Category: Letters
A Nation of Patients
March 8th, 2010, No Comments
I’m convinced that failure to legislate access to health care for all Americans is a means of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Where’s the Patriot Act when you really need it? Between 1956 and 1998, the conflict in Southeast Asia (Vietnam War for my fellow oldsters) caused the deaths of approximately 58,193 military personnel. [...]
Veterans Day – Let’s Add the WTC Workers to Those Being Recognized
November 21st, 2009, No Comments
This suggestion is the result of an article which recently came to my attention, appearing in a UK newspaper instead of one of our own publications. The Word Trade Center (WTC) workers are certainly veterans of the war declared upon the US by terrorists. Therefore it is logical that they receive similar attentions [...]
Mishap or Tragedy? Word Doctors Strike Again
October 4th, 2009, No Comments
This commentary is about an article which offers an extremely serious description of the loss of millions of dollars in profits by numerous farmers in an Idaho community. Apparently, due to the drift of herbicides used many years ago on nearby PUBLIC LANDS, (pardon me for shouting since I doubt an informed public [...]
Dress Codes for Women say more about Male Fears than Feminine Modesty
September 11th, 2009, No Comments
There has been very limited coverage of the prosecution of women for non-compliance with dress codes for Muslim women. A recent New York Times Article, “Sudan Fines Woman Who Wore Pants” by Jeffrey Gettleman and Waleed Arafat (9/7/09) breaks that silence. The woman, Mrs. Lubna Hussein, was found guilty but spared flogging. She [...]
In Corporations We Trust – NOT ; More discussion with the WSJ
August 29th, 2009, No Comments
The author of the story about the Scotts company entering the ‘naturals’ market replied to my letter to her editor most generously (see my last blog entry). She discussed her understanding of the issues I had raised and I have no doubt that she grasps many of the issues involved. However, not being a [...]
In Corporations We Trust… along with other abused metaphors and idioms
August 23rd, 2009, No Comments
Even the most enthusiastic of capitalists knows the truth behind the Latin phrase, “Caveat Emptor’ or “Buyer Beware.” Street-smart people have always touted the wisdom of carefully evaluating the quality of the products you acquire in sale or trade. One of our older American-English idioms warns us against buying something sight unseen: a pig in [...]
Health Care Reform: People Already Have the Right to See a Doctor Without Charge
August 17th, 2009, No Comments
but some of us feel it ought to be a primary care physician first, instead of a coroner.
Defining the United States by Economics – Do We Only Stand for Wealth?
July 28th, 2009, No Comments
Bob Herbert summed it up nicely in his column, “Chutzpah on Steroids” (7/14/09) in which he marvels at the engineers of our economic meltdown who now insist no meaningful oversight of their nefarious activities is required.
Interesting choice of words for your title, Mr. Herbert. The rush to economic prosperity for the few is also [...]
Are You Green or Merely Chartreuse?
May 27th, 2009, No Comments
Okay. I’ll admit it. Most of the environmentally ‘friendly’ magazines and many advocates of green society make my flesh crawl. They don’t know of what they speak because ‘trade secrets’ remain secret. The advertising these days is about what you won’t find in a product. I took Grist magazine to [...]
No Boy Left Behind
March 26th, 2009, No Comments
This column by Kathleen Parker is indicative of the impoverished intellectual landscape that President Obama is facing as he gears up to alter the course of our disastrous history. I believe the platform was built on the concept of ‘change’. This must be staunchly resisted by conservatives for fear of having to share [...]
