Exactly, Ump. What does it say about a people who spend more time engaged in virtual (computers) or manufactured ("reality-based" TV) reality instead of dealing with the real world - pun intended - challenges offered by the increasingly complex world we live in? Not only have we become arrogant, but lazy and borderline brain-dead. We need to get back to the basics of living our lives and stop watching everyone else live theirs, real or invented. And we need to do so in the constraints of common courtesy, which is itself a basic discipline that fosters a broader mental discipline that will incline us to think in the terms we need to and should.

I'm reminded of the story told by Steele in No. 6 of "The Spectator," one of the classics of 18th Century English literature:

"It happened at Athens, during a public representation of some play exhibited in honour [sic] of the commonwealth, that an old gentleman came too late for a place suitable to his age and quality. Many of the young gentlemen, who observed the difficulty and confusion he was in, made signs to him that they would accomodate him if he came to where they sat. The good man bustled through the crowd accordingly; but when he came to the seats to which he was invited, the jest was to sit close and expose him, as he stood out of countenance, to the whole audience. The frolic went round all the Athenian benches. But on those occasions there were also particular places assigned for foreigners. When the good man skulked towards the boxes appointed for the Lacedaemonians, that honest people, more virtuous than polite, rose up all to a man, and with the greatest respect received him among them. The Athenians being suddenly touched with a sense of the Spartan virtue and their own degeneracy, gave a thunder of applause; and the old man cried out, 'The Athenians understand what is good, but the Lacedaemonians practise it.'"

I wonder how many of us "Athenian young gentlemen" recall what happened to Athens when her pride became too great and she was guided more by jests than by reason?

[quote]Originally posted by Ump25:
... The reason why Clinton didn't know many things (Cole bombing, embassy bombings, etc.) and Buish didn't know many things is because the FBI, CIA, NSA, et. al. are so hung up on interagency jealousy and machismo that they can't coordinate information and present it to the President.

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This letter to the editor was in Saturday's [5/25] _Washington Post_.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2002May24.html

>>
Release the Memo and Investigate the Story

Saturday, May 25, 2002; Page A30

Let me see if I understand this correctly. In a secret memo sent to FBI headquarters two months before the Sept. 11 attacks, a Phoenix FBI agent warned that Osama bin Laden could be using U.S. flight schools to train terrorists [front page, May 19]. The agent suggested a nationwide canvass for Middle Eastern aviation students.

We don't know exactly what the memo says, because the government refuses to release it. We only know that in one paragraph, the agent advised that "the FBI should accumulate a listing of civil aviation universities/colleges around the country." FBI management rejected the suggestion, saying it did not have the resources to carry out the task.

But using an online search engine, I was able to obtain a complete list of Federal Aviation Administration-certified pilot schools in less than one minute. I simply went to the Google Web site and typed "FAA flight schools." The first link listed was the Web page of the FAA aviation flight standards division. Two clicks later I had a list of all FAA-certified pilot schools in the country.

I also learned that the flight standards division has offices throughout the United States staffed by aviation inspectors who are familiar with and responsible for the safe operation of these schools. These officials probably would have been willing to assist the FBI in canvassing the schools for Middle Eastern students.

I've always thought that secrecy is no friend of democracy and that it serves the interest of government more than the people.

Let's see the rest of the memo.

BERT ORAM
Pace, Fla.
<<

Thanks to everyone who provided links.

[ May 26, 2002: Message edited by: twin58 ]

[ January 03, 2003: Message edited by: Ump25 ]

[quote]Originally posted by Ump25:
Hindsight's 20/20, as they say.

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Yeah. It all seems so obvious ... now.

[ January 03, 2003: Message edited by: Ump25 ]

[quote]Originally posted by Ump25:
The toughest thing about experience is that it gives us the exam before it gives us the lesson....

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I've added that to my collection of sayings. Thanks, Ump25.