Letters and Surveys

Facts on Tax: Democratic Plan v. Republican Plan

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 19:36:00 +0000

The information contained here is not what I have written, but rather a compilation of some things. I will identify the sources.

A lot of it is based on the analysis done by University of Pennsylvania's Penn Wharton Budget Model.

It is notable that in 2025, some tax cuts enacted in 2017 for low to middle income folks will expire. Whoever takes the White House will decide whether to try to extend those tax cuts or let them die. Kamala Harris promises to reduce taxes for lower and middle earner and increase taxes for the wealthy. Harris says she would leave the 2017 tax cuts in place for people earning up to $400,000 per year but raise rates for those who earn more. This plan would increase the federal deficit by 1.2 trillion over 10 years.

Trump has promised tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. He hopes to further reduce the corporate tax rate by 6%. The Penn Wharton Budget Model predicts that Trump's plan would increase the federal deficit by 5.8 trillion dollars over 10 years.

Trump has proposed tariffs on all imported goods at a rate of 10 to 20 percent. Generally, tariffs create increased prices on the goods that are being imported. Hypothetically, over the long run it will encourage industry to make those goods in the US. Harris criticizes this tariff plan, describing them as a "tax" on these goods. The Peterson Institute for International Economics projects that the Trump's tariff proposals would cost the typical American household over $2,600 per year.

Considering the effect of tariffs, middle-class household with $80,000 in income would lose $900 after taxes under Trump’s plan and gain $2,200 under Harris’. A household in the top 0.1 percent, with $14 million in income, would gain $377,000 under Trump and lose $167,000 under Harris.

Both candidates support removing taxes on tips.

Middle income voters will fare significantly better under the Harris tax plan.

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:04:00 +0000

Why I Support Joe Biden for President of the United States: Immigration

For many years, Congress has been unwilling to do its work in relation to immigration. Perhaps they think it is a better political football as long as they do nothing.

This month, Joe Biden has been trying to do what Congress failed to do.

But, my background. . . I am the granddaughter of an immigrant. Here he is, Joe (Jan Josef) Ellstrom.

This is the boat on which he came to the United States, the S.S. Oceanic.

And this is the manifest that was recorded on Ellis Island when he arrived.

If you look closely, you will see that this was August of 1906, he was just 18, and all he had was $11.00 and a ticket to go to Altoona, PA, where his older brother had already come and established residence.

Yes, I trust immigrants, for I come from immigrant stock. I know they are hard working and smart. I know they are not, as a whole, criminals, polygamists, or anarchists. (Check that manifest above.) I also know that, given the opportunity, those immigrants bring more to the United States than they take.

This week, the candidate for president that I support, Joe Biden took executive action, because Republicans in Congress failed to act. Note, the Democratic party worked hard to build a bipartisan bill that could have been approved. I am quoting the "1440 Daily Digest."

President Joe Biden unveiled a new policy yesterday [June 18, 2024] granting a path to permanent residency for hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the US. The “parole in place” program applies to people with no criminal record who have lived in the US for at least 10 years and have been legally married to a US citizen as of June 17.

Those who qualify can live and work in the US for three years while they apply for citizenship. An estimated 500,000 spouses and 50,000 children, with a parent married to a US citizen, stand to meet the basic requirements—there are roughly 1.1 million immigrants in the US with citizen spouses.

Announced on the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the policy also includes faster work permit approvals for DACA applicants and follows Biden’s recent executive action to reduce migrants at the US-Mexico border. Applications are expected to open by the end of summer.

I am pleased to know that Joe Biden is working to build a strong citizenry by respecting immigrants, their spouses, and children.

If you want to read more about another Executive Action designed to secure the southern border, read this fact sheet:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/06/04/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-new-actions-to-secure-the-border/#:~:text=President%20Biden%20issued%20a%20proclamation,into%20the%20United%20States%20unlawfully.

This action was announced on June 4 after Congress failed to take action when Republicans voted against the bipartisan bill that they helped to draft.

I will be voting for Joe Biden in November. I encourage you to do the same.

Another picture - my grandfather's oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

Yes, Trump is Guilty

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 11:11:00 +0000

Friends,

I had hoped that the world would take a turn and truth would start to assert itself.

Unfortunately, it has not, on the political scene. So I have decided that I should begin raising my voice in support of truth and sanity.

I am not interested in argument, but am very open to honest dialog, at least behind the scenes. I am glad to receive emailed comments also, in order to have open direct dialog.

This first post is titled, as you can see, Yes, Trump is Guilty.

************************************************

Guilt is more than a verdict.

If I watch a murder or a robbery, I am a witness to it. I know who is guilty because I have witnessed it.

On January 6, 2021, I was a witness to an insurrection. I watched it on television. I was planning to go to Kohl's for a shopping trip with my sister. We passed the television on our way out the door, and could not move. We watched all afternoon. We saw with out own eyes the attack on the Capitol Building. We saw a noose. We saw people attack the police and security.

It was mayhem. It was outrageous. It was traitorous. It was wrong.

We watched as the tv station replayed the exhortation of the man who was president at the time urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and to fight. That is what they did.

The transcript from that speech is available here. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966396848/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial

Because I saw this happen, I know that Trump is guilty of leading and participating in an insurrection. I don't need to wait for a verdict to be assured of his guilt. I am a witness.

There have been verdicts that underscore the facts and truths my eyes have seen. According to the Associated Press, "More than 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes in the riot, ranging from misdemeanor offenses like trespassing to felonies like assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. Roughly 730 people have pleaded guilty to charges, while another roughly 170 have been convicted of at least one charge at a trial decided by a judge or a jury, according to an Associated Press database."

Two defendants were acquitted.

Some of these folks were deliberately attempting to overthrow the government. Some were swept up in the emotion of the day and attempted to overthrow the government. They are guilty and are being punished.

I sat and watched the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (commonly referred to as the January 6th Committee), a bipartisan select committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, through hours and hours of testimony, primarily from Republican affiliated witnesses, as they methodically tracked down the facts about this event.

If you have not watched these testimonies, you must do so, to prove to yourselves that the guilt of Donald Trump is undeniable and indefensible.

I have read much about this event. I have read much about the lies that Donald Trump has told about the 2020 election. I have heard no evidence that could possibly justify an insurrection. "After the 2020 United States presidential election, the campaign for incumbent President Donald Trump and others filed and lost 62 lawsuits contesting election processes, vote counting, and the vote certification process in 9 states (including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. Among the judges who dismissed the lawsuits were some appointed by Trump himself." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_U.S._presidential_election

Have you heard evidence? Have you witnessed anything that is contrary to this. No. You may have heard lies by Donald Trump and his lackeys, but you haven't heard evidence because there is none.

As a friend or acquaintance, I beg you to never vote for Donald Trump.

Betsy DeGeorge

2020 Elections - The Hook

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Sat, 25 May 2019 11:45:00 +0000

Dear Voters,

Are you yawning yet about the 2020 elections. Probably not. You are either, like me, a little worked up, or you refuse to notice.

If you are worked up and want something to do, check out this page. It is a spreadsheet that tells you which of more than 20 democratic candidates will be allowed to participate in the Democratic debates.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dHSFg0jrAeIAqDlFZqAu-5N2x-wk8PT-6H4DbCendUM/edit#gid=1699107941

If you have a candidate you want to hear from on the debate stage, you may want to give them some money, if they haven't hit the magic "65,000 supporters" number. (That is a prerequisite for being considered a serious contender.) You don't have to give a lot. Five bucks is enough. I've given to four different candidates so far.

If you are still refusing to notice and need a hook to get your attention,

listen to a few of the lesser knowns. It is amazing how nice some of them are. For example, there is Eric Swalwell, an Iowan whose parents are still amazed that one of their sons is not a Republican.

If you are a Republican who wants a choice, you have one. His name is Bill Weld. This guy is an outside the box thinker and a man of principle. Supposedly, Bob Corker and John Kasich are still considering a run.

https://vimeo.com/330371574

Bill Weld

After you are hooked, there is lots that you can read to help you make up your mind about what is good for our democracy.

See you on the trail.

B

The Kavanaugh Thing #MeToo

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 10:56:00 +0000

I am astounded that there is a backlash about a woman coming forward to express her outrage that the man/boy who attacked her when she was a teenager should be nominated and unquestioningly approved to serve on the highest court of the United States.

I believe her, because her story is like mine in many ways.

She was young and innocent. I was young and innocent. In my case you could use the word naive. I didn't think that someone, out of the blue, would push me down and try to sexually attack me. I didn't think that the mere act of studying for finals in a park that I had been to many times before would put me at risk. I was 20. She was younger than that and she couldn't imagine that a nondescript party would risk her well-being.

I was unprepared. I couldn't imagine. It was May in Philadelphia. I was wearing shorts and a shirt and tennis shoes. I don't remember the shorts and shirt very well, but I remember the shoes. Good solid tie-on tennis shoes. I don't remember the year or date exactly, but I do remember clearly the books in my arms because I was studying for finals. It would have been between the years of 1971 and 1974. The others at the party Christine attended have been able to allow that event to slip into their realm of forgetfulness. Even the inebriated perpetrators have forgotten and could face a lie detector unafraid with confidence. Almost. But they won't because they fear that their souls remember.

I didn't wear a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. Perhaps she remembered an admonition from an older girl. "If you go to a party where there are boys and beer, wear a bathing suit so they can't touch you." Christine didn't want to be touched, and she certainly didn't want to be attacked by two drunken boys who were stronger than she was. According to Kavanaugh's calendar, he lifted weights and played football all the time. The only thing that saved Christine from forcible rape was the bathing suit, and the beer that Kavanaugh still likes so very much. (And let's thank the guilt that a Catholic upbringing can bestow. Perhaps that played a role in preserving Christine.)

I remember a broken bottle. Christine remembers that she couldn't breathe when Kavanaugh's large hand was over her mouth. My attacker picked up a broken bottle from the ground. I was on my back, where he had pushed me. My books were scattered on the ground. He said, "Stop fighting or I will hit you with this." I said, "Swing away!" Maybe my attacker was Catholic too, because he threw the bottle aside and gave me the opportunity to kick him in the chin with my solid tennis shoe.

Then a miracle happened for Christine. The second attacker jumped on the bed, unbalanced Kavanaugh, and she escaped. My miracle was the arrival of two girls who saw that I was in trouble and called out. My attacker ran. I stumbled down a hill to the girls, leaving my books behind.

Both Christine and I left our naivety behind us on those occasions, which we remember so well.

I did go to the police and make a report. I never heard from them again, after that day. Would there be a report on file at the Philadelphia police station if I tried to find it now?

Republicans want to sully women who are attacked and then find it hard to tell the story according to the time schedule that Republican men feel it should be told. (Note: that is ANY time schedule that doesn't suit their partisan political purposes.) Would Democrats follow the same course of action? I hope not, but in the past they have overlooked sexual abuses at the highest levels. The good news is that people can change and sex abusers can still do good things, but that doesn't mean they didn't commit sexual abuse. And if they deny it, they are adding lies to their list of sins.

Republicans and Evangelical Christians in their turn have sold their souls for a strange pottage. I am astounded. I am a pro-life Democrat, so I know the little argument. "But he will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade." Can you hear how ridiculous that sounds? Will Kavanaugh allow a loophole to remain, "in the event of rape"?

Here is the truth. If you want a healthy democracy, you don't elect or appoint or approve people who are profligate. You don't elect or appoint or approve people who lie. You don't elect or appoint or approve people who can be bought and sold for personal gain. That is not fake news. That is the truth.

The Outsider Issue! What Ever Happened to the Middle Class?

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 02:24:00 +0000

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are almost exclusively concerned with one issue. They have developed stands and talking points on many issues, and Bernie Sanders has a long history of insight and service to the government and the American people, but when allowed to talk in an unbridled manner, they both return to one issue and it is the same issue.

What ever happened to the American middle class? That is it.

The main goal of Bernie Sanders’ decades-long career in politics has been to address the root causes of economic inequality because, as he has stated, “The middle class of this country, over the last forty years, has been disappearing.”

In order to address this, Bernie advocates policies that get at the root causes of these inequities. He calls for expanding the social safety net, creating more well-paying jobs, and reforming systems that perpetuate inequality such as our broken criminal justice system.

The super-rich and multinational corporations have not been paying their fair share in taxes. Bernie proposes removing tax loopholes and tax breaks that only benefit the rich and multinational corporations, as well as raising the rates for the wealthiest Americans. With a tax system reformed in these ways, the financial burden for expanded social safety net programs would be placed on those with extraordinary means.*

The main goal of the Donald Trump campaign is to lodge the blame for the loss of the middle class squarely upon the shoulders of immigrants who have come to the United States to purportedly steal the wealth of America's workers.

Trump believes that the influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult for poor and working class Americans to earn a middle class wage.* So obviously, to Trump, it is the fault of underpaid bottom rung workers that the middle class is shrinking.

That from a man in the upper one percent who brags that he doesn't pay taxes if he can "play" the system to avoid it. That from a man who uses his power and wealth to use eminent domain to seize private property from middle class and lower middle class people without the wherewithal to fight him in court. That from a man who employs 200,000 people and believes that “Having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country,” he said.

It is apparent to me that both Sanders and Trump are right about one thing. The loss of the middle class is destructive to the health of this country. Sanders is right about the cause. The middle class is shrinking because the upper 1% is greedy and has positioned themselves to destroy the middle class for the sake of their short term personal gain.

Trump is "playing" the American people, attempting to gain more power and wealth for himself and his corporations, pushing the blame that should fall upon him and those like him upon the poor and unentitled. He is interested in serving only himself and certainly not the American middle class.

*From candidate's website

Books 2016

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 11:47:00 +0000

The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz

Community Engagement Incentive Grant Final Report

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 17:55:00 +0000

Elizabeth DeGeorge, director of communication for the College of Social Work, received a Community Engagement Incentive Grant for her project, Learning Management System Marketing and Training for Online Continuing Education.

DeGeorge worked with the Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS) to create a supportive help system to assist the over 1,700 registered users of the College of Social Work Learning Management System. The system engages people from across the state and nation in their Learning Management System, which is used for continuing education for social workers and related professions.

See the full report at this URL.

http://engagement.utk.edu/blog/2016/learning-management-system-marketing-and-training-for-online-continuing-education/

Jane Bald: A Ghost Story

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Thu, 21 May 2015 11:09:00 +0000

Deb is doing a little play in New York City. Attendance is welcome but not mandatory, but I do expect all of my friends to applaud!

Books 2015

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 15:20:00 +0000

Books read in 2015

Coming of the Storm - W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear

Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

King Solomon's Mines - Henry Rider Haggard

Ruth - Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

Memory: How to Develop, Train, and Use It - William Walker Atkinson

Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy - David Sheff

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey

Ancient Feminine Wisdom: Inspired by Biblical Women - Judith Jungman Saadon

Heretics and Heroes: Ego in the Renaissance and the Reformation - Thomas Cahill

Crazy Creek - Sarah Simpson Bivens

Home - Toni Morrison

Origins of Life Part 1 - Robert M. Hazen

On the Origin of Species - Charles Darwin

44 Scotland Street - Alexander McCall Smith

King and Maxwel l - David Baldacci

Origins of Life Part 2 - Robert M. Hazen

The Joy of Science Part 1 - Robert M Hazen

The Joy of Science Part 2 - Robert M Hazen

The Grand Design - Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The Blithedale Romance - Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Joy of Science Part 3 - Robert M Hazen

Wise Blood - Flannery O'Conner

The Joy of Science Part 4 - Robert M Hazen

Everything that Rises Must Converge - Flannery O'Conner

The Joy of Science Part 5 - Robert M Hazen

Books 2014

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 14:55:00 +0000

Here is the list for this year.

I wish I had time to comment on these. Perhaps, I will do that this year.

The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat by Bob Woodward

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals by Hal Herzog

The Man with the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeons Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxes

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter

Concert Masterworks Part 1 with Robert Greenberg

Concert Masterworks Part 2 with Robert Greenberg

Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield

Concert Masterworks Part 3 with Robert Greenberg

Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac

Concert Masterworks Part 4 with Robert Greenberg

Burmese Days by George Orwell

What Maisie Knew by Henry James

Understanding Movies:The Art and History of Films by Raphael Shargel

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco

Maurice: A Novel by E.M. Forster

Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind : Literature's Most Fantastic Works with Eric S. Rabkin.

Pictures of the Boys

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:23:00 +0000

Dear Stevio, Caleb, and Jack, Oh how I love being with you. Nana

McConnico Cemetery

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:14:00 +0000

Dear Garner McConnico,

This is what things look like now.

McConnico Meeting House is no more at this location, but the cemetery remains. Surely you would be surprised at how the stones, so straight and few when you lived, are now askew and broken and many.

The storm of 1909, referred to in the sign must have been quite a tornado, for even the neighbors at Taproot Farm are still talking about it.

The acreage, known as “Nolencrest” was first deeded to John Nolen in 1807. He built the first log house on the farm. The land was farmed in succession by John Nolen, Littleberry Nolen and Stephen Nolen, when in connection with the battles around Franklin the log house was burned in circa 1863, gun fire exchanges are evidenced by Civil War bullets found in the garden. The house was rebuilt as a two-story home on the same location by Milton Berry Nolen, whose family lived there until the tornado of 1887 removed the roofs of every building on the farm except the Springhouse in the cove. The two-story house was wind-damaged beyond repair. Dr. William Stephen Nolen, his wife and five children rebuilt the home and lived in it until the second tornado on April 29, 1909. Once again the home was damaged beyond repair. William “Billy” Nolen rebuilt the house as it stands today. This was the fourth Nolen residence built on the same site.

So your friends and descendants of the Primitive Baptist Church moved to what might be a safer spot, where they are still flourishing and worshiping on Sunday mornings, for I saw them yesterday. The parking lot was small but full and a tall woman was carrying preparations for the post-service coffee in the back door.

As you can see, someone has been caring for the cemetery in a fashion. They have carefully punctured the earth with white pvc pipes and placed silk flowers at each stone. Some of the stones are legible still, but many are not. Still the caretaker respected all and left a token.

I think that it must have been a descendent of the Nolens, for, as you can see, Littleberry Nolen's grave has been refreshed with a new marker, while, though your family's marker was lifted from the tall grass, is broken and old.

Your friends, the Beech family, the Cox family, the Waltons, and others, each remain, guarding different corners of this property. Some installed fencing topped with iron spears, fancying, I suppose that this would guard them from storms, or haunts, but in the end, even I and my camera climbed over and stole the images that I have posted here.

The folks at the Ramada Inn reported that a visitor, presumably a Nolen with pvc pipes stayed at their establishment a few years ago and worked diligently to bring order to the discord that years of neglect had wrought upon the cemetery. But even that work is suffering the blasts of time.

Yet, I appreciate what I imagine is an ongoing tribute from the neighboring hotel, a three flag salute at half mast. Perhaps, they are saying with me, that in spite of the passing of time, the McConnicos and company are not yet forgotten.

See slideshow of additional images.

My regards,

Betsy

More on Best Dressed Cardinals

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:47:00 +0000

Dear Vatican Watchers,

First captivated by the Onion's photo essay entitled, The 8 Worst-Dressed at the Papal Conclave, I was then mesmerized by a fleeting couple of images shown during the pope's first prayer during his first public address. Perhaps the cameraman closed his eyes and incidentally focused the lens upon the back of the elite at the vatican window. Why this set of images didn't get any media play, is beyond me.

Note: Little signs of the new pope's personal styling choices include his decision to appear on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica without the red mozzetta — the telltale short cape of the papacy.

For more on the stylings of the patriarch and his compatriots, check out the Style Page in the Catholic Register.

And for more fun with the kids, try out these vestments for your papal dolls!

Do you wonder whether we'll see this puppy (the Papal Tiara) pulled out for special occasions during Pope Francis' casual reign? I'm kind of doubting it.

Betsy

Books and Studies, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:54:00 +0000

This is just a listing of the books I'm reading/have read this year, 2013.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway

The New Testament Part I by Bart D. Ehrman (The Great Courses)

Life Lessons from the Great Books, Part I by Professor J. Rufus Fears

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

The John Updike Audio Collection (Short Stories) by John Updike

My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

The Modern Scholar: Upon This Rock: A History of the Papacy from Peter to John Paul II by Thomas Madden

The Professor by Charlotte Bronte

The Diamond Necklace and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant

Life Lessons from the Great Books, Part II by Professor J. Rufus Fears

Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America by Cabeza de Vaca

Following the Path by Joan Chittister

Don Quixote de la Mancha Volume I by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote de la Mancha Volume II by Miguel de Cervantes

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio Mendez

Marcelo and the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Earth Afire by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy

One of our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief by Dorothy Gilman

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

A Death in the Family by James Agee

The Books of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:42:00 +0000

This is just a listing of the books I'm reading/have read this year, 2012.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Truth and Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Executive Orders by Tom Clancy

The Story of Painting by Sister Wendy Beckett

Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow

The Art of Reading by Joseph Luzzi

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

The Rising of the Ashes by Tahar Ben Jelloun

The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block

Silent Day in Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun

Cousin Bette by Honoré de Balzac

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti

Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr

Absolute Friends by John le Carre

Dickens Women by Miriam Margolyes

Home by Toni Morrison

No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life by Robert Solomon (The Great Courses)

The Divine Comedy: Inferno--Purgatorio--Paradiso by Dante Alighieri

Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance, 1937-1948 by Madeleine Albright

The Private Patient: an Adam Dalgliesh Mystery by P. D. James

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins

Short Stories of Dorothy Parker

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist by Dorothy Gilman

Commissioner Refers to Training by OLPD

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:50:00 +0000

Advent and Herod the King in Judaea

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:03:00 +0000

Dear Herod,

Your moment in history was fleeting. Perhaps were it not for the horror of your actions and their proximity to Jesus and his loving contrast, you would be forgotten, gladly, altogether.

Instead you are immortalized beautifully by artists such as Hector Belioz in this amazing aria from L'Enfance du Christ, O misere des rois. . . and by the dark side of the story of Christmas, the parts that we do not read in its entirety to the children on Christmas Eve.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

I must run for today, I'll write again. I'd like to ask you more about those dreams.

Betsy

Advent with Charles Dickens

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:39:00 +0000

Dear Charles Dickens,

Last year I discovered the little book you had written for your children, The Life of Our Lord. Yes, I know you weren't keen on its being published, but just before Christmas, in 1933, your son Henry died, and after that a decision was made, by the grandkids, to share the work with all the rest of us (i.e. the waiting public).

If you are interested in the 2011 version of publication, here is this Christmas page in its audio form.

I love the lines in this description of the advent of Christ, where you say, "His father and mother lived in a city called Nazareth, but they were forced by business to travel to Bethlehem," and "the town being very full of people, also brought there by business, there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the Inn."

Of course when most of us who love your work, think of Christmas, we think of your greater known work, A Christmas Carol. That story, too, has much to say about business and the bad business of Scrooge. But today, I'm thinking about that good businessman you created, Fezziwig, who had "the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil…The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.”

In an economic period that is fraught with Scrooges and business people flinging the Gift of God and good from the inn to the stable or Zuccotti Park, I wish that the spirit of Fezziwig might occupy Wall Street and our own hearts too.

Betsy

Advent and Homelessness

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Dear Invisible Neighbor,

When Jesus came he found himself temporarily homeless, sleeping in the O AD equivalent of a garage.

Have you ever had to sleep in a garage? Are you considered homeless if you still have a garage that you can sleep in?

Little Lord Jesus, no crying he made, on his manger mattress.

My friend John was interviewed by the Associated Press the other day about homelessness. John works for the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. He said, and the Washington Post quotes John saying that one-third of homeless shelter residents are newly homeless. I guess if Jesus came today, he would fall into that group of newly homeless. Plus he would fall into the increasing statistical category of women and children. This is a category that has doubled in the last two years.

Christmas has always been associated with good-deed doing for the poor and homeless. From Saint Nicholas to Good King Wenceslas, who on the feast of Stephen gave flesh and wine and pine logs to the poor peasant living in not much more than a stable between a forest fence and a fountain, neighborly folks with excess goods, have found that winter's rage is tempered by benevolence.

If the homeless, like Jesus, are sometimes invisible, let's pray that the Advent season gifts us with eyes to see and ears to hear.

Betsy

An Advent Journey of the Magi

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:31:00 +0000

Dear Magi,

So, you had a cold advent, and a long excursion, regretting the summer palaces, but not the trip altogether. I suppose we all do that as the journey drags and lags and passes into retrospective. We monkey around in our minds with the things that have been steeled to confuse us. Birth and Death.

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.*

Or perhaps all time is redeemable in that one moment, not a bit too soon, that was satisfactory to all that needed satisfying. And redeemable in that one baby, arriving ready to teethe death.

Wholly remarkable.

Betsy

*Burnt Norton. T.S. Eliot's First of Four Quartets.

Advent

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:14:00 +0000

Dear Shepherds,

I had been waiting. That is a phrase filled with. . . but of course it is. And you were there, waiting as if you were hoping all your lives.

All my life I’ve been waiting
for something unusual to happen.
I may yet come into a windfall,
National Endowment of the Hearts.
All my life I’ve been expecting
a grand finale, an awakening, . . .*

And for you the grand awakening on a hillside in the middle of the night in the clear was not so much a finale as a beginning that finalized everything else. So here, after waiting all your lives and finding the lowly shepherd lamb, you sing.

Thou must leave thy lowly dwelling,
The humble crib, the stable bare.
Babe, all mortal babes excelling,
Content our earthly lot to share.
Loving father, loving mother,
Shelter thee with tender care.

Blessed Jesus, we implore thee
With humble hearts and holy fear,
In that land that lies before thee,
Forget not us who linger here.
May the shepherd's lowly calling
Ever to thy heart be dear.

Blessed are ye beyond all measure,
Thou loving father, mother mild;
Guard thee well thy heavenly treasure,
The Prince of peace, the holy child.
God go with you, God protect you,
Guide you safely through the wild.

Holy Anticipation.

Betsy

*Harold Norse in All My Life I've Been Waiting

**Chorus of the Shepherds (L'Adieu des Bergers)
from L'Enfance du Christ (Berlioz)
From: VAI DVD 4303 L'Enfance du Christ
Hector Berlioz
With John McCollum, Florence Kopleff, Theodor Uppman, and Donald Gramm
Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society
Charles Munch, cond. (1966)

Violence and Blood Meridian

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Dear Dennis,

I told you that Blood Meridian was in the back seat of my car and that I feared it.

I had previously been comforted by your assurances that, if, (as I have not done) I did not finish the book Ulysses, by James (yawn) Joyce, I was not, necessarily, a shallow person. And I could not complete that course. Having stumbled through the first half of this scholastically well-rated tome, knowing sentence by sentence that it certainly was a well-worded set of paragraphs, knowing description by description that the worthy author had ably captured the vignettes of a day, knowing that as the Bloom-fanned pages fluttered and flipped, slowly, I should be appreciating it, I simply could not develop a plan to finally capture this Troy of a book. No hollow horse nor trickery could do it. So back on the shelf it has gone.

And as the sun set on that book, The Evening Redness of the West rose. You were correct. I was not, in the least, bored.

Then on the heels of that, I read, too, Hard Times, by Charles Dickens and was impressed by the fact that both of these books carried with them the air of the morality play.

Dickens, never shy in his naming of moral elements, takes us to the edge of Hell's Shaft in contrasting the lights of Sissy Jupe, Rachael, and Stephen Blackpool with the evils of Victorian industrial and utilitarian society. Certainly, the clouds of blackness that hung over the town of Coke were not less thick than those of the dust that rose under the hooves of the Glantons and Comanches of Cormac's meridian, if not as violent.

But I wonder if Cormac really sees his book as a morality play on the subject of violence, with the Judge, the Devil of War, rising from the shaft of an extinct volcano, able to tend bats and dance the naked totentantz.

Saint-Saens certainly developed the essense reflected by the Judge in his Danse Macabre. I was struck by Cormac's ability to present the picture of this group of men so clearly and yet so soul-lessly. I think he was able to make them seem so spiritually dead by refraining from giving us any picture of their inner lives, but only painting their actions and exterior beings. Only the Judge seemed reflective and animated from within, but the glimpses we were given revealed a black hole sucking light into darkness and life into annihilation.

Perhaps it is most fitting that the protaganist of this book, if there is one, the kid, dies a most demeaning death, non-descript and in the "jake". I find it interesting that critics and reviewers speculate about what indescribable violence the Judge must have inflicted upon the kid. Perhaps, they have fallen into the web of violence itself, seeking to create one worst thing, when the author himself was willing to spare us.

So what is the take-away from the morality play that studies violence? We aren't given the message on the kind of silver platter that Dickens would provide for us, with a nudge to the development of sensibilities that preserve the human spirit animated by kindness, generosity, love, and integrity. We aren't spared by C. M. the reality that has and does play out in every war and every willing maker or war. Nor does he urge us with a turn from alternative. Yet, it is the very bleakness, the desert of the heart of this novel, the thirst with which we are left, the nakedness that such imploding characters reveal, that turns us to the other.

Cormac has left his subject unmasked. There is no question for him, of the result of violence.

I am reminded of the words from Ephesians 2. "You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the judge of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient." That is the morality play that Blood Meridian expresses. Like an illumination of a medieval manuscript, this story has revealed the hidden meaning of being dead in transgression. Goodness, it is not a pretty sight.

Betsy

Survey: What is the Greatest Novel of All Time?

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:16:00 +0000

Folks,

Though this blog is entitled Letters and Surveys, I must admit, that it has been, mostly, letters. However, occasionally I run a survey. I was hoping that this could be a venue for collecting information, but not too many people add comments.

In lieu of electronic participation, I use a more traditional form of polling. I ask people what they think. This is somewhat time consuming, because when I ask someone, "What is the greatest novel of all time?", the answer is usually only the beginning of a longer discussion of:

why this book is one that they love or were touched by

what characteristics make this book great

what other books might vie for the title of Greatest Novel

what are the worst books

who is the greatest novelist

why I am asking this question

and so forth

(I do like these discussions.) Here is the list I've collected so far. I will list them in the comments section. Readers, please add your votes.

My personal answer is: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Betsy

P.S. Even if your favorite is already listed, please feel free to list it again. In addition, your comments related to whys and wherefores are very welcome.

A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story

noreply@blogger.com (brd) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:46:00 +0000

Dear Diana Butler Bass,

I heard you speak the other Sunday, but I feel like I've spent the week with you as I've read The People's History of Christianity.

So often, I've looked over my shoulder at the history of Christianity and I snap my gaze around again, quickly, to the future, not because I have great hopes, but because history, as typical history, is such a shame. The chapter titles are so grim and disgraceful. It is not disheartening that Christians were martyred at the point of swords, but that, so often, they held the swords and ran through the hearts of believers and disbelievers alike. It is not that they were thrown ignominiously to the teeth of lions, but that they were lion hearted. It is not that they were raped and plundered, but that they, with the shield of Christendom emblazoned, deflowered women, children, men, and regions in the name of salvation.

So, your book turns me round and lets me look with teeth unclenched and reminds me that, throughout the ages, there was another, truer history of faith that played out alongside the narratives of power and prestige recalled by biographers and annalists with credentials impressed upon an authorized version.

Betsy

Click on the Dore image - Richard the Lion Heart in Reprisal Massacres Captives - to see this image in sharper detail at artmight.com. Click on the tapestry to see similar works at quaker-tapestry.co.uk