A Looking-Glass Self: Reflections on Religion, Current Events, and Other Subjects

April 2002 - February 2009 Archive

Reflections on Religion, Current Events, and Other Subjects

Editorials Blog Index | SocioSphere™ | MarkFoster.NETwork™

Initial thoughts on W. Mark Felt as Deep Throat:

Felt's actions appear, to me, to have been very inconsiderate. After three men concealed his identity for more than three decades, shouldn't Felt have given one or more of them, rather than Vanity Fair, the opportunity to break the story?
In asserting that they will not reveal Deep Throat's identity until his passing, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Ben Bradlee have, effectively, made themselves irrelevant. For their sakes, I hope they reconsider. [Addendum: This statement, #2, is no longer relevant, since, later in the day, all three of these journalists confirmed it.]

posted at 01:05:12 PM by Dr. Mark A. Foster

Here is Jack Cafferty's response to a message I sent him. (The message is at the end.) Bill Hemmer was harassing (teasing?) Jack about paying for certain things connected with his daughter. Finally, Jack said something to the effect that after "a short-timer like yourself" leaves, the rest of us will have to deal with everything. (Hemmer will likely leave CNN's American Morning.)

Here is the dialogue:

From: "Cafferty, Jack"
To: "'Mark A. Foster'"
Subject: RE: Hemmer
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 09:47:53 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2657.72)
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
X-Seen-By: ns-mail01
X-PMX-Version: 4.7.1.128075, Antispam-Engine: 2.0.3.2, Antispam-Data: 2005.5.27.11
Return-Path: Jack.Cafferty@turner.com
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 27 May 2005 13:48:02.0493 (UTC) FILETIME=[B384CED0:01C562C2]

Jack,

I think that Hemmer was trying to trap you to saying something online about his difficulties with CNN. I wish you wouldn't have fallen for it.

Mark A. Foster, PhD * Prof. of Sociology * mfoster@jccc.edu
Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas, US
913-469-8500x3376 * Mobile 913-768-4244 * VOIP 347-983-0161
Fax 913-469-2589 * http://MarkFoster.net * Office GEB 151-D

Continuing the dialogue, here was Jack's response to my next message:

From: "Cafferty, Jack" To: "'Mark A. Foster '"
Subject: RE: Hemmer
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 16:32:31 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2657.72)
X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.1.2
X-Mlf-Threat: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.1.2
X-Mlf-Threat-Detailed: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version

Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C562FB.2974D7A6
X-Seen-By: ns-mail01
X-PMX-Version: 4.7.1.128075, Antispam-Engine: 2.0.3.2, Antispam-Data: 2005.5.27.25
Return-Path: Jack.Cafferty@turner.com
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 27 May 2005 20:32:48.0019 (UTC) FILETIME=[3ED1FE30:01C562FB]

thanks for the kind words

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark A. Foster
To: Cafferty, Jack
Sent: 5/27/2005 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: Hemmer

Jack,

>>you're wrong<<

Re: Hemmer trying to trap you into mentioning his status with the CNN bosses, I hope you are right. *You* are what makes the show interesting to watch.

posted at 10:44:27 AM by Dr. Mark A. Foster

"And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire"

-- Rev. 20:14.

If death and Hades (hell) are cast into the lake of fire, then how can the lake of fire be Hell? Even separation from God will be purified by fire.

Also:

"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there."

-- Psalms 139:7-8

If we are in Hell, that does not indicate that God has left us. In fact, we are all in both Heaven and Hell. They are relative conditions.

posted at 11:34:18 PM by Dr. Mark A. Foster

Sent to CNN's American Morning:

I remember when the World Trade Center was being constructed. I, like a lot of people, hated it. The Twin Towers were the butt of a lot of jokes.

Now, however, the situation has changed. I am a native New Yorker, and they knocked those buildings, ugly as they may have been, down. I say, rebuild them.

posted at 06:30:51 AM by Dr. Mark A. Foster

From Dr. Susan Maneck (posted on talk.religion.bahai):

Baha'u'llah said creatures *khalq* not life. I suppose you are aware that Allah created the stars and planets and everything on them?

I'm arguing that khalq certainly includes rocks.

I don't really expect the Guardian to be that literal in his translations anyhow. In the Tablet of Ahmad he translates the word for 'dove' as 'nightingale.' The term 'khalq' can refer to any created thing, but even if He meant living creatures it would still be silly to take His words that literally.

posted at 12:59:59 PM by Dr. Mark A. Foster