Job Discussion Forums

[scot47]

http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/501/501%20sagarika%20ghose.htm

Comments please

[Sashadroogie]

Burgess - a great writer.

[johnslat]

Dear Sasha,

Second that - one of my favorites.

Your droogie,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

I remember. Even picked up a copy of Earthly Powers on your recommendation. But sadly, haven't actually read it yet. But now that I have been reminded by Scot's post, I know what I'll be doing this weekend : )

With Communist droozhba!

Sasha

[johnslat]

Dear Sasha,

Great - it's horrorshow. Love the very first sentence.

Warning: spoiler alert: http://www.edrants.com/the-best-first-sentence-in-fiction/

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

Yes, it is hard to top that one, alright.


Regards

Sasha

[wonderingjoesmith]

[johnslat]

Dear Joe,

You'll get no argument from me about the abysmal state of general knowledge here in the States (despite my best efforts to make improvements ) A voting public that could elect George W Bush president twice (well, once, really - the Supreme Court elected him one time) has some serious knowledge issues (on the other hand, electing Obama twice is a hopeful sign).

On the other hand, according to Wiki,the US does have a 99% literacy rate (as compared to 73.4% for, say, India) so it could be worse.

However, according to this, it IS worse:



According to a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults in the U.S. can't read. That's 14 percent of the population. 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates can't read.

The current literacy rate isn't any better than it was 10 years ago. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (completed most recently in 2003, and before that, in 1992), 14 percent of adult Americans demonstrated a "below basic" literacy level in 2003, and 29 percent exhibited a "basic" reading level.

We probably don't need to spell out the benefits of reading and writing for you. Economic security, access to health care, and the ability to actively participate in civic life all depend on a individual's ability to read."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html

As for knowing the enemies in WW II, well, Uncle Joe did make kind of an unfriendly gesture when he signed (to his deep regret later on ) that "Non-Aggression Pact" with the ever-so-trustworthy Hitler in 1939.

But I can't say I fault him - every nation has to put its own priorities first,

Regards,
John

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

Much is made of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. But remember the Western states had the year before made their own unfriendly gesture with the pact they made with the little corporal - in Munich. Which they too came to regret, deeply.


With Communist greetings

Sasha

[grahamb]

Ah yes, the infamous Munich agreement. Chamberlain et al gave Hitler a blank Czech.

[Sashadroogie]

Without any representation from the Czechs themselves, let alone any attempt to inform the Soviet Union what was afoot.

[grahamb]

Barely a decade later the Czechs found themselves dominated by Uncle Joe. Unhappy people!

[Sashadroogie]

Liberated by the freedom-loving peoples of the glorious Soviet Union...

[wonderingjoesmith]

[grahamb]

Stitched up at Munich, occupied by Germany, dominated by the USSR, 1968 invasion... not the happiest history of the 20th century. Of course Sasha has already said otherwise, but I fear he sees things through vodka-frosted glasses!