i'm a rocket engineer working for the US Navy in Arlington VA for a big missile program that feeds lots of contractors and govt agencies. back in the late 80s when PCs were coming out, i was the only one in our Program Office who knew how to find the power button so i was elected to set up our first network. since that time, i've managed the network as a sideline, so i have a bunch of contractor IT types who help me keep the digits flowing and staff happy most of the time. my degrees are Engr undergrad and Econ grad and i've taken a few hundred courses in lots of subjects, technical and non-technical since then.
for the last 11 years i've also run a personal part-time hobby/business tutoring JH and HS kids in math, science, English, std. testing, etc. it keeps me off the street.
i started my surfing life in early Jan of this year. i'm in a bunch of ETS AP/IB forums, a bunch of about.com forums, a bunch of egroup.com forums and a few more scattered here and there. i know .... i know ... i need to cut back, but where .... ?
my main thrusts heretofore have been educational info and issues. also, apropos to the upcoming US federal election i've been checking out the election issues and now feel pretty comfortable with what i prefer to happen on the domestic side, but never had enough interest to delve into foreign affairs; just ASSUMED that US foreign policy had more or less a benign intent (businesses and NGOs trying to do well by doing good, govt buying foreign friendships with money, attacking the forces of evil and darkness, etc.).
however, a couple of months ago, while browsing in the POLISCI/ECON section of a local B&N bookstore, i was hooked by some provocative titles authored by Noam Chomsky. i was curious because i knew of him long ago as a linguist in the esoteric subject of Transformational Grammar. also, i was familiar with his views on Skinner, etc. however this advocacy side of his life was new to me so i bought and read four of his paperbacks. because he writes is such an inflammatory style (as a linguist, i'm sure he knows precisely why he writes that way rather than in a more subdued scholarly mode), i'm having a hard time distinguishing fact from fancy when he writes. nevertheless, he spooked me into joining a bunch of political forums to the left and right (just what i needed - more forums!) to determine if what he is saying about US foreign policy is accurate or not. since i don't have time to track down all his broad inferences from the basic documents, i'm hoping that list members here and elsewhere will help straighten out my view on US foreign policy issues and also to determine what of Chomsky makes sense and what does not. i'm also taking more initiative myself by reading more US and world history and current events these days to become better educated on social issues. also, retreading myself on economic and poliitical theories. .... so much to do .... so little time ....
guess you could call me pretty much a typical college-educated middle-of-the-roader with respect to political views. maybe liberal in that i like orgs. (like Common Cause) who try to curb money and special interests from overwhelming the political process; maybe a conservative in that i like curbing govt overbearing and ineffective "solutions" to problems. in general, i'm suspect of revolutions because the masses usually end up with the short end, but sure glad the American one turned out the way it did! (sorry, Brits.)
family-wise, i was brought up in a working class Polish-American community (father a machinist, mother a seamstress) near Buffalo, NY. a big jock school paid my undergrad expenses and a big ivy league school paid my grad expenses, so i've had lots of help from lots of nice, influential people in my life. i have 5 grown irreverent daughters who temper my current views of reality as i once tempered theirs. also, there are a sons in law, g'kids, hangers on, etc. who meet on holidays. my first wife died a couple of years ago after a 25 year bout with MS and this year i married a visiting Nepalese journalist, so i'm getting a view of global issues from a native LDCer!
i hope you all will continue to enlighten me on the realities of Chomskyview and other political issues w/o becoming too incendiary. also, i would like to know more about the personal lives of the list members, if they feel comfortable about sharing that info with me.
moderator: at ETS i sign my name as below so posters know where i'm coming from. if you prefer that or another, then let me know; otherwise, i'll sign as before.
norm engr & tutor n.va.
-----Original Message----- From: kelley [mailto:kwalker2 at gte.net] Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 12:31 PM To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Subject: RE: Quigley
>can you explain the meaning of "posted froma nonsub'd address"?
i sent a post from another account. the acct was not subscribed. this means that the post "bounces". that is, it won't go to the list because the list is closed to subscribers only. when you run the list with majordomo email list software, it is configured (if you want) to send bounces to the "list owner". the list owner, to answer another comment, is doug henwood. doug, as a courtesy ( very generous since many list owners don't bother), sent the mail to the list for me so i didn't have to send it again.
>people can
>post w/o being subscribed?
obviously not. well, technically, they can since doug sends bounced mail from non subbed accounts and he also forwards mail from folks who
1. keep up with the list from the archives <http://nuance.dhs.org/lbo-talk/> 2. no longer sub to the list because we are all a bunch of maniacs, obsessive compulsives, psychotics, hysterics, paranoids, and analysts of everyone else's symptoms </joke>. but, even when not subbed, these former list members think of us fondly and/or with disgust and send things to doug to forward (like announcement or questions) 3. or maybe they are big shots (like zizek <hack, hack>) and wouldn't deign ('k stever??) to subscribe to this list. they are too important and too busy damnitall! 4. who are subbed to the list but not with the account they sent from.
>thanks, norm
you're welcome, Ms. Internet Guide for newbies :)
so, anyway, norm, how'd ya find the list and what's your bag? a lefty oriented or interested type who's in the navy? or a civ who works for navsea? </nosey parker>
kelley