Marshall Davidson

I have enjoyed reading the generally courteous postings on current political affairs by our classmates.  I believe that most of you would enjoy and be informed by the long articles at the links below.  Both are well reasoned and well written by two highly credible professional journalists who are 1960’s-vintage American political liberals.    

• https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/the-thirty-tyrants (Tablet is an American Jewish magazine on philosophy, culture, politics and religion. The article is by Lee Smith, an old fashioned liberal who still believes in those ideals and a long-time award winning investigative reporter. The article could be better titled as, “What Has Happened to Our Politics”)
• https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/ (Time.com is a moderately left of center webzine claiming the ground of the old Time Magazine.  The article is by Molly Ball, et al.  She is a moderately liberal Democrat. Over her career she has written on a number of serious topics for several popular U.S. publications.)

Kind regards,

Marshall Davidson

Tom Ashcraft

At this juncture of my life it seems humor is the best road to reconciliation.

. "The Democrats are the party of government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller, and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then get elected and prove it.”

Tommy A

Maurice K F Shaw

I just observed all of the messages -political and otherwise! I am rejoicing that I am "on the same page " like

most of my former classmates. My compliments to Marshall too for his efforts in reading Tablet online. It is my favorite Jewish online publication. Yet it was shocking to  find out that one of the relatives of my paternal grandmother ,   was shot and killed at the Tree of LIfe synagogue in Pittsburg last year.

   I was shocked to read that Joyce Feinberg, a relative of my paternal grandmother, Sarah Ariel Shaw,was shot and killed while she was attending services at the Tree of Life synagogue during the summer months of 2020

by the Proud Boys , Trump's supporters , the type of "fine people who suported Trump and voted for him."

    Glad this country now has a decent person in the White House and other decent persons in the Biden administration like Vice President, Kamala Harris ,and First Gentleman and lawyer, Daniel Emhoff!

Andrew Blinken, the new Secretary of State , was an excellent choice.

  Absolutely , I am Jewish ,and I make no apologies for it. It is a horrific injustice when one has family members who emigrated to the "Promised Land:" to escape the Holocaust , but is shot and killed while praying in a place of worship of their  choice. A member of Trump's supporters ----"Proud Boys" committed that terrible murder.

  Now I try (even it has been difficult to escape)with diligence to avoid the news, by viewing concerts by use of Zoom with a lady friend and her grand children here in Seattle, Washington, and at times view musicals and comedies on the Turner Classic Movie channel.

  I have been keeping busy and maintaining my academic interests by  working on writing projects regarding film icons of Hollywood's Golden Age. I was certified to teach English,History , and Social Sciences for  the public schools and hold a M.A. in History with a minor in Political Science from Texas Christian University , which has

developed an excellent Department of Holocaust and Jewish Studies with the generous assistance of seeveral

Jewish donors in Tyler,Texas.

    Dr Jack Holiday was working on his Ph.D at TCU while I was in graduate school. I was sorry  to hear of his

passing.

     I trust that 2021 will be a better year for all of us. I was very happy to receive my first Moderna vaccine shot last Monday(Feb 8).

 Best ,

    Maurice K F Shaw

Maurice K F Shaw

If I may, let me also express my compliments to Mike Miller,Michael Gross, and Tom Ashcraft.

  I was absolutelly frightened and heart-broken when the news media reported that Trump's paramilitary troops 

separated children from their parents at the U.S. -Mexican border. It was reminiscent of what Adolf Hitler and the atrocities committed by Joseph Stalin against certain "Minorities".

   Let me be perfectlly clear in expressing the view that even though I do not agree with everything I have read on this 'Forum", I still respect everyone's opinion and expect my former classmates to respect my viewpoint.

    Maurice

Tom Ashcraft

I have never been one to try to stir up conversations.  But I have found that we have a diverse opinion base in our class which I have a lot of respect for.  If you will permit me, I have a gripe about delivering of news today and would be interested in your comments regardsless of which side you favor.  I hope Miss Marsh is not reading my writing because she probably would give me grief over grammar and punctuation.      Nothing disturbs me more about the news today than the lack of news that is written and uncensored, editorialized or political in nature.  We all know there is one way to consider an issue (..that would be to read or hear the uncensored truth and make up your own mind about what it means). I have always suspected that politicians direct news to their wants (..politicians have done this forever).   Why are they censoring the news?  Do they think the population is unable to make their own minds up about the facts. However, now even the facts are altered to meet the desires of the writer. 

Howard Barnett

As a journalism major from UT who took several investigative journalism classes, I think I can comment on this subject.  

As a journalist, one of the worst things you can do is get the facts wrong.  If you make a mistake, you get dinged.  If you fabricate your own facts and you are found out, you are fired, and your reputation as a journalist is destroyed.  The exception to this is Fox News which is not really a news agency but a organization designed to spread disinformation.  It was created by former Nixon dirty trickster Roger Ailes in partnership with Rupert Murdoch, and studies have shown that persons who watch Fox News are less informed than persons who watch no news at all.  

At the other end of of the journalism spectrum are the top flight newspapers -- the New York Times, the Washington Post and the news division of the Wall Street Journal.  By the time you become an investigative journalist for these entities, you have reached the pinnacle of your professional life, and your future depends on every word you write  You are constantly overseen by your editor, your publisher and the copy desk.  Because of this rigor, the so-called "fake news" from these organization is not really fake news.  It is news containing information which runs counter to pre-conceived notions.  Psychological studies have shown that a certain segment of the population, when confronted with the truth, can't be converted.  They just get angrier.

At least a couple of movies dramatize the lengths to which news organization go to "get it right."  One is "All the President's Men" about Watergate.  The other is "The Post" with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Maurice K F Shaw

Howard, You and I are on  the same page!! 

   I am completely turned off by Murdoch\'s news media , especially his  FOX News network,

which was exploited and financed by the Trump family, White Supremacists , "Proud Boys, Quanon ,  Oath Keepers ,  and other 

racist ,anti--Semitic groups!!

        But I firmly believe that Netanyahu ( TRUMP"S buddy) is worst than Trump and an embarassment to the state of Israel.

  Best,

   Maurice K F Shaw,

 REL 61, B.A (1966); M.A.(1970) retired but still active by publication of articles 

on my interests and  fields of concentration at Texas Christian University,

  It is my pride and joy to promote TCU , because it has built up a terrific Holocaust and Jewish Studies Program-- one of the most outstanding programs in the Southwest !!

Marshall Davidson

Tommy,

Almost all of your questions about news media are likely to be addressed by reading the work of Glenn Greenwald [https://greenwald.substack.com/] and of Matt Taibbi [https://taibbi.substack.com/] and by reading pieces about their work by other journalists.  Both are highly regarded investigative journalists of decidedly liberal persuasion.  Both are currently keenly interested in corporate media’s slavish support of what they would refer to as the U.S. intelligence/military/industrial complex and its owner, the American establishment.

Best,

Marshall

Douglas Warner

Tom:

In the world of academe, being hired, promoted or tenured often depends upon publishing.  The rule is: “publish or perish”. The demand for recognition in print is so prevalent that quality is often second to quantity.  For years, on and off,  I was asked to offer a class in statistical ethics/research writing to “new instructors” and “researchers” in universities of the Southwest Conference of Researchers.   The complaint was always the same: “Rushing to press was more important than accuracy!”

I guess that news is no different.  In the news business, competition is fierce and sensationalism that catches the eye is more likely to be headlined than cold facts.  It’s called, “Finding the hook.”   Misinformation, inadequate information, false information and misleading information will be with us forever as a result of technology and information systems.  Empirical evidence, facts and logic are still available, but seldom given council.

There are good “investigative” reporters and researchers out there, they are just hard to find among the trash.

Wow!  Here I go!  I should be listening, not talking. Forget everything I have just said…

Jack Sowers

To publish or parish, that was the question, huh Doug?  ;-)

Douglas Warner

Hay, Jack.  Good to hear from you.  I see you are a resident of Pflugerville.  We’re nearly neighbors; our ranch is about ten miles north of Burnet off US 281.  You’re invited to come see the Blue Bonnets and wild flowers any time.

As far as my comments to Tommy go, Nay-nay-nay!  The real question is not about “publish or perish”, it’s about quality: facts over commentary, truth over speculation, evidence over assumption, stability over sensation.

For sure, I am not opposed to publishing.  Without quality publishing we would still be in the dark ages.  As is true in all professional endeavors, striving for excellence is an individual choice, not a group endeavor.

Again, good to hear from you, Jack.

Jack Sowers

Hey Doug. That's beautiful country where you are and I just might take you up on your invite. My email is wjsonl@yahoo.com. I love the Llano, Burnet, Oatmeal (yes, I love the City, not the cereal). Also, my comment on "publish or perish" was a subtle commentary on "publish or pArish", as it had been mistakenly typed. It was meant to get a snicker from someone who probably considered writing vs. preaching in a parish (a la Louisiana). Sometimes I'm a little too subtle in my attempts at humor.   

Jack Sowers

Miss Marsh, yep, didn't miss a thing, did she. I really liked her. One of my favorite teachers.

Howard Barnett

"Use a comma to separate the independent clauses of a compound sentence when joined together by a coordinating conjuntion."  I have Miss Marsh to thank for this life-long mind worm.  My best teacher.

Maurice K F Shaw

Howard, my mother, Fannette Friedlander Klotz,and my Uncle Harold Abraham Klotz both had Ms Marsh.

  Ms Marsh wanted me in her class, She saw the compositions I wrote in Mr Al Smith's and Ms Goodsell's 

classes, but usually when I signed up for  Ms Marsh 's class , someone who was a subsitute teacher in English (who knew my family) persuaded that  lady in the office  (who organized  the classes) to shift me back

into Mr Smith's class!!

     Ms Marsh(both Marsh sisters knew my mother and the Friedlander family)  always wondered why the 

administration office returned me to Mr Smith's class, which was basically a remedial English 

class.

  But I still made it through freshman English class ,  both  B.A. and a M.A,.degrees, and teaching certification.

Now in my later years , i published a biography of a Civil War surgeon , and four articles regarding film 

icons of Hollywood's Golden Age.

To be sure, Howard,

   I have been convinced since my high school years that politics pervades every rural  community and city in  this country.

 Now , I may be displaying a random writing style today  because I am not  feeling well.!

  Like everyone else,I have my undrerlying medical issues like pulmonary  aldosteronism 

and hyperparathyroidism!

   Best to all REL CLASS OF '61

     Maurice K F Shaw

Howard Barnett

Hi Maurice,

Sounds like you had a successful writing career.  I was a flak for Texas Parks and Wildlife just out of college, but I realized that I would have to work really hard to reach acceptable mediocrity as a writer, so I switched gears.

I'm sorry you're not feeling well.  So far, other than a pace maker, I am doing okay.  Take care of yourself, and keep in touch.

Howard

Maurice K F Shaw

Tom and Howard, I do keep busy and my writing publishing, I start a CREATIVE NONFICTION WRITING COURSE  between 10 am and 12 pm tomorrow through HUGO HOUSE, a place for writers here in Seattle,by use of ZOOM.

Maurice 

 Tom and Howard, thanks for the Positive words.

 Special program on Ernest Hemingwayt tonight on PBS.

 Tom now you have motivated me to read Dylan Thomas!

Sharonne Coon (Barton)

Maurice, 

Ye Gads! You make some us look like lazy bums. How about a little sympathy?!

Sharonne

Patty Fox (Sanders)

Maurice,Also sorry to hear of your illnesses! Keep on writing! You have accomplished much!

Loved your  comments Tommy and glad, as a former educator,  that we have such scholars among us!!

Keep the conversations going, I love hearing about everyone!

Howard, hope you and wife, also an accomplished writer are doing well!

Patty

Howard Barnett

Hi Patty,

Yes, I think I married above my weight class.  Dorothy started late in academics.  She got her GED after our second daughter was born.  Then she attended Austin Community College and then went on to UT where she was awarded a Michner Fellowship.  She went back to ACC to teach English, and while she was there she established a creative writing program and in her spare time created a poetry journal, Borderlands, which is celebrating it's 30th year.  And along the way she, along with other Austin poets, established a multi-day poetry workshop/festival at Round Top.  She managed to squeeze in getting her masters in creative writing from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.  Oh yeah, she has written three books.  And she has to deal with me whose appreciation of poetry stops with "Beans, beans, the musical fruit..."  and the plight of that young man from Nantucket.  Sigh.

Patty Fox (Sanders)

Howard loved your message! Glad to hear all of the wonderful things she has done! The last time I had visited with you , she had written one book of which I have a signed copy!  Thank you for that!  I tend to feel like you do about poetry!  My biggest love now is mystery or Science Fiction!!
Have a great week, and how is Leslie???

Patty

Howard Barnett

Les lives in Gig Harbor, WA.  He's in good health and plays golf three or four times a week.  I own some sticks and pay green fees on a regular basis, but to say I play golf is an insult to a beautiful game.

For a long time, he would come to Texas in April to get a sunshine fix since Washington is very gloomy during a long winter.  In August, I would go to Gig Harbor to escape Texas heat.  His wife, Billie, has had some health problems, so he stopped feeling comfortable about leaving her.  Until last year, I continued going to Washington, but Covid kind of shut travel down.  We'll see what happens in August.

I haven't read much science fiction lately, but I do read crime novels with this caveat  -- if it is a series, I want to read them in the order in which they are written.  So, I've read all of Connelly's Bosch novels,  John Sanford's "Prey" novels as well as his Virgil Flowers books.  For a high body count, there's Jack Reacher by Lee Child.  For beautiful writing there's the Tony Hillerman books(16) about Navaho police responsible for a vaste area of northwestern New Mexico.  For comedy, I like Carl Hiassen.  

Good hearing from you.  Let's keep in touch.

Patty Fox (Sanders)

Good to hear about Les. Tell him hello from me when you next see him!!  I love the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, and some of the more popular Science Fiction like The Martian!  Loved the book about the Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann and with my love for the Indian Nation, I got books and tapes  from the Crazy Horse family and met their chief! Was a great experience!!

Will keep in touch!

Patty

Maurice K F Shaw

Hi "YOU ALL" ,

  My major interests  are history, biography, current affairs, and historical fiction.

  I have cousins in Cape Town and Johannesburg on my father's side.

  My great- grandfather , Alta Ariel, father of my paternal grandmother, emigrated to Ellis Island from KIev, Ukraine , and later joined his sister , Chana , in Cape Town , and became involved by accident in the Boer War.

   Baron Kitchner of Khartoum established numerous refuge camps for civilans throughout the War.

 Tom , now you have started  me googling books by Wilbur Smith!!

  Best,

  I need to take a nap before  lunch today---too much  research began early this morning . !!!

 Howard, let me know the titles of your wife's books.

 Best to everyone,

   Maurice

Sharonne Coon (Barton)