first place.
Very recently I have heard that a major hmsl scandal is about to be exposed in San Diego, at a seminary which involved high level priests and students, and implied that the scandal would reach the Vatican. I'll try to keep the Alphans informed of the events, which, even though disgusting, should be brought into the open.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
I understand now; when you're at the meeting it indicates absence of knowledge; when you're not, it indicates knowledge of absence. You have really cleared things up for me.
Did you say you considered the John Birch Society a fascist group? Why? They always seemed a rather harmless patriotic organization. My own reason for not traveling in Bircher pathways was they were always so tight-lipped and grim that it didn't seem that anyone with a sense of humor would fit in.
What I was asking you for was the names of Neo-Nazi and other fascist organizations that you said were here in Milwaukee. Now if you know some, please expose them so we can all learn about them. To the Bonny Briar club the NRA may be a fascist organization.
One more comment; you seem to take everything so damn seriously; maybe you're a crypto Bircher.....
NO 2ND AMENDMENT PROBLEM
I'm still taking a whack at that old, dead horse. Can you see the implications in your statement? Leaving off the words Saturday Night Specials, you "see no necessity for the private ownership of____ " You are leaving a blank to be filled by any group who has an ax to grind (or maybe outlaw) for whatever reason.
I'm not arguing with your opinion, it's your opinion. Mine is mine, and I stand fast. It's the constriction of private ownership of one item which may lead to constrict private ownership of any other items some group doesn't like. The first one is always the most difficult; subsequent decisions on what's ownable will be easier to make, to the detriment of our reasonably free society.
In New York City, any kind of hand guns have been banned for years; the ordinary, law-abiding citizen doesn't have one; but, every crook in town does. Not much reinforcement for a ban on Saturday Night Specials - or anything else in the broad sense.
WORD PERVERSIONS
What really hurts me as a minor league crafter of words is that the hmsl's have taken a perfectly fine word like 'gay' and turned it into a disgusting label for their nauseating activities. I don't think hmsl's would harm 'their own' children except perhaps by forcing their un-natural life style on them, causing them to think the style was acceptable/
What I disagree with is taking two normal children and placing them with a couple of male or female hmsl's living together as 'man and wife' in a marital travesty.
My suggestion for a solution of the hmsl problem is to take all the males and segregate them somewhere, away from all contact with normal people, do likewise with the females, and let attrition take care of them. Legally thrusting children into a hmsl household is abhorrent to me.
MANY KIDS ARE MISSING
I can't recall relegating all of the missing children to the category of those taken by one of the parents; the case was pure and simple kidnap.
Also, having lived in Milwaukee through the Ed Gein story, I don't recall his killing any children; I think he was a digger, not a doer It boggles to consider that our present civilization is one of the most temperate, and that from the cave dwellers on people killed other people, big and small, by the countless thousands with never a remorseful thought. And except for a few relatively rational portions of the globe today, the killing goes on in places like Africa, New Guinea, Jungles in every tropical climate, and so on; human life in these areas is cheap; the more people per square mile, the less importance is life. The difference between killing in the aboriginal areas versus the more advanced areas is only one of magnitude and sophistication. It's all part of the continuing tragedy.
WAY ABOVE THE LAW
There is a group maintaining a workplace in which none of the following laws are adhered to:
Civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on sex, race, or age.
Occupation safety and health laws to protect the workers from unsafe working conditions.
The Freedom of Information Act, which, with few exceptions, requires public disclosure of government operations and information.
Laws giving workers the right to form and join unions and engage in collective bargaining, and providing wage standards for unionized labor.
Who is this anti-labor, anti-union group, and why hasn't it been compelled by the forces and pressures of the AFL-CIO and Teamsters to fulfill the requirements that every business entity must follow, a group which controls 47,000 workers?
None other than our own US Congress and Judiciary, who many times have the arrogance to believe they themselves are above the laws meant for the peasant classes. However, one of those who does not feel this situation should live on is Representative Lynn Martin (R-Ill.) who has introduced a bill, H.R. 691, to make the parties abide by existing anti-discrimination laws. How far do you think that bill will get?
MENSA
Many of the Alphans I see around here seem as though they also would be eligible for membership in MENSA, a type of discriminatory, exclusive group which sets rules for entry which cannot be circumvented by legal action.
The requirement is that those seeking to attain MENSA membership pass an intelligence test, the results of which, would place the seeker in the upper 2% IQ bracket. If you think you can qualify, write to the address below for the inevitable forms:
Margot Seitelman, Executive Director, American Mensa Limited
170 West 3rd Street, Brooklyn, New York 11223
It doesn't matter what age group you are in; the tests provide. Give it a try.
NOT TOO GAY
God help that poor kid who was exposed to a lesbian family lifestyle; I hope she can grow up and get over it.
How does she address the problem when someone asks to meet her present 'father?' It must be tough; It doesn't seem natural; I wouldn't condone it, if it were up to me (although I know it isn't).
I'd rather be a bigot than a hmsl any day. And who am I to feel that way? Just someone gender normal, but our group outnumbers their group, thank the lord. I just feel sad for them.
COORS REVISITED
A short time ago I mentioned the O'Donnell/Union fiasco where in a sudden attack of stupidity the Milwaukee County Exec banned the sale of Coors beer. The newspaper story also said that Coors had withdrawn their sponsorship of several concerts.
Well, the story was wrong. Even though shut out by O'Donnell and his union string-pullers, Coors will in fact provide the funds to follow through on the concerts as scheduled. That's a class act. It's only O'Donnell and his union flunkies that showed their lack of it.
EAST SIDE KIDS
Generally in every large city there is an area where the artists, writers, and other creative people tend to gather. In the rotten apple it's Greenwich Village; in New Orleans, it's the French Quarter; in Milwaukee it's the East Side.
People are less staid and inhibited in those areas; their philosophies are more liberal and less rigid; they have a much higher tolerance for the inadequacies of their fellow human being.
My point was, if books and paraphernalia having to do with the practice of amateur and professional satanism were to be found somewhere, it would be in the more lenient atmosphere of such an area. (Can you see a Satanist store cropping up in the rich suburb of Elm Grove?)
As for my position on the matter, I think any city needs an area where life proceeds in a slow and casual left bank progression, where a starving artist can find a place to write or paint or sculp the great American whatever. Why not?
THE ULTIMATE PAINKILLER
Death is the ultimate panacea; but it's so damn final!
HEAVY, MAN!
I guess I have to agree that most people listen to the music and enjoy it without thinking of the religious implications or the satanist implications. Even us 39+ year olds who appreciated Beethoven, Mozart, and that bunch can listen to Crue and Maiden, etc., without flinching visibly nowadays.
Actually, it's difficult to understand the words most of the time, and the grownups don't really get excited unless they happen to see the lyrics in print somewhere.
But if the implications of the words must be taken according to content, then what about some of these lines.
Quote:
"When we are dancing and you're dangerously near me, I get ideas, I get ideas..."
or
"That old black magic has me in its spell, that old black magic that I know so well; those icy fingers up and down my spine, that same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine..."
These are only two of a thousand innocuous, for the time, lyrics that thrilled the listeners back in the 40's and 50's. They sounded great in the song, but in cold print, well........
No one said anything about satanism when Sinatra sang Black Magic. Of course the Catholic Church once banned the lyric, "Heaven can wait, this is Paradise," because it put the secular before the holy. Now look at the guitar masses going on at St. Rita's without comment, which would have been considered sacrilegious 40 years ago.
Sorry if I infringed any copyright by quoting the above lyrics; I don't really know who wrote or owns the songs.
NO STATUS QUO
What I take issue with is your position on maintaining the status quo with regard to our nuclear arms. I feel there must be continuous improvement in both the warheads and delivery systems. If weapon improvement were not a part of military employment in the past, we would be using blunderbusses as arms for our infantry.
Concerning the intelligence agencies, specifically the CIA, was it not the Jimmie Carter administration who appointed Stansfield Turner, who proceeded immediately to emasculate the Agency? Turner was no right-wing neophyte. If Carter would have called on the services of Soviet spy, Col. Abel, to try breaking up the Agency, he wouldn't have picked a more appropriate individual to do so.
MENSA
All right, you got me! I took the test, got a certificate, and paid for about three years of actual membership. Even got invited to the side group of snobs which dealt with the upper 99.9% achievers (stuffy as hell). The point is that Mensa is an achievement, like a degree, once received it cannot be withdrawn. I know of people who flirted about the edge of acceptance, retested, and passed; might depend on your day. Mensa is a great bunch!
LEVELS ATOP LEVELS
I'm aware of the Prometheus Society and the Megas; but consider this: after a certain point, IQ's become unmeasurable. For Mega and Prometheus, who makes up the questions and tests? They must be based on the first member's criteria, and allow in those with knowledge identical to his. I'll be glad to check the 4/1 Omni, as long as that date isn't germane to the thesis.
CRAVING
Better craving than craven! All I really crave is security for my family and my country; military strength will provide that security, no matter what be the totals.
MOVEABLE POSITIONS
Dogmatic ignorance is better than abject stupidity anytime, but you'll still have a forum here. Your positions are reminiscent of the Chicago weather - if you don't like it, just wait a while. Just as shifting and as shiftless.
Your statements live and die within a frame of innuendo and implication, with suggestion only as your weapon, thus allowing you to later state that it wasn't what you meant.
To you, error is any position contrary to your own. Attempting to wrap yourself in the moderate-conservative package is like the Boston Strangler coming out for women's rights.
MISSILE NUMBERS
Simply reading the numbers you posted as to quantity make me feel more comfortable from the standpoint of nuclear attack deterrence. You can argue the effectiveness of totals all you want, just as long as there will be no effect on the present stockpile.
If there were no United States nuclear capabilities, the Soviet Union would now control Europe, the Middle East, and be encroaching on Asia. It is only the threat of massive nuclear retaliation that keeps them from a continuous military attack on the regions referenced.
ZEN WHAT?
The number missiles required to keep the Soviets in check has no limit. There is no indisputable figure that can be set, and we really don't know how much is enough. That is the point! We don't really know! And if there is any error, it must be on the side of too many rather than too few.
I understand what both you are saying, and appreciate that the quantities reflect a concern for the costs involved, monies that might be better spent for other things in normal circumstances. Any would be able to spend that money in a way nearer to a heart's desire if it were available. But, until the Evil Empire joins the family of peaceful nations, we are bound to use funds more for guns than butter.
HOMOSEXUALS (HMSL'S)
Your objective response to the subject of homosexuality and its positive and negative points (no puns intended) certainly place the subject in perspective.
As you can see by my pejoratives, I have a completely subjective reaction to the concept, and revulsion at the thought of it eliminates any rational response from me. However, I'm sure you will be able to provide a more clinical discussion of the concept, and I will follow the reports closely.
WAR AND STRATEGY
In the 14th through the 19th centuries, battles were fought according to the principle mentioned, ie: a mass of soldiery on each side, a horn blast, and a fight to the death where the armies met. It was quantity versus quantity both in bodies and firepower.
What made the difference in war since 1914 was the concept of strategy, not that strategy was not used by Napolean and von Clausewitz, et al, but that the sophisticated levels attained by weaponry allowed more sophisticated and effective planes of strategy.
Even now, in the cold war we are in presently, strategy is elemental. If it is indeed a stand-off in terms of nuclear arms, then the various ploys of existing strategic processes are bearing on the quest for advantage in any potential conflict. The MX, the B1, the Strategic Defense Initiative - all are elements of strategy, all are elements denoting the higher levels of sophistication.
In the final analysis, the side with the superior strategy, considering nuclear equality in terms of complete destruction, will emerge with the advantage. Each side has a Damoclean sword over the other; the trick is to hold sway without cutting the string.
Consider that one of the basic tenets of the anti-nuclear weapon crowd is their fear of atomic war. Consider too, the paradox wherein they are anti-SDI, anti-intelligence, anti-military, and anti-hemispheric intervention in the protection of US interests. If, as it is felt, the nuclear confrontation is a standoff, why do the antis want us to withdraw from the non-nuclear arena?
That particular crowd sees no problem with allowing Central and South America, not to mention Mexico, go communist if they wish to, saying the US should have a hands-off policy. It is this mistaken attitude on their part which would bring the atomic holocaust of which they are so terrified.
BULL OF ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
Back in the late 50's we received a periodical called 'The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.'
The claim to fame was the so-called atomic clock, which had a pointer edging closer and closer to the nuclear midnite. It seemed that every time the US came up with a new set of weapons, the clock was moved forward; when the Soviets did the same, the clock hand seemed not to move. So much for parity.
I wonder if the "Concerned Scientists" are a spin-off 'Atomic Scientist' group. I'd like to know more about their political stance, although I have a notion where their hearts lie. Let's see if we can come up some info about the group, and more importantly, their structure, leadership, and sponsors. Maybe he has it in his book of secret societies, although... etc. etc.
ABOMINABLE
Consider this situation: An F-15 is flying over our dairy state. Due to some malfunction, a small, impact-actuated explosive device is released and falls toward a farm below, where it hits a male holstein and lodges in its midsection, somehow failing to explode.
This situation can best be described by one word, abominable!
VIVA COORS
I say more power to Coors and the Coors workers who voted out the shady unions. Remember, this was a vote by the workers themselves to decertify, and a crippling blow to the parasitic unions living off the financial blood of the brewery workers.
To examine the need for a union, let's look at the following: if workers are low-paid, overworked, have no rights to complain, have no rights to say anything against the company, or just have no rights to do anything, then perhaps it will take a workers' organization with the power to strike
to implement changes.
This is not how it is at Coors! I know the company well, and the workers get top industry wage, and have the right to discuss changes, knowing they will get a fair hearing, and a change if mutually agreeable that the change is for the better. The brewery workers must think this is fair or they wouldn't have thrown out the union.
Much of the antagonism drawn by Coors is due to the fact that Adolph Coors was a staunch right wing patriot who hadn't much use for liberals and their socialist philosophy. It's his privilege to think the way he likes; in fact, as one travels west, liberal thinking generally declines, until one gets to the land of fruits and nuts.
I've belonged to some unions in my time; all they did was pick my pocket every week and extract as much as they could, giving nothing in return. Any company that can, should get out from under the union thumb, and let the workers keep the extra money. It could be said with much truth that some reasons for the decline of the American sales overseas can be laid at the feet of the unions, whose ever-insatiable demands of management led to higher and higher wages and prices, to the point where American goods were priced out of the market.
Case in point, AMC/Renault, where a modest company manufacturing a car which some feel is second-rate, has higher unit wages than General Motors workers receive. If they cut a thousand dollars from AMC sticker prices sales might rise, but who knows, the car is still basically unattractive to many.
As can be seen by the statistics, union membership and clout is dropping fast; about 27% of the work force is unionized, down from 52% in the halcyon days of labor. Unions are a concept whose time is gone! Good riddance!
SCHLITZ LOSES ITS GUSTO
The closing and subsequent sale of the Schlitz Brewery to Strohs in Detroit was a direct result of greedy brewery unions trying to drain the lifeblood of the company without regard to company profit margin.
While Schlitz may not have been the best beer in the world to some, it certainly had a national following, and some judicious paring of the high 27 dollar/hour labor package might have saved it.
But perhaps Schlitz management had a bellyful of the unions, and the stockholders just felt it was time to bail out. Now Stroh has the labels and the market, which was the real value of Schlitz.
Some might think it strange, but I think that Kalmanovitz is probably the best thing that happened to Pabst. The deadwood is being shorn away, the management and labor force are being streamlined into a tougher, more effective group, and Pabst may survive yet.
If it doesn't, it won't be because Kalmanovitz doesn't know what he's doing. It will be a cold, hard decision based on whether Pabst is making money. This is the way it should be. There should be a return on investment for the stockholders and the owners; the company shouldn't be operated merely as a non-profit convenience for the unions and the union workers.
FAR RIGHT ON!
I think that our momentary problem lay in definitions; what is far right vs. far left, and why is it generally all right for anyone to donate to the left but not to the right? Old Armand Hammer has funded more far left groups than Adolph Coors has funded on the right. Generally, in the US, people can do anything they want with their own money, within the statutes. And why shouldn't they, politics notwithstanding!
UNIONS DWINDLING
The so-called union movement is diminishing every day in terms of membership and financial clout. The women's movements, for all their bombast, are too smart to turn their dollars over to a group that gives them nothing. It's too bad the teachers don't see it that way right now, but they will. The teacher's unions were necessary to raise wage standards, but in a while the standards will be well established, and the teachers will no longer want to pay the dues - and they won't.
THE RIGHT PLACE
I think that instead of deploring willy nilly the fact of providing monies to causes in other lands we must examine what those causes are.
If Coors were providing funds to the Afghanistan freedom fighters, that to me would be a good cause. Providing funds to the anti-Sandinista forces in Nicaragua would be a good cause. Funds for the Solidarity movement in Poland, the Grenadan peoples, or anti-totalitarian groups anywhere - that in my opinion would be for a good cause.
Giveaways to any communist regimes or forces anywhere would be for a bad cause.
If anyone wants to give his money away to anyone else, it's his money to give; we may or may not like the cause, but for legally expending funds to anyone, there is no prohibition or recourse on a third party's part.
COUNTY BORES
It looks as though the hapless County Board has shelved any action on allowing Coors to sell beer in areas under County supervision. In fact, one of the county yokels was wearing a Pabst-ornamented shirt during the proceedings, according to the Sentinel.
The actions of the County Board in this case are less than juvenile, and may come back to haunt them later. Free enterprise system? Not where the County is concerned!
I think it would be appropriate for the Sentinel to investigate the purchasing procedures employed by the County Board to see if there have been any sweetheart deals between the County and the Unions - at the expense of the taxpayers. There have been rumors for years; perhaps the Coors/Union/Board/O'Donnell incident will serve to initiate some investigative proceedings.
PABST BREWING
I did some engineering work with Pabst in the past, and the Vice President of Pabst Engineering and I were good friends. I think Pabst has a fine product, and their premium beer is outstanding.
This does not prohibit me from liking and drinking other beers, especially Miller Lite, which is the best of the light beers in my opinion. But I don't feel that one beer should be promoted over another to the exclusion of another, especially where the instigation is provided by a factor other than basic quality or preference.
The elimination of Coors sales is a Union controlled ploy carried out by a Union lackey. O'Donnell was supposedly elected to carry out the wishes of all the people, not roll over for his ideological masters, Schmitt, Majerus, et al.
TAX REFORM
Like they said, Rostenkowski had a tough act to follow, and he did fairly well to develop a bi-partison atmosphere with regard to Reagan's theme on tax reform.
I would venture that the reason the tax reform concept has not been argued in this forum is that it still is in a form that will be vastly changed after passing through the various House and Senate committees, joint sessions, and the special interests that will plague it.
Ironically, Rostenkowski implied that tax reform was a Democrat baby that is about to be born; I recall that Harry Truman mentioned that tax reform was vitally needed back in 1949.
Some gestation period.
SCARE UNLEASHED
I read a preliminary review of that particular anti-nuclear program; it seems the producers are pulling our all the scare tactic stops; every minute of the program will be associated with death and destruction in all the negative senses, with the point being there is no hope for any of us unless every nation disarms unilaterally. I hope they watch it in the Soviet Union, they don't get many laughs on their TV's. It might be that the review I read is too critical, but with the advent of the scare-documentaries, I don't feel too hopeful.
One thing you can be sure of: all the doves and anti-nuclear power crowds will be given a tremendous forum for their succinct blather. Here we are, the nation that invented nuclear power for developing cheap electricity, and the anti-nuke crazies are using the courts and the media to slow down or halt this power source. In any case, I hope thinking individuals will see through the propaganda which is ready to blast off. The program is certain to be absolutely subjective.
SOVIET PROPAGANDA ARM
No one has ever accused the Public Broadcasting System, or National Public Radio, of being fair and evenhanded in their presentation of programs.
Except for a sometime appearance by William F. Buckley, the output of both organizations is strictly liberal, left-wing oriented, and the viewer is given this version on almost every program. Even on one of my favorites, Dr. Who, we get the bleeding heart approach - with some United Nations type blubber- in almost every sequence.
The PBS series on WWII was a Soviet produced vehicle telling how they won in spite of their hapless allies. The last thing we need on the public broadcast systems is their offering more Soviet propaganda baloney.
And, it was reported that the President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting resigned in a tizzy last month during a CPB meeting. Why? Because the Board refused to allow meeting with the Soviet Union broadcasters to buy public programming from them, whereupon some PBS stations then voted to contact the Soviets on their own.
It is well know that monies fed to the NPR people had millions unaccounted for, and no investigation was ever held. Why was this? Anyone know? If it happened in private business, heads would roll. What was it that kept the story a relative secret?
NPR right now has a $7 million dollar debt due to their abysmal management, and they state they need $14 million dollars in 1986, versus the $11.3 million they were being funded. Also, station management has given initial approval to a revised funding structure which would pass money directly to affiliates instead of going through NPR, thereby lessening CPB control.
It will be to the benefit of most Public System listeners and viewers if neither the Soviet propaganda planning nor the funding bypass is ever accomplished. We get enough left-wing rhetoric now.
By the way, that CPB president who resigned was Edward J. Phister; watch for his name in another cushy job connected with Public Systems, in which he will most assuredly try to get the Soviet party line into the broadcasts.
FANTASY DEFINED
I can furnish the link between fantasy and housing projects. A housing project is a place that furnishes cheap rent for those who really need it; the fantasy is thinking you will be safe in a place like that.
NUCLEAR WASTE
I certainly agree with your assessment that nuclear waste must be disposed of in a safe way; however, what should make us think that the NRC and other agency watchdogs do not try to regulate so that we will be safe? Note I said safe; nothing the government does can keep us completely safe.
THREE MILE ISLAND INCIDENT
Your note about the nuclear regulations and potential dangers reminded me of one of the items the NRC can't handle, and that is the possibility of deliberate sabotage.
At the time of the TMI incident, rumor had it that three months previous to the reactor melt-down, there was a brief article in one of the underground newspapers that all should watch for an important nuclear "accident" at a plant in the east, and all should prepare to take advantage of the event to help block the proliferation of new nuclear plants.
This was reported in some rag in the days following the "accident," then, very mysteriously, nothing on the subject was ever heard again. It would be interesting to see that underground paper; I think Fonda's name was mentioned in the article, but I don't know for certain.
MORE TMI
I've read a great deal about the TMI incident inasmuch as I was to be involved in a nuclear powered electrical generation facility in another country, a project which I later turned down, one of the reasons being the quality of the locals who would be running the plant after it was commissioned.
There were a number of suspicious circumstances surrounding the equipment failures, enough to raise questions about the efficacy of plant security. The question of sabotage was not raised after that initial release, but privately I'm sure that there were and still are thoughts on the subject, and I also think that more stringent security measures went into effect in all nuclear installations after TMI.
Having been project engineer on a number of complete high pressure steam boiler applications, I can say that the only real difference between nuclear power plants and conventional power plants stops at the point where steam goes to the turbine generators. They are similar in most respects after the heat source.
Most of the nuclear plants have reactors that fall into the category of either a pressurized water reactor, where a heat exchanger is used to transmit the heat to make steam, or a boiling water reactor where the water changes to steam and is sent directly to the turbines.
Without going into the details of the processes, suffice it to say that although some areas of the nuclear plant vs the coal/oil plant are unique to the process, they operate in almost identical ways. Steam is made and sent to a turbine where it releases its energy, condenses, and flows back as hot water to be again converted to steam.
Many steam generators in the high output/high pressure-temperature range running on coal are just about as complex as nuclear powered facilities. There are to 4 levels of redundancy in most controls, most automatic operations, and all are alarmed for safety. High quality people in the US and other first world countries are running these plants, and are dedicated to their operations not only because of others dependent on a high level of safety, but also because any mistakes on their part might be personally fatal.
If the failure of components at TMI was accidental, and no hard facts have come up to say otherwise, then it took a complex combination of circumstance to cause that failure, and investigation by technical people, and not congressmen or environmentalists, will determine a method of even more human and instrumentational backup to ensure there is no reoccurrence.
NUCLEAR PLANT DANGERS
The real threat in nuclear power plant failure lies not in the reactor itself; if there is a complete melt-down, cooling water would accommodate that phase of the malfunction, as it did at TMI. It is the radiation that causes concern.
One of the most devastating non-nuclear explosions can occur from steam buildup in a large high pressure steam boiler. If a malfunction occurred, and the relief valves failed, a large boiler explosion would level the plant and everything around it for an 8th mile at least. It would have the effect of a small atom bomb.
TAXING SUBJECT
I think the truly wealthy people are about one or two per cent of population, and the others carry the load. Some confuse being wealthy with making a lot of money in a year; there is a difference. Someone once said that if we taxed the wealthy 100% on their annual returns, we could run the country for less than an hour. Big deal!
TEACHERS FOR LOVE OR MONEY
Keep in mind that the individual who enters teaching to make money is doomed from the start, unless he goes on to achieve a full-professorship at some U. with a great number of perks and the opportunity for outside consulting work - plus TA's to pick up his slack. And only rarely does this happen.
Notwithstanding the Union, I still maintain that teaching is a labor of love that brings rewards to the dedicated that can't be measured in money.
CRAWLING OUT OF THE WOODWORK
If anyone wonders what happened to the anti-Viet Nam War activists you can probably see many of them next year in "the great peace march" scheduled March 1, exactly one month too soon.
International anti-nuke forces are developing a massive campaign which will include 5000 peaceniks marching from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., and a march to Berlin in which about 25,000 weirdos will be on the trail.
The name of this last dance of the gooney birds is People Reaching Out For Peace, or PRO-Peace, and is directed by David Mixner, who started the Viet Nam Moritorium Committee which organized protests during the southeast Asia war. He was manager of L.A. Mayor Bradley's campaign and served as co-chairman for Gary Hart's losing campaign for President. No more description is necessary.
P-P (PRO-Peace) already has a $100,000 in the sack and a crew of 30 people, and are raising more funds by tapping the pockets of liberal types like Paul Newman and developer David Stein. The march director, Stanley Perkins, is dealing with manufacturers of clothing items to raise money and hype the march.
Mixner said "it is the aim of P-P to create an atmosphere that will make it impossible for our leaders not to take nuclear weapons down."
He didn't mention how he would force the Soviets to do likewise, or what the Soviets would do if we eliminated our nukes. He said that he expects to use mass communications to encourage Soviet citizens to pressure their leaders to get rid of nuclear weapons. Where has this fellow been living for the last 20 years? Probably in a dream world.
In any case, the P-P group is planning a four phase campaign as follows:
Phase 1: The great peace march.
Phase 2: The civil disobedience effort in which plans to have over 250,000 people go to jail, like the Chicago "peace riots" back in 1968.
Phase 3: The march to Berlin, where 25,000 West and East Germans will be marching. If Moscow didn't like the plan, there wouldn't be any East Germans involved, you can believe that. (I wonder how many of the OstenDeutchers will defect to the west; and so do the Soviets)
Phase 4: Mass communications to the Soviets citizens to pressure their leaders. (Does the slave pressure his master? Not a chance.)
Well, get ready for the TV Toonervilles to go all out in coverage of this new crop of the sleazy unwashed. What I will be waiting for is the gracious welcomes the scummy tribes get when they pass through some of the western towns. Horrors! Suppose the townspeople are waiting fully armed with large supplies of soap and hot water? If I remember the anti-American Viet Nam marchers, that will be a terror too terrible to anticipate.
AUTOMATIC
Your automatic reactions invite automatic assumptions; it's easy to forcast your every answer to a given question:
If it's:
Reagan, you're against it.
Administration, you're against it.
Military, you're against it.
Nuclear, you're against it.
Conservative, you're against it.
Aid to those fighting the communists somewhere, you're against it.
Republican, you're against it.
Groucho sang, "Whatever it is I'm against it!" With you, the malady lingers on, especially when you glance in the Right direction. If predictability is a virtue, then you are a masterpiece of rectitude.
LOGIC
I still think that absolute logic is defined in true and false statements; all else is compromise; if it isn't true-false, it isn't logic!
THE REVENGE BUSINESS
Well, from the news reports it would seem to be a good day for the nazi hunting business. It appears that time and events caught up with Joseph Mengele, giving him the fate he richly deserved.
I believe that all of the WWII criminals like Mengele should be caught and shipped back to Germany for trial. What I don't care for is the professional hunters using the fears and experiences of others to feather their own nests and travel over the world to flaunt local laws in their heavily financed searches.
What I like even less is our government's using KGB "evidence" to try deporting those that are only accused, to the eastern bloc without solid fact to support accusations. But, I guess all's fair in the revenge business.
NORMAL
I'd say "normal" represents the opinion of the majority of a given group. In the Congo and the South Seas, cannibalism was considered normal by that society; in other societies, different mores dictated. I think it comes down to - join the mob of your choice.
I guess that if most of the people in a society feel the same way about the same things, and what they feel, they themselves would consider to be normal. Generally, the average guy thinks he is normal. Others may feel, as hmsl's do, that their way is normal, but not average. This is a difficulty in working with fixed labels.
COMPOSITION
How can I believe your story about the gases with the funny names like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. I have an old Soviet text book here that says the universe is made up of earth, air, fire, and water, and touches on a new phlogiston theory. Exciting new discoveries are being made about the ether of space, even as you speak.
TAX PLAN
No one will know the full impact of Reagan's tax plan until the bill is passed and signed. Then we'll be able to comment. Congress will have it's porcine say - that's where the problems will lie. Remember the guy who said, no one's wife or property is safe when the legislature is in session; and, when it's Congress, keep both hands on your wallet.
BORED TO DEATH
One special method, beloved of most teaching administrators, is the old approach of directing towards the least of the class, whereupon boring the hell out of the upper strata.
And if aimed at the upper strata, any below are even more bored with info beyond their immediate capabilities.
The answer may lie in ability-based schools, attendance determined by test, for the low, medium, and high capables. The barriers to this may include both cost and resentment.
Yes, I was bored to death in high school, and except for athletics, may not have stayed. It was not until the college educational phases that I felt a proper challenge. The problem will remain as long as teaching is aimed at the mediocre and their slower assimilation pace.
NOW YOU HAVE IT...
The story about the guy who wants his cake for nothing, provided by someone else, is precisely the way our welfare system techniques have been ingrained in the populace. The old saw of not getting something for nothing, or the concept of no free lunch, is valid just as long as the government doesn't maintain a giveaway system.
Unfortunately, the four generations of welfarites in this country demand all free from the state, and at a level equal to the workers who provide the cost-free ride on life's railroad.
Maybe you really don't feel that way, but that's how it sounded.
AWESOME TASK
Welcome to you new members! That task, of course, is trying to remember all the conversations in the Alpha-Omega forum. Some might say the word is tiresome instead of awesome, but what do they know. Luck we record all!
As you absorb the arguments you will come to the conclusion that battle lines are drawn between the political factions here on Alpha, with times out for some homespun philosophy and general tom-foolery when the rhetoric permits.
Feel free to join in at any time, on any subject. So far the fatalities have been few and figurative. Blood shed in argument needs no transfusing.
As you plow your way through live and recorded Alpha you will also note the half vast range of subject matter touched upon by the denizens. No sharp objects are allowed us except minds, but they are the best media; like those on the Enterprise, our communicators are both argument devices and weapons of attack and defense.
"Lay on McDuff, and damned be he who first cries, hold...my brain hurts."
REASON PREVAILING
Let us applaud the 15 or so members of the Milwaukee County Board who utilized common sense, instead of subjective union hogwash, and voted to kill Dip O'Donnell's attempt to keep Coors out of the hands of us naive county inhabitants.
O'Donnell's ploy was merely a play on the emotions of the union powers that be to ensure the goodies coming in from the locals as the next election nears. The dubious strategy may come back to haunt him. Voters, whether they are Demo or GOP, aren't going to vote for a completely inept nut no matter his affiliation.
It's about time Mr. O'Donnell was gracefully retired by the voters of his area; he's getting to be an embarrassment to them, and there are many qualified Demos that could take his place without periodically licking the boots of the local labor louts.
Maybe the vaunted clout of the unions is slipping even lower these days, as the Board members dared to take a stand against labor's dictates. Perhaps the time is past when labor said jump and the politicians said how high?
LOOKING DOWN AT LAWYERS
Recent days have provided the results of a new poll relating to the standing of relative professions and trades in the United States. The poll indicated that Lawyers were near the bottom of the group, just below drug smugglers.
Politicians ranked in the immediate area, some above, some below, dependent on local, state, or national office. Documentation cannot be provided at this time because the info was heard from radio news -- but it certainly figures.
BY THE NUMBERS
Now I'm only going to say this once about the importance of numbers:
The number 100 is far superior to the number 13, when expressed in terms of in-pocket dollars, or even Kruegerands and Swiss Francs. This knowledge transcends all other aspects of numerology.
UNION ISSUE
I viewed the Coors issue as a union issue when I heard that O'Donnell said it was, when Ray Majerus said his outfit backed the ban against the scabs, and when it was ordered that no union member should buy Coors; all due to the fact that Coors, in their enlightened wisdom, does not have a unionized brewery. Outside of that, I have no really significant reasons for criticizing the board or the union.
NEO-NUMBERISM
While I'm not enthusiastic about the usual math after having pursued Theory of Mathematics some distance, I am intrigued by the possibilities of Calculust, which you mentioned in your note.
Old Carter had some kind of lust in his heart; was it passion, or merely Calculust. Did the sight of 6 over 9 cause a bad case of Calculust or was it the provocative concept of how many times 3 would go into 2? Yes, I can see the possibilities of a course in Calculust 101; they would be standing in line trying to sign on. All I want to know is, how did a nice, Christian guy like you get into so erotic a field? Is Calculust sort of like playing with Pebbles on the beach? (Pebbles works at that strip joint in Greenfield)
RETALIATION
Those two-bit garbage countries who need issues to cover the fact their people need the basics in life generally have a military capability which they use to keep down the people and flaunt to their peers.
My response is, blast their military back to bows and arrows; airfields, barracks, weaponry, naval vessels, tanks, etc., as a lesson to the other petty tyrants like the KaDaffies.
PABST REVISITED
When visiting the Milwaukee plant, a side trip to the hops room is always good for a lungfull of perfume; truly an aroma from the gods. Fellow named Keith there is an old friend, and now runs plant engineering. Too bad Pabst has such an inept ad agency; their products are too good to sell like animal crackers.
GUNNING FOR HUNTERS
The anti-gun forces are at it again, trying to strike at the ri