Saturday, August 23, 2003
I'm Off
Well I'm off on the next
JMT tour leg. Two flights today to get to Arkansas and the bus leaves tomorrow for Arizona. If you're of a mind to, pray for JMT, Viola & myself along with all the sponsors and volunteers at every concert.
JTC
Warrington, PA
August 23, 2003
posted by JTC 8:25 AM
Friday, August 22, 2003
Al Franken mocks chastity
Michelle Malkin: What's so funny about abstinence, Al Franken?
posted by JTC 8:45 AM
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Since I'm moving back to Buffalo I am concerned with the plight of failing cities with dwindling tax bases. I stumbled on the following resource Regional Tax Sharing Info from the Megabyte Tip Letter. I haven't had time to look at any of it yet so who knows what I'll think. Don't consider this an endorsement, but it's worth looking at the issues no matter what side you end up on.
JTC
posted by JTC 11:46 AM
Musings on Seabiscuit
Went with a friend tonight to see Seabiscuit. First off I'll just say that it was a great film about a true story. Some of you may have noticed the documentary of the same name airing on PBS lately. In both the movie and on PBS there was much talk about conditions during the depression and about the inspiration and hope that Seabiscuit gave the country. The horse's owner, Mr. Howard is portrayed giving rowsing speeches to everyday folks. "A little guy can do big things when he doesn't know how little he is!" "When you lose by a nose you just keep fighting". The movie shows clips about the depression including peoplegoing back to work for the WPA, the CCC, the NRA etc. But says the movie "in the end it wasn't the bridges, or the roads, or all the other public works built in that time" that turned things around. It was the sense people got that they could do it, the confidence that they could achieve. It was the sense of hope. I know how true that is. I grew up hearing stories of the depression from my grandparents. One grandfather having left for college at age 16 in 1928 had to come right back home after the crash. I remember him telling about all the different jobs he'd gotten, including one in a hot dog stand where he was held up at gunpoint several times. My other grandfather told of all the beggars that showed up on his widowed mother's doorstep. But in all the stories there was an understanding an unspoken lesson. They did what they had to do. Families and neighbors faced with hard times did what was necessary until they passed. Thats why it struck me when the narrator said "it wasn't the bridges". In fact it was the people. Sadly some people in this country beginning back in those hard times (if not earlier) have come to believe that it was the government that ended the depression. The government can do more than create artificial confidence. It was of course such artificiality that was at the root of the depression. The false value of an over inflated stock market burst and shook the people's confidence. But their confidence need not have been shaken. The real economic value in this country, house & land, cars & trains, steel & grain & labor were all still there. The real worth of those things never changed. Perhaps more importantly the intrinsic value of each person in America never changed either. Yet a whole country's confidence was indeed shaken if only for a moment in time.
Today our economy is even more artificial than it was then. Our monetary system has no real basis. The value of the various markets is set only by public perception not by any sort of inate assett worth. We could be in for an even greater shock than October 29, 1929. Will we let our confidence be shaken? Or will we stand up for what is right. Plow the fields, plant the seeds, build the houses and do all the other things that we must do for ourselves and eachother.
JTC
posted by JTC 1:01 AM
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Big Public Mea Culpa
So a couple times a year I send out a bunch of emails to try and keep up with old friends. I just did it again. Not all the response are in but already there's been some good news, some bad, miscelaneous.
But here's my apology: I am a slug! Always have been. It's a fact of life. I am horrible at staying in touch. Even with friends who are mere minutes away it isn't unusual for me to go a long time without seeing them. Let alone those who are far away. Call it shyness, anti social behavior, whatever you like. I know too that in the last year or two I've been even more solitary than usual. To my friends and family I say: please know that even if we haven't spoken in a very long time you are always in my thoughts and my memories of you bring me joy.
JTC
posted by JTC 11:28 PM
