Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130040
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
After stealing the music, maybe this group can steal the butcher's meat, the beer-wine-and-liquor industry's potables, the landlord's space. Lord knows, those greedy old farmers have been collecting money for their corn and beans long enough. Just a small war in Asia, and the good congressman and his friends could steal their rice. Congress would have to legislate free shipping, of course.
Since restaurants and bars would get the music from the writers, performers, producers and record companies by congressional dispensation for theft, maybe they would at least let the artists choose the music for them: Bluegrass in French restaurants, grand opera on Basin and Beale Streets, punk at the Four Seasons, heavy metal for steak houses, and choir music at C&W bars. With a program like that, the restaurateurs would make the same amount of money as the unpaid musicians by the end of the week.
The Supreme Court in 1917, with Oliver Wendell Holmes presiding, ruled that while music isn't the sole object of dining charges, neither is food that could be gotten cheaper elsewhere. People pay for ambience. That court also ruled that if music wasn't used for profit, then restaurants wouldn't have been paying for its use. They could have added suing for it, also.
These establishments choose their music just as carefully as they choose their menus and decorations, and for the same reason: Music of a kind appeals to a clientele of a kind, and the owners would break your arm if you tried to change their tapes.
DAVID AMES
Member, SW Virginia Songwriters Association
ROANOKE
The GOP's lineup of losers
THE THEME song for Republicans in 1996 could be "Send in the Clowns." Check out the partial list of candidates: Bob Dole, Phil Gramm, Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, Alan Keyes, Bob Dornan, Arlen Specter and a host of others yet to come. Let's consider the front-runners, so-called.
Dole looks as though he just walked out of an embalming parlor. I know from experience that at age 73 things begin to fall apart. We can't afford another superannuated president, sleeping through his term while the country runs up a $4 trillion debt.
Gramm can't carry a single state outside the South. Imagine him at a conference of world leaders saying: "Ya'll gonna hafta git off the waggin and start pullin, 'cause a hog caint drive with his snout in the trough."
Buchanan, who loves the fetus but hates children, throws his hood into the ring with nauseating regularity. Of course, Democrats owe him a debt of gratitude. He more than any other, with the possible exception of Ross Perot, ensured Bill Clinton's election, and may do so again.
Keyes, the black Republican (an oxymoron if ever there was one), has apparently forgotten that if civil-rights reform had been left up to the Republican Party, he'd still be riding in the back of the bus and drinking from separate water fountains.
As for Dornan, Alexander and the rest - well, really! Clinton seems an inviting target right now, but Democrats can take heart from the fact that the London bookies have made him the odds-on favorite to repeat in '96. And these guys didn't get rich by backing losers.
JOHN W. SLAYTON
ROANOKE
Profits put before good patient care
FOR THOSE considering a career in the health-care industry: Stop, think and heed the warning signs.
For many people, a career in the medical field (especially in a hospital setting) can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience. However, changes occurring in health care today, and enormous demands to deliver quality medical assistance with a shortage of personnel are overwhelming.
This industry is cutting corners in every conceivable way, mainly staff. This leaves remaining personnel to accomplish the unreasonable task of performing exhausting mental and physical duties. The stress can be unbearable. The hours are long, the income is low. Speaking from personal experience, it appears that the bureaucratic administration has lost touch with its own working-class people. These ivory-tower policy-makers seem more concerned with a profit than patient care.
Most of you good people can decide for yourself. If you're willing to sacrifice your family, private time and enjoyment of activities, then health care is for you. If you seek better income and the leisure pleasures of life, than I suggest another choice of career.
KEN P. KIRK
SALEM
The history books must be wrong
AFTER reading your March 27 editorial (``In search of the Lost Cause'') about the Danville flag dedication, I'm convinced that my history books are in error. Reconstruction didn't end in Virginia in 1870. It's alive and well today!
PATTI WRAY
MONETA
An insightful look inside the church
MY THANKS to Cody Lowe for his March 26 article on consensus in church decision-making (The Back Pew column, ``The `God question' in church decision-making''). It may be the most insightful evaluation I've ever seen in the media of the inner workings of congregations.
As a founding pastor in one of the new denominations, I saw consensus work beautifully for nine years. Now, I'm learning new things about consensus as a pastor in what Lowe calls the ``old-line sisters.''
I continue to believe in decision-making by consensus, especially for big decisions. Any resources Lowe can share would be deeply appreciated by at least one reader.
JAMES K. WORKMAN
FINCASTLE
God's good news is timeless
I WOULD like to clarify my comments quoted in the March 23 Extra section article titled ``Name game.''
I don't believe the Bible is patriarchal, but I do believe that the Bible is God's word, initially received by a predominantly patriarchal society. The good news that God communicates through the Bible and through his living word, Jesus Christ, is relevant and timeless for any society, patriarchal or otherwise.
My decision to take my wife's name as my own simply reflects the reality of mutual love that God has given us to share in marriage.
GERALD P. BAILE CROUSE
ROCKY MOUNT
Socialism hasn't collapsed at home
IN A March 22 editorial (``Fretting about socialists''), you found it puzzling that anyone would be concerned over the threat of socialism. You pointed out that socialism had collapsed around the world, and is now dead.
This may be true of the old socialism where governments literally planned and owned the output of their respective economies. However, governments have learned that they can effectively own the factors of production through excessive taxes and regulation. In fact, as the law now stands, our government can regulate the market value of land down to nothing - and not be required to compensate the owner of record for the loss. With this much power, you tell me who the owner really is.
Socialism is about government control. It makes little difference whether that control is gained through actual ownership or through regulation. The new socialism is alive and well in the United States.
KENT M. FORD
ROANOKE
Old industrial sites need a checkup
THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency is now assessing the damage that Roanoke Iron and Bridge left at its former Walnut Avenue location. Dangerous lead levels have been found at the site, and may pose a danger to the Roanoke River. In my opinion, this site is one of many that needs attention in this valley.
Has the soil at the Roanoke Industrial Center (the former Viscose Plant) been thoroughly checked for ground containments? Do people working in the area know what type of pollution was deposited there during the '50s when pollution controls were almost nonexistent? I think not. Who will be held responsible for the cleanup?
PHILIP COLLINS FERGUSON
ROANOKE
by CNB