Of Quicken, Flypaper and Moyers May 25, 2005January 18, 2017 MORE NOSTALGIA SET TO MUSIC Remember flypaper? Click here. QUICKEN Charles Mathes: ‘I’ve been struggling with Quicken for years, but every time I use the program I still have pangs for MYM. Somehow in my memory your DOS program seems like it was not only simpler, more logical and friendlier to bookkeeping novices like me, but more powerful.’ ☞ Most of the credit for MYM goes to the unsung – first and foremost technical architect Jerry Rubin, and then a slew of really bright young college students and recent grads (who are probably grandfathers by now) like Spencer Martin and Jim Russell and Steve Wagar, Mike Starkey and just so many more. I was so fortunate to be part of that team. It was enormous fun, and I still use MYM DOS V12 all these years later. (If it works, why fix it?) SLOWEN Jeff Covey: ‘I’ve been a user and fan of gnucash for several years, but for those looking for a Quicken alternative that they can run on Windows, I just saw this review.’ MOYERS Mike Myler: ‘I may have to quit reading your column…I am getting too depressed and my blood pressure sky rockets when I see this stuff. I am a big fan of Moyers. You can just tell he is a good guy, integrity, etc. After you questioned the lack of outrage over the leaked British memo about our intelligence being ‘fixed around the policy’ to justify attacking Iraq, I noticed a few days later four or five paragraphs on page 17 in the Chicago Tribune that 90 House Democrats had sent a letter to the President wanting answers. I thought maybe something would happen, but nothing since. I have not seen anything on network news about it. This whole thing reads like a novel and I am afraid to see how it ends. I tell people about these things that are going on and they ask me ‘if it’s true why isn’t it being reported?’ I printed the Moyers speech and am going to show it to people but I know all I will get in response is ‘liberal press.” ☞ Speaking of novels, the scary thing about The Plot Against America (Philip Roth’s latest) is how easily one thing leads to another. The price of liberty, someone once said, is eternal vigilance. Skip Sherrod: ‘Your statement . . . But, people: there is something scary going on when, for example, a majority of those who voted for the winning party believe we were attacked by a country that in fact did not attack us. . . . offered without proof, set off my BS alarm big time. A calico cat also came to mind. My challenge to you would be to produce one republican who claims a specific country attacked us on 9/11 and not Al-Qaeda.’ ☞ The calico cat story is confirmed by the husband of the US Ambassador to the Netherlands at the time of the event. (Note that my post did not say Ashcroft believes calico cats are a sign of the devil; rather, that his advance team SAID he believes that . . . and was also worried about whether the sexually suggestive statue in the courtyard would need to be covered for his visit.) As for your ‘challenge’ – my challenge to you would be to explain why a majority of the people who voted for President Bush came to believe that Iraq played a significant role in 9/11. Seriously: why do you think that happened? (Polls show that as many as 70% Republican voters did believe that.) Matt Ball: ‘Please, don’t apologize for posting Palast! The ‘Right’ has very effectively shut down dissent – and even discussion – in this country. Michael Moore is a ‘traitor.’ Al Gore is ‘screamer’ who is ‘off his meds.’ Whoopi’s joke makes an event a ‘liberal hate fest.’ And the media parrot their lines. Meanwhile, the ‘Right’ depends on true screamers (Rush, Hannity, etc.). Where were the Bush voters’ voices then, begging for ‘moderation’ and ‘logic’?’