Wolfgang wrote:



I try to err on the side of caution.

Um......nah, I just made that **** up!

Actually, what I do (mostly) is simply provide people with
opportunities to remove masks. They make of those opportunities what
they will. This is not to say that your method of face to face
interaction is without merit.....far from it. In fact, the final test
must always come from such encounters. This is, after all, the whole
point of the exercise. But Usenet provides us with an unprecedented
and unrivaled method for testing the waters. We've all been there
when the masks come off in facemail. It can make dispassionate
evaluation somewhat problematic. Needless to say, it has probably
never occurred to me that this technique can cut both ways.

What I would LIKE to do here is engage in lively and rewarding
discussion. For example, just this afternoon I came across an
interesting example of what looks like it's going to be a regular
feature in the recently revamped The American Scholar, under the
rubric, "Works in Progress." This one, "20 questions About the Future
of Cities"* is exactly what the title suggests. They were written by
Harvey Moltoch, a professor of metropolitan studies and sociology
etc., at New York University, and compiled by Sandra Beasley. A
couple of samples (yeah, it's copyrighted, but the questions were
obviously formulated and presented for discussion.....I think that
reproducing them here constitutes fair use):

Q. Should municipalities democratize information access by setting up
Wi-Fi nodes to cover every neighborhood?

Q. Evidence shows that dispersal of low-cost housing and enforcement
of fair-housing laws can advance the social and economic integration
of African-Americans and Hispanics. How can this be implemented
amidst cutbacks in government housing programs and resistance from
those who live in neighborhoods of affluence?

Q. Many components of the American urban infrastructure--such
projects as bridges, waterworks, and subways--were inspired by
aesthetics, a quest for speed, or potential real-estate profits.
Where will the political and financial muscle come from for the
unsexy task of rebuilding them?

Yeah, that's what I'd LIKE to do. But we don't have to stretch our
imaginations much to come up with a pretty good idea of what the
result would look like.....do we?

Wolfgang
*from "The American Scholar", The Phi Beta Kappa Society, Winter 2006,
pp. 13-14.


as always - bright, interesting, fascinating, unique, humorous, and
enigmatic...

i much prefer your ability to reveal the idiotic and moronic comments
through your socratic skills and efforts rather than by blunt
declaration. imo, the talent and art is wasted by mere burps of "idiot"
and "moron", even though such may be an accurate gastronomical
pronouncement.

jeff