Go Ahead, Let Us have it...

Subject: Welcome to the Future

Hi Rod

The world is hungry for some real talk, and something is happening all over at the moment; some sort of revulsion against the absolutely rampant corruption of public morals. I hear it in the conversations of people I meet, both in the city and country.

Your columns in Andover were one of the main reasons for my subscription to it. There is some other good stuff there too, so I guess I wont cancel: yet!

Don't think you're in a minority with your concerns, just you, your conscience and the blank screen! We are lucky in some ways in Australia. We have a brilliant public owned broadcasting service, which gives unmatched access to the real news and is unafraid to plunge in to the real issues. So we know that we people of conscience are a substantial constituency.

If you get a chance, look at this article on the Radio National website. It is full of political and social references that won't mean much outside Australia, but it gives a good insight into the problems of morality among the elite, from one of the most prominent members of that elite in Australia.

Keep it up Rod, we need you!

Cheers
Lloyd


From Ed C., Pontiac, MI, USA:

SUBJECT: The Other Evil Empire

Dear Rod:

Sometimes I have to read through the "mag" twice, to pick up on the things that really matter. This article hit on a lot of things, things that I would agree with you on whole heartedly: the ridiculous and morally corrupt distribution of wealth(who needs a 15,000 square foot house, on several THOUSAND acres of land?); the futility of Christians trying to only follow the teachings of Jesus, rather than trying to live as he did - fighting against the Evil Empire/The Moneychangers In The Temple; the "commoditization" of every aspect of our being(love for sale,luck for sale,salvation for sale,babies for sale,body part for sale). I am with YOU BROTHER, and like you (and Dr.MLK.Jr., whom I share a symbolic birthday with 1/17 ) - "I have a dream". I also have a story of three visionary men that this article will probably compell me to complete; hopefully to the encouragement of many.

Please take care of yourself; the world needs you, you black/quirky(isn't that an oxymoron.LOL),less than "entertaining" 'Dis' -ident. Better you do "Mac" than "Smack"-jack.

Dona Nobis Paceum(God grant US Peace),
EC


From The Shafers, (No City Provided,) USA:

Subject: Re: Body Bags by Adam Smith

Dear Sir,

Our daughter, Capt Jennifer Shafer Odom, was one of the members of the crew whose body parts came home in a body bag. Since then we have learned through the press and television that their Commander, Col James Hiett and his wife Laurie, were involved in drug trafficking. We know that Jennifer briefed Col Hiett on July 14, 1999 and nine days later on July 23, 1999 Jennifer and her crew died on an anti-drug mission that Col Hiett had knowledge of.

Our fear and concern is that Col Hiett and his wife sacrificed the lives of those soldiers to obtain drugs to send back to the US. We feel their commander betrayed his soldiers. His behavior was an act of treason and he punishment is to be 18 months probation. Where is the justice for these victims of neglect that gave their lives defending this Nation and our values?

The berieved parents of Capt Jennifer Jill Shafer Odom, age 29

John and Jane Shafer


ROD RESPONDS:

Mr. and Mrs. Shafer,

First of all, let me offer you my sincere condolences.

It's not often one of our stories at G21 elicits information of such a personal and tragic nature. We cover lots of tragedies, but we don't like to.

I'm forwarding your e-mail on to Adam Smith so that, if he is so inclined, he can follow-up on this incident.

In all honesty, I can't provide an answer adequate to your final question. I can pledge that this magazine will do its part to help seek that answer.

Regards,
Rod Amis


From Ed C., Pontiac, MI, USA:

Subject: Re: Dot.Congo Guy/E-mail to Eden

GOD, that was the best! It sounded so cool, to be out out in the deep jungle, and the description of the pygmys was just great; I envied their happy existance, "the Lights of New York" - precious! A very nicely written article.

Good Job,Doug.

Thank You,
Ed C.


From Pat M. Tampa, Fl, USA:

Subject: the Congo and the people who live there

This is such a good article. I want to use it as an example of good use of imagery, of allusion, of process analysis--and may do so with my Troy State students, who are supposedly concerned with learning to write. I would very much like to send it to my colleagues at Florida State--but they are trained to notice unintentional slights.

I think I'd get a lot of feedback about how this should have never been forwarded because of the chauvinistic attitude.

Calling people pygmies over and over again is, first, redundant. Second, it can be seen as the tall person's attitude, made manifest--tall is good. Third, it might be seen as American provincialism--the Ugly American meets the logging road.

Wouldn't you strengthen your work here by talking about "the people who live here" ?

You could say "native" once.

You could say "indigenous" once.

You could explain "pygmy" once. . .but to call these people pygmies over and over again dehumanizes them.

I'm reminded of some 19th and early 20th century writers who insist that saying "colored" is not derogatory and that "Nigger" can't be bad if "they" call each other that. . .

=-=-=-=-

Just something to think about.

P J M.,

Adjunct instructor of English at TSUFL

Doug

Thanks for this response. Just between us, I noticed much the same over at the National Geographic site. I didn't take offense because I felt the term "pygmy" was being used to describe a particular tribal/ethnic group of Congolese. I could be wrong on that. If so, then it exhibits my poor editorial judgment, not your bad writing or prejudice, Doug.

Rod


From Ed. C., Pontiac, MI, USA:

Dear Rod:

I had a fair amount of disagreement to Kevin Carey's opinions regarding democracy, capitalism and the nature and need for the Vietnam War, as detailed in his article,"Vietnam".

First, I think that Mr.Carey is forgetting to keep democracies vs. dictatorships(political systems) seperate from capitalism vs. communism(economic systems. In his apparent version of things, there could not be a communist democracy, or, a capitalist dictatorship. Both are certainly possible.

Second, Mr.Carey submits that democracies were in the minority. By what criteria, shear body count? To a capitalist, minority status equates to a lack of financial clout, leading to political impotence. Example:Jews in the United States make up a small percentage of the shear body count, but I have never heard them refered to as a minority( and I have many Jewish acquaintences and collegues). My point(and opinion) is: the democracies of the world, though low in numbers, were still very much in evidence and the popular vote for ultimate winner in these conflicts.

"It chose the wrong place,largly by accident". I disagree., to-wit: Russia was large, and it was hoped that the "Bear" would lose balance on its own; China was too backward and unsophisticated politically to extend itself beyond its own internal struggles at the time; Thailand,South Korea,India and Japan were unstable but not really ready to boil over - Vietnam was the perfect place to draw a line in the sand , as it was politically divided and had no strong alliences with the larger communist actors.

"There is a widely held view,supported by no evidence whatsoever..that television coverage of the Vietnam War led to its unpopularity". WHAT!?! Was he in America, did he watch TV with us, did he walk in anti-war protest with me and my mother as I, a nine year old boy was spat on and called a commie fag by adults? Has he ever pondered why musician Bob Seger wrote these words,"They watch the news, see young men dying, they see them bleeding and they listen to them crying. And if they're NORMAL, if they can SEE, they just reach out and change the channel on the TV........TOO MANY PEOPLE LOOKING BACK!" Even though we protested the war, we looked forward to its resolution, too many young men had cried, died and bled.

My final difference of opinion: "democracy as a minority pursuit." Democracy has not been a "minority pursuit", from an economic standpoint, for a long time, even if the body count of communism and/or socialism was against it.

Ed Cantarella -broadcasting from the United States and "Looking Back".

P.S. Rod: I did like his reference to the Mongol invasions. Those darn Mongols gave the people in the part of Czechoslovakia where my mom came from this cool, olive skin and slighty almond eyes - mixing the gene pool does such neat things!


From Gram's Dad, Berkeley, CA, USA:

Hey Rod:

I appreciated your article about the care package from the Cats, although Gram (my cat) was complaining about lack of his name being mentioned. He is named after the late Rock and Roller Gram Parsons who himself was always seeking his 15 minutes of fame.

P.S.: The cats had a hard time parting with the smoked oysters. Take care.

Rich


From Bob P., Westminister, MD USA:

I can recommend a good lotion to Steve Vivian if he's suffering from any rashes in response to his apparent allergy to clear thinking and accurate observation of the world around him. There are many errors and distortions in the specific positions he assigns to "liberals" in "The Liberal Allergy," which might be interesting to get into if Vivian showed the slightest interest in a serious critique. But his real purpose was to take little snippets of left-of-center positions held by disparate interests, distort them, and sew them into a ridiculous many-colored coat for his "liberal" straw man.

I could do the same if I wanted to; it's a cheap trick. Take a little piece of Christine Todd Whitman here, a little Pat Buchanan there, a few of Pat Robertson's choice observations on extraterrestrials -- even some Louis Farrakhan for color, so to speak -- and meld them with some of Buckley's senescent ramblings to demonstrate the "Conservative Incoherence." This barely scratches the surface, but you get the idea.

If, as Buckley is quoted as saying, liberals retreat into "pleasant thoughts," then I guess conservatives retreat into unpleasant thoughts. I can't figure out what Vivian retreats into, but thinking isn't part of it.

--Bob P.


STEVE VIVIAN RESPONDS: Rod: I'm glad to see "Liberal Allergy" got some respones, first from Ed (who, after seeing my response to him, seems to have re-thought his own positions as well as his views of mine) and now a hilarious doozy from another reader.

As you probably guessed by now, I wrote "Liberal Allergy" in a deliberately inflamatory (but factually correct) manner, just to get some response...and more traffic toward G.21, my favorite web-zine!

As for responding to the latest ("achoo!") there's no real content to the latest hate mail (the writer makes accusations without providing *examples* of my alleged errors), so there's nothing to say...

Am I nuts? I admit it: I love hate mail. I dunno why.

Cheers always,
Steve
(the Leftist who's run out of patience with "liberals")

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

Dear Internet Friends,

We are pleased to inform you that this past weekend we passed the 1,000 mark in terms of the number of black Web sites registered in the TBWT Web Directory. This milestone is further evidence both of The Black World Today's leading position as the premier black portal on the Web and the phenomenal growth of the black presence on the Internet. In a matter of days we will be adding new functions to our Web directory that will make it easier to search for black sites of your choice.

We also wish to report on the giant strides we are making in the area of Internet radio. We are continuously adding new music channels to our Black World Radio tuner as well as new features, columns and articles to the Black World Radio Network site itself. (http://www.blackworldradio.com).

To mark these successes, we are offering all the sites listed in the TBWT Directory and all the affiliates in the Black World Network the opportunity to place the Black World Radio tuner on their own Web pages. By so doing, site owners and operators will be able to offer visitors to their sites a rich new source of audio entertainment. If you are interested in this free offer please contact us by email at editors@tbwt.com.

Finally, a reminder that you can take advantage of the many other free offerings from TBWT such as calendar event listings, email, classified ads and personal Web pages. Also, our editors continue to welcome your letters and guest commentaries as well as postings to our forums.

We look forward to your frequent visits in the future and please spread the good word about TBWT and BWRN to friends, family and colleagues.

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From Barbara A., Berkeley, CA USA:

Hi, friends,

Please read the following and sign the petition if you are so inclined.

Thanks,
Barb

Please take a few moments to read this e-mail.

Ngawang Sangdrol is a Buddhist nun who believes that Tibet should be independent from China. At the age of 10 she was arrested for the first time by Chinese authorities. Her only crime was to participate in a peaceful demonstration for the independence of Tibet from China. When she was 13 she took again part in a peaceful demonstration. She was too young to be brought to trial under Chinese law, nevertheless Chinese authorities held her for 9 months.

In June 1992, at the age of 15, she was once more arrested by Chinese authorities for trying to stage a peaceful demonstration with fellow nuns. Subsequently she was accused for "subversive and separatistactivities" and sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in the notorious Drapchi prison. Her sentence was extended for another 6 years in October 1993. The reason for this was the fact that she had sung an recorded independence songs in the prison together with 13 other nuns. The tape with those songs was smuggled out of jail and distributed throughout Tibet.

In 1996 Ngawang Sangdrol's sentence was again prolonged for another 8 years as she shouted "free Tibet" while standing in the rain in the prison's yard. The third extension of Ngawang's sentence was announced in October 1998 when she refused to acknowledge the Panchen Lama, whom the Chinese authorities had chosen (The Panchen Lama is the second most important political and religious dignitary of Tibet. He died in 1998 and ever since there has been a dispute between Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama about who was the reincarnation of the Panchan Lama). Including this last extension of 4 years her total sentence amounts to 21 years. Together with other prison inmates in the Drapchi prison Ngawang Sangdrol suffers under inhuman treatment including beating andsolitary confinement with reduced food rations. Today she has problems with her kidneys as a result of torture.

This inhuman treatment of Ngawang Sangdrol and prisoners throughout China is a clear violation of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which prohibits torture at all times and under any circumstance. "Alas this sad song in my mindI send to those who help prisoners These feelings in this dark season[line indistinct] I'll never forget the horrible tortures.May this present misery in prison Never be inflicted on any sentient being"

I ask you to help Ngawang Sangdrol by signing this petition and sending a copy to all your friends.

The list will be printed out and sent to: Premier of the People's Republic of China
ZHU Rongji Zongli
Guowuyuan
9 Xihuangchenggenbeijie
Beijingsh1100032
People's Republic of China

By signing this, we demand that Ngawang Sangdrol is to be released unconditionally and immediately. Furthermore we demand that the Chinese authorities respect Article 5 of the UDHR by treating Ngawang Sangdrol and other prisoners in China with dignity, and by bringing to an end any form of torture and inhuman treatment. We demand the Chinese authorities to disclose all information about the health of prisoners throughout China by allowing an independent organization to inspect prisons in China.

NAME, CITY, STATE, COUNTRY 1) Matthias Noester, Vienna, Austria 2) Angelika Gerstacker, Vienna, Austria3) agnes MEth, Vienna, Austria 4) Claus Viller, Vienna, Austria5) Andrea Katschthaler, Vienna, Austria 6) Karl E. Thumm, Frankfurt/M, Germany 7) Manfred Waffender, Schornsheim, Germany 8) Ted Simon, Covelo, California, USA 9) Dennis Kaill, San Juan Island, Washington, USA10) Anne Mosness 11) Jeremy Brown, Bellingham, Washington, USA 12) Joel Kawhara, Seattle, Washington, USA 13) Margaret Beckett, Half Moon Bay, California, USA 14) Darlene Hunter, Columbia, California, USA 15) William Barrows, Middletown, California, USA 16) Terry Record, Soquel, California, USA 17) Laura J. Shulman, Gilroy, California, USA 18) Ana E. Fuentes, Richmond, California, U.S.A. 19) Paul K. Seaton, Ukiah, California, USA 20) Robert Racine (Lama Orgyen Zangpo)21) Kirill Shilov, St-Petersburg, Russia 22) Beata Debarge, Moscow, Russia23) Jasmin Hoechel, Arcidosso, Italy 24) Barbara Leon, New Paltz, NY, USA25) Susan Quasha, Barrytown, NY, USA 26) Ilia Beliaev, Toronto, Canada27) Len Voltchek, Highland Park,IL, USA 28) Elena Voltchek, Highland Park, IL, USA 29) Lars Cederholm, Padma Dechen Ling, USA 30) Anna Rochegova, Padma Dechen Ling, USA 31) Robert Kolodny, New York, NY, USA32) Sarah Kolodny, New York, NY, USA 33) Steven Armstrong, Maui-Hawaii, USA34) Paciencia Masters, Maui-Hawaii, USA 35) Maura Singer Williams, Oakland, California, USA 36) Sarita Chawla, novato, California, USA 37) Sanjiv Chawla, concord, California, USA 38) Rodney W. Currey, Pleasant Hill, California, USA 39) Joan C. Mac Guire, San Francisco, California, USA

PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and forward it (It is better to copy rather than forward the petition) toeveryone on your address lists.

** If you receive this list with more than 50 names on it, please e-mail a copy of it to : dReith@gmx.at.

Even if you decide not to sign, please pass it over!


From Eric E., Albuquerque, NM, USA:

Dear rod@g21.net

Read the press release about this breaking story at:

http://mp4.com/stations/freedom

SUPPORT FREE SPEECH!

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