The American Spectator

Reader Mail

If Slogans Were Jobs

8.15.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 3)

Rebuilding the Republican strength in the US House and Senate is possible, if the conservative principles are explained better to each new generation of voters. The schools don't really teach civics any more, and national politics is all 60 second TV spots and GMA/TodayShow sound bites. No wonder that a guy like Obama can pop up as the leadership of ANY Political party.
-- Tim Horton

NEVER MIND SORORITIES
Re: Robert VerBruggen's Wii's Company:

At the college I attended in the '70s, no students were permitted to have cars in their freshman year. The thinking was that cars were too much of a distraction for students' adjustment to college life.

They were right then, but that was a time when people accepted reasonable limitations. This whiny bunch and their over-bearing, sue-at-the-drop-of-a-hat parents? Good luck, God bless.
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

FIRST RATE FILIPINOS
Re: Dave Chapman's letter (under "No Critic Left Behind") in Reader Mail's Campaign Hero:

Dave Chapman's remarks on the inadequacies of Filipino education are simply incorrect. While it is true that there are only 10 years of primary (6 years) and secondary (4 years), the better students, who are the talent pool for college and eventually H1-B visas, are intellectually challenged. Moreover, there is some "catch up" during the college years, in that Filipino college students typically take more courses in a semester than is usual in the four to five course loads typical in the American system.

Filipinos are talented linguists due in part to the fact that there are so many languages in the Philippines. The typical Filipino speaks an area language plus the national language, Tagalog. Moreover, English is taught throughout the school years, and most college graduates would be fluent in English. Many of the college courses are taught in English. If you travel to the Philippines, you will find that most of the educated people you encounter speak understandable English.

My Filipina wife was valedictorian of her high school class. She was too poor to go to college, even with an academic scholarship (no student loans available for college over there). When we met on a vacation I took in Cebu, she was fluent in English, even with just a high school diploma. Over here, she took and passed her GED after only 3 months of class study. She has attended college on a part-time basis over the years, and recently graduated as a BA in economics, magna cum laude.

Teaching is just the most recent professional service subject to international recruitment. We have been recruiting nurses from abroad (especially from English language speaking cultures such as the Philippines) for many years due to shortages that will only grow with the aging of the baby boomers. Filipinos appreciate the opportunity to live and work in the U.S. Typically, they work diligently and they exhibit a positive disposition. I can just imagine what an improvement they must be when compared to the unionized timeservers who have helped destroy our urban schools.

It's a shame we must rely on H1-B visas to fill our professional jobs. It doesn't seem to matter if we are considering highly paid engineers and doctors, or if we are considering more modestly paid professionals such as nurses and teachers. In either case, we are experiencing a shortage of people with the brains to do the job competently, and of people who even want to undertake the preparation for such intellectually demanding work.

Our schools and our culture no longer seem to support such ambition. And, just maybe, Atlas is finally beginning to shrug. You can do away with the H1-B visa program (or limit it), and what you will get is not Americans filling the gap at higher wages, but rather incompetent and/or undone work. It takes effort and preparation to do this work well, and we are building a culture where even high wages will not coax this commitment. We are a declining culture where we have to look abroad for people to cut our lawns and perform our surgeries--and educate our children.
-- Stephen Zierak
Kansas City, Missouri

DOPPELGANGER
Re: Lawrence Henry's Do They All Do It?:

Who have you allowed to write under the benign Lawrence Henry's by-line? Or does Larry have an evil twin who uses such descriptive prose as "s(omething) on suede"; "knocking off floozies" to "get your rocks off".

It appears that Mr. Henry has been beguiled by Pretty Boy Edwards, much as he was that guitarist who recently told him to take his pious opinions and stuff 'em. Too bad the guitarist did not wait a few weeks. He would have renewed faith in his old pal from wilder days.

No, Larry, they don't all do it. Just the congenitally low esteem mama's boys, searching for love in all the wrong places. Waking up each morning, combing , rumpling, tossing and patting their hair, maybe a hint of lip gloss (who can really tell?) and then going in search of validation, admiration, and adulation -- with the frim-fram sauce and shifa-fa on the side.

But I will say this, it takes a fairly over-blown opinion of oneself to think you have what it takes to be president of the United States, absent the character and political skill to do it. A trial lawyer appealing to the baser instincts of a 12 man jury for a large settlement is not what you are looking for in a president. Still, that is what some Democrats (and possibly you) thought was an OK resume.

Edwards had so much in common with Hunter. The both had a deep attraction for - - Edwards, himself. The surprise is that anyone is surprised. It was written in the stars.

As further proof of this man's ego, he has settled up with God and he tell us (or ABC) God has forgiven him. I didn't know we knew that until Judgment Day. He is in lock-step with Bill Clinton, who believes in death-bed redemption -- and until then, party on!

Hint for the future, Larry: Don't try to analyze another man's character. You are not cut out for it. Most men aren't.
-- Diane Smith

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
Re: Dmitri "Dima" Varsanofiev's letter (under "Cringe and Bear It") in Reader Mail's Campaign Hero:

It is enlightening to get the Russian perspective in regards to the Russia-Georgia conflict, and while Mr. Varsanofiev provides readers with relatively accurate information in some areas, his information in others is a bit faulty.

While I feel that he is accurate in his statement that potential NATO membership for Georgia was of concern to Russia, in recent months Russia had been very successful in derailing Georgian membership through economic pressure upon the EU members. The invasion of Georgia was not about NATO membership.

Neither was it about "protecting" the South Ossetians. Since 1991, Russia has done everything in its power to attempt to force the return of Georgia to Russian hegemony. It has supported rebellion in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and even forced Georgia to accept Russian "peacekeeping" forces in those two provinces, while still recognizing Georgia's internationally recognized borders. Russia even went so far as to grant citizenship to Georgian citizens residing within the Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It has, in effect, annexed both sections of the sovereign nation of Georgia into the Russian Federation.

In July of 2008, Russia augmented its standing forces in the Caucasus region from approximately 6400 troops, normally enough to control Chechnyan rebels and keep the "peace" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to 10,000 troops (a full mechanized division), ostensibly for a joint services exercise named, appropriately, Caucasus 2008. This occurred, coincidentally with a joint training exercise in Georgia which consisted of approximately 1600 troops from Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Ukraine and the US. At the same time, terrorist attacks against Georgian interests both in South Ossetia and Georgia increased. Following the return of the foreign troops (with the exception of the 100 US military training personnel stationed in Georgia) to their homelands, South Ossetia began shelling Georgian towns outside of South Ossetia, in earnest. Now, it must be remembered that South Ossetia exists at the pleasure of Russia. Without Russian backing, Georgia is capable of driving the Ossetian population across the border into Ossetia and securing the territory in a matter of weeks. For this reason, not much, if anything, occurs in South Ossetia without Russian approval. When the Georgian forces, predictably, began military reprisals (mostly limited to artillery attacks against the South Ossetian capital); Russia moved its now augmented forces into Georgia.

Now the chess game is in full swing. Russia is gauging the determination of the United States in this region. Should the U.S. fail to provide a significant military threat, Russia will continue to occupy Georgia. Should a U.S. military threat materialize, Russia will do as much damage to Georgian infrastructure as possible as its troops return to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where they will likely remain to reinforce existing Russian "peacekeepers". They will then negotiate favorable terms from Georgia, possibly including release of the disputed provinces. Either way it is a winning situation for Russia.

Now, is Russia afraid of NATO? Not really. Through its economic clout in the EU due to its supply of oil and gas to the region, it is able to checkmate NATO membership for Georgia and the Ukraine. It is however afraid of direct US support in the region.

The Russians were ready to take advantage of anything that could remotely be spun as provocation by Georgia. They either allowed or encouraged the South Ossetians to ramp up attacks against Georgia and had the troops in place to take advantage of a predictable Georgian response.

Mr. Varsanofiev suggests that Georgia is the aggressor here and that the Georgian government should be encouraged to surrender to the Russia and allow itself to become part of the new Russian empire, the Russian Federation. Perfectly reasonable, from the Russian point of view.
-- Michael Tobias

NEW RECORD
Re: Kathy Shaidle's Shut Up, They Complained:

Managed one whole paragraph without name calling. Bravo!
-- John Daly

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Education, Bill Clinton, Economics, Sports, Islam, Environment, Constitution, Law, Military, Russia, NATO, Socialism, Fascism, Energy, Oil