Hazard of the Friends of the Haters

Bob Herbert's caution about the violent right wing nuts and the availability of weapons scares the hell out of me. As a teen I learned how to shoot straight and on one summer job how easy it is to blow things up.

When I did an exchange year at a British public school, I saw how different things were there. Guns were not available -- I turned out to be the best shot when we were tested for military training as I had grown up with guns. And I am sure that bomb stuff was not readily available. People were trained to be good soldiers -- not good shots at any moving thing -- human or otherwise.

Needless to say the real harm here, apart from the annual 30,000 U.S. murders and suicides that the N.R.A. accommodates, is the hazard to Obama and other critically needed leaders and others who protect us.

**************************8

A Threat We Can't Ignore
By BOB HERBERT
Don't count out the connection between the right-wing
hate-mongers and the gun crazies who believe a well-aimed
bullet is the ticket to all their dreams.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/opinion/20herbert.html?th&emc=th
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
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Republican Attacks Sabotage U.S.!

The recent attacks on Obama by the Republicans do him little harm, but they are nearly the equivalent of treason against the U.S.
Suggesting that Obama should attack Iran's power figures would do the resistance there no good and much harm by vindicating the charge that they are traitors selling out to Israel and the U.S. Do these guys not realize that Iran has 3 times the population of Iraq and where that war got us.

Similarly the demand that Guantanamo be kept going continues the charge of U.S. torture and abuses of innocent people -- as many of those have turned out to be -- brought in by monies offered to those turning in 'terrorists'. The thought that we cannot contain terrorists in our high security prisons is ridiculous. Again we have here the remnants of U.S. sabotage which some Republicans (and some stupid Dems) would sustain.

These are only two of the efforts to get Obama which make us look like the evil ones! Loud mouth games with North Korea can turn deadly with such as a surprise invasion of South Korea and worse.

No time but for absolute caution.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
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Where Is the NY Times Book Review?

Scarcely a week goes by without the publication of a major book on current political events. None of these get reviews in the Times Sunday book review. Rather it seems obsessed with second rate fiction. Can someone at the Times make a change here? These are critical political times. Ed Kent
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
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Thank G-d I Am Not Teaching Now!

Teaching was the perfect choice for me among a number of intriguing career alternatives. Now retired I miss my students and colleagues -- at my age too many of the latter are no longer with us. However, I am infinitely glad that I am spared the battles being waged in our colleges and universities that are destroying the hopes for our continuing educating Americans.

Too many of our institutions are being run by overpaid 'CEO's' who are destroying teaching as a viable career by exploiting talented prospective scholars as 'adjuncts'. We had a few when I started teaching who had not completed Ph.D.s. Now the bulk of teaching is being done by highly qualified part-timers with Ph.D.s and no monies to pay off debts, have families, do scholarship. I am on an adjuncts list and a third of my daily mail details the horrors. I was a legal philosopher and some of my best students went into college teaching with others to a variety of other professions. Toward the end of my tour I watched my students being forced from teaching to these other professions. A Columbia philosophy grad student would transfer to the law school after watching for a year those desperately trying to launch a teaching career.

I fully anticipate that we shall be importing key professionals and academics from those nations that are doing things right from here on unless we see some drastic changes.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
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http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net

A Critical Week for Obama in the Middle East

As I read him Obama is a compassionate person trying to bring us global peace in the face of major threats -- near and in the future. There are mad ideologies at work that are best exemplified by such things as suicide bombings and the threat to use nuclear weapons. Manifestly a good proportion of humans are dangerous psychopaths who as a last resort will even commit suicide, taking as many of their own with them as they can. Remember Hitler's last days in his bunker with some of his key team members?

Obama's job will be a challenging one. There is no simple recipe for persuading an abundance of dictators, racists, bigots to move towards peace. Power instincts overrun even manifest self-interest.

What a time to be president of the U.S.!!!!
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FindingHumaneJobs
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OurStupidEconomy
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net