Come visit me my friends.  Look for me with a black Aston Martin as my default pic.  Since I can't afford one, I'll have to be one.  You folks know my last name, don't you?  I just wonder what Facebook can do that MySpace can't.
  It's Barnes!  Bill Barnes
 I am still going to Chiang Mai, Thailand where they will try to put my body back together.  Be back in a year, I guess.  It's a 22 hour in the air (35 hr trip altogether) on 3 planes.  In fact I will arrive the day before I leave!!
Wish I knew how to get my acoustic electric Taylor GS8 6 string..... I just found out to insure it will be $600 and UPS will charge $250.  I am hoping to be a special case, let me put it in the steward's closet.

MY SONGLIST  

 Copy & Paste

Songwriter or artist; Recording Date; GENRE; My Favorites marked X;  If Never Heard, mark X
                       
    After the Goldrush    Neil Young    1970    country rock       
    Against the Wind    Bob Seger    1977    Rock n Roll       
    Alison    Elvis Costello    1979    slow ballad       
    All I Want    Joni Mitchell    1971    folk rock       
    And It Stoned Me    Van Morrison    1974    Irish rock    X   
    Angel From Montgomery    John Prine    1977    folk rock    X   
                       
                       
    Baby It's You    Beatles (they covered who?)    1962    Pop       
                       
                       
    Candy Man    Donovan    1966    folk rock    X   
    Carey    Joni Mitchell    1971    folk rock       
    Child's Song    Tom Rush    1967    folk rock       
    Cold Cold Heart  Hank Williams, Sr. (Norah Jones' jazz version) 1952  country jazz       
    Crazy Love    Van Morrison    1973    Irish rock    X   
                       
                       
    Don't Be Cruel    Elvis     1956    Rock n Roll       
    Doctor My Eyes    Jackson Browne    1970    slow rock       
    Down & Out    traditional  (covered by many inc. Eric Clapton)    1920's   blues    X   
                       
                       
    Everybody's Talkin'    Nilsson    1971    blues rock       
                       
                       
    Falling Awake    Gary Jules    2006    alternative rock    X   
    Fire and Rain    James Taylor    1970    country rock    X   
                       
                       
    Ghost in This House    Alison Krauss    2005    country       
    Good ol' Missoula    Willis Alan Ramsey    1972    slow folk rock       
                       
                       
    Happy Together    Turtles    1968    jazz rock       
    Hard-Headed Woman    Cat Stevens    1970    blues rock       
                       
                       
    I am the Mercury    Jimmie Spheeris    1979    country rock    X   
    If Tomorrow Never Comes    Garth Brooks    1990    country rock       
    In My Life    Beatles    1965    rock  ballad       
    Into the Great Wide Open    Tom Petty    1987    Rock n Roll    X   
    It Doesn't Matter Anymore    Buddy Holly    1958    Rock n Roll       
    It Don't Matter to the Sun    Rosie Thomas/Garth Brooks    2007    slow ballad       
    It's Only Love    Beatles    1965    Rock n Roll       
                       
                       
    Just Like a Woman    Dylan    1965    folk rock    X   
                       
                       
    Leader of the Band    Dan Folgelberg    1979    folk rock       
    Leaving Lousiana in the Broad Daylight    Rodney Crowell    1990    Cajun        
    Little Wing    Jimi Hendrix    1969    slow rock    X   
    Locomotive Breath    Jethro Tull    1973    Rock n Roll       
    Longer    Dan Folgelberg    1977    folk ballad       
    Lone Gone Lonesome    Hank Williams    1952    country       
    Losing My Religion    REM    1988    Rock n Roll       
    Love to Burn    Bill Barnes    1994    blues    X   
                       
                       
    Magnolia    J J Cale    1970    slow blues    X   
    My Girl    Temptations    1965    Detroit       
    Muskrat Candlelight    Willis Alan Ramsey    1972    folk rock       
                       
                       
    Needle and the Damage Done    Neil Young    1972    country rock       
    North Country Fair    Dylan    1964    folk       
    Not Fade Away    Buddy Holly    1958    Rock n Roll    X   
    Nowhere Man     Beatles    1966    Rock n Roll       
                       
                       
    Only the Lonely    Roy Orbison    1962    slow rock       
    Operator    Jim Croce    1972    folk rock    X   
    Old Man    Neil Young    1971    country rock       
                       
                       
    Painted Lady    Willis Alan Ramsey    1972    country rock       
    Peace Train    Cat Stevens    1970    anti-war song       
    Poncho & Lefty    Willie & Waylon    1978    country    X   
                       
                       
    Ramblin' Man    Allman Bros.    1969    southern boogie       
    Run for the Roses    Dan Fogelburg    1977    folk rock       
    River    Joni Mitchell        folk rock    X   
                       
                       
    Sandman    America    1971    folk rock       
    Satin Sheets    Willis Alan Ramsey (Shawn Colvin 2003)    1972   country rock    X   
    Scotch & Soda    Kingston Trio    1957    jazz       
    Season of the Witch    Donovan    1966    jazz rock       
    Sittin on the Dock of the Bay    Otis Redding    1968    rock ballad       
    Slip Sidin' Away    Paul Simon    1968    jazz rock       
    Six Days on the Road    Flying Burrito Bros.    1970    trucker blues       
    Some Day Soon    Judy Collins    1967    country rock    X   
    Something Fine    Jackson Browne    1974    country rock       
    Song for Woody    Dylan    1964    folk rock    X   
    A Song for you    Leon Russell    1970    rock ballad       
    Spider John    Willis Alan Ramsey    1972    country rock    X   
    Spooky    Classics IV    1966    Pop       
    Steamroller Blues    James Taylor    1971    blues rock       
    Stormy    Classics IV    1967    Pop       
    Strong Enough    Sheryl Crow    1999    alternative rock       
    Sunny    Bobby Hebb    1963    jazz    X   
    Sweet Baby James    James Taylor    1970    country rock    X   
                       
                       
    Take It Easy    Jackson Browne/Eagles    1969    country rock       
    Take Good Care of My Baby    Bobby Vee    1962    Pop       
    Teach your Children    CSN&Y    1970    folk rock       
    Tequila Sunrise    Eagles    1972    country rock    X   
    These Days    Jackson Browne    1969    slow folk rock       
    1000 Miles from Nowhere    Dwight Yoakum    1985    country rock       
    Til I Kissed U    Everly Bros.    1958    Pop       
    Tin Man    America    1972    jazz rock       
    Tiny Dancer    Elton John    1975    Rock n Roll       
    Traces    Classics IV    1965    Pop       
    True Love Ways    Buddy Holly    1957    slow rock       
    Tupelo Honey    Van Morrison    1970    Irish rock       
                       
                       
    Up On the Roof    Carole King    1964    Detroit       
                       
                       
    Ventura Highway    America    1971    jazz rock       
                       
                       
    Warm Love    Van Morrison    1974    Irish rock    X   
    When You Say Nothing at All    Keith Whitley    1990 (?)    slow country       
    Wild Side of Life    Hank Thompson    1963    country       
    Willin'    Little Feat    1969    trucker blues       
                       
If you see a year that is incorrect, please let me know.

For those of you that don't know, I am leaving in a few weeks for Chiang Mai,
Thailand to have at least one full knee replacement.  My right one is
bone-on-bone because of 44 years of playing guitar sitting down. (and American football for 9 yrs.)  It costs about 1/4 as much as our out-of-sight
medical establishment. (Bless you, Barack Obama)  I may be there as long as a year so that I can lose weight by eating Thai food !!
  Any advice?  Anyone been there?  I definitely want to play in a club as a novelty act.  Check out my songlist for my CD recording next month by going to my blog. (NEXT)
I need some help picking out some covers.

Does anyone know how to get an expensive Taylor guitar over to Thailand safely!!

I will stay in touch.... I may even learn about Skype!

Billy

Here's a little bit of her life that might compliment your own in some way since most of us on mySpace are committed artists.  I think I'll put out twenty of these bios as my faves:  Buddy  Holly, Everly Bros., Hank Williams, Sr., Bob Dylan,  Donovan,  John Lennon, Cat Stevens, Willis Alan Ramsey,  Paul Simon, Elton John, CSN&Y, Janis Joplin,  Jim Croce, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, Van Morrison, Jimmie Spheeris, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and Joni makes twenty! !  They put out the songs that grew my Renaissance as a full-blooded earthling.

Decades:

When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century. Uncompromising and iconoclastic, Mitchell confounded expectations at every turn; restlessly innovative, her music evolved from deeply personal folk stylings into pop, jazz, avant-garde, and even world music, presaging the multicultural experimentation of the 1980s and 1990s by over a decade. Fiercely independent, her work steadfastly resisted the whims of both mainstream audiences and the male-dominated recording industry. While Mitchell's records never sold in the same numbers enjoyed by contemporaries like Carole King, Janis Joplin, or Aretha Franklin, none experimented so recklessly with their artistic identities or so bravely explored territory outside of the accepted confines of pop music, resulting in a creative legacy which paved the way for performers ranging from Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde to Madonna and Courtney Love.

Born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada, on November 7, 1943, ( a Scorpio Sheep)  she was stricken with polio at the age of nine; while recovering in a children's hospital, she began her performing career by singing to the other patients. After later teaching herself to play guitar with the aid of a Pete Seeger instruction book, she went off to art college, and became a fixture on the folk music scene around Alberta. After relocating to Toronto, she married folksinger Chuck Mitchell in 1965, and began performing under the name Joni Mitchell.

A year later the couple moved to Detroit, MI, but separated soon after; Joni remained in the Motor City, however, and won significant press acclaim for her burgeoning songwriting skills and smoky, distinctive vocals, leading to a string of high-profile performances in New York City. There she became a cause célèbre among the media and other performers; after she signed to Reprise in 1967, David Crosby offered to produce her debut record, a self-titled acoustic effort that appeared the following year. Her songs also found great success with other singers: in 1968, Judy Collins scored a major hit with the Mitchell-penned "Both Sides Now," while Fairport Convention covered "Eastern Rain" and Tom Rush recorded "The Circle Game."

Thanks to all of the outside exposure, Mitchell began to earn a strong cult following; her 1969 sophomore effort, Clouds, reached the Top 40, while 1970's Ladies of the Canyon sold even better on the strength of the single "Big Yellow Taxi." It also included her anthemic composition "Woodstock," a major hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Still, the commercial and critical approval awarded her landmark 1971 record Blue was unprecedented: a luminous, starkly confessional set written primarily during a European vacation, the album firmly established Mitchell as one of pop music's most remarkable and insightful talents.

Predictably, she turned away from Blue's incandescent folk with 1972's For the Roses, the first of the many major stylistic turns she would take over the course of her daring career. Backed by rock-jazz performer Tom Scott, Mitchell's music began moving into more pop-oriented territory, a change typified by the single "You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)," her first significant hit. The follow-up, 1974's classic Court and Spark, was her most commercially successful outing: a sparkling, jazz-accented set, it reached the number two spot on the U.S. album charts and launched three hit singles -- "Help Me," "Free Man in Paris," and "Raised on Robbery."

After the 1974 live collection Miles of Aisles, Mitchell emerged in 1975 with The Hissing of Summer Lawns, a bold, almost avant-garde record that housed her increasingly complex songs in experimental, jazz-inspired settings; "The Jungle Line" introduced the rhythms of African Burundi drums, placing her far ahead of the pop world's mid-'80s fascination with world music. 1976's Hejira, recorded with Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorius, smoothed out the music's more difficult edges while employing minimalist techniques; Mitchell later performed the album's first single, "Coyote," at the Band's Last Waltz concert that Thanksgiving.

Her next effort, 1977's two-record set Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, was another ambitious move, a collection of long, largely improvisational pieces recorded with jazz players Larry Carlton and Wayne Shorter, Chaka Khan, and a battery of Latin percussionists. Shortly after the record's release, Mitchell was contacted by the legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus, who invited her to work with him on a musical interpretation of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Mingus, who was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, sketched out a series of melodies to which Mitchell added lyrics; however, Mingus died on January 5, 1979, before the record was completed. After Mitchell finished their collaboration on her own, she recorded the songs under the title Mingus, which was released the summer after the jazz titan's passing.

Following her second live collection, 1980's Shadows and Light, Mitchell returned to pop territory for 1982's Wild Things Run Fast; the first single, a cover of the Elvis Presley hit "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care," became her first chart single in eight years. Shortly after the album's release, she married bassist/sound engineer Larry Klein, who became a frequent collaborator on much of her subsequent material, including 1985's synth-driven Dog Eat Dog, co-produced by Thomas Dolby. Mitchell's move into electronics continued with 1988's Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm, featuring guests Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, and Billy Idol.

Mitchell returned to her roots with 1991's Night Ride Home, a spare, stripped-down collection spotlighting little more than her voice and acoustic guitar. Prior to recording 1994's Turbulent Indigo, she and Klein separated, although he still co-produced the record, which was her most acclaimed work in years. In 1996, she compiled a pair of anthologies, Hits and Misses, which collected her chart successes as well as underappreciated favorites. A new studio album, Taming the Tiger, followed in 1998. Both Sides Now, a collection of standards, followed in early 2000.

Two years later, Mitchell resurfaced with the double-disc release Travelogue. She announced in October 2002 that this would be her last album ever, for she'd grown tired of the industry. She told W magazine that she intended to retire. She also claimed she would never sign another corporate label deal and in Rolling Stone blasted the recording industry for being "a cesspool." By the time Travelogue appeared a month later, Mitchell had simmered down and her plans to call it quits had been axed. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Here's what Miss Vicki forwarded to my friend Tim for all of us to smell, a stinky email from the folks that finally lost an election.  I think she's scared shitless!
(My answers are in parenthesis)

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

(All of them were right of center on most issues especially your Biggy-- Big Business.  Obama is my 12th and most definitely my fave!)

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

(Who's fault is that?)

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

(Google Barack Obama, baby, and you will find a generous IQ & many scholarships and grants earned along the way by a hard-worker.)

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

 (How small-town can you get?  You must get out more.  Those facts are exactly why he can see answers to our world-wide problems)

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

 (Sooooooooo!  Lots of politicians on both sides haven't)

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

(Sooooooooo!  Lots of politicians on both sides haven't)  (BTW, our core are the Voters!)

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
 
(And Nixon, Agnew, Reagan, Bush & Bush II did?  Ford had class.  Carter has humility & class. Clinton may be loved but he lost the 2000 election because of Monica!!)

    You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail. 

(I am a Liberal and a left-winger & a Radical but I am not a Socialist.   I love America.  Truth!)

    You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

 (We have not been perfect in our dealings with other countries or with our lower half---those working poor and those who can't find the American Dream)

    You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

(You ought to go over & visit and leave your chip on your shoulder here at home)

    You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

(controlled-- no but as a competitor for the insurance dollar yes.... see below!)

    You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves..

(Wind Power has an old Right winger (Boone Pickens) as a newfound advocate....Just think if we had put the billions of dollars into wind instead of Nuclear, we would be cleaner and safer and riding the wind of free electricity....)

    You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

(Ask FedEx & UPS if the can compete against the USP?  )

    You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

(Certain banks and insurers have not played fair.  Can you say Recession?
Don't you read?)

    You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

(I explained why we all could see another Depression coming and nobody wanted to be  another Hoover)

    You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

(That's all we are doing right now but most folks have their facts wrong and love to scream!!)

    You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

(And you don't?  Didn't your presidents have that habit too.)

    You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

(Have you got the Fox network on your TV or radio?  Do you really think CNN gives Obama a free ride?? And what about the hundreds of blogs & newspapers that are right wing!?)

    You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

(If we could we would, but they need to keep their facts straight, don't you think?)

    You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

(Controlling,  no oversight and regulation are closer to the truth.)

    Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

(Is there a conspiracy in your mind?)

    Lou Pritchett


History Teaches US!

This is how I responded to a nasty bit of propaganda in my email.  These people are sick.  I love my country and I am real tired of the Insurance, Banking, Pharmaceutical, Auto-makers, Nuclear Power, etc.  making decisions only on behalf of Capitalism without the compassion for the lower half's welfare.  Health should be universal.  Gym from Elementary School onwards should become universal, AGAIN.  Their taste for profits drives them to cheat at best and "play God" at worst!!


Pathetic!   Why do some people run their lives based upon FEAR!!
       I will speak from what I learned in school and from 44 yrs since I said "No, Hell No" to the military & Viet Nam at 18!  BTW, they are not the core of America just because they think every war is like WW II---   justified and necessary.  The core of America are the voters.
       These right wingers are liars and have a Nazi agenda: scare-mongering by twisting the truth ...simply dumbshit ridiculous rumors !!!
        I am a left-winger!  We are radicals because we can accept change  Right wingers are reactionaries because they love the status quo which is what the Germans got in the Thirties.  Communists are socialists that went over the Left edge believing it was best to control from the top. But that's what the Nazi's wanted too.
       About 5 of those statements are almost true.  I wonder where you find people that actually believe our health care system is fine the way it is now!!
Even 80% of the entire Congress believes something has to be done. 
       The stimulus packages that were given to help the economy stay out of Depression were begun in September of 2008 by the Republicans & Bush.  This was one of the few things they got right in all 8 yrs of running our budget from"in the black" to "in the red".  The amount wasn't enough and it went to some banks without even any strings  (questions?), like "where will you, the bank or insurer, spend this money?? "

             HELLO!!?? CONGRESS & BUSH!!  This was just Stupid. 
     
       The year 2008 was similar to 1929 when the market fell apart as badly as today or worse.  Why, because there was very little oversight or control by the FED then.  But because Hoover & Congress were right wingers the status quo was OK with them.  It took 2.5 yrs for a new Pres. & Congress to begin the stimulus that was needed. Meanwhile unemployment went over 30% instead of the 14% we have now.  (that's closer to the real figure, because they never count everyone)


Then Obama & the Demos got in and tripled the amount with lots of Strings attached!! (for instance, this a loan not a gift  or  pay us back when you get on your feet.)  But, it was probably necessary!  Remember Obama & the Congress do not control the Federal Reserve and they were already doing a big stimulus because they don't want to be HOOVER again.
      I am soooooooooooo tired of trying to explain.....

I am contemplating a total knee replacement in Chiang Mai, Thailand. this fall. Many of their best surgeons were trained here in the US.  I know the cost will be around 1/3 of the cost here in Oklahoma.  But I don't know how to determine who  the best are.   I also heard they don't live on the first floor because of flooding yet elevators are almost nonexistent except in the high end hotels.  Also, I want to rent a guitar & amp so I can play some gigs once I can get around.  My mom suggested I find a caregiver ( a lady of course-- hey this is Thailand after all) to help me during those first 8 weeks.

Does anybody among my friends have some bright ideas or local contacts that could help me in my quest???
If so, leave me a message.
and Thanks everyone for reading about my situation.

Great video!!!!!!

Obama telephoned Dr. Bob Basso from the White House to discuss the fact that he
does not like this video which Dr. Basso made for YouTube. He invited him to
the White House to discuss this further with him. Dr. Basso was also told not
to go public with the phone conversation. Dr. Basso decided to go public with
it and Glenn Beck from Fox News and WABC 770 AM radio from New York is on top of
this as well. We are in the middle of an incoming dictatorship. We need to
stop it now.
The Second American Revolution
Please see this video and then pass it on to your friends and neighbors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA&feature=player_embedded
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA&feature=player_embedded>

--

This is a blog I wrote tonight in response to a forwarded video that a Dr. (dubious) Bob
posted on Utube which I will post next if I can.

     Are you kidding me ???  This is the GOP elephant afraid of the mouse
( well-named)  Dr. Bob's even dressed to make us think back 200 yrs.  Like the old Testament it is so sad & ridiculous to put much stock in his words when Dr. Bob hasn't learned from history.  We have now the greatest economic fiasco since the Great Depression with almost half as many unemployed and major Banks, Auto manufactures, Insurance companies & Mortgage companies who would be going into bankruptcy without the Feds via the President spending the money to keep them afloat and Rush and Beck and Dr. Bob are saying:  let 'em die.  Believe in Capitalism no matter what! That's major  BS!  BS!  Without controls, capitalism is a scourge upon our nation.
    With very little oversight or monitoring these crazy corporations dug there graves,  but  if they had gone down we would have had unemployment equal to to 1932!!!  Obama and his advisers have studied what happened then and are trying to amelirate (soften) the consequences . Congress with Reagan, Bush, Clinton & Bush II's Leadership ( ug!)  have put the Nation in this situation.  Dodgy Derivatives, Auto companies devoid of imagination, insuring insurance (AIG) &  real estate mortgages based upon nothing real have made all of us vulnerable.  The Perfect Economic Storm !!! 
      So comes along a realist, a pragmatist like Roosevelt who can actually galvinize the peoples of the Earth as well as Americans at a a moment in time when Global Warming is an even bigger problem and all the Conservatives can say is OH MY God, what can we do now, but go backwards.  As you well know,  Bush II spent billions last October on the economic crises (much to his chagrin) before leaving office.   At this point, all they ought to do is just shut up and listen to the first real Liberal president, the first one with a HEART, since Roosevelt.  He was made that way by his paralysis as you know.....Polio was his Teacher as to the pain of the people in the Thirties.  Obama's Teacher was his life as a minority and that pushed his empathy to be a better American and a better Earthling.  Why don't you see that!!!?????
     Why did Dr. Bob preempt the the meeting with Obama by going to the media.  Has he no class or patience or belief in his own ideas?  He could go there afterwards but since his chief advisers are probably Rush/Beck he became a a joke, a pawn to the Fox right-wing who love to fear-mongrel !!! On Fox they can spread it as easily as butter without pointing the finger at the real culprits.  I say we need a major overhaul of the Banking and Insurance & Mortgages businesses.   They need new rules and then they need major oversight!!!!!!!   Capitalism does not work in a vacuum!   HELLO!!
      BTW, dictatorships don't happen if there are elections.  Have the elections of 2010 and 2012 been cancelled?  (Over the top BS as usual!!!)

Bill

A few of my crazy undereducated friends have forwarded this letter

  
> > The Orange County California Newspaper
> >
> > This is a very good letter to the editor. This woman made
> > some good points. For some reason, people have difficulty structuring
> > their
> > arguments when arguing against supporting
> > the currently proposed immigration revisions. This lady made
> > the argument pretty simple. Not printed in the Orange County Paper.
> > Newspapers simply won't publish letters to the editor
> > which they either deem politically incorrect (read below) or
> > which does not agree with the philosophy they're pushing on
> > the public. This woman wrote a great letter to the editor that
> > should have been published; but, with your help it will get
> > published via cyberspace.
> >
> > From: 'David LaBonte'
> >
> > My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor
> > of the OC Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I
> > decided to 'print' it myself by sending it out on the Internet.
> > Pass it along if you feel so inclined. Written in response to a
> > series of letters to the editor in theOrange County Register:
> >
> > Dear Editor:
> > So many letter writers have based their arguments on how
> > this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one,
> > suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because
> > the people now in question aren't being treated the same as
> > those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
> >
> > Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to
> > people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to
> > accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. Back in 1900
> > when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to
> > the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a
> > long line in New York and be documented. Some would even
> > get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They
> > made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new
> > country in good and bad times. They made learning English
> > a primary rule in their new American households and some
> > even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
> >
> > They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their
> > children a new life and did everything in their power to help
> > their children assimilate into one culture. Nothing was handed
> > to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect
> > them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought
> > with
> > them to trade for a future of prosperity.
> >
> > Most of their children came of age when World War II broke
> > out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight
> > over
> > from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None
> > of these first generation Americans ever gave any thought
> > about what country their parents had come from. They were Americans
> > fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of
> > Japan. They were defending the United States of America as
> > one people.
> >
> > When we liberated France , no one in those villages was
> > looking for the French-American or the German-American
> > or the Irish-American. The people of France saw only
> > Americans. And we carried one flag that represented one
> > country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought
> > about picking up another country's flag and waving it to
> > represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to
> > their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants
> > truly
> > knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into
> > one
> > red, white and blue bowl.
> >
> > And here we are in 2008 with a new kind of immigrant who
> > wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve
> > it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the
> > entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their
> > mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American
> > is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis
> > Island in the early 1900's deserve better than that for all the
> > toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to
> > create a land that has become a beacon for those legally
> > searching for a better life I think they would be appalled that
> > they are being used as an example by those waving foreign
> > country flags.
> >
> > And for that suggestion about taking down the Statue of
> > Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are
> > voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking
> > about dismantling the United States just yet.
> >
> > (signed) Rosemary LaBonte
> >
> > KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING. FOR THE WRONG THINGS TO PREVAIL THE RIGHTFUL
> > MAJORITY NEEDS TO REMAIN COMPLACENT AND QUIET. LET THIS NEVER HAPPEN.
> >
> > I sincerely hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across
> > the
> > nation.


This is my response:


In the paragraph that begins "they had waved goodbye......", I disagree with the government and this lady because those immigrants should have been given a hand up especially back before WWII. That 's my main problem with this letter. She acts as if giving no aid or direction was a good thing. Their skills could have been more easily blended into our lifestyle even to the point of being teachers or mentors. The other factor that she ignored was the obvious difference between our biased attitude towards Asian immigrants versus the favored European immigrants. Angel Island vs. Ellis Island.
This letter should have been published......with my response just below. The Daily Oklahoman probably avoids publication of any liberal letters every day in the name of their conservative philosophy. This is the problem with the Fourth Estate today. The demise of the Liberal point of view because of the Billionaires buying up hundreds of newspapers the last 40 years. Her husband should have sent that letter to 10 other newspapers to be published.
      BTW, very few Japanese actually fought for America in WWI or WWII because our government and most Americans do not trust them or are historically biased and/or were in shock over Pearl Harbor.


Bill

PS.  Perhaps if this couple were to go to an immigration center and meet and get to know some of these newest immigrants.  Somehow they seem to believe the immigrants who came in the years before WWII are better people than what we get nowadays.  I doubt that's the case.