opic:
Dear Andrew (1 of 14), Read 90 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Thursday, May 03, 2001 10:10 PM


Dear Andrew,

You are very much like the growing number of asshole students I have. I don't blame them -they have been created by asshole adults.

They, and no doubt their parents, are only interested in surface appeal. There is no Curiosity, no search for any depth; no desire and patience for listening. The sad result is an abandonment of content. But there is hope for the students.

For as rough-edged as their show often was, Louie and Bun-E were the only talk-show hosts in the valley who brought in guests who actually had something to say, guests who were known across America (though often ignored by a local population that seems to be proud of their parochial ignorance and can't seem to understand that this is a major factor in our economic failure as a community).

When Louie was on WASN, he was setting up a show with Noam Chomsky -You would do well to read his analysis of the media. Or you could just go back to listening to Dan Ryan whining that arsenic never hurt him and "remember the DDT scare?", or you could "Buy a Star for your Mother on Mother's day" (and get ripped off in the process -only the International Astronomical Union can name celestial objects, and not for profit), or you could buy 'Body Solutions' or how about one of those Male performance products?

Sincerely,

Doc Sarvis
Mobilis in Mobili
Topic:
Dear MJM... (1 of 2), Read 58 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Friday, May 04, 2001 06:51 PM


Dear MJM...

You think only In terms of two extremes. I assume that you consider yourself a liberal. And since I do not agree with you, that automatically makes me a 'liberal in your eyes'.

I am not a conservative (like George Will or Rush Limbaugh). Neither am I a liberal. I consider the modern liberal to be nothing more than worst kind of hypocrite. I would explain here, but I think that Phil Ochs said it best in his song "Love me, I'm a Liberal"

You see, dividing the country up into liberal and conservative vastly oversimplifies what is happening. One of the functions of Rush Limbaugh's show is to shore up the illusion that there is this vast difference between today's liberals and conservatives; that there is a real difference between Democrats and Republicans. Just look at how evenly campaign Contributions are doled out to both Democratic and Republican candidates. Corporations understand this. "Democrat" and "Republican" are just two names for the same agenda.

I apologize for using vulgar language -but in sorry climate set up in our valley by our various officials, both Democrat and Republican, my anger gets the best of me. And I do believe that our schools, with their not so hidden Curriculum, indeed Sets our students up to exhibit Behavior less that Appropriate for a functioning and potentially enlightened citizen. And let me emphasize that there are a number of VERY GOOD teachers out there, but that in every case where you find one of these teachers, you have someone who fights a lonely battle in spite of the system. Our schools are becoming increasingly geared toward only producing consumers of crap that will never make them happy and that they will never need. To do this
effectively, our schools must be accomplices in the efforts of marketers to make 'assholes' out of our young people. This can be turned around and is a rewarding experience. I only wish this were so for more adults. I am a very tolerant grader by the way, and welcome disagreement.

About what I teach, don't jump to conclusions based on the prejudices born of your limited worldview. Obviously I will not tell you what I teach. I have no desire to threaten the privacy of my Colleagues.

Sincerely,

Doc Sarvis
Mobilis in Mobile

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Topic:
Anonymous (1 of 1), Read 44 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Friday, May 04, 2001 07:06 PM


Dear Anonymous,

Thanks so much for your vote of confidence. But I should apologize to Andrew and this MJM... for using vulgar language. I was upset. I actually love to teach, and enjoy my students apart from the shortcomings that our local culture has given them. I had those same shortcomings, and it took leaving our valley for places over the hills and far away to wake me up. So I feel a real bond with the young people of our valley and my teaching is built largely around pointing out that there is a world of places and ideas outside of Youngstown. Maybe they can venture forth and come back with some of those ideas and use them to change things.

We have to fix things here. We can't just keep moving on. The world is stressed to its limits. Youngstown is an excellent place to start. And we do have a number of successes in this regard, even though they go unrecognized by our sorry political machine.

Anyway, thanks again.

Sincerely,

Doc Sarvis
Mobilis In Mobili
opic:
Hey, you leave ol'Doc alone! (1 of 1), Read 44 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Anonymous ()
Date:
Tuesday, May 08, 2001 04:22 PM


Idiots of Youngstown,

Now I don't want to include all of you out there in the heading of my letter. And sadly, those who it fits no doubt don't even know they are the fools, idiots, and imbeciles that make this valley what it is.

Now my pal ol' Doc Sarvis has Been called arrogant -this is no doubt true and I know this probably better than anyone. But all he wants is for us as a community to recognize is that we could be better than we are. We don't have sit around watching "The Sopranos" and taking notes as if this program was a guide for how to carry on in social situations. Turn that stupid device off! God gave you brains. Use them for God's sake! Stop going to the malls. Stop dreaming of Las Vegas (that Sodom and Gomorrah that festers on what was once a beautiful desert). Have some greater aspiration than just buying a BMW and living in Howland. How many more years will you kiss the ground that mall developers walk on?

So leave ol' Doc alone! Go read a book instead. Libraries are free. And I think that some can even read.

Your Friend,
Bonnie Abzug
Topic:
Louie in Tribune , wktx owner no heart (11 of 16), Read 74 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Wednesday, May 09, 2001 10:28 PM


Good Commentary!

This is what I am trying to say. No decent businesses are going to settle in this area when anything said outside of the mind set that spawns Jim Traficant, bone-head parochialism, and acceptance-of-mob-Corruption as a way of life to be proud of.

Picture this: a high-tech firm examines our valley as possible place to locate a plant. Many of the engineers associated with the start up of this plant will come from outside the valley. They will be people who have seen the a little of the outside world. They expect to settle their families in an area that has some cultural and intellectual stimulation, if for nothing more that healthy to raise their kids.

Now They could also locate this plant in Akron or Canton. Walk through downtown Akron. Compare this with a walk through downtown Youngstown. Also, visit with the residents of the more well-to-do folks in the suburbs of Akron. Now compare this with the vapid, mindless, Stepford-wives, vacuity that you find in Canfield, Poland, Boardman, and Howland, where the folks think they're "so clever, classless, and free" (John Lennon, who continued with the line "but you're still *?$ing peasants as far as I can see. A working class hero is something to be).

Given the choice, our high-tech firm will probably not chose Youngstown.

We have to wake up and take action. There ARE MANY wonderful, intelligent people here in the valley -but most of them have to keep their mouths shut just to put food on the table. Just look what happened to Louie. And this can not be blamed on Traficant. Jimbo Causes a lot damage, but the fact he is in office and can get away with pulling this kind of crap is all of our faults. His existence is symptomatic of some deeper and harder to get at.

Maybe we should just Boycott our elections for a while. For this to be effective, you must still vote by leaving the ballot blank. You should also 'vote' by writing to the local parties and informing why they have lost your vote; that they should actually run some candidates that have a little integrity and vision. As Jim Hightower used to say: "If God had meant for us to vote, he would have given us candidates."

More later, patient readers.
Doc Sarvis
opic:
Dear Bert (1 of 1), Read 32 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Wednesday, May 16, 2001 08:13 PM


Dear Bert,

Your point is well taken; I really do mean this in all humbleness. I guess I have this fantasy about free enterprise (as opposed to capitalism -they are indeed totally different things).

I keep dreaming that somewhere out there are small firms that still make an honest product and conduct business in an honest way. But It really may be that that the dominance of American business by corporations has gone too far. I too share your contempt for those corporations. That McDonald's is a vile expression of the end result of corporate agribusiness goes without saying. And the Cafaros have done nothing for our area except tear up woodlands and wetlands to build brightly lit warehouses to sell people crap that they will never need, and in the process make the area's economy dependent on the marketing of consumer goods and the Attendant low-paying jobs.

And I have no use for Chambers of Commerce. All across America these organizations represent a collection of non-thinking, greedy little lap-dogs who whole-heartedly invite in large corporate entities (Wal-mart, McDonald's, etc.) and identify with these same corporations who wouldn't give a rat's behind for the small business the many Chamber members run. In the eyes of a major corporation, small businessmen are classed right along with laborers, folks on welfare, and the working poor. Annoyances to be eliminated. And you are right: these large businesses like corrupt politicians. Small payoffs to to local politicians represent a highly cost-effective alternative to the expense of doing business in a way that will not hurt people (like following environmental regulations of treating labor well).

REMEMBER: Lets have SEPARATION OF CORPORATION AND STATE!

Now my overall purpose in writing these diatribes are simple to get people to think. I don't have the answers. But I do think that we need to stir up the conservation some. I want us all to examine our local cultural assumptions.

Doc Sarvis
Mobilis in Mobili
Topic:
'LOUIE TRUE TO HIMSELF' (5 of 5), Read 37 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Thursday, May 17, 2001 12:09 PM


Dear Bobert,

Well said. I am always grateful when someone stands up and has something real to say. Thanks.

Doc Sarvis
pic:
Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (1 of 6), Read 27 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Saturday, May 19, 2001 03:35 PM


Gentle Readers,

I would be happy to supply you all with some simple calculations. Depending on whether you use the latest USGS estimates or the DOE estimates, the total amount of oil in the ANWR would supply this country for anywhere from about 9 months to 4 years at our current rate of consumption of petroleum.

Now of course, this field would be developed over a long period of time, and there would be a number of economic benefits. But once it is gone, it is gone. Oil takes tens of millions of years to Develop, and the conditions must be just right in terms of pressure and temperature. And the organic matter also had to accumulate in some kind of depositional environment for hundreds of thousands of years. The energy stored in the oil itself is the product of photosynthesis -energy from petroleum is therefore stored, concentrated solar energy. It is an "endowment" naturally produced over the course of the last 500 million years. And we are burning it up in just a mere couple of centuries. What will we do for lubricants? Quite a shame to burn it for energy.

We hear the argument from the uninformed that "America needs this oil!" Well if that's true, then why is so much of what goes down the pipeline sold immediately to Asia? Who Benefits? Only the oil companies.

Yes, the "uniformed" might be some of you, but it is not your fault -the sorry state of science education in this country, coupled with the anti-intellectual attitudes that are so commonplace in the U.S, is a Benefit to those in power. We watch "The Sopranos", "Survivor", and so on, waste our money at malls, and sit fat and well-fed on junk food in front of TV sports, or even throw away our tax money building stadiums -all
bread and circuses for the masses. We don't think about real issues. We don't think about what kind of world we will leave to our children. The Decline and Fall of the American Empire. Sorry, call me arrogant or gloomy, but for as much as I love this area, I have been a few other places. We rate pretty high when it comes to feeling proud of being ignorant. But there is a way out! Go to your local libraries and read! Forget the schools -you won't learn anything there. (My hat's off to home-schoolers.) Knowledge is power.

Now, the Earth has finite volume. Therefore, anything contained within the Earth, any natural resource, also has finite volume. Keeping aware of this fact does not make one an environmental wacko. Clinton and Gore were no more "environmentalists" than many of our current republicans. If you want to read real environmentalists, when that label meant something, read Carson, Marshall, Leopold, Brower, Commoner, Lopez, Zwinger, -even read Abbey for God's sake. (All of these authors are at you local library.) Also check out World Watch Institute.

If you ignore the fact of limited resources, then you are just like (yes, logically equivalent to) someone having unprotected sex while laughing off the threat of AIDS, or someone on a spending spree with a bunch of credit cards, blissfully unaware that you will ever receive a bill.

Yours truly,

Doc Sarvis
opic:
Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (6 of 6), Read 4 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Monday, May 21, 2001 07:53 PM


Dear Whoever,

Sorry, but you just can't argue with the reality of dwindling resources. The first step in avoiding a trap is knowing of its existence. Now we precede from there.

Whatever any of us feel, the reality is that we will see a decline in the quality of life unless, that is UNLESS, we radically change the way we do things. But you can find all of this said other places.

Maybe have fewer children? Face it, we Americans are the population problem. We use some 15 times the energy per capita as that of someone living in China. (Again, I will provide sources for this if anyone is interested.) If you take our Current population in the U.S., 281 million, multiply by 15, you get about 4.22 billion -That's BILLION. So, we do far more damage to the environment than all of those other people in other parts of the world.

Get rid of Las Vegas, shut off outdoor Advertising, stop with all of the lawn manicure, rebuild the railroads, look for ways for to efficiently and cleanly burn coal (we have some 300 years worth of the stuff), build mass transit, outlaw disposable containers, shut off the street lights along freeways, insulate houses, ... the point is we already know how to do all of this. Why don't we do it? Because of a corporate hegemony that includes propaganda that has us believing in the corporation mentality as if it were some
religious authority. This is very much like the status of the church at the dawn of the Dark ages. And like those times, the large corporations will call anyone who Criticize their agenda a heretic as they lead us into another dark age.

I am NOT speaking against free enterprise. But I am speaking out against the large corporations, entities that bribed our courts into accepting them as legal individuals (1886) and entities that largely exist off of vast amounts of government subsidy. Remember, free market discipline is only for little people like us. Corporations get tax breaks, probation, suspended Sentences, bail-outs, and the free capital of publicly-owned resources. And through our system of campaign finance, they make most of our lawmakers into the cheapest kinds of whores. Molly Ivans calls this a system of legalized bribery. (Her books are in the public library -some of them are even on tape.)

I don't know the best way of dealing with this situation. But all I want to do is open up the discussion. We can be creative, each and every one of us. If we do nothing, we will only help make a world in which most of us will lead miserable lives. But you really do know all of this.

And a deep heartfelt thanks to all of you who read and/or respond to my little diatribes.

Please take care,
Doc Sarvis
opic:
All my hopes. (1 of 4), Read 131 times
Conf:
MESSAGE FROM LOUIE AND BUN-E
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Saturday, May 05, 2001 07:35 PM


Dear Bun-E and Louie,

Until I started listening to your show, I rarely, if ever, called into a talk radio show. Most shows shows seemed 'set up' in such a way that thoughtful callers are denied the chance to say anything important.

As I have told you guys before, you both were a real breath of fresh air over the airwaves of this valley. Over the years the FCC has handed over the EM spectrum (which, under law, is owned by us all) to private corporations on a scale that dwarfs the S.S. Forest Service giving away our trees.

Well, you don't need me to tell you what you already know so well. But I want you guys to know that if there is anything that we can do for you, even if you just want some folks to talk to, Diana and I are here, and we have a little ramshackle cottage over in Cook Forest if you ever feel the need for skies and trees and wildflowers.

This comes from someone who also has given up a lot of financial security in the hope of sticking up for something that is right -I don't want this to sound like a brag. I only state this so that you know that there are others out there. And I know that it is a tough battle in this valley.

Please take care,
Doug

doug172@hotmail.com

opic:
STEPFORD WIFE???????????????????? (13 of 16), Read 91 times
Conf:
THE MESSAGE BOARD
From:
Anonymous ()
Date:
Thursday, May 10, 2001 08:09 AM


Gee Doc! I thought you were complimenting my commentary! I'm insulted at your calling me a "Stepford Wife and Classless." I'm from Canfield and I have tons of class and a thinking, working intelligence level. Whether it be Traficant directly, or maybe his attorney, the firing had to do with him, because the show was about him, Traficant. You seem like a nice person but I wouldn't be so quick to judge people that live in Canfield, Poland or Boardman. We go the bathroom just like you and work our butts off just like you, to have what we have. We are no different, we just try to better ourselves and live in a safer environment. If that's a sin, then I would like to inform you that you are not God. If anyone had a chance to move out
of the city, they would be a liar to say, "No they wouldn't." I like peace and quiet and nature and this is where I choose to live and I will not apologize for it, ever . . . I'm thankful that I was given the opportunity to live where I live and I'm proud to own what I own. It's class from A to Z.
I am not heartless to the people that are "stuck" living in nasty areas with drive-by shootings. I am not heartless for the elderly that are stuck in what used to be nice neighborhoods. I feel that it is utter bullshit to use the excuse that the poor are on drugs, rob stores and people and kill, because they are suppressed. Life wasn't always this good for me and I never did bad. Youngstown lacks pride and blames all violence on lack of jobs, education and poor living conditions. I don't buy that and I never will. There is absolutely "no excuse" for harming, stealing or killing.
Have a nice day Doc! Sorry if I was tough on you, but you ruffled my panties!!!

opic:
Good job, Louie! (1 of 1), Read 4 times
Conf:
NEWZ
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Monday, May 21, 2001 09:32 PM


Dear Louie,

Good Job! This is what a message board should be -the exchange of information and ideas. Don't let the personal remarks get to you. These are
just the sad ravings of denial. I guess it is easy to deny the existence of problems and try to hold on to the illusion that all is well.

"Don't let it bring you down.
It's only castles burning..."

Neil Young

(And Jimbo's castle may indeed be starting to burn.)

Keep up the good work. Fight the future! And we stand for what we stand on!

Doc Sarvis
pic:
RITALIN (3 of 3), Read 9 times
Conf:
NEWZ
From:
Doc Sarvis (petunia@flower.com)
Date:
Monday, May 21, 2001 11:05 PM


Ah! Well said!

This is just one more aspect of the new educational industrial complex -an institution that has very little to do with the education of your kids.

Doc Sarvis