Posts of the Week
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How much TV do you watch? Fred Dawson - 05:07am Aug 25, 1997 PST (#7 of 15)
I've given up a lot of TV to look at another screen, the one in front of me now. Probably typical, I'd say the Internet is the first real competition for our eyes to come along since TV arrived. Also, when John Kennedy's FCC Chairman, Newton Minow, called TV a vast wasteland back in the early 60s, TV's offerings were limited mostly to three networks. That being so, I really question whether we can say that TV programs have got worse. In some cases, certainly--I'd hate to argue that tabloid television is any cultural breakthrough. But with cable, public television, a fourth network, more independent UHF stations, and the VCR, our TV does offer a lot more variety. Sitcoms aren't all about bland, whitebread families, cop shows have touches of realism which have made Jack Webb an anachronism, and all sorts of other changes make programming much more interesting. Now one can even do as I do, turn off the set after the news and come down and surf the Net. Is smoking really that bad? Marie Crocker - 01:54pm Aug 25, 1997 PST (#35 of 52)
did someone seriously suggest, however off-handedly, that second-hand smoke is actually worse than the thick yellow waste industry spews out of smokestacks? Amazing, isn't it, that we're more worried about breathing in someone's recycled cigarette smoke (and if lungs aren't the best air-scrubbers known to man, I don't know what would be; that's why smokers get lung disease) than the choking effluence of that '72 'Vette? Oh, I forgot, there are emissions laws. Well, those don't apply to semis, pickup trucks, buses, industrial vehicles, airplanes, lawnmowers, snowblowers, chainsaws, gocarts, golfcarts, gas-powered generators, ATVs, etcetera, ad infinitum. And it's not like there isn't that friendly mechanic who'll pass a car anyway, for a little green consideration. You know what all this second-hand smoke hysteria is? A smokescreen. Sorry, couldn't help myself. Common Ground: The Viet Nam War - Where We All Agree Richard Stout - 07:53am Aug 24, 1997 PST (#74 of 130)
the Viet Nam war: I was there, twice. From summer of 66 to summer of 68. [1] Before the war got hot. I was a college student and trying to get by without loans and such. I was a student of military history although I was majoring in engineering at the time. Watch American Graffiti for background. I had to work thus could not carry the usual 15 credits and the draft board was hurting for bodies--so they processed my papers and I fled to a USNR unit where we came to some agreements on just what I could do for he Navy. That got me two tours on an old rusty destroyer. Diem was killed two weeks before JFK so the political scene changed quickly. Viewpoint: The North was invading the South and they asked for help. So why not help out and also embarrass the Communists who were wrecking things around the world anyway. I watched the Khruschev speech and watched him pound his shoe on the podium. I was in college when the Cuban Missile crisis happened. Military position: We could have occupied he DMZ into Laos and stopped the invasion of South Viet Nam but there was a lot of political pressure from our friends not to do so. [2] At the war. I read the Asian Edition of Time for information, since there were no other papers available. We spent most of our time in shallow waters around the jungle and watching for VC or NVA supply lines. We were frequently on junk patrol and sank numerous junks on some information obtained up the Mekong River. We let the people go before we blew up the small vessels unless they tried to run for it. We (I) worked 20 hr/day on guns and supplies. Viewpoint: The North was still invading the South and they still needed help. LBJ scaled up the action until we had 500,000 in the war zone. The politics were such that France, Germany, Sweden, and England were selling guns and supplies to the North so we couldn't blockade Haiphong or Vingh or the Hanoi river. Dont cross your friends over money. [3] After the war. It was clear that politicos were making Yalu River rules of engagement, which meant that things were hopeless. Nixon worked out some kind of farcical Vietnamization program that simply abandoned the South. Viewpoint: The gesture was correct and the help was indicated. The Communists have shown only terror and failure around the world and it is a shame that the South got pulled into this. Lesson: political persons will not hesitate to sell the lives of young Americans down the shitter for a few votes. McNamara was a moron and failure. LBJ was a hopeless drunk. Desert Storm was an operation where there was a legitimate field commander who was in charge. We didn't have that in VN, we had only slimy Washington types who wanted to get some points by going on fact-finding missions and get special treatment, photo-ops and some creative and unusual sex. Final Lesson: If you trust your government, you are a fool. |
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