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COLUMN FIFTY-NINE, MAY 1, 2001
(Copyright © 2001 Al Aronowitz)

FROM SWEET (AND SOUR) AMY (STILL AGAIN)

Subject: Regarding Column 58 and Chinese Condiments
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 10:50:52 -0500
From: Amy Elz <AmyE@getcreative.com>
To: "'info@blacklistedjournalist.com'" <info@blacklistedjournalist.com>  

Swoon!
Sigh!
Savory!
I never believed you thought so highly of me, my delicate Shrimp with Lobster Sauce (#88).  I have become the savior of countless diners across the nation who crave a bit more zing!  I am now Sweet and Sour Amy!  My heart leaps at the thought of being slathered on fried wontons (#8), delicately brushed on an egg roll (#1), or drizzled on a Peking Duck (#36). My soul, once lost in a world of yellow mustard and mayonnaise, is now made whole with such a glorious comparison to a condiment that has clearly withstood the test of time!  I can imagine my grandchildren's glowing faces, when, long after I've gone to the All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet in the sky, they open that little plastic packet emblazoned with a panda and fondly recall the days they spent with Grandma Sweet and Sour.  I see them in a park telling the tale of their Grandma Sweet and Sour to their own grandchildren, and as they listen with glistening eyes, they savor their appropriately sweetly and acceptably sourly accented Kung Pao Chicken (#41).  They will imagine me in a Suzy Wong style dress hovering over their meal and waving my magic wok, thereby granting them wonderful, yet ambiguous fortune cookie fortunes.  I will live on!  I will always be remembered!  I now have purpose and meaning!  And again, my Lovers Eggplant (#73), it's all because of you. How ever can I thank you for all that you have done.  As I am beginning to weep delicate green tea tears of love and adoration, I must again bid you adieu. Zaijian my Beef Lo Mein (#100),

Your Sweet and Sour Amy

All Chinese food dishes and corresponding number courtesy the Yen Ching Restaurant in Richmond, conveniently located in the Genito Crossing Shopping Center http://billofare.com/1290u01.htm  ##

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MORE REPUGNICANT BULLSHIT!

Subject: More GOP Bullshit
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 09:16:29 -0700
From: "VENIRE" <VENIRE@ZNET.COM>
To: <info@blacklistedjournalist.com>  

Al-I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE!  AND THE IDIOT IS ONLY IN OFFICE LESS THAN 6
MONTHS!

"Oh, the horror,  the horror...."  

I came across this nugget.  Just what I've been saying all along...

Linda

The link between Reagan's party and Clinton's persecution

I think I've figured out a link between two political phenomena.

Here, we have an eager hysteria over former President Bill Clinton's valedictory pardons. Many were unpretty and a few were untoward, but they differed more in number than in degree from some of the dubious indulgences granted by Bush père.

And there, we have the Reagan Legacy Project, the brainchild---if you'll excuse the pending oxymoron---of a cabal of right-wing activists bent on plastering the Reagan’s name on every school, highway, government building and stalled car that they can get their hands on.

And the connection?

After power itself, conservative Republicans have wanted nothing more than to round out the 20th century with the ledgers balanced. They needed a Democratic Richard Nixon and a Republican Franklin D. Roosevelt.

With the century running out, Bill Clinton was the right's last chance for a Democratic Nixon, the fall guy for a payback that has been brewing ever since Nixon sank under his transgressions. Thus, at least in part, the endless investigation of Clinton, even to gimmicking up an obviously futile impeachment.

With each of the supposed Clinton scandals having flopped---Whitewater and the File-, Travel-and Vince-gates all came to naught---Clinton's rash pardons were a last-minute godsend. And they at last set Clinton up to be calumnized. A federal prosecutor has been sicced on the ex-president, licensed to investigate every last pardon. This could go on forever.

Meantime, the campaign to canonize Reagan is pressed apace.  Reagan's name now festoons an aircraft carrier, the Florida Turnpike, a federal building in D.C.---ironically, given Reagan's contempt for federal government, Washington's second largest---and of course National, now Reagan National, Airport. [Tom Teepen Cox News Service, 04/01/01]

Read the full story at:
http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi'template=opiniona&slu
g=teep01 (AOL users click<a href=
"http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi'template=opinio
na&slug=teep01"> here</a>) ##

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THE UNLUCKIEST DAY  

Subject: Correction:
     http://www.italianculinary.it/intercomm/barrow/cwl/cwlintro.htm
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 23:10:28 -0700
From: Nan Higginbotham Doporto <NHDoporto@aol.com>

Well, it's Friday 13th, after all.....

The Facts About Friday the 13th

The notion that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day remains one of our most popular and long-held superstitions. But 13 is actually a lucky number, and this day brings you a chance to break out of old ruts and make changes for the better!

Public opinion polls show that at least twenty-five percent of all Americans consider themselves superstitious. Professional athletes, movie stars, gamblers -- people from all walks of life admit to doing whatever it takes to secure good luck or avoid misfortune! Many Wall Street stock brokers "hedge their bets" with reliance on less-than-scientific indicators.

What is at the root of "triskadekaphobia" (the fear of the number 13)? All numbers have their own cosmic vibration and "13" is considered an unstable number. From the time when humans first used numbers to measure things, the number 12 has represented a common cosmic standard. There are 12 months of the year, 12 hours on the clock, 12 signs of the Zodiac, 12 Tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles, 12 Knights of the Round Table, and so on.

The number 13 represents disruption to the established order. In pre-Christian societies, reliance on a lunar calendar meant that Friday the 13th would coincide with the Full Moon or New Moon. It was a day to honor planet Venus in a day-long love fest! Friday the 13th symbolized a day for everyone to let go, party, and sacrifice routine. Such breaks in the usual order allowed for the restoration of balance and harmony.

In this time of millennial transition, people may feel especially precarious. Change and variations from routine can raise fears about unknown challenges, along the path of life. Belief in superstitions offers a sense of control in stressful situations.

Take a cue from our pagan forebears. They saw the number 13 as a lucky omen, a time to make a fresh start and seek new roads to success and satisfaction. You might not be willing to take an elevator to the 13th floor, but do enjoy Friday the 13th as you open your heart and mind to new opportunities for luck, love, and success!

    _______________

FROM JOANNE  COLBY

One of the most commonly held superstitions in our so-called civilized, educated society, is that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, and since, in this equation, each is held to be unlucky, added together, their sum can only equal double trouble.

The modern basis for the aura that surrounds Friday the 13th stems from Friday, October the 13th, 1307.  On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant against "The Knights Templar."  The Templars were terminated as heretics, and never again to hold the power that they had held for so long.  Their Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified.

Superstition swirling around Friday as being lucky or unlucky have existed since ancient times, beginning the northern nations. Ancient Romans dedicated the sixth day of the week.  Their closest translation for Venus, Frigg, or Freya, eventually evolved into Friday, a day they considered to be the luckiest day of the week.

From a religious standpoint, Muslims tout Friday as the day Allah created Adam, legend has it that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the apple on a Friday, and later died on a Friday, and Christians consider Friday as the day on which Christ was crucified by the Romans.

The Scandinavians belief that the number 13 signified bad luck sprang back from their mythological 12 demigods, who were joined by a 13th demigod, Loki, an evil cruel one, who brought upon the humans great misfortune.  The number 13, in the Christian faith, is the number of parties at the Last Supper, with the 13th guest at the table being the traitor, Judas.  When the Christians combine this day and the number, the combination can only hold special significance.

Whether or not a person considers Friday the 13th as unlucky, he or she must understand that this superstition, as well as others, merely stem from beliefs or practices man used, and continues to use, to explain, and to protect himself, from events beyond his control in his complicated world. He worked, and works only with the bag of knowledge he has on hand.

Only when factual, scientific bases for these beliefs are unearthed, and people do not dispel the beliefs, but instead cling to them, the beliefs become superstitions.  Today's beliefs may very well be tomorrow's superstitions.  

Until then, however, don't step on a crack! </XMP>

--

NHDoporto  ##

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