The "historic growth" in financing for veterans' health care claimed by Anthony J. Principi, the secretary of veterans affairs (letter, Aug. 24), will do little to improve the plight of veterans facing long waits for treatment.
DOOR WIDE OPEN: A Beat Love Affair in Letters, 1957-1958 By Jack Kerouac and Joyce Johnson Viking ($24.95, hardcover) From commentary on the letters by Joyce Johnson: Many of my new acquaintances didn't live in apartments like most New Yorkers.
"Since a nonshareholder has no legal right to participate in a co-op's corporate affairs, the letter writer has not suffered any violation of his civil rights by being denied membership on the corporation's interviewing committee".
Signed by Alastair M. Fitzpayne, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs, the letter makes it clear that Shawn Carter (a k a Jay-Z) and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter were not given any special treatment, nor did they go to Cuba illegally, as many travelers do, by flying through a foreign airport.
"People in the world expect war-oriented policies, occupation, bullying, deception and intimidation of nations and imposing discriminatory policies on them and international affairs, which have evoked hatred toward American leaders, to be replaced by ones advocating justice, respect for human rights, friendship and noninterference in other countries' affairs," the letter said, according to ISNA.
The same case occurred on the topic and text type, for a multitude of topics scattered in six types of texts and ranged from the abstract (i.e., argumentation, exposition) to the concrete (i.e., manual, comment on current affairs, business letter).
"Our investigation uncovered substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment, and institutional inertia, leading to the belief by many tax-exempt applicants that the IRS targeted them based on their political affairs," the letter said.
Joyce Johnson's eight books include the 1983 National Book Critics Circle Award winner Minor Characters, the recent memoir Missing Men, the novel In the Night Café, and Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters, 1957 1958 (with Jack Kerouac).
"At a time when the president appears to have solidified a transactional approach to foreign affairs," the letter said, "it is incumbent upon Congress to ensure that moral concerns, particularly America's commitment to defending human rights, remain a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy".
