The Middle East, a Letter to the Editor and an Article to Make Everyone Happy

                                      


The Middle East:  a Very Complicated Situation

If we don’t want to send American troops to battle the soldiers of the Islamic State, we must look to the Middle Eastern states in the area to do so.  Let's start with one of these states, Turkey. That country is actually a NATO member, but offers minimal support for efforts to degrade and destroy ISIS (or ISIL, to use the President’s words).  Why?

A major reason is that the Kurds, in fighting ISIS, really want an independent state of their own rather than remaining a part of Iraq.  The trouble is that such a Kurdish state, besides being carved out of northern Iraq, would also be tempted to include in it the very significant Kurdish population on the Turkish side of their border with Iraq.  Hence, the Turks are not cooperating with the Kurdish troops (Peshmerga) in their battle with ISIS.  

Another reason is that Turkey is vehemently opposed to Syrian strongman, Bashir al-Assad. Right now, the strongest forces trying to take him down are the troops of the Islamic State, which have occupied a large portion of Syria.   On the other side, al-Assad’s supporters include Iran and its surrogate army in Syria, Hezbollah.  Turkey and Iran oppose each other in attempting to become the dominant power in the region.  So, it would be overly optimistic to look to Turkey in seeking support in battling ISIS, so long as the Islamic State is battling three entities which Turkey also opposes, the Kurds, al-Assad's Syrian government and Iran.  We would be content if its borders with Syria and Iraq, through which ISIS volunteers easily pass, were made less porous.

As for Iraq itself, years of training and equipping its primarily Shi’a army have proven to be worthless endeavors.  They threw away their guns and ran when faced by ISIS’s Sunni troops.  Starting over with them is a waste of time and resources. 

As for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, they are far enough away to not want to become heavily involved.  Some question remains as to whether or not they quietly support Sunni ISIS against its non-Sunni foes with financial aid.  But they know that ultimately, ISIS has them on its hit list as well.  While they may participate in air strikes, don’t expect them to contribute armies.  The same may be said of even more distant Egypt, which has its own problems.

Jordan, motivated to bomb ISIS and move its troops to the border by ISIS’ murder of their captured pilot, was ambivalent until then, and even if a good ally, its efforts will not be sufficient on their own to defeat ISIS.  Their army, mostly Bedouins, is not large enough to do the job permanently.

This leaves only Iran with a good reason and the resources to fight ISIS.  Iran wants to maintain Iraq’s present government, basically Shi’a, as are the Iranians, which is threatened by ISIS.  Iran borders the area where the Islamic State has expanded, and they see it as a threat to them.  Iran probably has the best army in the region (excluding Israel) and already has troops on the ground attempting to work with the retraining of the Iraqi army.  Iran also supports al-Assad in Syria who is threatened by ISIS, which gives them another reason to oppose the Islamic State.

 

If we are to become involved in fighting ISIS, which has declared us to be an enemy and murdered some of our civilians, it is clear that we must have some working arrangement with Iran which militarily, is really the only game in town. (We probably already do in an highly classified manner.) They are our logical ally there.  Unless we want to put American troops on the ground in significant numbers, that is what our diplomacy must work toward.


Iran has plenty of  troops available, and just as we are doing, they are attempting to train Iraq's Army.

Establishing such better relations with Iran, however, conflicts with our support of Israel.  Iran has sworn to destroy Israel, and Israel correctly fights any efforts to allow Iran to proceed with further development of their nuclear resources, which can lead to their developing nuclear weapons.  Israel takes this position not because they expect Iran to use such weapons if they develop them; if that occurred Israel would instantly totally destroy Iran with its own nuclear weaponry.  What Israel fears is that negotiations with all Arab and Muslim states would be affected by such a parity between Israel and Iran from a nuclear standpoint, and this would be to Israel’s disadvantage.

Hence, this is the point of tension between American foreign policy regarding Iran and Israel’s policy regarding Iran.   Israel fears that a rapproachment between the United States and Iran with the defeat of the Islamic State as its goal might involve a trade-off which would weaken Western opposition to Iranian nuclear expansion, to the detriment of Israel’s security.

This is why Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu are not the best of friends.  Failure of the ability of Arab states to stand up to the Islamic State forces the United States to look to Iran.  Does this mean that the United States will no longer oppose the murderous al-Assad government in Syria supported by Iran?  If we were to move in that direction, could Iran be convinced to soften its rhetoric regarding the destruction of Israel, including reining in Hezbollah, to the extent that Israel would tolerate very limited and monitored expansion of Iran’s nuclear development?   After all, except for his Hezbollah connections, al-Assad has not been an impossible neighbor for Israel over the years, despite his Iranian backers.  Might not the same modus vivendi extend to Iran?

Benjamin Netanyahu cannot be convinced of any of this and insists that strong sanctions on Iran should remain in place, making their nuclear program’s progress more difficult.  But if he loses control of Israel’s government in the upcoming elections, would Tzipi Livni or Isaac Herzog, either of whom might end up as Prime Minister, approach the question differently?  That remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, if the United States is to see to it that the Islamic State is degraded and defeated, diplomatic efforts to work together with Iran toward that goal should continue, even if they must be combined with the ongoing negotiations concerning Iran's nuclear development program. That is where the bargaining chips lie.  All agree that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, but can they be trusted not to do so?  Therefore, we must walk a tightrope in carrying on such diplomacy, all the while assuring our only real ally in the area, Israel, that in negotiating with Iran, THEIR SECURITY WILL NEVER, EVER, BE COMPROMISED.  

Above all, such diplomacy must not be hamstrung by domestic politics, such as what the Republican Party is engaging in by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak before our Congress, without first clearing such an infringement into the diplomatic operations of the Executive branch with the President beforehand.   By such a crass move to secure the votes of Jews in the United States, the G.O.P. attempts to paint the President as anti-Israel, if not anti-Semitic, and jeopardizes the diplomatic moves which will be necessary to defeat the Islamic State.  

If the Republicans succeed in preventing our working out such an arrangement with Iran, the alternative would have to be putting tens of thousands of American troops on the ground to fight ISIS. Such deployment would be in far greater numbers than the President proposed and without the time limitations he has asked for.  And with Iranian support continuing for what passes for the existing Shi'a government in Iraq, once the Islamic State is degraded and defeated, and it will be, Iran very well might become our opponent in the Middle East, rather than a potential ally. 

I doubt that we would confront Iran militarily, but if stronger sanctions to frustrate their nuclear ambitions are imposed, this would leave Israel in the position of having to count on those sanctions, rather than negotiations, to guarantee its security. I doubt whether Europe, the rest of the Middle East, China and India would fully respect stronger sanctions, and this would leave Israel in the position of seeking to independently thwart Iran's nuclear program both overtly and covertly.  Actually, this is where things stood before the rise of the Islamic State complicated things by altering the relationships between the United States, Israel and most importantly, Iran.


   
                                                                                   


    
                                                              
Some of the players in this story include House Speaker John Boehner, Secretary of State John Kerry, President Obama, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the late Saddam Hussein. Syrian President Bashir al-Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  

Going back even further, the rise of that Islamic State can be traced to the elimination of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship in Iraq a decade ago by the United States in our misguided efforts to blame him for Al Qaeda's 9-11 attack on the United States and his supposed building of weapons of mass destruction.  But that's another story.

Jack Lippman

                                             

A Letter to the Editor
Ticked off by a Letter to the Editor which was published in the Palm Beach Post, I wrote the following letter to that newspaper, which was published  there last week. 


I’m tired of people accusing President Barack Obama of being a socialist (as did the writer of Thursday’s letter, “Reject Obama’s socialist mantra”).  Government regulation, taxation and wealth redistribution do not equal “socialism.” Socialism describes a system where the government owns and operates most of the means of production, such as manufacturing and service providers — a course of action I do not believe the president advocates.


On the contrary, what the Obama administration has done — to enable some automobile manufacturers, banks and other financial institutions to survive — was the antithesis of “socialism.”  Actions taken in these areas were carried out to preserve capitalism, just as the Affordable Care Act avoids the government getting into the health-care business and directs its resources toward private insurers. That is a far cry from the government taking over the operation of a business.


As for taxation, in addition to paying for our government’s overall operation, levying taxes is a fair way of seeing that the fruits of our successful capitalist economy are shared more equitably by members of our society. Indeed, higher taxes on wealthier taxpayers, paired with a strengthened government “safety net” for the “have-nots” among us, amount to a kind of wealth redistribution.


But that is necessary so long as technological advances reduce job availability in this country and American workers, within our capitalist system, have to compete with less-expensive overseas labor. One may object to this kind of “wealth redistribution,” but is it “socialism”? No!
JL



                                                    

An All-Purpose Article

Here is a short article about differing perceptions people may have.  Please read it twice.  On the first reading, ignore any words in red.  On the second reading, ignore any words in blue.  

When you omit the red words, it puts you in the head of a Republican.  When you omit the blue words, it puts you in the head of a Democrat.  You may find that to be a strange new place to visit, but it may give you some understanding of what goes on in the heads of those who think other than the way you usually think.  It might even cause you to think differently.

             

                                                       *    *    *    *

Some of my (Republican) (Democratic) friends just don’t get it.  While otherwise intelligent, when it comes to politics, they just don’t know what is going on.  Perhaps it’s because they watch (Fox News) (MSNBC) too much and when they pick up a newspaper, it’s usually the (New York Post or the Wall Street Journal) (New York Times or the Palm Beach Post).  Clearly, this results in their being misinformed about almost everything.

Perhaps that’s why they are gullible enough to firmly believe that President Obama’s economic policies (brought us to the brink of socialism) (saved American capitalism) and that his bringing troops back from Iraq and Afghanistan (actually was a good thing for the country) (actually resulted in the rise of the Islamic State).   How wrong they are.

Perhaps that’s why they are naive enough to believe that the President’s positions on issues such as immigration, gun control and the rights of women, gays and lesbians (really reflect what the American people want) (come close to violating the Constitution which he swore to uphold) .  How wrong they are.

And as for (Obamacare) (the Affordable Care Act), despite mounting evidence to the contrary, they are absolutely certain that it has (crippled the health care professions and made coverage unaffordable for many) (provided Americans with better health care than existed before the Act was passed).  How wrong they are.

Clearly, in their screwed-up perception, President Obama will go down in history as one of the (best) (worst) Presidents the country has ever had.  But oh, how wrong they are.
                                        *    *    *    *
Okay, now that you've read it with either the (red words) or the (blue words) omitted, go back and read it again switching the color of the omitted words.                                                                                     

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Jack Lippman 

JL

The President's Word Games, the Writers' Group Resurrected and Down with "Foodies"

                                               

Word Games

President Obama sometimes plays games with the English language.  Lately, the Administration has been facing the problems created by Russia’s aggressive support of rebels in the eastern part of the Ukraine.  While the French and the Germans have been working with the Ukrainian government to try to come up with some sort of diplomatic approach to use in talking to Vladimir Putin, the United States is wondering whether it should supply arms to the Ukrainians.  Rather than referring to such arms as “weapons,” the President has consistently been using the phrase, “lethal weapons.”  This leads me to wonder if President Obama knows of a category of weaponry in our arsenals which is not “lethal.” (If we do, why are we spending money on them?) Do we have a store of water pistols, which the President wants to make clear would not be sent to the Ukraine because they aren’t “lethal.”  Or is he just using “lethal” as a word to frighten the Russians. 

Another usage which piques my curiosity is our government’s consistently referring to the Islamic State as ISIL.  Everybody else calls them ISIS, the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”  ISIL, on the other hand translates as the “Islamic State in the Levant.” 

The Levant is an old term used to describe the area north of the Arabian Peninsula, south of Turkey, west of Iran and stretching to the Mediterranean Sea.  Using it enables the President to refer to the Islamic State without getting into the political mish-mash which Syria and Iraq present, and short-changing other Middle East nations, such as Jordan, and of course the Kurds in northern Iraq, also threatened by the Islamic State by leaving them out.  Certainly, the Islamic State’s stated goals extend beyond Iraq and Syria, so it probably is a more accurate term.  Nevertheless, nobody other than Barack Obama, John Kerry and their spokespersons use it.
Jack Lippman 

                                             

 Writers' Group Resurrected

Some of the short stories appearing on the blog written by myself, and in the past by the late Sid Bolotin, came from the old Writers' Group at Cascade Lakes in Boynton Beach, Florida.   Well, the group has been resurrected, and is producing stories  once again.  Some of them, by myself as well as by others, will be appearing on this blog. Here is one of them.

A Bowler’s Story

Jack Lippman

2014 was a remarkable year for Ted.  It saw him bowl a “300” game and it also witnessed the dissolution of his marriage.  But let’s start at the beginning with what happened that memorable April evening at Sunset Lanes.

Ted and his three teammates on the Formidable Foursome were the worst team in the Thursday Night Men’s league, languishing in last place.  On a good night, and there weren’t too many of them, Ted and his buddies struggled to maintain their averages which ranged from 140 to 160.  But that evening, something miraculous happened.  Mort bowled a 640 three-game series, Joe bowled a 650 series, Lou bowled a 660 series and Ted bowled an unbelievable 790 series, highlighted by a brilliant 300 game, consisting of a dozen solid strikes in a row!  Actually, every single one of the games the four teammates bowled that evening was over 200!  It was quite a night, and their opponents, the first place Grizzlies, while no match for Ted’s team that night, bowled their usual high scores too.  It was the rare frame that evening that didn’t produce a strike for any of the bowlers on either team. 

                                      

As a result of this, the competition between the Formidable Foursome and the Grizzlies was wrapped up by nine o’clock, at least an hour and a half earlier than the usual time Ted and his teammates usually finished their bowling.  A game consisting of a lot of frames where two balls are thrown takes quite a bit longer than a game where most of the time all ten pins go down on the first ball thrown as was the case that evening.

After a quick celebratory beer, all four men piled into Lou’s car, whose turn it was to drive that week.  Ten minutes later, Ted was home, and skipping the elevator, he joyfully ran up the stairs to his second floor condo.

“Fran, Fran,” he called out.  “Guess what? I bowled a 300 game tonight!”

Her shrill voice responded sharply from the bedroom, “What are you doing home so early, Ted?  You usually get in about ten-thirty on bowling nights.  Why so early?   Give me a minute while I put on a robe.  I was sound asleep when you came in.”

“Never mind that, Frannie.  We’re gonna celebrate!  Stay just the way you are in bed!  I’m really on a high tonight, and I have no intention of letting it deflate!”  And with that, Ted pushed open the door to the bedroom, and saw his naked wife standing in front of an open window holding up a bed sheet in front of her and trying to block his view of the window. “What the fuck is going on?” Ted screamed.

Shoving his wife out of the way, all Ted was able to see were two legs culminating in two bare feet gingerly exiting the window in an effort to reach the pavement below as quickly as possible.

Falling from the second story window, Ted’s oldest friend, Bill, with whom both he and Fran had maintained a friendship since high school days, valiantly tried to twist and spin so that he might land on his feet, or even on his butt.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t successful and landed head first, splitting his skull wide open on the concrete.  When the EMTs arrived at the hospital with him, he was already dead.

Ted wouldn’t forgive Fran for cheating on him, moved out, saw a lawyer and is waiting for the courts to finalize the divorce.  Although not a religious person, he occasionally wonders if the unbelievable performance of the Formidable Foursome that evening might not have been some sort of act of God intended to get him home in time to uncover his wife’s infidelity.  And as for their new-found bowling prowess, the team remains in last place in the league and Ted hasn’t bowled better than 175 since his 300 game. He probably never will.


                                                     
Foodies Versus Good Health

Wikepedia tells us that a foodie is a gourmet, or a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food and alcoholic beverages. A foodie seeks new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger. 

We live in a society which seems to cater to foodies.  Take a look at the articles in local newspapers and national magazines devoted to the latest creations of famous (and less renowned) chefs as well as recipes for preparation of adventuresome foods and desserts at home. Publications have food editors and food critics who fill the sections devoted to food and drink with their opinions, and usually, mouth-watering color pictures.   Watch all of this on TV as well, where there is a 24/7 channel devoted to food and nothing else.  Paula Deen has a magazine, writes articles and is on TV touting delicious fat-filled fried food that will put you in the grave earlier than you normally would be getting there.

Is all of this healthy?   Shouldn’t the emphasis be on providing all of the necessary foods we need each day within a reasonable amount of calorie intake.  Sweet things taste wonderful, but do we really need them in the quantities they are available?  Look at the increased appearance of adult onset diabetes.  Neither is health enhanced by the increased use of preservatives added to make food last longer and biological agents used in food manufacturing, agriculture and animal feed.  

Fried foods, food with high fat content, foods containing a lot of salt all combine to do no good for the cardiovascular system.  But they do make food, particularly in restaurants, taste wonderful.  A few years back, the late Robert Cummings, actor and advocate of healthy eating, suggested that we’d be better off not eating anything that was “white.”  While this is extreme, it is a good idea to watch your intake of bleached flour and things made from it, like white bread and cake, as well as salt, sugar and eggs. 

 

Take a look at the snack aisle in your local supermarket.   Bag after bag of chips and pretzels, in an almost infinite series of incarnations line the aisle.  Most of it is heavily salted and high in fat content.  Tremendous amounts of this junk are consumed in front of the nation’s TV sets, washed down with sugar-laden soda (and diet drinks are little better) each day.  We are committing suicide in that snack aisle.

I saw an article in the food section of the paper recently about a bar that was featuring a martini garnished with … bacon!  I’m sure a lot of “foodies” have tried it.
                                     

There is plenty of information out there on how to eat properly.  You can start out on the internet by finding out how many calories a day you should consume. You can do this by clicking on  http://www.calorieking.com/interactive-tools/how-many-calories-should-you-eat/?ref=nav  If it doesn't work for you, just copy and paste the link on your browser line.  (Nowadays, most foods have labels with calorie and ingredient information to help you do this.)  

America’s health depends on our giving eating properly a higher priority than the “foodies’ and fast food dispensers who dominate our culture have assigned it.   Once you start down this path, it is just a matter of maintaining the discipline needed to eat properly.

JL

                                                                                              

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Jack Lippman 

Dancing in the Dark, Politics and Haiku

Dancing in the Dark
There are two memorable songs bearing the title, “Dancing in the Dark,” and the one that comes to mind when the song is mentioned is a wonderful clue as to the generation to which you belong. 

 

Back in 1931, composer Arthur Schwartz (father of pianist and occasional radio personality Jonathan Schwartz) and lyricist Howard Dietz wrote “Dancing in the Dark” for a Broadway review, “The Band Wagon” which was revived 22 years later.  The song (“Dancing in the dark, till the tune ends, we’re dancing in the dark, and it soon ends …”) is an integral part of what is called the Great American Songbook, filled with the music of Gershwin, Porter, Kahn, and Rodgers and the lyrics of Hart and Hammerstein, among other greats.  This particular “Dancing in the Dark,” I believe will be with us for a very, very long time.

The other “Dancing in the Dark” was part of Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 album, “Born in the USA,” with words and music by Springsteen himself.  It sold over a million “singles” and was Springsteen’s greatest hit.  You probably are at least familiar with the chorus which starts out bemoaning the fact that “You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark, this gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark.”   I believe this song will also be with us for a very, very long time, but not so long as the original 1931 “Dancing in the Dark” will be.

Insofar as I can determine, for those born prior to the mid 1960's, the mention of a song called “Dancing in the Dark” brings to mind the Arthur Schwartz song.  If you first saw the light of day after that time though, the Springsteen song is the one you probably associate with the title.  In fact, many who recognize one version usually don’t even know that the other one exists.

You can hear Arthur Schwartz' "Dancing in the Dark" sung by Frank Sinatra by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGQ0IMdQcnY  and you can hear Bruce Springsteen's version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129kuDCQtHs .

 
A Middle Aged Sinatra and a Youthful Springsteen


(I tried to download both videos onto the blog but it looked like it would take a few hours to do on my antiquated computer, so if you want to view and listen to them, just click on the links, or if that doesn't work, copy and paste them on your browser line.)

Which do you like better?   Frank or Bruce?   It really doesn't matter since both singers are from New Jersey .... only from different generations!

Jack Lippman
                             

Politics - Ya Can't Get Away From It

Now that Mitt Romney has bowed out of the Republican race for the 2016 G.O.P. nomination for the Presidency, it looks like a circus, featuring a clown of the week  …  as happened in 2012 …  will ensue.  

Does any responsible Republican really think that Marco Rubio or Mike Huckabee is qualified to sit in the White House?  Republicans are afraid of Chris Christie’s  petulance, wary of where Jeb Bush stands on anything (hasn’t held office in ten years and seems to be too liberal on immigration and education),  confused by Rand Paul’s neo-isolationism and surprised that Scott Walker is drawing significant support.  That comes from the fact that he successfully stood up to unions and teachers in his home state, but what else has he done, to qualify him for the White House?  (and don't answer that by asking me what did a "community organizer/lawyer" in his first term in the Senate do to qualify him for that same job.)


Wisconsin's Walker                               

Only Bush and possibly Christie have access to the kind of money needed to run a campaign, but that can change if wealthy donors, such as the Koch brothers, choose to back someone else.  That’s what that meeting in Iowa two weeks ago was all about.  I heard former New York Governor George Pataki on TV this morning say he was available for a Presidential run.  Who is he kidding?  But that serves to show how wide open the race is.  

The task is to find a well-financed Republican who is conservative enough to satisfy those who do not view domestic and foreign policy through the windshield but rather through the rear view mirror.  If they find such a candidate, he will also have to have the desire and ability to govern, which means facing the economic realities of fiscal and monetary policy, world peace, terrorism and keeping Americans working and healthy.  All of this will be difficult if the G.O.P. commits itself to running government on the cheap. (That means “tax reduction” as a way of benefiting the wealthy who will then have more money to invest in a growing economy, which will produce more income to be taxed, albeit at a lower rate.  Seems we’ve heard that story before, but it never seems to work out that way. )

I met a Republican the other day who said that the United States was far behind the rest of the world insofar as cybersecurity is concerned.  “Their hackers,” he said, “are better than our hackers.”   He attributed this to our not spending enough money on cybersecurity, which he saw as the fault of the Democrats who controlled the Senate and the White House.  “Let’s see if the Republicans, now in charge of both Houses of Congress,” I responded, “will be willing to spend the money to get the job done right.”

JL
                    

                                 

Try Some Haiku
Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, usually dealing with events seen or found in nature, consisting of three lines.  The first and third lines contain five syllables and the second line contains seven syllables.  Rhyming is unnecessary, but the words should be soothing with the third line suggesting a contrast to what came before it. 

Try writing some.  Doing so has a calming effect, relieving stress.  I just  came up with these two samples.  You can too.  Your haiku will appear on this blog if you care to submit it.

Snowflakes on branches

Rest atop one another

Until the limb cracks.

 

Warm winds caressing

Closed and sleeping blossom buds

Often wake them up.


JL                               

HOW TO BE ALERTED TO FUTURE BLOG POSTINGS.

Many readers of this blog are alerted by Email every time a new posting appears.  If you wish to be added to that Email list, just let me know by clicking on Riart1@aol.com and sending me an Email.  

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BY CLICKING ON THAT SAME ADDRESS, Riart1@aol.com   YOU ALSO CAN SEND ME YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BE PUBLISHED IN THIS BLOG AS WELL AS YOUR COMMENTS.  (Comments can also be made by clicking on the "Post a Comment" link at the blog's end.)

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DID YOU KNOW THAT www.jackspotpourri.com IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICES IN A MODIFIED, EASY-TO-READ, FORMAT?   

HOW TO VIEW OLDER POSTINGS.                                                

To view older postings on this blog, just click on the appropriate date in the “Blog Archive” midway down the column off to the right, or scroll down until you see the “Older Posts” notation at the very bottom of this posting.  The “Search Box” in the right side of the posting also may be helpful in locating a posting topic for which you are looking.

HOW TO FORWARD POSTINGS.

To send this posting to a friend, or enemy for that matter, whom you think might be interested in it, just click on the envelope with the arrow on the "Comments" line directly below, enabling you to send them an Email providing a link directly to this posting.  You might also want to let me know their Email address so that they may be alerted to future postings.

Jack Lippman