Seeing the forest
It seems the Journal cannot see the forest for the trees. From a subscriber's view, the entire paper is slanted left with the obituaries being the one exception. How many pro-liberal editorial cartoons are published vs. conservative? How many pro-conservative editorials do we read?
Journal circulation is down, and job ads for employment are constant. Does management not see the forest? Primary readers of newsprint today are the middle-aged and older people who have more conservative views. Younger people who seem to have liberal views are not as in tune with the news as the older generation. They get their news from sources other than newsprint.
Is the reason readers are falling away because the older readers mostly adhere to the conservative view and get tired of reading the leftist viewpoints of the management of the Journal? Print this if you are balanced as you claimed.
B.H. "TINY" SIMPSON
Kernersville
In poor taste
Wednesdays are my favorite newspaper reading days. I enjoy the Living section so much with its great decorating ideas, but mostly the wonderful recipes with interesting information about various types of foods. But on March 14 I thought that printing an article about saffron, the world's most expensive spice, was in poor taste ("Intoxicating").
In the business section, a headline read, "2011 N.C. jobless rate is revised upward," and another read, "Local foreclosure rate up slightly in December." People cannot afford gas, food and shelter. To be presenting saffron, the spice of the very wealthy, to the public suggesting they try it (in recipes) is disgusting. Instead there should be plans for healthy affordable meals for those who are struggling. Journal, what were you thinking?
PEGGY LYLE
Pfafftown
Drilling not answer
If drilling for oil were the answer to lower gas prices, they would be lower now. We are currently drilling more than ever and also refining more than ever. So what is the problem?
Our No. 1 export is refined fuel; our No. 2 export is crude oil. We could have an oil rig in every U.S. backyard, but if the oil is sold out of the country because it is more profitable for the oil companies, gas prices will still be high as they are now.
E.T. SHAFER
Seven Devils
On Alberto
At the heart of the Uriel Alberto saga lurks a central ethical inquiry. Should children benefit or profit from illegal acts by their parents?
I recall that several months ago the Journal reported on idealistic young crusaders from Salem College who went to West Stokes High School to advocate for the DREAM Act (" 'Beyond the rhetoric,' " Oct. 31). (So easy to crusade when you're not footing the tax burden.) I would like for these DREAM devotees to consider the following possibility:
Suppose I decide to rob a bank, stash the loot for a time and then give it to my child to pay for $5-a-gallon gas. My child is unaware of my crime and thinks it came from my own resources. If I get caught, I tell the cops it went to the John Edwards campaign. According to the DREAMers' logic, my kid keeps the money.
Thus, the question for Uriel Alberto and others of his ilk: What laws may I break that will benefit my offspring, the same way he did from his parent being a criminal? That is a question that Alberto cannot answer.
HARRY R. COOKE
Winston-Salem
The 'marriage amendment'
Was I ever glad to read Ken Hoglund's letter, "Problem solved," in the March 15 Journal.
Several weeks ago there was an editorial (mostly con) that went on at great length about the legal problems this proposed amendment would cause ("More reason to vote 'No,' " Feb. 26).
Really bad, I thought.
When I got to the end and reflected, I realized the concern was only about one group — those in common-law heterosexual marriages. Well, why can't they simply marry? Or am I missing something?
OK, there may be a tiny percentage who are too closely related and should not even try to procreate. Or maybe some couples who are mismatched in age, say a 50-year-old man living with a 12-year-old girl. These people deserve legal problems.
Are the great majority of these couples too lazy or too poor to buy a marriage license and tap a minister on the shoulder? Ken has a wonderful remedy: an amnesty for a free license and a courthouse ceremony.
ROBERT LUNDERGAN
Kernersville
#1... they printed it. "the obituaries being the one exception." Don't you just hate the leftist weather reports and sports section, Henson and Marshall both injured their left hands, probably would have been no coverage had it been their right hands. If weather patterns ever shifted from mostly left coast to right to right coastt to left, I'm sure there would be no weather report either.
ReplyDelete#2... eehh
#3...so true. Supply is up in the US and demand is down, yet prices rise.
#4...well if you rob a bank, let's hope they don't send your children back to Scotland (Cooke).
#5...in the US, all citizens should be treated equally and have the same rights. As a country, we're still working on it.
Mr. Simpson:
ReplyDeletePeople at the Journal have been told, more than once, that the paper is nothing more than a left-wing, liberal newspaper. However, apparently, they don't care. They are determined to drive the paper off a cliff, come hell or high water.
They are much like children at the Journal, you can tell them they are going to get burned, but they still want to touch the stove. The Journal is being financed on ideological fumes, but the liberal, non-objective 'news' articles just keep coming. They don't seem to be able to help themselves.
Just a little list of liberal causes the Journal supports: 1)Illegal immigrant-keep 'em coming, and give them amnesty, 2) Governor Bev. Perdue-a wonderful governor, why-because she's woman, 3) Democrats in charge of the N.C. legislature-why-because they love to spend OPM money on various liberal causes, 4) Gun Control-after all, who needs a gun-criminals don't kill people, only gun owners do......... The list goes on and on.
Solution: Do what I did Mr.Simpson. Let them have their liberal love-fest that they call a newspaper, and drop your subscription. There's better news sources to be had elsewhere.
Journal obits slant neither right or left because they tend to slant downward--about 6 feet and tend to stay put.
ReplyDeleteI for one have never heard of saffron. With or without the write up, circumstances are what they are.
ReplyDeleteDrilling may not be the answer as the world is awash in oil. Political risk in the Middle East is a large part of the price problem. The unspoken problem is oil is priced in US dollars. Our Federal Reserve "Chair Satan" has been printing dollars like a mad man for over two years. Other prominent central banks have been printing currency like mad too. All this devalued "money" is looking for something to get a decent return on. Commodities-read OIL- is it for now.
ReplyDeleteBest explanation I've heard recently regading the incresing price of oil, the declining demand and the increased (drilling) production.
DeleteI agree that worldwide monetary policy has had an impact, but the alternative would have been worse. We were and are in a period of weak demand with substantial deleveraging. Hard money policies would have retarded growth and made paying off the debt even more difficult, as it would have been even more expensive with higher interest rates. And with lower (and possibly negative) growth, less people would have had jobs to pay off their debts anyway.
DeleteOur priorities now should be to stimulate demand and overall growth. I wouldn't have a problem with a higher inflation target, given the failure of the govt. to enact adequate fiscal stimulus.
Arthur, with fuel prices spiking and sucking up family earnings, where is demand going to come from? The withholdings decrease was to be a stimulus, but instead it is only going into the gas tank. Commodity inflation and dollar devaluation will give us a higher inflation target alright and we won't like it.
DeleteIt's one factor behind gas prices among many. Demand in China and India, war talk w/ Iran, outmoded refineries in the northeast US being others.
DeleteThere was a bump in commodity prices recently, but it's since come back down. Core inflation remains low even with all the QE. Tight money would be the solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
Do you do much volumn grocery buying lately? The rapid rise in prices is due to commodity inflation especially fuel cost pass along. The Core inflation figures are junk numbers as they are X food and energy. If you don't have to buy either, well you might be ok.
DeleteTight money is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, well yes, but devalued money is an answer to a problem that has been mis diagnosed. Either way, no nation will ever devalue its way to prosperity.
Children of illegals represent a heartbreaking conundrum. It is what happens when people flout the law for too long. The law becomes irrelevant. Some where someday there is a tarif to be paid. Too many ignored laws and then trouble follows.
ReplyDeletewhitewall: I wish there was a simple solution to the aforementioned problem. And you're right, it IS heartbreaking. The argument has been made by many that the NOW ADULT immigrants can make the choice to go back or start the naturalization process but refuse to. That argument is simplistic. Go back to what? Living here is all they've known, and naturalization is a l-o-o-o-n-g drawn out, hoop jumping process.
DeleteSome (now) adult children of illegal immigrants are trying to right a wrong by applying for citizenship but part of the process is a requirement to voluntarily remove themselves from the U.S. Problem is that if they do they virtually forfeit all efforts to date. This roadblock is what the Dream Act is trying to simplify.
Peggy Lyle's husband prosecuted Darryl Hunt for murder, so she does think about more serious things than saffron at times.
ReplyDeleteSaffron is not that expensive if you consider that very little is used in most recipes.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: Umm...Thomas? Will? John Hood from the John Locke Foundation? Krauthammer? Reagan? If you want a one-sided paper, subscribe to the Wall Street Journal or Investor's Business Daily. IBD does have awesome stock charts and other excellent investing ideas.
LTE 2: "People cannot afford gas, food and shelter." - some people can't, but the majority can. Not everyone is struggling. The column is just a suggestion for those who can afford it. Not worth an LTE rant.
LTE 3: We need more refineries, not more drilling. Even if the US had 10 trillion gallons of oil a year being drilled, it doesn't do a bit of good if you don't have the refineries to process it.
LTE 4: Sigh...another analogy that is nowhere close to representing the issue. The actual central issue is current immigration laws are inadequate to deal with the situation where people were brought to the US as children by their parents who either crossed illegally or are here on an expired visa, and now are in citizenship limbo through no fault of their own. I certainly do not see how that is considered "benefiting". In 1986, all working undocumented aliens and their families were granted amnesty to take care of the situation. (Since Reagan signed the bill, does this make him a RINO?) That would never go over today. The DREAM Act which requires certain stipulations be met in order to obtain amnesty seems to be the most logical way to go.
LTE 5: There was an article on a finance site that told about how many young couples were postponing marriage because they couldn't afford to get married and how marriage itself was viewed as a luxury item. As long as every couple has the same access to that amensty regardless of sexual orientation, then i'm all for it.
About refining capacity, I really wonder if the refiners aren't deliberately taking their refineries off line to boost to price of oil. I am not aware of any significant new regulations which are making refiners shut down.
DeleteA few years ago when refining capacity was truly low, my brother in law a petroleum engineer went to Saint Louis to restart a refinery that had been taken off line for years.
The Arab Spring is also contributing to higher oil prices as countries who have not sprung yet are trying to pacify their masses with generous government handouts courtesy of higher oil prices.
Regarding marriage, many senior couples choose not to marry too for the following reasons:
DeleteTax disincentives.
Loss of military and pension benefits.
Fear of incurring liability for partner's medical expenses.
Credit rating protection.
Separation of current debt.
Ability to share expenses.
Health insurance.
Asset protection.
Alimony.
Social Security benefits. There seems to be much confusion on this topic. Depending on your age, you may not lose Social Security benefits if you remarry.
This is why Mrs WW and I plan to stay married. We just passed 33 years and I would dread life without her. She agrees ( probably since I am a thrill to be married to....).
DeleteSaffron is the tiny yellow/orange stigma of a small purple crocus. Each crocus provides 3 stigmas and must be carefully hand picked and dried, very labor intensive. It takes roughly 225,000 stigmas to make one pound, thus the very high price of saffron. Spanish saffron runs about $315/oz or $5,040/lb.
ReplyDeleteI've seen saffron at Compare Foods, and the price isn't $315/oz. Is what I've seen real saffron, I wonder?
DeleteI blame the actress who played Saffy on Absolutely Fabulous for my sexy librarian fetish.
DeleteI'm just mad about Saffron.
no,there is a saffron grown in Mexico that is much cheaper than the Spanish saffron, but less flavorful. I love Compare Foods. I make lot's of salsa and their Roma tomatoes are usually $0.97/lb except when they are 2 lbs/$0.97.
DeleteI don't usually go to Compare Foods. I live in North Winston, so I shop at Wal-Mart on this side of town. I will occasionally shop at La Providencia on Sprague St. at Old Lexington Rd. and walk out with a bag FULL of produce and a few items from their bakery for LESS THAN $5!! The avocados there are almost ALWAYS the cheapest in town, and almost ALWAYS ripe for immediate use. I don't like to wait for them to ripen. Really, one of the only reasons I go to Compare Foods now is because they carry the BBQ Shake & Bake. Wal-Mart on my side of town doesn't. I've also recently found out that what used to be 5 Star International is now Compare Foods also. That one is easier for me to get to by driving straight down MLK to Reynolds Park from my side of town.
DeleteThe only thing that Spanish saffron and Mexican "saffron" have in common is that they are a similar color. The Mexican stuff is derived from safflower...it's not bad tasting, but it tastes nothing like Spanish saffron.
DeleteI've found Spanish saffron online once or twice for around $100 per ounce, but usually it's much higher. But a little bit goes a long way. I use it several times a month and I am not a rich person.
What's that URL?
DeleteI've not had to shop around for it, but I wonder if maybe Whole Foods or Fresh Market would carry the Spanish saffron? I've never tried it because of the cost, but I'd like to.
No particular url...I just Google "saffron buy" and look to see what comes up. You have to be careful to make sure that you are buying Spanish and not Mexican.
DeleteMcCormick sells a small amount for about $16...comes to around $250 an ounce. I've seen it at Whole Foods.
I've never bought a whole ounce, because saffron does not age well...want it as fresh as possible.
Whole foods has is for $3.69 .3g
DeleteWow...that's about $370/ounce!
Deletewhich comes to $344.40/oz.
DeleteI'm in the wrong business.
DeleteHarris Teeter also has it but the pricing or packaging seems wrong. It was 18.99 for what the bottle said was .01oz so $1899/oz. If my math is correct .01oz is practically equal to .3g but the bottle at Harris Teeter has 4 or 5x more than the vile at Whole foods.
Delete:) I just did my shopping and came home with neither. I buy food based on nutrition/dollar/pound so it's lot's of sweet potatoes, cabbage, dried beans. Think about it, you would have to hand pick the stigmas from 75,000 crocus just to get an ounce.
DeleteSweet potatoes rock. I put a little butter on mine, but that's it.
DeleteI make a vegan chili using sweet potatoes.
DeleteBut usually I just throw one in the microwave for 8-10 minutes and sprinkle a little garam masala on it.
DeleteBoth sound good. BTW Bob, I recently tried Carrburrito for the first time...not bad! They use fresh ingredients, which always makes a difference.
DeleteAh yes, Carrburrito, and there is a very good place on Airport Road in the shopping center at the bottom of the hill. I can't remember the name but it's one of Chapel Hill's finest.
DeleteFlying Burrito. I used to eat at Cosmic Cantina a lot when I worked downtown.
DeleteI'm just mad about Saffron......also a lyric line by Donovan....."Mellow Yellow". Pass it around.
ReplyDelete"Saffron's mad about me..." is the next line.
ReplyDeleteFor almost 50 years, people have been arguing about this song...I love it. All kinds of rumors and "facts" that are like you-know-who's facts.
Donovan was never very helpful. The only thing he ever said is that Saffron is a 14 year-old girl and that the electric banana is a yellow plastic vibrator.
One of my friends did a year of independent study in college of the works of James Joyce...he says that the term "mellow yellow" appears in Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses, published in 1922.
So Russell Crowe is taking Christian Bales place as Noah in an upcoming film. Sorta rounds things out. He goes from a beer drinking, rugby playing, gay plumber living with his widowed father in the Sum of Us (1994),a very good movie,to Noah.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/eminem-parody-video-takes-real-mitt-romney-155145384.html
ReplyDeletehilarious
Good evening folks. interesting comments today.
ReplyDeletein waiting room at FMC ICU. Susan's mom is doing poorly. Wish her well. Thank you.
Sorry to hear about Susan's mom. Letters were better today than they have been recently in my opinion. Work prohibited me from more comments.
ReplyDeleteBob, would you share sweet potato chili recipe?
ReplyDelete