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Notebook Entries, Nov. 25, 2003

Notebook entry, November 25, 2003

Once again it has been a few weeks since my last entry, and it appears that I am in a serious drifting period in my life. I am not studying as hard or intensely as I have in the past -- and worse -- not writing down those important thoughts -- perhaps, the worst part is that the flow of ideas has slowed down. Of course, not having a notebook to use on my lunch hour at work has not helped; and not being able to use the main computer (its hard on my old eyes and disturbs Diana when she sleeps late. If you remember earlier entries, I have no study and the computer is situated in our bedroom, and she has been on vacation for the past week).

However, the impact of my sister in-law, Bettina, moving in with Diana and me appears to be greater than I had anticipated. She has been here since the American Labor Day holiday, (Sept 1, 2003) and has worked only four days. She does not appear to be adjusting well; she misses New York City, and makes many calls to her aunt in NYC complaining about this or that. Denver is somewhat like Los Angeles in that you need a vehicle to get around and is just about required for a job. We have the old 1994 Ford Aspire at her disposal to use, but it has a manuel transmission and despite the fact that Diana has taken her five or six times to a large abandoned parking lot for practice, she appears to have difficulty in learning the proper shifting process. Since Bettina is a graduate Bronx High School of Science, and has a college degree from Colorado State University, I have difficulty in believing that she can't "figure out" the stick shift. I think it is more like a reluctance to leave the house and start employment. I personally feel that she is supreme at playing the victim and and any excuse to whine and postpone appears to be the norm that is emerging. If I remove my own personal bias from the equation, and just observe movement of her actions, it would appear that each day gives strength to my argument.

The bottom line here is that she is here on my days off which, in the past, I have devoted to productive study and writing. It is difficult to study intensely when someone walks past you here and there. Since the condominium is only 1000 square feet, one does not have a place for complete isolation, and thus, optimum conditions.

Oh, is all of this an excuse for me to whine and complain and postpone study??? Hmmm....interesting.

Oh well, I'm getting a new notebook soon -- perhaps next week -- not sure on the design or make, other than it will have Wi-Fi capability so that I can work on the web site in the dinning room, and perhaps on the road in California when I visit my granddaughter.

Hey, she's almost eight months old now. Let me paste one of the latest photos here.

You don't think that I'm a doting grandparent do you? I mean, you know that there must be a grandparent gene, right? And so it is very appropriate for me to take pride in my genetic passing, right?
Here's Michala!!!! (MA-KAY-LA)

Notebook entry, November 15, 2003

I'm still catching up with my email after my California trip, and wanted to mention a piece by the notable science writer, Natalie Angier. Her piece, in the online edition of The New York Times, dated Nov. 11, 2003, is: Is War Our Biological Destiny? In my humble opinion, Ms. Angier is usually lineral and lucid in her writings, but for the first time, she appears to wander a bit....almost circumspect and musing on the subject. She does bring out that our world is mostly a cooperative venture rather then the violent mess that appears to be happening on our television screens. She brings up the chimpanzees and bonobo, with the correct finger pointing to the chimpanzees as the violent and most likely our primate ancestor after the two split to become two species. I include the first thress paragraphs to wet your intellignece, and provide the link to the article below.

"In these days of hidebound militarism and round-robin carnage, when even that beloved ambassador of peace, the Dalai Lama, says it may be necessary to counter terrorism with violence, it's fair to ask: Is humanity doomed? Are we born for the battlefield — congenitally, hormonally incapable of putting war behind us? Is there no alternative to the bullet-riddled trapdoor, short of mass sedation or a Marshall Plan for our DNA?

Was Plato right that "Only the dead have seen the end of war"?

In the heartening if admittedly provisional opinion of a number of researchers who study warfare, aggression, and the evolutionary roots of conflict, the great philosopher was, for once, whistling in a cave. As they see it, blood lust and the desire to wage war are by no means innate. To the contrary, recent studies in the field of game theory show just how readily human beings establish cooperative networks with one another, and how quickly a cooperative strategy reaches a point of so-called fixation. Researchers argue that one need not be a Pollyanna, or even an aging hippie, to imagine a human future in which war is rare and universally condemned."

Here is the line to the article. If you are not pre-registered, you will have to log-in, but the article is free (for now)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/11WAR.html?ex=1070859600&en=689fe2549293f&ei=570

Notebook entry, November 13, 2003

Here is the final email from Allison Hill, producer of the show, Drawing the Line. It briefly details the other panelists on the show.

To: William A. Sprigg
Fm: Allison Hill-KBDI
Oct 14, 2003 2:29pm
Sub: Show on Reparations

Dear William Spriggs,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner - I was at home sick all afternoon and came in late this morning. I will try and call you later this afternoon with a rundown. In the meantime let me put your mind at rest - you'll get to the station and eithet myself, or one of my associate producers - Amy
Larson or Ed Alcantara - will greet you and offer you a beverage! We will then lead you to our conference room where you can meet Reggie and the rest of the guests and chat about the upcoming show. The other guests on the show are: Douglas Bruce - he does a lot of campaigning for tax reform - look
up his name on the internet or check out ActColorado.org. and Jessica Corey from the Independence Institute is also on the show, as well as Molly Secours.

Hope you are well and I'm sure you will do an excellent job tomorrow night! I look forward to meeting you then.

The directions will be included in this e-mail.

Sincerely,

Alison Hill
Producer
KBDI Chaennl 12
(303) 296-1212 Ext;231

How to Find Us
KBDI is located in the Five Points Media Center (a large, three-story white
building), just northeast of downtown Denver at
2900 Welton St.
>>From the North:
Take I-25 (South); Stay to the right as I-25 approaches the interchange with
I-70; Take the Park Avenue exit to the right
immediately after going through the interchange; Bear left, following the
Park Ave. signs as the exit goes up and over I-25; As
it goes east, Park becomes 23rd St.; Follow 23rd past Coors Field all the
way to Welton (you will know Welton because the light
rail lines run along it); Turn left onto Welton; KBDI is located 6 blocks
ahead on the right-hand side.
Click here to see a map of the area

>>From the East:
Take I-70 (West); Bear right onto ramp to Washington St.; Turn left onto
Washington St.; Follow as road goes into 38th St.;
Bear right onto Walnut St. [Hwy 33]; Bear left onto Downing St.; Bear right
onto California St.; Turn left onto E 29th St.;
KBDI is located 2 blocks ahead on the left-hand side.
>>From the South:
Head north on Broadway; Near I-25 (where Broadway becomes a one-way south),
bear right onto Lincoln St. (which runs one-way
north); Take Lincoln all the way through downtown; Stay in right lane as
Lincoln takes a half-left turn at 20th Street;
Immediately turn right onto Welton St; Stay on Welton St. for 9 blocks. KBDI
is located on the right-hand-side.
Alternate Route: Head north on Broadway; Turn left onto US 285 (West); Turn
right onto US 85 (North); Follow as road goes into
S. Santa Fe Dr.; Continue onto Santa Fe Dr.; Continue onto Stout St.; Turn
right onto 28th St.; Turn left onto Welton St.; KBDI
is located one block further on the right-hand side.
>>From the West:
Take US 6 East; Bear right onto ramp to I-25 (North); Follow as road goes
into I-25 (North); Bear right onto US 287+40 (East);
Turn left onto Stout St.; Turn right onto 28th St.; Turn left onto Welton
St.; KBDI is located one block further.
Public Transportation:
RTD Light Rail stops right in front of the building at the corner of 29th
and Welton St. For information about routes and
timetables, check out the RTD Schedule Finder.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you go to notebook entry, November 2, 2003, and view the pictures, the participants from left to right are as follows:

Myself, Reggie Rivers, Molly Secours, Douglas Bruce, and Jesica Corey.

Notebook entry, November 12, 2003.

Here, as promised, are the developing emails between myself and the producer of the TV show, Drawing the Line with Reggie Rivers.:
Oct 8, 2003

Dear William A. Spriggs,

My name is Alison Hill, and I'm a producer working for KBDI Channel 12 in Denver. One of the shows I produce is "Drawing The
Line With Reggie Rivers", an hour long, live, call-in, roundtable discussion program with a special emphasis on how issues
affect our civil liberties.

Next week we are hoping to tackle the issue of slave reparations and whether the government should commission a study to
investigate the long term effects of the slave trade.

We are looking for people on both sides of the issue, and understand that you are in support of reparations. Our table
accommodates four panelists, and we have already secured one person who is also in favor of this study being commissioned.

If you are interested, we would like to extend an invitation for you to join us as a guest on our show next week.

This program will be broadcast live on Wednesday, October 15th, 2003, from 8:00pm until 9:00pm.
We ask guests to be present at the Channel 12 studios, located at 2900 Welton Street in Denver (29th and Welton) at 7:30 pm.

I look forward to hearing from and very much hope you will be able to join us as a guest on "Drawing The Line With Reggie
Rivers."
Sincerely,
Alison Hill
Producer
KBDI Channel 12
(303) 296-1212 ext:231
alison_hill@kbdi.pbs.org

And my reply:

Fm: William A. Spriggs
To: Allison Hill-KBDI
Sub: Re: Show on reparations
Thurs, Oct 10, 2003 4:51am

Allison.
Thanks for making my day.
I accept, but only under the condition that you fully understand who I am.
I am but a humble letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service who has a
great interest in how social issues have evolved through evolution. I have
no doubts that my name has been "goggled" together with reparations with the
posting of my reply to The Denver Post editorial of Sept 18, 2001
http://www.evoyage.com/BillsEssays/SlaveReparations.htm

Here is a link that gives my background.
http://www.evoyage.com/williamspriggs.htm

Please read this and make sure of your decision.

I will attempt to call you this morning between the hours of 9am to 11am.
Or if you prefer, you can attempt to call me (hang in there, it's similar to
a warehouse and I'm on the floor) at: 303-860-7950, 303-860-7954, ot
303-860-8330

Or if both attempts fail, then my home number after 5pm...303-232-4043

Look forward to chatting with you
Bill Spriggs

Notebook entry, November 2, 2003

Well, here are some really bad photos that a friend took with her camera phone of the Public Television show, Drawing the Line, with Reggie Rivers from October 15, 2003. Actually, I don't look all that bad....a sort of a distinguished elder statesman. Yeah, right. I'll have more fill-in soon about the correspondence between myself and the producer of the show, but I have to runand do some detail work elsewhere on the site.