CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence RELIGIOUS .AND CREDIBLE, TOO Tucker Carlson's article detailing the struggles of the Republican candidates in Iowa as they grope about in George W. Bush's shadow contained rather...
...Notwithstanding her surprisingly strong showing in the Iowa straw poll, it seems that either Dole or her spokesman (or perhaps both) has a rather low opinion of those voters they are attempting to attract...
...He did a wonderful job detailing the dismantling of the U.S...
...Does she, also, have a credibility problem...
...Coverage of tobacco-related claims by the VA began when the Bush-appointed general counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs ruled in 1992 that illness resulting from smoking could be considered service-related...
...In this sense, the customer review forum is similar to talk radio, and as on talk radio, sometimes the ideas and opinions are half-baked, or even raw...
...I distinctly remember exercises conducted with such a shortage of blank ammunition that soldiers were required to shout "bang" in lieu of discharging a blank round...
...FELECIA BARBARO BROOKLYN, NY...
...This is not limited to living authors, either...
...4) Send the Pentagon delegation to Taiwan, as originally scheduled, to assess Taiwan's defense needs and to establish secure lines of communication between the U.S...
...However, the Clinton administration actively worked to rescind that ruling, and the VA, under Clinton appointee Togo West, has approved only a small percentage of tobacco-related claims it has received...
...No effort should be spared in steering China toward a responsible role in preserving the peace and stability of Asia...
...Many veterans did not smoke until they started receiving free cigarettes in their C-rations and K-rations, four in each, all non-filtered...
...Dole and her supporters often comment on both her strong religious beliefs and conservative values...
...During World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the U.S...
...To deter a disastrous military conflict, the following steps may help: (1) Remind China that U.S...
...In 1997, Veterans Administration Secretary Jesse Brown said it would be "borderline absurdity" to pay the health-care costs of veterans who freely smoked and subsequently suffered smoking-related illnesses...
...2) Ask China to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and to refrain from further provocative actions...
...I terminated my active service and now work in the civilian sector...
...It would be interesting to hear the feds argue that Big Tobacco is liable but Big Government is not...
...The lack of adequate funding makes it impossible for officers to train their soldiers effectively...
...Some months ago I noted that a certain R. Plutarchus had been offered the same opportunity...
...Coast Guard are the thirty-eighth oldest out of the world's 42 coast guards...
...Reading the customer reviews is meant to be part of the shopping process...
...No wonder some of the Coast Guard's readiness woes include drug runners operating faster boats than the Guard's, and Coast Guard assets lacking the proper sensors for important night operations such as search and rescue and drug interdictions...
...What kind of no-good, mean-spirited, tobacco-loving, child-exploiting organization would insist that if you choose to smoke you are responsible for the consequences of your actions...
...The VA said it was "inappropriate to compensate for death or disability resulting from veterans' personal choice to engage in conduct damaging to their health...
...their purpose is to help you decide on a purchase, not to correct your taste...
...Their entertainment value is a bonus...
...Perhaps, but probably not, as the quote attributed to him seems to hammer the point home: "Whatever [Gobel] says about abortion or dying on the cross, she's not a liar...
...Right-wing Republicans...
...According to the article, Fleischer thinks Gobel is credible, despite her conservatism and religious beliefs...
...JIM DOLBOW ARLINGTON, VA ATTACK OF THE AMAZONS I'm happy to see that Tracy Lee Simmons has discovered the author's comments feature of Amazon.com ("Every Man His Own Critic," Aug...
...was my headline...
...however, those individuals tend not to vote in Republican primaries...
...This would seem to imply, in Fleischer's world, that the characteristics of religious belief and conservatism are seldom associated with that of honesty...
...and Taiwanese militaries...
...But the real question should be: Why isn't the federal government itself the target of a tobacco liability lawsuit...
...After a few weeks some killjoy found me out and removed it...
...Amazon.com is democratic not because it treats all opinions equally, but because it allows all comers to take part in a free exchange of ideas and opinions...
...Eliot's thoughts on literary criticism is puzzling, because Amazon.com doesn't pretend to be a literary journal...
...Cartons were 80 or 90 cents...
...5) Send an aircraft carrier task force through the Taiwan Strait to show our support for the freedom of navigation through international waterways and our opposition to Chinese aggression...
...and Stalin ("There must have been some mistake...
...Politicians are playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette with soldiers as they stretch the force across the globe without providing the resources to conduct realistic and intense training...
...My only constructive criticism of Tell's editorial is that it glossed over the readiness crisis of the U.S...
...Try the federal government...
...This no-holds-barred approach is what makes a public forum exciting...
...The many and varied deployments the Army faces make it more critical than ever that we keep its forces sharp and ready...
...3) Urge China to send its envoy Wang Daohan to Taiwan in October as originally scheduled, without preconditions...
...The Clinton administration has denied health benefits to veterans with tobacco-related illnesses by reclassifying tobacco use as "willful misconduct" akin to drug abuse...
...Why would a supposedly savvy political professional, as Fleischer surely is, express such a demeaning opinion of religious conservatives, especially when it seems a given that they are influential in the Republican party's nomination process...
...Such open derision of social conservatives, an unfairly maligned group, may earn the Dole campaign plaudits from those on the left and their allies...
...Fort Campbell is an air assault division where the primary asset is movement and maneuver by helicopter...
...Fleischer resorts to the oddest of backhand compliments in his description of Bobbie Gobel, then head of the Iowa Christian Coalition, who had charged the Forbes campaign with buying votes...
...Hence, it is almost impossible to train as we would fight...
...Granted, my 600-soldier battalion only represents a small portion of the Army...
...government, through the military, encouraged smoking...
...But I do look forward to author's comments from Dante ("Now I know—it's all too true...
...Since Plutarch is no longer in a position to use the Internet, I took the liberty of responding for him...
...Furthermore, Simmons ignores the good news evident in Amazon.com's success: The large number of customers writing reviews indicates that a lot of people out there care about books...
...Drill sergeants and platoon leaders would announce breaks by yelling, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em...
...The Army simply cannot afford the fuel and maintenance costs to keep helicopters in the air...
...however, I can say with some certainty that the Army is witnessing a severe drain of junior officers throughout the organization...
...GREGG BEATY CINCINNATI, OH SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM As Matthew Rees notes, "Many lawyers argue that the federal government doesn't have a legal leg to stand on" in suing the tobacco companies for Medicare costs due to smoking ("Tobacco Railroad," Aug...
...JAY TSU-YI LOO LANSDALE, PA MORE GUNS, LESS BUTTER David Tell's editorial on the need for more defense spending touches on key reasons why officers choose to jump to civilian life ("Spend it on Defense," Aug...
...In 1967, the PXs sold packs of cigarettes for a dime...
...According to Coast Guard commandant Admiral James Loy, the cutters and aircraft of the U.S...
...Correspondence RELIGIOUS .AND CREDIBLE, TOO Tucker Carlson's article detailing the struggles of the Republican candidates in Iowa as they grope about in George W. Bush's shadow contained rather bizarre statements attributed to Elizabeth Dole's spokesman, Ari Fleischer ("The Agony of Not Being George W. Bush," Aug...
...Due to a lack of funds, though, infantry soldiers rarely fly in assault helicopters...
...In the age of television, that is no small thing...
...It may be the smallest branch of our armed forces, but it nonetheless has a vital role to play in our nation's defense...
...MATTHEW J. ANDERSEN NEW YORK, NY Bravo Zulu (Navy slang for "job well done") to David Tell for his editorial "Spend it on Defense...
...Simmons's invocation of T.S...
...Big Tobacco...
...Unfortunately for our brave fighting men and women in uniform, these words seem to have fallen on deaf ears...
...DANIEL JOHN SOBIESKI CHICAGO, IL TAIWAN'S DIRE STRAITS William Kristol and Robert Kagan make a persuasive case that China may launch a military assault on the islands of Quemoy or Matsu due to the Clinton administration's anti-Taiwan moves and rhetoric ("Peace Through Strength," Aug...
...recognition of its government in 1979 and the three joint communiqués are all based on our understanding that any ChinaTaiwan disputes are to be resolved peacefully...
...I am a 1994 West Point graduate, and served my five-year commitment as an infantry officer assigned to the 2-187th Air Assault Infantry Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky...
...To quote former congressman Gerald Solomon, "Taiwan's security is ultimately our security...
...Its aging fleet makes it increasingly difficult for the men and women of the Coast Guard to live up to its motto, Semper Paratus, which means "always ready...
...I can count on one hand the number of junior officers (lieutenant through captain) in my former unit who intend to remain in the Army...
...military that has occurred in the 10 years since Ronald Reagan was commander in chief of our armed forces...
...Without the needed resources to train, life as a soldier grows increasingly more frustrating and at times feels pointless...
...Cigarettes were long included in the K-rations and C-rations provided to service members, and were sold in military commissaries at substantially lower prices than in civilian stores...
...Coast Guard, our nation's fifth service branch...
...Some of our cutters first saw service during World War II...
...Destined to become a classic...
...PETER P. CHASE ALPINE, TX Tracy Lee Simmons's article completely overlooks the beauty of Amazon.com's customer reviews...
...My comment included appropriate phrases such as "I know in my bones," and "What other author, living or dead, is as qualified as I?" To my delight, Amazon.com added my author's comments to the blurbs for the book (a selection from the Lives...
...President Reagan was right when he said, "I believe it is immoral to ask the sons and daughters of America to protect this land with second-rate equipment and bargain-basement weapons...
...Perhaps he didn't mean it...
...Frequently, however, they are engaging and stimulating...
Vol. 4 • August 1999 • No. 47
