Job Discussion Forums

[ohman]

To complete the Hanovarian cycle, must we one day tolerate a George the III? There is one out there you know. As for the The Brit George III, what a mah-roon, an imbessill, about as sharp as a bowling ball. No, wait, that's our George II. I'm confused. Blasted. I need a meeting.

[ohman]

Clark may have rubbed a few members of the Kosovo coalition the wrong way--especially the Russians, but overall, he agreed with the EU's insistence that ground troops were needed. This was the source of Clinton/Clark confrontations. However, Clark seems like a good candidate for going to the EU, hat in hand, and saying "Please forgive us for the sins of the clown" As a former commander of NATO, he may have some wasta in Europe.

However, I may be so Gung Ho about Clark these days because I am on the defensive again, as I was in 1991 when Bob Kerry threw his hat into the ring. At that time, Democrats were being labeled card carrying members of the ACLU, unpatriotic, rubbish like that. So having one of ours with a Medal of Honor on his resume blinded me to the truth that Kerry can be a bit brain addled at times (everytime he's won an election, at his victory party, he stood at a podium, balanced on his one good leg--an NVA grenade took his other leg--and he sang all 1,370 verses of Eric Boggle's "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda). Qualifies him for VP though.
Kerry/Kerry Clark/Kerry, either one would have tremendous flag waving potential which would go a long way with the flag wavers down south where I live--even the wavers of the stars and bars couldn't resist a double billed war heroes' ticket.

[ohman]

John,

Have you ever considered starting up a chapter of VFQ-Veterans of Foreign Quagmires? We're gonna have lots of young members in the coming years.

[johnslat]

Dear ohman,
An interesting notion - but it may be redundant. The meetings I'm going to these days already have, not surprisingly, a large contingent of VFQs.
Regards,
John

[shadowfax]

all is vanity

[johnslat]

Dear shadowfax,
Um, quite a list of "suggestions" - some comments:

1. "dress our women more decent" ( Grammatically, shouldn't it be "decently"? )
1. Do you "dress your woman/women"? I certainly don't dress mine. She seems quite capable of dressing herself. So, are you implying that we need to institute a "women's dress code" in the "West" and make it enforceable by law?
2. "stop all the casual cussin' and swearin'"
2. That'd be OK with me - ah, but just how do you propose this be implemented? Should "cussin' and swearin'" also be made illegal and punished by a fine, imprisonment or both?
3. "tone down our abuse of our own freedoms"
3. Hmm, and who decides just what constitutes an "abuse" of those freedoms? Presumably you believe "cussin' and swearin'" are abuse of freedom of speech. What would you consider an abuse of freedom of religion to be? Or how about freedom of the press, etc.?
4 ". . . . greed: is there really any need for anyone to earn more than 35000 dollars net a year?"
4. $35,000 net a year would suit me fine ( adjusted for inflation, of course ). But wouldn't such a cap strike at the heart of the capitalist system by putting a big damper on personal enterprise, innovation, research and development, etc? Like it or not, many/most human beings are driven, in large measure, by the profit motive. Remove that motivation and Western society would probably collapse ( except, of course for ESL/EFL teachers, who, obviously, are NOT motivated by financial reward ).

But perhaps I'm overlooking the possibility that your post wasn't meant to be taken at all seriously, anyway.

Regards,
John

[shadowfax]

he that shutteth and no man openeth

[Cleopatra]

Must say that ever since being in KSA I've become more and more offended by the gratuitous nudity I see all around me at home. Nothing prudish about it - just that I'd prefer not to have to see pictures of pouting, half naked women while buying my newspaper, and I'd rather not have to endure MTV videos where any female 'musician' has to double as a porn star.
I was aware of these things before my Saudi sojourn, but my awareness has grown more acute since then. I don't care how 'modestly' or otherwise individual women dress - that's up to them - but I would prefer not to have cheap, in-your-face sexuality thrown at me from every quarter.
Besides the inappropriacy of it all, at the end of the day - ironic though it may sound - overt 'sexiness' isn't actually very sexy. Can any of us say that we've ever been in a country with as much sexuality in the air as the 'chaste' K of SA?

[johnslat]

Dear shadowfax,
While I can't say I disagree with your sentiments,

1. I, as well, could do without thongs, excessive decollete, etc.; in this respect I agree with Cleopatra that the more that is left to the imagination, the s e x i e r the dress .
2. I seldom indulge in "cussin' and swearin'" myself, and regret that some others seem to find it necessary to express themselves in such fashion.
3. I think that it would be wonderful if our freedoms were not abused.
4. I also would like to see a society motivated by much nobler drives than greed.

alas, I am a lot less sanguine than you seem to be that such changes could be accomplished by the forces that you mention. Perhaps it would be for the best if humankind were ruled by an elite of wise people of manners, whose good taste would set the tone for the less gifted. However, I'd say that such a situation is unlikely, highly unlikely, perhaps, to arise. Moreover, I think that even if it were to come to pass, well, that might worry me even more. Being rather skeptical as regards human nature, I strongly suspect that such an elite would soon fall victim to Lord Acton's dictum: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men". So, despite my misgivings about the current state of much of society, I am inclined to believe that it might well be better for us all if we just let humankind muddle along in its slipshod - but perhaps more democratic - manner.
And, if I may be so bold as to suggest a book as a sort of "cautionary tale", I highly recommend "The Handmaids Tale" by Margaret Atwood.
Regards,
John

[johnslat]

Mr. Friedman's still trying to direct the USA's foreign policy regarding Iraq ("If those dolts would only LISTEN to me, all would be well") by proposing that more control of Iraq be handed over to the Iraqis. He doesn't appear to worry at all about whether, if we did do that, the vast majority of Iraqis would approve of our "choices" about who gets that power. Meanwhile, Ms Dowd is, in my opinion, telling it like it is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/opinion/09DOWD.html?th

and a song to go with it:

The Night Chicago Died

My daddy was a cop
On the East Side of Chicago
Back in the USA
Back in the bad old days.

In the heat of a summer night
In the land of the Dollar Bill
When the town of Chicago died
And they talk about it still

When a man named Al Capone
Tried to make that town his own
And he called his gang to war
With the forces of the law

Chorus:
I heard my momma cry
I heard to pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed.

And the sound of the battle rang
Through the streets of the old East Side
Till the last of the hoodlum gang
Had surrendered up or died.

There was shouting in the street
And the sound of running feet
And I asked someone who said
"About one hundred cops were dead."

Regards,
John

[ohman]

Three helicopters in one week. I'm speechless. Here's a little Joseph Heller to articulate my rancour.


"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle."

[J-Pop]

[johnslat]

Dear ohman and J-Pop,
Ah good old Catch-22 - one of the three ( in my not-so-humble opinion) great modern American comic / tragic novels ( the other two, in case you're interested, are: "Handling Sin" by Michael Malone and ( of course) "A Confederacy of Dunces" (hmm, a apt appelation for the current crew in Washington, come to think on it) by John Kennedy Toole.
But, at least Yossarian et al were engaged in what was arguably the last
"just war" the USA has waged.
Regards,
John

[ohman]

John,

Thanks for the tip on "Handling Sin"--I'll try to find it before I head back there.

I'm from N'awlins--John Kennedy Toole was, as our cousins say, "spot on" about Big Easy culture.

Here's another trite though relevent pop culture reference

"We gotta get out of this place
If it's the last thing we ever do"

[johnslat]

Dear ohman,
Grand Funk Railroad, wasn't it? At least back in the 60s. Maybe some other group has done a "cover" of it since then. I can recall its being played at every Marine Corps Service Club I ever visited; it was a sure-fire request, sooner or later in the evening, even at the best duty stations ( such as Japan, for example ). So, it always conveyed to me the truism that few, if any, are ever satisfied with what they have or where they are.
( "Can't Get No Satisfaction" was another big favorite). My personal "theme song" of that era?

"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield (written by Stephen Stills, 1996)

" There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side

It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound "

I'm especialy fond of the "Paranoia" verse. Hope you manage to find "Handling Sin" - it's GREAT!

Regards,
John