Go Ahead, Let Us have it...

Subject: Morning Paper

Dear Rod: Ý

I am writing to report that the carrier has been delivering our paper late, and sometimes he tosses it behind my rose bushes.Ý

Speak to that young man about it, would ya?! Ý

Sincerly,
Ed C.


ROD RESPONDS: Yes, Ed, I know I was LATE last week. I'm late this week, too.

Do I like it? NO!!! I'm stressed out. But sometimes, as Orson Wells said in the Gallo commercial, "We can sell no wine before its time."

I'll be back on track in a couplah weeks. --- RA


From VRLowKey, (No City or Country Provided):

I followed your reasoning all the way down to the point you made regarding automation and the Industrial Age. As someone who works in a factory, I find the processes influenced by standards not at all. We have many machines with non-standard parts. When they break, we either replace the part, rebuild the part or replace the machine. What does influence our work tends to be the stability and education level of the labour force and the quality of the basic materials involved.

So I apply that to Open Source. Do we have good materials? Yes. And they get better every day. Do we have an educated labour pool? Exceptional. And they get better every day.


From Marckus T. San Francisco, CA, USA:

Rod,

Plus Áa change, plus c'est la mÍme chose.

As Will Rodgers or someone like that pointed out:Ý people don't change, only their methods of killing each other do.

Cordially,
Marckus


From Con R. (No City Provided,) NORTHERN IRELAND:

I found Dan deMortel's article on the death of Robert Hamill and its aftermath extremely well written,thourough, and remarkably low key which, of course, enhances it's credibility. You might wish to attatch an addendum to the effect that a lawyer who has courageously taken on some of Rosemary Nelson's cases (Garvaghy Road I'm sure of, the Hamill case I'm not), Padraigin Drinan, has experienced the same threats and harrassment from the RUC that Rosemary reported, along with at least two attempts on her life. In spite of this the British Government and the NIO refused to extend protection to her as an important person known to be at risk, until international awareness and outrage made Downing Street reconsider.

Con R.


DAN VAN DEMORTEL RESPONDS: Con -

Your letter brings up the point of an ongoing issue, which is that Northern Ireland defense solicitors are still at risk. This includes Padraigin Drinan, who recently was placed on the Key Persons Protection Scheme. For those G21 readers who have further interest in this situation, I refer you to a very thorough article on Drinan and other solicitors, which recently ran in The Independent.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Legal/2000-04/rosemary040400.shtml

I've had the pleasure of meeting Drinan and several other solicitors during my visits to Northern Ireland. What I find remarkable is that they all carry on with their jobs despite the harassment they receive from the security forces and the threats to their personal security from loyalist paramilitaries, as evidenced by the murders of Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane. I've never heard any of these solicitors waver in their devotion to their jobs. They certainly could be forgiven for saying "I'm thinking of getting out of the profession" or "this kind of pressure is just too much for me", but I have yet to hear it. In all, there has been and still is quite a bit of dedication, courage, and fortitude on their part, which, I think, is completely at odds with the average U.S. citizen's perception of lawyers.

Dan VanDeMortel
dvandemort@mofo.com (e-mail)


From Ed C. Pontiac, MI, USA:

I think condeming and/or attacking Microsoft on the basis of commanality or market popularity,leading to attacks, is like condeming the U.S. dollar, just because it is the most accepted and COUNTERFITTED currency in the world....ÝÝÝ Ý

Ed C.

AND your favorite e-mails from The World's Mailbox

Subject: A political fantasy???

Last night as I was watching Rudy Giuliani and his wife on CNN (my nightly half-hour addiction), the following scenario occurred to me (the order is somewhat arbitrary):

1. Rudy and Donna divorce.

2. Hillary gets elected.

3. Hillary finally ditches the big jerk(off).

4. Hillary and Rudy marry - after all, politically they are not that far apart, and they both love New York. I actually think that they were made for each other.

5. They decide to share their jobs. Rudy goes to DC to experience the Senate, while Hillary gets to run NY.

6. After a year or so, they switch jobs.

7. This goes on, until..............The Presidency!!! But which one, and which party????

I bet you think that this can't happen. But stranger things already have. And which part don't you believe?

Charlie


From John H. (No City or State Provided,) USA:

On July 8, 1947, witnesses claim a spaceship with five aliens aboard crashed on a sheep-and-cattle ranch outside Roswell, New Mexico; an incident many claim has been covered up by the military.

On March 31, 1948, nearly nine months after that day, Al Gore was born.


From Timothy M. (No City or State Provided,) USA:

For that those who don't know, Our Senators and congressmen don't pay in to the Social Security "Trust Fund," and, of course, they don't collect from it. The reason is that they have a special retirement plan that they voted for themselves many years ago. For all practical purposes, it works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw their same pay, until they die, except that it may be increased from time to time, by cost of living adjustments. For instance, former Senator Bradley, and his wife, may be expected to draw $7,900,000, with Mrs. Bradley drawing $275,000 during the last year of her life. This is calculated on an average life span for each.

This would be well and good, except that they paid nothing in on any kind of retirement, and neither does any other Senator or Congressman. This fine retirement comes right out of the General Fund: our tax money. While we who pay for it all, draw an average of $1000/month from Social Security.

Imagine for a moment that you could structure a retirement plan so desirable that people would have extra deducted so that they could increase their own personal retirement income. A retirement plan that works so well, that Railroad employees, Postal Workers, and others who aren't in it, would clamor to get in. That is how good Social Security could be, if only one small change were made. That change is to jerk the Golden Fleece retirement out from under the Senators and Congressmen, and put them in Social Security with the rest of us. Then watch how fast they fix it.

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