Published Letters & Op-Eds
by G.E. Nordell
Page Two

on this page: Letters To The Editor, etc. 2008, backward to 1965
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Letters To The Editor, etc. 2010
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Letters To The Editor, etc. 2013-2015 {Page Five}
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2016-2018 {Page Six}
Letters To The Editor, etc. - from 2019 forward

News Stories about G.E. Nordell (from 2006 on) Page

Letters To The Editor 2008

Valencia County News-Bulletin Saturday 6 December 2008 Opinion / Letters [page 5A] Neo-con radio reports often ignore reality        The various old guys who write in and repeat the neo-con radio propaganda points about the supposed terribleness of socialized health care can do so only by ignoring objective reality.        Such as: There is no such thing as 80 percent taxation. The highest rate for any European social democracy country is around 50 percent for the average citizen, Sure, higher for the wealthy class, but there are not very many millionaires in Valencia County who need to worry about that.        The citizens of those countries have guaranteed health care for life, health care that works quite well – they live years longer than Americans do.They also have guaranteed free education up through college, a shorter work week, a month or more of annual paid vacation – among other benefits        Another fact: If the cost of the lousy privatized (for profit) health care system in the U.S.A. was considered a tax, then the United States is today paying a higher rate in taxes than any of the socialist democratic countries berated by the neo-cons and their turkey-brained listeners sending letters to this paper.        Americans pay more for health care now and receive much less – in quality and in quantity – than all the other industrialized countries do. (If we can get health care at all – 30 percent of Americans have none.)        Time for change, indeed.        G.E. Nordell        Belén, NM

Op Ed News postings for 2008 Dubya's Accomplishments   [30 Jan 2008] click here to read Fiscal Idiocy   [8 Feb 2008] click here to read Call For General Strike   [5 March 2008] click here to read Defense Contractor to Buy Diebold Election Systems   [7 March 2008] click here to read P.N.A.C. & Fascism & Bush   [26 March 2008] click here to read Chrysler Killing Dealerships   [23 April 2008] click here to read How To Survive The Coming Depression   [5 June 2008] click here to read In The Middle Are The Sheeple   [8 July 2008] click here to read The Robber Barons   [30 July 2008] click here to read We The People 2008   [15 Aug 2008] click here to read Rebuttal To The Rove-McCain Virus Email   [30 Aug 2008] click here to read The National Election is Contaminated   [22 Sept 2008] click here to read New Homeland Assault Force   [3 Oct 2008] click here to read Your Future Is Foreclosed   [21 Oct 2008] click here to read      www.working-minds.com      author / philosopher / revolutionary G.E. Nordell lives & works in rural New Mexico

"The Bulletin" Magazine of American Mensa, Ltd. February 2008 "2% Solution" Column [page 14] To Borrow or Not To Borrow (question #230 on economics)      Another solution comes from G.E. Nordell, genordell@genordell.com, and it is regarding taxes.      In short, tax the Oligarchy (top 1 percent) for 65 percent of the total federal budget and the top 20 percent Wealthy Class for 85 percent of the federal budget, and the Middle Class (40-80 percent taxpayers) for the remaining 15 percent. So instead of fighting about rates and loopholes, the government can instead address what is in the annual budget. Pork barrel projects? No problem, the Oligarchy funds 65 percent.      This methodology will probably require adjustment every five years or so, but the brackets should remain constant. If reason-based taxation reduces the Oligarchy's net worth, then they pay a smaller portion. If their net worth grows, so does their tax portion.

Letters To The Editor 2007

Op Ed News postings for 2007 War News: Iraq Oil Give-Away   [10 Jan 2007] click here to read Who Killed Julius Caesar?   [16 April 2007] click here to read George W. Bush Über Alles   [22 May 2007] click here to read Open Letter To Congress: Reasons To Impeach   [25 Aug 2007] click here to read      www.working-minds.com      author / philosopher / revolutionary G.E. Nordell lives & works in rural New Mexico

Time Magazine cover date 17 December 2007 {on newsstands 7 December} Inbox Department [page 13] Mind Your Morals      Morality is bunk. What separates man from the beasts is the capacity to reason. Yet we seldom do – we're too busy moralizing. Reason is the only frontier left.      Gary E. Nordell      Belén, New Mexico

Valencia County News-Bulletin Wednesday 8 August 2007 Opinion / Letters [page 5A] What if other side had given out flyers?        The self-righteous "pro-life" contingent of Valencia County proudly pat themselves on the back for their one-sided contamination of the Fourth of July parade.        Imagine the uproar and the language in Letters if the pro-choice, side – say, Planned Parenthood – had distributed flyers to the crowd at the same parade.The "pro-life" (contingent) ... of Valencia County would have been in the streets with pitchforks and torches, no doubt.        G.E. Nordell        Belén, NM

Albuquerque [New Mexico] Tribune Saturday 10 February 2007 Letters To The Editor [online 9 February] Red-light cams? Not a problem (Re: "Legislator calls red-light cameras `traps'" in the Feb. 6 Tribune.)      At the risk of seeming weird, what is wrong with obeying the speed limits and the traffic signals?      Cameras? No problem.      G.E. Nordell      Belén, NM

Letters To The Editor 2006

Op Ed News postings for 2006 Paleo-Capitalism {WMail #40}   [2 Sept 2006] click here to read Be very scared. Be very angry.   [4 Sept 2006] click here to read Martial Law?   [7 Nov 2006] click here to read      www.working-minds.com      author / philosopher / revolutionary G.E. Nordell lives & works in rural New Mexico

Valencia County News-Bulletin Saturday 30 December 2006 Opinion / Letters [page 5A] Churches must take a stand against gangs        The crime rate in Valencia County is the result of widespread tolerance of the gang ethos. There is not one clergyperson in the county, for example, who has taken a real stand against gang members (beyond verbal tsk-tsk-ing).        Virtually all the churches here are Bible-based, and the First Commandment states that no one shall have any allegiance higher than the Judeo-Christian God. Allegiance to a gang is in conflict with the First Commandment.        When the pastors and priests of Valencia County enforce a policy that no one holding allegiance to any gang can participate in, say, communion or confession, then the gang problem will be gone.        Gary E. Nordell        Belén, NM

Albuquerque Journal Tuesday 14 Nov 2006 Letters To The Editor Truth Hurts Bush and Co.        John Kerry's lame joke is not an insult to the veteran — I served — but the uproar about it is. All comedy requires an element of truth in the punch line, and that is what the Bush administration cannot handle here.        Bush and his fellow fascists tell lies, then they tell lies about the lies, and then they tell lies about the lies about the lies — ad infinitum, ad nauseam.      G.E. NORDELL      Belén, New Mexico

Valencia County News-Bulletin Wednesday 11 October 2006 Opinion / Letters [page 5A] Plame's life on line in undercover work        H. Stansell's gleeful repetition of bogus right-wing talking points does not change the facts.        1.) Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA agent, and her life was on the line when she traveled on CIA business — she could have been shot as a spy.        2.) Plame's "brass plate" cover operation was closed down the day Robert Novak's second article was printed, based on information given to him by the White House. The purpose of the Brewster Jennings front company was to conceal investigations of WMD around the world. Foreign agents were killed because this information was made public.        3.) The Plame-Wilson civil suit will indeed go forward; nothing has changed, except that they can add Armitage as a defendant.        4.) Rove, Cheney, Libby and Dubya are still guilty of multiple counts of treason. That Armitage was first to commit treason does not excuse later acts of treason by others.        The analogy is this: Mr. A shoots Mr. Z in the back, then Mr. B shoots Z, then Mr. C shoots Z, then Mr. R shoots Z — ALL are guilty of murder, not just the first shooter.        Concerning the outing of Joe Wilson's wife, the whole Bush Gang is guilty of treason and other felony crimes, committed as part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the White House. When the Democrats regain control of Congress and Constitutional law is restored, the Bush Gang will be impeached and removed from office.        Gary E. Nordell        Belén, NM

The Sun Monthly of Santa Fe, New Mexico September 2006 {Issue 278} / Letters [page 15] Fan of Ayn Rand        The July issue of Sun Monthly was full of great ideas (see especially "The Twilight of Capitalism" by Natylie Baldwin). However, America is not a capitalist economy. Ayn Rand stated 40 years ago that there has never been a capitalist economy (see her book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal). This has never been more true than today, as the capitalist elements of the U.S. economy are increasingly at risk to a neofascist takeover.        I use the definition "capitalism is the creation of jobs and products and services," and your readers can determine for themselves whether their workday even pretends to such practices. Advertising, for example, is merely propaganda for goods and services already in existence or production; eliminate the high cost of perpetual media bombardment and the goods and services are still available, without wasted time, effort and paper pulp, and at much lower cost.        The American system is an oligarchy, which does away with capitalist practices, such as competition, with ever-increasing momentum. Jobs are moved overseas, products are promoted so that the economy does not collapse, wages are reduced, benefits are eliminated, and the oligarchy reaps record unearned wealth.        Detailed coverage of these issues is posted at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay51.htm, "The Three Economies"; http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay46.htm, "A Living Wage"; http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay42.htm, "The Oligarchy"; and http://www.working-minds.com/WMessay40.htm, "Paleo-Capitalism"; with the full list of essays at http://www.working-minds.com/WMessays.htm.        G. E. Nordell        Belén, New Mexico

Valencia County News-Bulletin Wednesday 30 August 2006 Opinion / Letters [page 5A] Wiretaps without warrants are illegal        Disinformation abounds in recent letters to the News-Bulletin. Here are a few facts:        1. The forged documents about yellow-cake uranium and Iraq were disproved by British and Italian intelligence before the invasion of Iraq. George Bush knew that (and he lied.)        2. U.N. inspectors on the ground in Iraq testified to Congress that there were no active programs to produce weapons of mass destruction. The few barrels of recently found bio-weapons were defunct when they were buried 10-plus years ago.        3. George Bush and Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby and Robert Novak each committed treason when they conspired to reveal Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent ...        4. George Bush had nothing to do with capturing the London bomb plotters (though he took credit for it). He was told of the plot on Friday and advised further on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, the GOP spinmeisters flooded the weekend talk shows with propaganda calling the Democrats "weak on terrorism," as a diversion from the Connecticut primary. In addition, Bush pressured Britain to make and announce the arrests on Monday for the same reason. (And the British police are upset because the early arrests weakened their legal case.) Ned Lamont beat Joe Lieberman anyway.        5. Wiretaps are legal, inside the FISA provisions. Wiretaps without warrants are illegal, data-mining is illegal and any evidence obtained that way is useless in court proceedings. In any case, Judge Taylor is correct in finding that warrantless wiretaps violate various laws besides the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution – all are felony crimes.        G.E. Nordell        Belén, NM

Valencia County News-Bulletin Wednesday 22 March 2006 Opinion / Letters [page 5A] Trolley would be good for downtown tourists        The recent article on the Heart of Belén redevelopment mentions access to downtown Belén from the Rail Runner station via elevators on either side of the Reinken overpass. Not mentioned is that such an arrangement would require pedestrians to cross somewhere mid-bridge and often in the dark.        Given Belén Police Department's lax enforcement and local drivers' habit of ignoring speed limits, etc., this is a supremely bad idea, one likely to result in occasional dead tourists.        A better idea might be a pedestrian walkway across BNSF tracks, such as the several such crossings over Tramway near I-40 in Albuquerque. Difficulties arise, however, from issues of safety and negotiations for rights-of-way.        Another idea may actually prove cheaper than either of the above: A rubber-tire trolley such as operate in many "Old Town" districts across America.        The route would be train station to Wisconsin to Reinken to Third to Harvey House and through downtown Belén and back again.        The trolley schedule would, of course, be matched to the Rail Runner's departures and arrivals.        Gary E. Nordell        Belén, NM

Letters To The Editor 2005

"The Bulletin" Magazine of American Mensa, Ltd. June 2005 "Letters" Column [page 5] Alternative Energy      The only problem with nuclear fusion power plants (as per Jim Pinto's energy article) is storage of the tons of radioactive waste. Is there not some feasible way to burn it — and produce a smidgen of extra energy — by dropping, say, pellets of such waste into the nuclear 'hot spot' of the core of each nuclear power plant? Poof, waste is gone.      Maybe we should keep such modified fusion power plants going until all the waste is burned up, with or without any success with cold fusion power.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Letters To The Editor 2004

Chicago Tribune Friday 27 February 2004 Voice of the People [Letters]      Now that same-sex marriages are booming, how long before the first application for a same-sex divorce?      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Letters To The Editor 2002

Los Angeles Times Friday 23 August 2002 California Section / Letters [page B-14]      Bush intends that the U.S. carry out the first overt aggression against another soveriegn country since... when? Mexico in 1846-48? (Plenty of covert activity by the CIA, etc., but that's a different story.) Dubya forgets that it is the Defense Department – or will the name soon be changed back to the War Department?      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

"The Bulletin" Magazine of American Mensa, Ltd. January 2002 "Letters" Column [page 5] The Last Frontier      Mankind has sent submersibles to the bottom of the oceans, even photographed the inside of the HMS Titanic. We photograph atoms using electron microscopes and distant galaxies from Hubble. We've landed rovers on Mars and sent flybys to the other planets and beyond.      All well and good. Meanwhile, 25 percent of Americans are illiterate and one-third live in poverty, while the Oligarchy has increased their possessions by 40 percent in the past 15 years. And religious zealots terrorize the rest of the world.      So here's what I say: "Reason is the only frontier left."      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Letters To The Editor, etc. 2001

"The Bulletin" Magazine of American Mensa, Ltd. November-December 2001 "The 2% Solution" Column [page 24] Question 166: What might we do to get the process of colonizing other planets, moons, or galaxies moving ahead?      A few respondents focused on the mess we've made of Earth and even doubted whether we were worthy to inhabit other planets. Perhaps the most damning of those letters was this one from G.E. Nordell, GENordell@working-minds.com      Before Homo sapiens deign[s] to infest other solar systems or galaxies with our spoor, we must clean up our act – literally – here on the home planet. The assumption that preservation of the species is a 'must' has no validity. The rapacious actions by H. sapiens upon the environment belie any such intention or compulsion. The present state of the ecosystems needed to support life on our tiny blue orb suggest that H. sapiens will not survive here without extraordinary commitment and effort by all of Mankind.      We are at the crux of a one-time choice: either Mankind takes action for the restoration and preservation of the entire biosphere – right now, today, this instant – or H. sapiens will likely die off in the next few generations.      If we cannot muster the will to reverse the intellectual, economic, and ecological diseases propogated by the dominant Oligarchy, then from whence will the will arise to attempt preserving Mankind's precious DNA by constructing a 'lifeboat' bound for Alpha Centauri?      The preservation of life here on Earth requires a planetwide act of will, a commitment by billions of individuals to take action right now – or Mankind effectively has no future and no time in which to design and build any such lifeboat to the stars.

L.A. Mentary [publication of Los Angeles Mensa September 2001 Letters [page 12]      The whole 'Jack flap' should be dropped.      The many members who assume [that] they have a deity-given right to have anything [that] they send in printed in the newsletter are deluded. How many letters to Ye Editor do you think the L.A. Times ignores every day?      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Los Angeles Times Saturday 28 April 2001 Calendar Section / Letters [page F4]      Excuse me, but I see no reason for sympathy toward the complaints of Hispanics about negative portrayals of Mexicans, Latinos, et al in Hollywood movies and other media. ["The Silver Screen That Divides Us, April 24]      The new government in Mexico has a lot of work to do to clean up the mess left by its predecessor, the Institutional Revolutionary Party dynasty. To wit:      The legal system there is Napoleonic, which holds everyone to be guilty until proven innocent.      That leads to culture-wide avoidance of the legal system and the practice of mordida, which is the systematic payment of bribes connected to just about every transaction with government and business institutions.      Every single illegal alien, from whichever country, committed a crime in the moment that they stepped across the border into the United States, for which they take no responsibility. {**}      Rather than trying to alter the image of Mexico and Latin America, it behooves Hispanic activists to stop whining and to get to work on the reality of the Mexican culture – on both sides of the border – as President Vicente Fox is committed to doing.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California ** Strangely, the editors removed a line here about the illiteracy rates in the U.S. & Mexico.

Los Angeles Times Sunday 18 March 2001 Westside Section / Letters { my letter printed on the subject of 'Baja Hancock Park'; text not located }      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Letters To The Editor 2000

Los Angeles Times Saturday 12 August 2000 Calendar Section / Letters [page F4]      "Gidget -- The Musical" sounds intriguing. And any new work by auteur F.F. Coppola is bound to be fascinating. But the article does not even mention the creator of the semi-fictional Gidget, Frederick Kohner. His best-selling novel of 1957 pretty near invented the surf-culture industry. The half-dozen Gidget books and feature films, two TV series, several TV movies and other non-Gidget novels followed a long career as a Hollywood scriptwriter, including a 1938 Oscar nomination.      Without "Doc" Kohner, Coppola would have no cultural icon to put music to, nor would your reporter have anything to report.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Vocabula Review Monday 16 October 2000 Vol 2 # 10 / Letters #7      I am come late to your debate about the correct stance on proper use of language, especially of English, and maybe I can thereby add some fresh perspective.      What separates mankind from the other beasts is not language: the dance of the bees is language, as is the chirping of the birds and the keening of the whales. Mankind is superior because we have reason. Reason is mankind's primary tool for survival as mankind. Therefore, we cannot tolerate sloppy use of this tool.      Those who justify bad grammar or inept diction because the masses persist in such sloppiness reduce the power of language, and thus reason. Such an irresponsible position is just as untenable as condoning incompetent driving practices or child abuse or bigotry simply because they are common.      The purpose of academia, in fact of all of mankind's intellectual pursuits, must be to raise the standard, and not to succumb to the lowest common denominator.      I admire the Vocabula Review (what I've read so far) because it addresses the issue of standards, which other venues do not. Should the average citizen ever meet the high standards advocated by some academicians and some concerned amateur thinkers, we then should raise the proverbial bar still higher: laxity does not serve the future of mankind.      Reason is the only frontier left.      G.E. Nordell      genordell@iccas.com {email now defunct} RESPONSE in Vocabula Review Monday 20 November 2000 Vol 2 # 11 / Letters #4      I love TVR -- it is a must for anyone with an interest in communicating through words.      For G. E. Nordell [Vol. 2, No. 10, "Letters to the Editor"], I suggest that a real difference between mankind and other beasts (in relation to communication) is our ability to transmit communications by writing and reading our languages. A beast could well reason that it would be pointless for him to try to read and write.      April Pressler, Director      Image Abroad Network      AprilP @ one.net.au

Letters To The Editor 1999

Los Angeles Times Wednesday 5 May 1999 Metro Section / Letters / Little Box In The Left-Hand Corner [page B6] Ground Troops      Need ground troops for taming Slobodan Milosevic? Send the N.R.A.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

...more will be added here as I find copies of them ... and the time

Lemmings

Los Angeles Times Monday 18 January 1999 Metro Section / Letters      About the various stadium proposals (Letters, Jan. 10), the toughest part of any such project will be choosing a name for the NFL team that reflects some aspect of life in Southern California. The perfect team name is the L.A. Lemmings.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Los Angeles Times Saturday 20 March 1999 Sports Section / Letters [page D3]      What to call the new team? The only name that truly evokes the in Southern California lifestyle is the L.A. Lemmings.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City

K.C.B.S. Radio 93.1 FM, Los Angeles Thursday 1 April 1999 Arrow 93 Sports with Scott St. James      Finally... Last week we told you about this poll L.A. Times columnist Chris Erskine is running to name L.A.'s new NFL team, assuming we get one. We told you that of all the names Erskine listed, our favorite was the L.A. "Road Rage". And the way these gas prices are going up...      Culver City's G.E. Nordell faxes us this team name suggestion: The L.A. 'Lemmings'. Unlike listener Nordell, I'm not educated, so I had to look that word up. "A rodent known for its periodic mass migrations." Or in other words, the L.A. 'Rats'.      That's Sports. Scott St. James, Arrow 93 FM...

Los Angeles Times Wednesday 7 April 1999 SoCal Living Section "The Guy Chronicles" column by Chris Erskine      Lots of readers took the opportunity to poke fun at L.A. of all places, the little city by the sea, a town that always generates a lot of envy. It's disguised as ill will, but it's actually envy.      "There can be only one name for the new NFL team, a name that perfectly reflects the Southern California lifestyle: The L.A. Lemmings!" wrote someone from Culver City, itself a national treasure.

Los Angeles Times Sunday 3 March 1996 Sunday Magazine Section L.A. & The N.F.L. Update      When Los Angeles brings another NFL franchise to town, there will be the matter of the team name to consider. The most appropriate might be the L.A. Lemmings.      Gary Nordell      Los Angeles

Encyclopædia Britannica's article on 'Lemmings'

Letters To The Editor, etc. 1997

Parade Magazine national supplement Sunday 23 March 1997 Walter Scott's 'Personality Profile' column [page 2]      Q I believe your recent item on Mel Gibson's future projects was incomplete. Isn't he planning a remake of Ray Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'? Gary E. Nordell, Culver City, Calif.      A Gibson's plan to direct and star in a remake of the sci-fi classic about censorship and book-burning in a futuristic society is still more a vision than a reality. The Oscar-winning actor-director has described the 1967 film 'Fahrenheit 451' by French director François Truffaut as "dull". Gibson, 41, says he wants his version to be both more harrowing and humorous, and he's waiting for an acceptable script. Bradbury himself and screenwriter Tony Puryear ('Eraser') have done drafts, and now Terry K. Hayes is updating the story. NOTE: One thing I thought salient about this printed letter was that nobody I knew mentioned seeing it (which is quite normal and by now expected), but a dozen ladies mentioned it to my mother at church the very morning of publication.

Daily Breeze newspaper April 1997 Your Views [Letters to the Editor] Eco-terrorists battling restoration of wetlands      The destruction perpetrated by the eco-terrorists against those working hard to restore the precious Ballona Wetlands is sickening.      Sightings of heavy-footed activists deep inside the delicate wetlands ecosystem itself; graffiti at Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards, on the Culver bridge, and in the dunes area behind Gordon's Market; the pulling up of stakes and the uprooting of flora planted by school children.      Horrible acts.      Well, I believe that I have identified the culprits: a clandestine group going under the name "Wetlands Vandalism Network".      They should be shot.      Gary Nordell      Culver City, California A truncated version appeared in the sibling Santa Monica Outlook newspaper on April 9th.

Los Angeles Times Sunday 22 June 1997 Sunday Magazine Section / Letters [page 4] A Ball of Fire      Allow me to challenge the claim that Lucy ["The Lucy Chronicles" by Steven Stark, 4 May] was TV's first feminist. Perhaps that designation should be awarded to Blondie, who wound up on TV after making her way successfully through the comic strips, the movies, and radio. The cartoon strip was even named after Blondie, who was the calm center of the stormy shenanigans originated by her lovable and infantile husband Dagwood.      Also, I never particularly liked the 'lie your way into trouble, lie your way out' part of the Lucy ethic.      Gary Nordell      Culver City, California Editor's Note: The comic strip and movie versions of 'Blondie' did precede 'Lucy' – and television for that matter – but the CBS sitcom was aired later, in 1968-69. It was unsuccessful and not renewed.

Yes, quite a coup: two letters in the Los Angeles Times on the same day! [above & below]

Los Angeles Times Sunday 22 June 1997 Calendar Section / Letters [page 87] The Rating Game      The merits of director Lance Young's 'Bliss', either before or after the cuts mandated to receive an R rating are beyond my ken. ("A 'Bliss'-less Rating Game" by Scott Collins, June 8).      But the continuing strife between the Motion Picture Assn. of America's ratings board and various major and minor directors leads me to wonder if the operative mind-set of the anonymous members of the board is not PC-17; that is, Politically Correct for the 17th Century.      Gary Nordell      Culver City, California

Los Angeles Times Monday 20 October 1997 Metro Section / Letters / Little Box In The Left-hand Corner El Nino      Global warming? The magnitude of the El Nino phenomenon is a global warning.      G.E. Nordell      Culver City, California

Letters To The Editor 1996

Los Angeles Times Sunday 14 July 1996 Sunday Calendar Section / Letters [page ??] Theorizing      Regarding critic Andrew Sarris and the auteur theory he propounds (Film Clips, by Robert W. Welkos, June 30): {have to locate the full text...}      G.E. Nordell      Culver City

Los Angeles Times Thursday 29 February 1996 Life & Style Section / Letters [page ??] ENIAC Anniversary      The article on ENIAC brings back memories of the 'good old days'. I was trained as a computer programmer by the U.S. Air Force back in 1965. We ran an entire Air Force base – accounting, supply, aircraft maintenance – with an I.B.M. 1401 with [memory of] only 4K! No tapes, no hard drive, all processing was on those I.B.M. cards that are now antiques, which were delivered by the truck-load. (When was the last time you saw an I.B.M. card?)      Tempus sure does fugit!      G.E. Nordell      West Los Angeles, California

Letters To The Editor, etc. [Long Ago]

Movieline Magazine November 1993 Letters [page 96]      The excerpt from the Stephen Farber/Marc Green book Hollywood On The Couch ("Head Games of The Stars", August) contained many factual and interpretive errors. For example, Werner Erhard was a successful car salesman . . . The original est courses are analogous to the era of silent film – neither were the fulfillment of the original art form. The present courses delivered by Landmark Education Corp. are the equivalent of improvements like Dolby or THX Sound and 3-D . . . In fact, miraculous results are being produced in the lives of a million individuals across America and around the world. Werner Erhard and Landmark Education Corp. continue to fulfill their intention to empower "a world that works for everyone, with no one and nothing left out".      Your magazine [also sent] Joe Queenan to ruin an evening's entertainment for a thousand paid-admission moviegoers, and then [chopped] down millions of trees to devote three full pages of the same August issue for his snide report. Enough said.      G.E. Nordell      Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Times Sunday 19 September 1982 View Section / Letters [page VIII-18] A Lesson From Computers      Curious: Writer Betty Ann Kevles suggests that the "computer-consumer marriage" [has] no real parallel to human relationships ("Computers Settling Into Marriage", Scientific View, Sept. 8).      On the contrary, the problems she describes between humans and speaking computers are directly parallel to lousy human relationships. No computer has ever forced me into anything; no computer has ever hit me; and in my 17 years of working with IBM mainframes, no computer has ever lied to me. We can all learn a great deal about proper and positive working relationships from this new servant that mankind has created and is now bringing into daily life.      Societies and individuals that continue to foster manipulative one-upmanship roles (power over the computer or human) are destined to fail; societies of rational interchange of ideas (power from the computer and from other humans) are destined to succeed.      G.E. Nordell      West Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Times Wednesday 5 December 1979 View Section [page IV-1] Jack Smith's daily column      G.E. Nordell of West Los Angeles recalls reading a story that Moses actually was given 20 commandments on Mt. Sinai, but the stones were so heavy [that] he only brought down 10. That of course is a mere canard, and unworthy of notice in a serious discussion of the question.      As for an 11th Commandment, Nordell recalls that when he was in the Boy Scouts there was an unwritten 13th Scout Law, to wit: A Scout is hungry. Certainly that is an eternal truth, but it is a natural law, not a divine commandment.

Los Angeles Herald Examiner Monday 4 June 1965 Bill Kennedy's daily "Mr. L.A." column           [G.E.] Nordell of Warner Bros. has named his 10-speed bicycle 'Burt' so [that] he can call the carrier on his car 'Burt Bike-Rack'. He's the same nut who named his moustache 'Stanley Myron Handlebar'.           They say it's not funny if you have to explain it, but it has been a long time. Bert Bacharach was another daily columnist at that newspaper (and father of songwriter Burt Bacharach}; Stanley Myron Handelman [1929-2007] was a TV standup comic of the time.

Jim Bishop's syndicated column Friday 4 June 1965           Gary Nordell tells of a very busy Air Force cadet who managed to get himself engaged to two beautiful girls at the same time: one named Edith, in California and the other named Kate, in Texas. Unfortunately for the cadet, the two girls met at a beauty contest, discovered their boy friend's duplicity, and confronted him with an ultimatum: "Out of our lives, you rascal. We'll teach you that you can't have your Kate and Edith, too."           (discovered on the internet in December 2016)

on this page: Letters To The Editor, etc. 1965 to 2008  { back to top }
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2009
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2010
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2011
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2012
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2013-2015 {Page Five}
Letters To The Editor, etc. 2016-2018 {Page Six}
Letters To The Editor, etc. - from 2019 forward

News Stories About G.E. Nordell (from 2006 on) Page

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