LAST WALTZ?

A friend recently asked how come no blog entries lately. I said "No 'news' or ideas to blabber on about lately I guess. They're all silly to begin with anyway." Having decided at the beginning to stay away from the four 'bar topics': Sex, politics, sports and religion, that leaves little to write about these days when everything is splashed in our faces (but make no mistake about it--what they tell us is only a little part of the whole story.) I learned to stay out of bars--of the hundreds of bars and thousands of conversations I've had in them, I never learned a damned thing. Except the price of potatoes and "Corby's" is about the worst bar whiskey you can drink--and that's about it.

In an unusual book called "An Agenda for the 21st Century," by Rushworth M. Kidder, there are twenty-two essays. One of the reasons I don't write anything is the comment by Shuichi Kato, a Japanese historian who ranks pollution and environmental degradation second only to the nuclear threat. He is particularly concerned about the disappearance of the forests--taking as his somewhat facetious example of the waste of paper in the developed countries."We don't need to publish so much and print so much.""I am responsible because I have published some books," he adds with a chuckle,"and I don't pretend that these books are absolutely necessary for human beings. So therefore this is a waste of paper."

In another interesting comment, he says:"Most people are not much concerned, seriously, with other people's suffering. By and large it seems to me that the whole of society is geared to domination and manipulation--rather than to compassion."

To sum up, instead of discussion and drivel: This is not a happy set of essays. All the discussions in this book predict catastrophe; nineteen of them by nuclear annihilation-- And soon. I still recommend it--you need the whole picture. Even if it takes away some of your dreams.
Mortimer Adler (philosopher,) Sissela Bok (social philosopher,) Shuichi Kato (Japanese historian,) Michael Hooker (metaphysics,) Norman Cousins (humanitarian, publisher,) Barbara Tuchman (historian,) Paul Johnson (author, historian,) Hannah H. Gray (demographer,) Amitai Etzioni sociologist,) Marina Whitman (economist,) Douglas Fraser (union leader (UAW),) Robert S. McNamara (businessman, statesman,) Abdus Salam (global economist, scientist,) Freeman Dyson (physicist, mathematician,) Theodore J. Gordon (aeronautics engineer,) David Packard (inventor, cofounder of Hewlett-Packard,) Lloyd Richards (actor, director,) Andrei Vosnesenski (poet,) Carlos Fuentes (Mexican novelist-diplomat,) General Olusegun Obasanjo (former head of state of Nigeria,) Jimmy Carter (former president of the United States and humanitarian,) and Richard von Weizsacker (president of the Federal Republic of Germany,) Almost all-- (19)-- agree that the most serious problem facing mankind is the nuclear atmosphere we live in. The others do not bring up that point. Though they don't appear in the book you can add John K. Galbraith and ADM Hyman Rickover, 'Father' of the nuclear Navy.

~~ASIAN THANKSGIVING~~

Forty years ago there was a party for POW's in North Vietnam. It's purpose was, of course propaganda. Soldiers and pilots were selected for a day of 'fun.' This included American music, movies, and skits put on by other POW's. And there was a big meal consisting of whatever North Vietnamese thought that should be. The propaganda part was that each man would be allowed to send a letter home about the gala affair. These would be heavily scrutinized, so the men were careful to make them sound good. "Say hello to Mom for me, tell everyone I'm allright and being treated well," and on and on. The letters were verified to be sent to the Pentagon, then to indicated addressees. And all were Ho-hum blah blah. Except one which one of the briefers in my office noticed, roared about, and passed around. One POW was being asked to tell about his dinner. He described delicious chicken, kimshee, other vegetables, and some kind of sweet dessert. He finished by saying to his interviewer "It was a BFD." The interviewer asked what that meant and the POW casually said "Oh, that's 'Big Fine Dinner.' " That was accepted by the head of security there and got sent! Like all such mail it went to the Pentagon first, then to the addressee in its original manuscript.

You can have a lot of fun joking with one another over dozens of really boring top secret messages rercieved daily. But fun was rare, working closely to the Chiefs of Staff. This one, however got a laugh from everybody.