Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Huffington
chicagotribune.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0506140152jun14,0,7939984.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed
THE HUFFINGTON POST
Blog, blah, blog, blah, blog ...
Tribune Media Services
June 14, 2005
Sign 'em up
For April, the active-dutyArmy was short of its recruitment target of 6,600 by 2,779. We are at war, we have a population of over 290 million people, and we can't get 2,779 people to join the fight? Wow.
We would have an easier time convincing parents to send their kids to the Neverland ranch for a sleepover party.
-- Paul Rieckhoff is the executive director and founder of Operation Truth, America's first and largest Iraq Veterans group.
What's with the hatin'?
Here comes Hillary, which reminds me: What is it, honestly, about her that's so deeply hateful to the conservative right? She is bright and articulate in a way that comes along rarely in a generation; she's thoughtful, efficient, political, ambitious, confident, unapologetic, possibly ruthless. She believes in God. Of course her stands on the issues are of her party, but so were Dick Gephardt's. I don't believe he was often used to rally the conservative faithful.
-- Stephanie Sandberg is president and publisher of The New Republic magazine.
How's your job?
It was a rainy day yesterday in San Francisco, but not nearly as dreary a day as it was for workers at General Motors learning about 25,000 good American jobs from the GM economy heading overseas.
On average, jobs leaving America pay $22,457 more than the jobs being created. Tell that to your kid.
We are in the midst of the most massive transformation of our economy in history, and there is no road map.
-- Andy Stern is president of the SEIU, the largest and fastest-growing union in the AFL-CIO.
Let that fox into the henhouse!
Why are we pussyfooting around about this John Bolton guy? You know what? We really do need some tough reforms at the UN, and this cat seems like just the one to do it. There's a lot of things over there that need to be reformed, and it's high time somebody with a backbone and a supercool mustache reformed them.
Can I get a harrumph? Thank you. Now, let the reforms begin!
OK, first of all, did you know that there's a lot of people in that building who don't even speak English? That people actually have to translate what is being said for them? I say that if Bolton comes around to your office and you can't hold a five-minute conversation with him about what bad shape the UN is in and what a waste of time you are for being there, then he has the right to toss your other-language-speaking butt out onto the street. And he'll do it too. Have you seen the guy yell? That's just the tip of the iceberg, friend. When Hurricane Bolton reforms you, you stay reformed! Harrumph!
Secondly, let him chop off about 10 stories from the place like he wants to. In fact, chop off another 10. That building completely blocks a really nice view of the water.
Third, change the name of the place. "United" Nations? That's a little too close to United States for my tastes. Hey, we named our country first, you bunch of copycats. Is it that hard to find another word for "United"? You know, you might not have this useful little book in your native country but here in our country it's called a "thesaurus." Check it out, Monsieur/Herr/Senor Plagiarist.
Fourth, I haven't even heard of about half of the countries that are members of the UN. I mean, who the heck is Andorra, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Gabon, Kiribati, Malawi, Mauritius, Sao Tome, Seychelles and Vanuatu, fer cryin' out loud? If a Princess Cruise ship doesn't stop there, then your country doesn't exist as far as me and my man Bolton are concerned. So either get a better-known name for your country or pack your bags and head back to it.
And, finally, I've seen a real dearth of American flag lapel pins on a lot of you. Hey, if I was in your country, I'd wear a pin on my lapel of your country's flag. Um, or . . . uh, actually I wouldn't. But you're in my country now and so you'd better play by my rules. Got that, comrade? "Love it or leave it," you know what I'm saying?
So, get ready, all of you over there on First Avenue between 42nd and 48th Streets. There's gonna be a new sheriff in town and he's been feelin' pretty grouchy about all of ya since he was in college. You can run, but you can't hide.
-- Paul Feig is the two-time Emmy nominated creator of the series "Freaks and Geeks."
Split the difference
When my dear friend Janet Grillo parks her car in front of my house, I never worry about her "Recall Bush" bumper sticker sullying my reputation in the neighborhood. Likewise, she stomachs the "Refuse to Choose" pro-life sticker on my bumper.
Instead of arguing about the right to abortion, we need to come together and address the needs of single moms; we need to become big sisters to at-risk teens. We can disagree about the death penalty (I'm anti, she's pro), but we can get together on supporting women in prison and their families. Instead of arguing about how long you should keep someone on life support, we should work to give disabled persons representation in our community and in our stories.
-- Patricia Heaton appears on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond." She is the author of "Motherhood and Hollywood--How to Get a Job Like Mine."
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0506140152jun14,0,7939984.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed
THE HUFFINGTON POST
Blog, blah, blog, blah, blog ...
Tribune Media Services
June 14, 2005
Sign 'em up
For April, the active-dutyArmy was short of its recruitment target of 6,600 by 2,779. We are at war, we have a population of over 290 million people, and we can't get 2,779 people to join the fight? Wow.
We would have an easier time convincing parents to send their kids to the Neverland ranch for a sleepover party.
-- Paul Rieckhoff is the executive director and founder of Operation Truth, America's first and largest Iraq Veterans group.
What's with the hatin'?
Here comes Hillary, which reminds me: What is it, honestly, about her that's so deeply hateful to the conservative right? She is bright and articulate in a way that comes along rarely in a generation; she's thoughtful, efficient, political, ambitious, confident, unapologetic, possibly ruthless. She believes in God. Of course her stands on the issues are of her party, but so were Dick Gephardt's. I don't believe he was often used to rally the conservative faithful.
-- Stephanie Sandberg is president and publisher of The New Republic magazine.
How's your job?
It was a rainy day yesterday in San Francisco, but not nearly as dreary a day as it was for workers at General Motors learning about 25,000 good American jobs from the GM economy heading overseas.
On average, jobs leaving America pay $22,457 more than the jobs being created. Tell that to your kid.
We are in the midst of the most massive transformation of our economy in history, and there is no road map.
-- Andy Stern is president of the SEIU, the largest and fastest-growing union in the AFL-CIO.
Let that fox into the henhouse!
Why are we pussyfooting around about this John Bolton guy? You know what? We really do need some tough reforms at the UN, and this cat seems like just the one to do it. There's a lot of things over there that need to be reformed, and it's high time somebody with a backbone and a supercool mustache reformed them.
Can I get a harrumph? Thank you. Now, let the reforms begin!
OK, first of all, did you know that there's a lot of people in that building who don't even speak English? That people actually have to translate what is being said for them? I say that if Bolton comes around to your office and you can't hold a five-minute conversation with him about what bad shape the UN is in and what a waste of time you are for being there, then he has the right to toss your other-language-speaking butt out onto the street. And he'll do it too. Have you seen the guy yell? That's just the tip of the iceberg, friend. When Hurricane Bolton reforms you, you stay reformed! Harrumph!
Secondly, let him chop off about 10 stories from the place like he wants to. In fact, chop off another 10. That building completely blocks a really nice view of the water.
Third, change the name of the place. "United" Nations? That's a little too close to United States for my tastes. Hey, we named our country first, you bunch of copycats. Is it that hard to find another word for "United"? You know, you might not have this useful little book in your native country but here in our country it's called a "thesaurus." Check it out, Monsieur/Herr/Senor Plagiarist.
Fourth, I haven't even heard of about half of the countries that are members of the UN. I mean, who the heck is Andorra, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Gabon, Kiribati, Malawi, Mauritius, Sao Tome, Seychelles and Vanuatu, fer cryin' out loud? If a Princess Cruise ship doesn't stop there, then your country doesn't exist as far as me and my man Bolton are concerned. So either get a better-known name for your country or pack your bags and head back to it.
And, finally, I've seen a real dearth of American flag lapel pins on a lot of you. Hey, if I was in your country, I'd wear a pin on my lapel of your country's flag. Um, or . . . uh, actually I wouldn't. But you're in my country now and so you'd better play by my rules. Got that, comrade? "Love it or leave it," you know what I'm saying?
So, get ready, all of you over there on First Avenue between 42nd and 48th Streets. There's gonna be a new sheriff in town and he's been feelin' pretty grouchy about all of ya since he was in college. You can run, but you can't hide.
-- Paul Feig is the two-time Emmy nominated creator of the series "Freaks and Geeks."
Split the difference
When my dear friend Janet Grillo parks her car in front of my house, I never worry about her "Recall Bush" bumper sticker sullying my reputation in the neighborhood. Likewise, she stomachs the "Refuse to Choose" pro-life sticker on my bumper.
Instead of arguing about the right to abortion, we need to come together and address the needs of single moms; we need to become big sisters to at-risk teens. We can disagree about the death penalty (I'm anti, she's pro), but we can get together on supporting women in prison and their families. Instead of arguing about how long you should keep someone on life support, we should work to give disabled persons representation in our community and in our stories.
-- Patricia Heaton appears on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond." She is the author of "Motherhood and Hollywood--How to Get a Job Like Mine."
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
# posted by Gene @ 9:04 AM 
