The groveling plague

When someone first sent me this column, titled "Is West Virginia a Cult?" I groaned. On reflection, though, the writer had a point or two.

I mean, how messed up is it when people brag about how much abuse they are able to take from their ruling class?

Or when the state's leading politician, Senator Joe Manchin, brags about West Virginians being willing and able to do the "heavy lifting"? (Translation: getting shafted by rich corporations and saying, "Thank you sir! May I have another?")

The writer kind of nailed it here:

"The hard-luck people of Appalachia deserve their reputation for physical courage and a strong work ethic. But they suffer more from servility than bad luck. Outsiders wince when the  natives angrily declare their independent spirit and then cringe before corporate polluters, however tawdry."

Actually, polluting isn't even half of the story. Let's not forget killing workers on the job, either by fast or slow methods and getting away with it.

The sad part is that I remember a time when West Virginians weren't as good at groveling before their masters as they are today. I'd like to think that this boot-licking phase will pass. I guess we'll see.

Speaking in a foreign tongue

For the longest time, learning a foreign language seemed like an insuperable obstacle for me. I started with Latin in high school, but our teach specialized in telling stories about her life rather than the language in question. Then I tried French more than once in college. I really admired many French writers but it seemed at the time (and still kinda does) that the pronunciation system in that language was an elaborate practical joke.

As I mentioned before, eventually I made more progress with Spanish, although I adopted drastic means which I wouldn't recommend to everyone. To wit, I married a Spanish teacher.

Anyway, I got a lot out of it, aside from a new collection of cuss words and the ability to drive native Spanish speakers to tears in a matter of minutes. I think learning a new language does something new and kind of cool to the brain.

And here's some scientific evidence for that.

Que bueno.

99% SPRING AND EVERYTHING AFTER discussed here.

CALLING BS. Here's my friend Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo calling for just a little tiny bit of truth and rationality on coal issues. Holy Kantian heteronomy, Batman!

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