Ken Keuffel
As a faithful subscriber to the Journal for the last 25 years, I have been sorry to see all the cutbacks that decreased the relevance and viability of your paper over that time. When I learned that Ken Keuffel, your performing-arts reporter, had been laid off last week, I found myself at the point of wondering why I should keep my subscription active anymore.
One of the things that has attracts many of us to this city is its vibrant performing-arts scene. With so many offerings available, having a trusted voice to offer guidance has been essential. Ken Keuffel has capably provided that informed perspective for many years. I’m going to miss his fairness and his insights.
And, I’m sorry to say, given this latest development, I believe my next subscription bill will go unanswered.
Thank you for your many years of committed service to this community, Ken.
LAWRENCE DILLON
Winston-Salem
Dillon teaches composition at the UNC School of the Arts. — the editor
Question
I have heard a lot of discussion about whether Gen. David Petraeus' indiscretion disqualifies him for office. The more pertinent question is whether we would want a CIA director who thinks cyperspace communications are secret.
ROMAINE POINDEXTER
Kernersville
The important issues
I hope the bellyaching represented by condescending letters like “The real issues” (Nov. 20) ends soon.
The writer portrays those who voted for President Obama as casting their ballots “on issues that have absolutely nothing to do with solving the problems that face our country,” like the economy and our dependence of foreign oil. He says that they voted on peripherals like birth-control pills and gay marriage. How helpful of him to decide what problems should concern people.
Of course, the economy and energy are important issues. And that’s why I’d never vote for a candidate who believes the solution to paying the deficit down is to have even less revenue to apply to it, like Mitt Romney, nor for anyone whose energy policies — relying on drilling and ignoring the clean-energy solutions that the rest of the industrialized world is using to good effect — guarantee we’d continue to be dependent on foreign oil.
On the other hand, are reproductive rights — including abortion — really a trivial matter to conservatives? They sure threw a fit when contraceptives became an issue last year. And it’s easy to say that gay marriage isn’t a problem that needs to be solved when no one is stopping you from marrying the person you love.
Any way you slice it, Obama supporters voted for the candidate who offered the best solutions to the problems at hand — all the problems at hand.
BETH PARE
Winston-Salem
Rumor
There is an unconfirmed rumor that Bill Clinton has asked Gen. David Petraeus' biographer, Paula Broadwell, to write his biography.
BOB REAGAN
Winston-Salem
Sum It Up
Do you think Americans will put aside their political differences for the holiday season?
Correspondent of the Week: We have endured
We have endured
Our nation is suffering. Our economy is weak. The Northeast is still dark, cold and hungry from Superstorm Sandy. We are a divided and angry people following an ugly national election; over 700,000 having signed petitions to secede from the union. Our purported leaders have divided us by labels, classes, incomes and percentages. The light in the city upon the hill is flickering.
But I recently saw the movie “Lincoln.” It tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s committed efforts to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. Our political language and strategies are child’s play compared to those employed in 1865. Our nation was divided — North versus South; black versus white; brother versus brother — by four years of brutal, savage civil war that left over 800,000 dead. But our nation endured.
We have endured incompetent and corrupt leadership, political scandal, world wars, civil war and natural disasters. How have we done it? I believe by faith and reliance in a power greater than ourselves — a power acknowledged in our creating documents by the Founding Fathers as the source of human rights and the guiding star for our governing.
Lincoln rekindled my hope and faith in our country enduring our current condition and time. May we find another Lincoln. More importantly, may we rededicate ourselves to the source of our greatness. Let us seek divine guidance for our country, our leaders and ourselves as we work to bind our wounds, recapture our greatness and relight the light.
ROBERT ESLEECK
Winston-Salem
LTE #4...Rumor
ReplyDeleteWell now we have written proof that some Americans revel in the tabloid, soap opera, personal failings of other human beings. Why is that?
Another good reason we need more women and fewer old white men in power.
DeleteBecause they are shallow, ignorant and useless losers, so are delighted to discover failings in others...they think that that somehow makes them better.
DeleteWe have one person in this forum who fits the description exactly.
I agree that we need more women and fewer old white men in power, but I'm not sure that that is the reason...all humans are hard-wired to make occasional stupid decisions.
yes, and I know that as well as anyone. I've had ample experience.
DeleteThe problem is that learning takes so dadgummed long.
DeleteYou'd think that we would have gotten it when we built our glider and launched it off the roof of the garage and then had to look up the number to call the ambulance (no 911 in those days).
But no, the next time it snowed we just had to build a ski jump for our sleds...there was no phone down there in the pasture, so we had to haul Bruce,the battered guinea pig, out on the unbroken sled.
C'est la vie!
Important issues. "Any way you slice it, Obama supporters voted for the candidate who offered the best solutions to the problems at hand — all the problems at hand". We are about to see what 4 years of legislated/mandated Liberalism feels like as Obamacare moves from threat to reality.
ReplyDeleteIt was 19 degrees here this am when I entered the man cave to post, but I had a stack of dried cedar beside the wood stove, enough said.
ReplyDeleteEnvy you your wood stove, and there is nothing better than cedar.
DeleteModern heat is not the same thing.
No cow chips?
DeleteThat's what Mr. Mundy used at his still.
Deleteno, but plenty of road apples (horse and ponies) and dingle berries (goats). We are on the market for a Brown Swiss and a Miniature Zebu, however.
DeleteSpeaking of burning, have you ever seen or used any compressed wood blocks?
Deletenot to my knowledge
DeleteWe use them in our home up north...burn hot, little ash, and much less gum in the chimney, because they have about 1/3 the moisture of seasoned wood and burn more completely.
DeleteI was skeptical at first, thinking there must be something bad about them...chemicals, particles?...but our county environmental folks say they wish everyone would use them.
I have never seen one or heard of one until yesterday. Maybe they are not sold around here.
DeleteWe have a wood pile that's 50ft long over 6ft high and 3 rows deep left by the former owner.
DeleteWe have endured. Indeed we have. But 800,000 dead is not the same as a nation of standing dead people... a forest of normal looking trees that are decaying from within. Our Founders gave us the model, but were very pessimistic because they understood human nature and what becomes of people when they learn their way into the public treasury.
ReplyDeleteIncompetence to the ∞th power
ReplyDeleteE-mail from Nick Crews, CDR, RN (retired) to his three children, aged 35-40:
ReplyDelete"Dear All Three
With last evening's crop of whinges and tidings of more rotten news for which you seem to treat your mother like a cess-pit, I feel it is time to come off my perch.
It is obvious that none of you has the faintest notion of the bitter disappointment each of you has in your own way dished out to us. We are seeing the miserable death throes of the fourth of your collective marriages at the same time we see the advent of a fifth.
We are constantly regaled with chapter and verse of the happy, successful lives of the families of our friends and relatives and being asked of news of our own children and grandchildren. I wonder if you realise how we feel — we have nothing to say which reflects any credit on you or us. We don't ask for your sympathy or understanding — Mum and I have been used to taking our own misfortunes on the chin, and making our own effort to bash our little paths through life without being a burden to others. Having done our best — probably misguidedly — to provide for our children, we naturally hoped to see them in turn take up their own banners and provide happy and stable homes for their own children.
Fulfilling careers based on your educations would have helped — but as yet none of you is what I would confidently term properly self-supporting. Which of you, with or without a spouse, can support your families, finance your home and provide a pension for your old age? Each of you is well able to earn a comfortable living and provide for your children, yet each of you has contrived to avoid even moderate achievement. Far from your children being able to rely on your provision, they are faced with needing to survive their introduction to life with you as parents."
___The Telegraph
I'll be dam!! I read that very thing just two hours ago on a different forum. An ocean apart and all of us find the same rot.
Deletefumble,fumble fumble
ReplyDelete▪ Most fumbles, career: 166, Brett Favre, 1992–2010
Delete▪ Most fumbles, season: 23; Kerry Collins, 2001 and Daunte Culpepper, 2002.
▪ Most fumbles, game: 7, Len Dawson, Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Diego Chargers, November 15, 1964.
▪ Most fumbles recovered, career: 56, Warren Moon.
▪ Most fumbles recovered, season: 12, David Carr, 2002.
▪ Most fumbles recovered, game: 4; Otto Graham, Cleveland Browns vs. New York Giants, October 25, 1953; Sam Etcheverry, St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Giants, September 17, 1961; Roman Gabriel, Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers, October 12, 1969; Joe Ferguson, Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins, September 18, 1977; Randall Cunningham, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Oakland Raiders, November 30, 1986 (OT).
Lest you think that Warren Moon was some kind of fumble recovery genius, he wasn't. He was a genius at fumbling, then recovering his own fumble…same goes for David Carr and all of the guys who hold the record for most fumbles recovered in a game.
Moon fumbled a total of 161 times in 17 seasons, second only to Favre's 166 in 19 seasons. Carr fumbled 18 times in 2002.
▪ Most own fumbles recovered, career: 56, Warren Moon.
▪ Most own fumbles recovered, season: 12, David Carr, 2002.
▪ Most own fumbles recovered, game: 4, holders the same as most fumbles recovered, game, above.
George Blanda fumbled only 47 times in 26 seasons. Of course the last of those seasons he was mostly only a kicker, but he played in 340 games in all, about half of them at QB.
Sonny Jurgenson only had 50 fumbles in 18 seasons. Earl Morrall had 63 in 21 seasons and Joe Montana had 53 in 15 seasons.
Damn Steelers needed the ball surgically attached! Neat list there. Thankfully, my favorite Q-back was not listed....#19 Johnny Unitas.
DeleteLincoln the movie:
ReplyDeleteI saw Lincoln on Friday. I highly recommend it if you have not seen it. The story describes how Lincoln managed to get the 13 Amendment passed by a lame duck congress. Thoughts of JohnG did cross my mind.
One particular scene involving President Lincoln and Tommy Lee Jones as Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens has the President trying to persuade Congressman Stevens to tone down his staunch support for absolute total equality of the races. Mr. Lincoln tells him that a compass will lead you true North, but if it leads you into a swamp, what good will that accomplish?
This scene illustrates Mr. Lincoln's appreciation for the realistic rather than reaching for absolutes that are unattainable. It shows his pragmatism much like ACA showed Obama's understanding of the achievable.
The ACA has been legislated, adjudicated and affirmed by the American electorate with the reelection of President Obama. It is far from perfect and it was passed with deal making on par with passage of the 13 Amendment, but is has survived to the point of almost implementation.
It is Mitt Romney's plan. It is a Republican plan. It is a plan that touts personal responsibility. I would have preferred single payer or Medicare for all, but why not give it a chance. The health care costs of the U.S. are among the highest of any developed country and our outcomes are less than that of many countries that spend much less for better results.
Re: 13th Amendment: there is still one state that has not ratified the amendment. I'm sure that there is no need to mention the name of that state.
DeleteAt the time of passage of the 13th Amendment in January, 1861, there were 36 states eligible to vote on ratification, because the bill specifically included the eleven Confederate states, even though the war was still going on. Virginia was the first Confederate state to ratify, weeks before Lee's surrender, through a shadow anti-secession legislature that had begun operating almost as soon as Virginia seceded in 1861.
Reconstruction had already begun in several states, so Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee also ratified before the war actually ended. By July 1, 23 of the needed 27 states had ratified. But like Allen West in Florida, there were some sore losers, so it took awhile until, during a three week period in November/December, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia signed on, putting the amendment in force.
Mississippi voted the day before Georgia, on December 5, so could have made history by voting "yes". But there were some former slaveholders who were ticked off because the government refused to reimburse them for their newly freed "property". So they voted "no".
There's always somebody looking for a handout, whether it be those sorry welfare loving minorities or the lowlife layabouts of OWS or rich plantation owners. Same as today. Ask the Walton heirs how they love their government welfare.
On December 7, word finally reached the Left Coast. Maybe there was a surfing tournament or something and no one was manning the telegraph offices. Oregon and California immediately ratified then went back to doing what Left Coasters do, followed by Florida, Iowa, and New Jersey.
In 1869, someone in Florida, no doubt an ancestor of Governor Bald Eagle, along with his former slave Allen West the absolute 1st, challenged the earlier result, so Florida had to spend a bunch of money to reconfirm their ratification. And in Texas they were still busy remembering the Alamo and warning folks not to mess with them, not to mention the distraction of having Nathan Bedford Forrest in town vowing to continue the fight until the United States of America fell to its knees. But once they realized that we might give them back to Mexico, they signed on in 1870. So Nathan went back to Tennessee and started the Ku Klux Klan.
Part deux:
DeleteFor reasons no one has fathomed, in February, 1865 Delaware had voted "no" on the 13th. Maybe they were distracted by their brilliant plan to abolish corporate taxes, thus becoming the corporate headquarters capital (deliberate misspelling) of the universe. In 1901 they discovered their oversight and corrected it.
Also in February, 1865, Kentucky had voted "no", thinking that they would tai a second look later. At least we know what was going on there. They were much less worried about losing their slaves than they were about the health of their thoughrobred race horses. So they got busy establishing the Louisville Jockey Club, which in 1875 presented a glorified stakes race called the Kentucky Derby
For a while it was just another race, but then some genius decreed that ladies had to wear outrageous hats and all wishing to attend the race had to get blasted on Mint Juleps before the starting bell and the Kentucky Derby became the most important race in the world.
Sometime in late 1975, a couple of Louisville citizens sobered up long enough to realize that of the original 36 states, only two had still not ratified the 13th. Not wanting to be in bed with the absolute lizard of states, they decided to take action. The timing was propitious. So to celebrate the bicentennial of the USA, Kentucky, in 1976, finally freed their gay darkies* from their old Kentucky home.
That left one stubborn group of fools pining for the the land of cotton, where old times were not forgotten.
Part trois:
DeleteIn 1995, a group of black Mississippi citizens, embarrassed that their state was once again leading the charge to the rear, began lobbying the state legislature to ratify the 13th Amendment. Predictably, State Senator Mike Gunn led the opposition: "We need to work on those things that bring racial harmony and reconciliation. Not those things that drive a wedge between the races, and this is one of those issues." (Sounds like something right out of the 2012 Republican playbook, doesn't it?)
"See outlawing slavery is one of those issues that drive a wedge between the races and the Confederacy was all about reducing that friction by fighting to keep slavery legal," one Mississippian commented sarcastically.
Eventually, the measure came to a vote in both houses of the legislature. The press reported that the vote to ratify the amendment was unanimous, but my spies in the Magnolia State say that was not the case. To avoid voting on the record, both houses agreed in advance to a voice vote, with the respective chairs declaring the amendment ratified no matter what. In neither chamber did the "ayes" exactly shake the walls. And you can bet that some who did say "aye" had their fingers crossed.
None of that mattered anyway, because in order for Mississippi to be recorded as having ratified the amendment, the state government must officially notify the US Archivist. Seventeen years later they still haven't gotten around to that.
That's OK with me. Mississippi is one of the leaders in the recent rash of "secession petitions". Since Hurricane Katrina trashed Biloxi and Ocean City, Mississippi hasn't got much to offer me. I say we sell them to Mexico. We might want to keep Hattiesburg, a pretty cool college town, as an overseas territory.
And while we're at it, we could include Texas, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Utah, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina and most of Georgia and Florida. Of course, there are a few things we should keep, but if the NC legislature can live with a gerrymander like the 12th Congressional District, the Mexicans can learn to live without Austin and Galveston and Padre Island and Big Bend National Park and the good parts of Arizona and Monument Valley and the Snake River and Myrtle Beach and Savannah and Athens and the Okefenokee and the Red Neck Riviera and Tampa and South Beach and Key West and what's left of the Everglades.
I'd put Nebraska in the pot, but where would they play the college world series? Besides, the Big Ten (11, 12, 13?) needs the Cornhusker's football team to give them some measure of legitimacy as a major conference.
* Autocorrect does not like the word "darkies". Despite specific instructions to the contrary, it changed the word to "drakes" every time. I had to resort to subterfuge (copy and paste) to slip "darkies" past its ever watchful eye. Talk about persistent political correctness.
I know Bob Esleeck. His comments reflect well on him, fine man he is. We are trying to fit "Lincoln" into our schedules. Then there is the upcoming "Hobbit" . . .
ReplyDeleteWordly's well stated comments reinforce my abiding belief that we have one of the better blogs, small though it be. I'm not so effusive about the ACA, but it's here for the time being, so we need to work with it and improve it as time passes. Her comment re Medicare for all interests me in wondering how we implement and pay for it. Having a stepson in hospital for 5 weeks prompts interest like that.
Yes, nothing like a few weeks of hospital bills to focus our attention. Astonishing, isn't it? A friend of mine who has one of the best insurance policies money can buy recently went through a long stretch at Baptist and Duke. He showed me the 7 figure bill, a bill that rivals the GDP of more than one third world nation. He is fortunate in that his employer chose to go with lots of co-payments in return for a much higher top end limit.
DeleteWe must do something about medical costs. I am hoping that the ACA is the right first step. There is some pretty tough stuff in there that should begin to drive the costs down.
If that doesn't work, perhaps we can tweak it to make it work.
People have been nattering on about medical costs for decades. But no one has done anything. The Clintons tried and failed. Obama tried and succeeded. Let's hope that that first step will lead in the right direction.
If not, where do we go from here?