He's your $9-million man

[Kevin W.M.LastYearsMan]

Lightning, the truth of the matter is that in America, and probably most other countries, "justice" has very little to do with anything. It's a nice idea but seldom if ever the reality. And if a certain example of justice is reality to you, I can guarantee that it isn't to someone else. It's subjective.

Nightstalker, I agreed with pretty much everything you said in your post. It's seldom the case that I read a post and think that. I didn't notice if anyone else commented on it or not. You seem to think things through despite the fact that your nickname creeps me out.

As far as the reason of why Kelly Lynch would mess Leonard over, there could be many. It could be the jilted lover thing as Lizzy mentioned but I'd say that it has more to do with that most American idea of greed and the hustler/gangster mentality that is at the heart of capitialism. Actually, it was probably a combination of things...as situations often are.

Geoffery, if this is all a devine event inspired by the creator so that you can see Leonard in concert, and that Mrs. Lynch is bandaging up stigmata as I write this, I would have to say that she's going to be getting the Christ tratment (figuratively, at least) pretty soon.

I don't give it religious overtones though. It was just one person screwing over another person royally. It happens every day in a variety of ways. Some people get caught and lots of them don't.
When you guys were coming up with all of these reasons of why she might have stolen from him, I'll just go the simple route and not try to justify it with anything. Some people are honest and some people aren't. As strange as it seems, it does boil down to that. All of the justifying makes me think of an old friend who was cheating on their spouse and gave me about ten reasons why it was okay to do so...I just said that you don't have to get permission from me, you were the one who made promises and took vows, and not to me. What you're trying to do is give permission to yourself. I think the point was taken and it wasn't mentioned again.

I'm not trying to moralize other than to say, take responsibility and don't make excuses. I've made my mistakes too. They just didn't happen to involve 5 million dollars of someone else's money. But if I did, I'd own up to it. But it wouldn't because, unlike Mrs. Lynch, I'm honest.

That was all more than I was intending to write.
Kevin

[Kush]

Nightstalker...

A true measure of a society's success is the respect and aid it gives to its most disadvantaged members. The USA is a failure when judged by this standard due to greed, avarice and adamance of its government, its officials and its affluent citizens.

While I agree with much of what you have said I have to respectfully disagree with this. What I see is a country where in most cases you work for something, some goal, make sacrifices along the way and make smart choices and there's a damn good chance of life being good to you. Nothing come for free and nothing should come for free. You should have to earn everything.

I am not saying I am right and you are wrong - just that my perspective is quite diametrically opposite to yours.

p.s.
I think there is a tendency to complain about everything that is not going right and whether it is real or perceived.
In personal life we thank someone profusely for the extremely difficult and laborious task of conducting and judging a poetry competition on an internet forum and yet we are always complaining about someone or a group of people running a country. There is a tendency to magnify the negative for some reason...

[Nightstalker]

Kush,
I appreciate your comment and agree that reward should be returned for honest work or at least efffort. I could take the view that I made it out of abject poverty and why shouldn't others but I don't. Please don't misunderstand, I was born poor but not destitute, my dad worked his whole life as a construction machine operator but was never well paid. We had barely enough day to day and yet he was a smart and hard working person but uneducated (3d grade maybe and CCC camps) in the way of rural 20th century people. I worked since I was 14 at regualr jobs, from 16 in a Burger Chef (think Crusty Crab and SpongeBob here) all thru highschool averaging almost 50 hours a week, and, after graduation. in manufacturing until I went into the Army in 1966. There, due to high scores on test I went to language school for a year and studied Russian, OCS for 6 months and became an officer and a gentleman and eventually to war in Vietnam. I came out in 1971 with a little cash and opened a small business which was putting me thru college and keeping my family up while I worked in it. After getting a good offer in manufacturing engineering and to improve our living standards I dropped out just before finishing a degree in engineering. I became a partner in that business and others by working 70-80 hours every week, but left active management of those firms in 1981 for a job with a very high level firm with a salary and comp of over $100,000 a year, almost 3 times what I was paying myself at the time. So, I made it. I still worked over 70 hours every week also. But I know that one little piece of bad luck over those years would have sunk me and my family to near bottom again. And I saw so many work equally hard and harder and accomplish less. I saw some accomplish much and then trip. I saw greed and avarice of the worst kind, fought for fairness in wages and compensation to workers in my care constantly and often failed miserably in that respect even when I was a minority partner and even though I demonstrated that better compensation achieved higher production and improved quality. And all of these people were the working middle class of the USA which has been totally decimated in the last two decades by lousy fiscal planning and worse domestic and international policies of our government. At the same time that government raised income taxes, social security taxes and allowed certain industries like health care and insurance to further oppress the majority of the populace in the interests of capitalism. I wanted you to know better why I reached my conclusion. I still validate yours opinion that work should be rewarded while believing in my heart that those who for some reason cannot contribute should also be well cared for by their society.

Kevin, TY.

Others, I do harbor a hope that the USA will change as required to improve everyone's fate in life and I do not know of a better total system. Even democratic socialism has some of the same political problems that cause our system to not quite measure up to my standard but there are some countries that seem to make it function well. A lot of it boils down to what is inherent in Kevin's thoughts. Honesty is a necessity for good government. We need honest citizens, politicians, business owners and managers, and allies who honestly access local and international situations and take appropriate actions.

Somebody kick this damn soap box out from under me!

[lightning]

Maybe Kelley Lynch can find a place in American politics.

[Kevin W.M.LastYearsMan]

Lightning, if she manages to get out of her predicament unscathed or if she has some powerful friends who can somehow spin the situation, then she'd be a great candidate for American politics. In our political system, I think that honesty is a huge hinderance. So she's probably pretty well suited for it.
I will say though that I think that is the case of politics everywhere. Not just in the good old U.S.A.
Kevin

[Kush]

Politics in a democratic system is especially tough. Everybody has their own opinion on how things should be run and add to that the human flaws that all of us have. Try to get involved in public service and you'll know.
I am actually amazed that the system works as well as it does. We enjoy one of the highest standards of living, have time and money on our hands to have computers and write on internet forums and people still find reason to complain. The cynicism and negativity I see here is really a huge turn off for me. I'll slide out of this discussion quietly now

[Kevin W.M.LastYearsMan]

Kush,
My negativity or cynicism about politics doesn't impact my mood in a negative way very frequently. I don't really complain about it too much. I am just pretty fatalistic and resigned to my notion of politics and what it is. But if I see that things are screwed up, as they often are, I feel no personal self-consciousness about making a comment here and there. I'm glad that I live in America and I can do that. Well, I can do that as long as I'm not gaining a following or having any political power myself. Those such people usually end up getting killed.

If you can observe American politics and not be cynical, I'd like to drink some of that Jonestown kool-aide you've been having.
Kevin

[Kush]

Well Kevin I promised myself to stay out of this and I intend to to just that.

But I am not fatalistic, I am not resigned and I dont believe things are screwed up like folks here make it out to be. And I am not cynical and I havent been drinking anything I shouldnt......not recently anyway.

cheers

[Kevin W.M.LastYearsMan]

Kush,
Way to go. We all have our differences in opinion.

I'm not 100% cynical about politics. I try not to be 100% cynical about almost anything, to be honest with you.

I, too, can count my blessings and I feel fortunate to have been born here. So it's not like I'm completely pissing in my own pool all of the time. Be that as it is, politics and other things which are completely out of our control can strain our sanity if we become too emotionally involved in the outcome. So I try not to sweat it too much. But I do stand by what Lightning was writing about with regards to the structure, outcome, and cyclical nature of capitalism. BUT I certainly haven't come up with a better or less corrupt way. So perhaps I'm part of the problem. After all, it is very easy to look at a lamp and proclaim it broken. It is a different enterprise entirely to be the one who knows exactly how to fix it. And then yet another thing too to be the person who actually DOES the fixing.
As far as public service goes, does the writing of morbid letters and sending them to the National Endowment for the Arts count? It's all I ever do.

Seriously, I have done a little public service/volunteer work in my time. Since that was mentioned.

Kevin

[lightning]

Whew! That post should get past the illegal wire tappers. So feel safe. By the way,
Q: How many compassionate conservatives does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. There's nothing wrong with the light bulb. It's a perfectly good light bulb. Why do you hate freedom?

[Kevin W.M.LastYearsMan]

Funny joke, Lightning.

I think I might have had you post mixed up with what the nightstalker was writing.
Kevin

[Fljotsdale]

Maybe Kelley Lynch can find a place in American politics.

Maybe as a President's wife....

[Byron]

She could even help tony bliar with his hidden loans for lords.

[Nightstalker]

I think that the cliche about how easy it is to define a problem is worn out and untrue in many ways. Truely and accurately defining the problem is the first and most important step in any problem solving process. Before the problem is defined someone must step up and say, "The emperor is naked!" If we cannot face and define the problems of our system(s) then no one will take the steps to correct them. I talk every few months, one on one (except for their flappers) and face to face, with one or another of my representatives to national office for 30 minutes to an hour. When speaking to them, I offer ideas about the problems and how to correct them. I encourage all of you to do the same. Call or write ans setup an appointment. Hog their time and maybe they will not have enough time to accept more bribes from lobbyists. Also, talk with the local leaders and have them commit to advancing your local agendas and those about which you have spoken to national leaders. Expressing yourself is one of the rights and duties we have in a democracy.

I'm sorry that some people do not like cynicism and negative thoughts about political matters. I don't 'like' this either, but the alternative is to continue to allow the system to carry the dreams and lives of the youths of this country into disgraceful circumstances.

If anyone thinks that the system in the USA is perfect, please speak up. It is better than many, true. It was wonderful for decades off and on, but has diminished in its ability to deliver the American dream for the last few decades. And the prognosis is worse than the present. Even the best system can be improved. It is our right as citizens to insist on this improvement even if we cannot advocate a specific solution.

[Byron]

No system is perfect.
No human being is perfect.
Together, they are flawed.
Democracy allows us all to ask and challenge.
Over here, we have what is called, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. A short phrase, which carries a huge amount gravitas.
One of my univ. lecturers advised us to read a right wing newspaper when a left wing gov't was in power, and a left wing newspaper when a right wing gov't was in power. Seems odd, but it does give one far more information than simply following the 'party line' of each particular newspaper editor and publisher.
Nighstalker, you do have a grasp of the reality of the system. And a man's grasp should always be greater than his reach.
However, I never believe what I read in newspapers, for the very simple reason that, I don't know who wrote it, who pays them to write it, or what their hidden agenda is. No human is perfect, especially newspaper correspondants who have views on politics and the system.

I have a web link to a page werein I can write directly to my own MP. The message is sent to the page via e-mail, where it is altered into a Fax message, which is then sent to the fax machine in my MP's office in the House of Commons. It is easy to ignore e-mails, BUT not so easy to ignore hard copy flowing out of a typewriter.