The View From the Outback© 2000 Richard C. Rhodes
A great deal of what we read in newspapers, magazines, and books, and what we see in the movies and on TV is written and produced in New York City or Los Angeles. Much of the "political wisdom" comes from the PR machines of the White House, the Congress, and from the Washington media corps.
In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood.
I am now in my 6th decade of life experience - which was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries. That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 11 years. Every couple of weeks I will attempt to post a new set of musings from the Outback.
In the Outback for June 15, 2002, I praised Ron Kessler's book "The Bureau:The Secret History
of the FBI." You can read my review of the book on Amazon.com.
My vote for the most trite and improperly-used word is "sports," as in "the computer sports a
DVD drive." The closest one can come to that in a dictionary is "wears" as in "he sports a new
jacket." Articles about computer are the most notorious. Computers cannot wear anything, as
they are inanimate objects. Knock it off. And who started "each and every"? Is there a difference
between each and every? Why use both?
After a recent upgrade to Musicmatch Jukebox 7.2, I noticed that it supports ripping CDs in the
mp3PRO format. The standard mp3 "cd-quality" ripping is done at 128kbps and requires about
1MB of disk space per minute of music. But, mp3PRO rips at the same quality at 64kbps and
requires about 500kb of disk per minute of music. Many devices do not yet support mp3PRO, but
it is worth trying if you can do it. For one thing, no matter how spacious your hard drive, the
smaller mp3PRO files will be more easily backed up to a CD-R or CD-RW disk.
The Postmaster General, Mr. Potter, gave a talk to the Brookings Institution the other day. He
was discussing the possible alternatives to financing mail in the future. One was "the receiver
pays." What! That is like saying that we must accept collect calls from telemarketers. What is
wrong with these people? Mr. Potter does not inspire confidence. He is a very poor public
speaker. He is somewhat oafish. This does not mean that he is not intelligent, but maybe he
should send someone else to "front" to the public. A lady asked a two-part question, which was
not overly long. He answered the last question with about one word, and then said "I forgot your
first question." In his appearances before congressional panels, he has been similarly uninspiring.
Southwest Airlines requires two tickets for people so large that they need seatbelt extensions or
if the armrests won't go all the way down. Of course, lawyers for huge people have already
threatened to sue. Screw them. What about the rights of people of normal size who buy a ticket?
They have a reasonable expectation to have their own "space" on the airplane, without
someone's arm or thigh forcing them to lean over in their seat the entire flight. That's the ticket.
A counter-suit by thin people. Got to keep these hordes of predatory lawyers fully employed.
Every time I see vultures picking away on a skunk that is road kill, I think about lawyers.
Vultures or skunks? It's a tough call, but vultures wins out.
My son Mark and I were given a tour of a major distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, by its
president. He had come up from the ranks of the sales force. It happened that he and I had
attended the same high school in Louisville, but did not know each other. He regaled us with a
story about how he was being broken in on the sales route by a heavy-drinking old timer, who
expected the young man to keep up with him, drink for drink. When this future president of the
distillery mentioned the problem to the founder of the company, the wise old man said that the
object of the exercise was to try to see how much booze you could sell, not how much of it you
could drink. Our guide then discussed his philosophy about drinking, which I have not forgotten.
Never take a drink after dinner. One or two just before or with dinner, but none after dinner and
you never will have a problem. He presented us each with a bottle of his finest, which I
remembered not to drink after dinner.
As I watch the "bipartisan" hearings in Congress about a wide variety of subjects, I am constantly
struck by the fact that the senators and representatives do not need to have their party affiliation
on their desk name signs. The FBI director comes to testify. One man compliments him on his
proposed reorganization and asks some forward-looking questions. A Republican. The next
wants to know the complete history of which desk the Phoenix memo (re Arabs in flight schools)
came to in the FBI and exactly where it went from there - and on and on. The FBI director was
not even director at the time. A Democrat. The Attorney General is asked how the new guidelines
in the Patriot Act have helped the FBI and Justice Department, and is there any fine tuning that
needs to be done? A Republican. The next questioner raises his voice to a near shout and wants
to know about all those people who were detained and whose names the Justice Department
would not release. A Democrat. And so it goes, day after day. Get some real work done, and quit
playing to the camera with your main concern being your re-election. Makes you sick. I must be a
masochist to keep watching this carnival side show.
Of the approximately 50 million Americans with high blood pressure (hypertension), only about
27% are being treated. There is little excuse for this. Obtaining a blood-pressure reading is
routine during most doctor office visits. Many fire stations and EMS locations will take your BP
for nothing. Of those who finally get on the pill for their BP, a large number fail to take their
medicine consistently - or simply quit taking it. This is nonsense. Of all the things that afflict us,
there are a myriad of safe and effective drugs available, often with little or no side effects. I have
taken the ACE inhibitor Vasotec (now the generic version) for years. I am unaware of any side
effect it has caused, and I have read the list a hundred times. Persistent cough seems to be the
most common side effect, but I have not had that one. There is now substantial evidence that the
ACE inhibitors also play a role in maintaining good heart health. Only your doctor can prescribe
for you. Make sure it is not simply what he or she has in the sample cabinet, but the best choice
for you. It may take several tries to get it right. You may end up taking a couple of different
drugs.
Update for July 6, 2002
The following letter-to-the-editors of mine was published in The Dallas Morning News for Saturday, July 6, 2002:
Letters for Saturday
07/06/2002
Centralizing intelligence data perilous, too
The president's proposal to create a Department of Homeland Security puts emphasis on having one place where intelligence data from various sources – FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, et al. – can be evaluated. The intelligence data turned over to the Department of Homeland Security would apparently not necessarily include transcripts of raw reports, or information about sources and methods. The secretary of the new department could ask for raw data if it was thought to be imperative to assess a piece of intelligence.
As Congress works its way through this bill, it will be good to keep in mind that as important as it is to have a "clearinghouse" for intelligence matters, putting too much intelligence data into one computer network has enormous perils. A hack into that computer system, or one spy (sorry, we still have people who will betray their country), or a leaker to the press, or an electronic penetration of the facility, could cripple various intelligence efforts – both domestic and foreign.
America's aversion to creating one agency with domestic and foreign powers of investigation and surveillance will no doubt prevent the Congress from folding the CIA and the FBI into Homeland Security. As counterproductive as it often is, a certain amount of "turf wars" tends to act as a check on unbridled power.
Richard C. Rhodes, Honey Grove
American Red Cross Seeks to Clean Up Its Image
A few weeks ago, the top folks at the American Red Cross gave a press conference at which they
announced changes to their fund-raising strategies. The core of the new policy is to "honor donor
intent." In the past, funds for a major disaster were collected and much of the money was put into
a general fund for future emergencies.
After a very long and convoluted presentation by several people, in which they attempted to
make the new policy crystal clear, many in the media audience still had questions, as did I.
Finally, two or three points seemed to sum up most of the marathon presentation. It would be
made clear that some monies collected for a disaster might be funneled into the general fund - for
later use. That is, unless the donor specifically said that they wanted their money to be used only
for the victims of the current disaster for which the funds were being solicited.
And the Red Cross said they would attempt to better gauge the level of funds needed for a
specific emergency. When they decided that they had collected enough for that particular event,
they would announce that fact. Donors would still be encouraged to contribute, with the
understanding that some of the funds - if there was a surplus for the current event - would be
placed in the general fund for future events. At least, that is the best that anyone could make out
of the speeches and charts and sample ads, and so on. I think I have captured most of the drill in
two paragraphs. It took them about an hour on TV and we still were not sure what they said!
In earlier Outbacks, I had been very critical of the American Red Cross. In particular, I pointed
out some fiascos in the San Diego branch that made headlines. The most galling thing to many
was that the San Diego chapter chairman, Dodie Rotherman, earned more than $300,000 in
salary and bonuses a year. For a charity organization? Nearly as much as the President. Recently, Ms.
Rotherman was relieved of her duties. The Executive Board of Governors at HQ also fired the
entire Board of Directors of the San Diego chapter. Finally.
As I noted earlier, after a couple of gigantic screwups with fire-disaster funds in the San Diego
chapter, a call went out for funds for a new fire. They took in about $75 in a week!
There is a new interim head of the San Diego chapter. The Red Cross still indulges in hyperbole,
even after the public whipping they have taken. Here is one sentence from the press release in
which they announced the new interim director in San Diego:
"Roll into one person the accent of a Southern gentleman, the warmth of your favorite teacher,
and the twinkle in Santa Claus' eye and you have the essence of the interim CEO for our local
chapter."
I am sure the interim CEO in San Diego, Dr. Heath Rada, is a fine man. Even he must be
embarrassed at the press release. His first act should have been to fire the person who wrote it.
The first big test of the new policy came with the forest fires in Colorado. After it had received
about $612,000 dollars in donations for the fire victims, the Red Cross announced that it had
collected enough money for the needs of the victims of the fire. They reserved the right to change
their mind about whether they had collected enough. That's progress. The $612,000 collected
versus the $75 for the last San Diego plea, speaks volumes about how well the Red Cross did in
getting their message across about the "new guidelines."
The President & Civil Rights Chair Marion Frances Berry - Does He Have the Guts?
In the Outback for May 15, 2002, I made the following statement:
"Blacks need to demand that the chairman of the Civil Rights Commission, Marion Frances
Berry, be removed or muzzled. She is the high-priestess of victimology and a very divisive
influence on the racial dialog in this country."
In her testimony before Congress, civil rights commissioner Abigail Thernstrom, described the
managerial chaos during the tenure of Marion Frances Berry. Speaking of the important role that
the Commission theoretically plays in the dialog on race, she noted that in reality "it hurts more
than it helps."
The Wall Street Journal (6-18-02) suggested that President Bush replace
Ms. Berry as Chair of the Commission "to spare the Commission, and the country, further
embarrassment." Precisely. Ain't dat what I said?
Well, this will show us how much guts President Bush has. It is easy to rally the country and the
world around wiping out terrorism. But, can you imagine the liberal and media furor that would
erupt if the president tries to replace the black female head of the Civil Rights Commission?
Never mind that if the public fully understood her divisive effect on the dialog, they would poll
about 85% to get rid of her.
So, here's the plan. The White House needs to start leaking and planting stories, all of which are
true, about the misdeeds and pure political motivation of Ms. Berry, in an effort to bring the
matter fully into the public conscience. Once a poll shows that the public overwhelmingly favors
her removal, the prez can pull the plug. My guess is that many, if not most, intelligent blacks who
follow the work of the Commission would be on the side of her removal.
Jesse Ventura Body Slammed by Press
Poor Jeese Ventura. The press has been mean to him. And no wonder, running around refereeing
a wrestling match in a boa, doing moronic commentary for the defunct XFL football league, and
generally making a fool or himself in public. He has brought disgrace to governance, as if it did
not have enough disgrace already. And the job is harder than he thought. No! You mean that
being a Navy Seal and a wrestler does not prepare you to run a state? Who would have guessed?
Now, he says he will not run again for Governor of Minnesota. Good call. It would have been a
great personal embarrassment.
Yet, there are those in the media who praise him for his "out of the box" thinking and suggest
that we may hear from him again - in a quest for public office in our nation's capital. I can see
some merit in Mr. Ventura being in the U.S. Senate. When some idiot says that the reason we
have so many business scandals is because of the policies of the Bush administration, without
any specific recitation of which policies, Jesse could give them an airplane twirl and straighten
out their brain cells by dropping them on their head. They could fire the Sgt. at Arms. Jesse
Ventura could be the "enforcer" for the Senate, making sure that all statements made were based
on fact. All partisan flights of fantasy, lies, and character attacks on opponents would be met with
a sound thrashing. It's fun to think about it.
A lot of my classmates in my law school class (Univ. of Minnesota) thought I would go into
politics. I was on the Law School Student Council and had been asked to run for City Alderman
(or whatever is was called) while still in law school. Not a chance. Because I would have been
up there at the City Council, in the State Legislature, or in Congress dishing out Karate chops to
stupid and rude people. How those people put up with all the lies and verbal abuse from each
other is unfathomable. It takes a special kind of person to thank a man for raising "some good
points that need to be addressed" when that man has just impugned his intelligence, his motives,
and his honesty at a committee hearing on television. Or is this all just grand theater and all the
participants just actors in a giant soap opera? Saying their lines and then going out for pizza and
a beer together? Probably.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Richard C. Rhodes
You are welcome to quote sections from this page - or the whole page, as long as the source URL is included. Of course, I would be flattered if anyone linked to this page. It is very hard to be the writer, editor, fact checker, copy editor, and publisher of anything. So, I welcome corrections of fact, notes of misspelled words, and so on.
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