David Letter

Thank you for the email today, it was interesting. I'm not upset about any articles you care to send me. I think it's important to hear many different views and opinions other than my own. That's how we learn and grow as people. I am curious however, as to your position on my country and it's policies, at home and abroad. I understand the political views and opinions from the editorials you send, but not your own Views and opinions. How do you see America and it's people? I know that there are many in your region that consider us the big Satan of the world. I know that this viewpoint is some times taught in schools and mosques as well. It is not unusual to see demonstrators shouting "death to America" on news from your country.  In your own opinion why is America so hated there? In my country, there isn't a lot of negativity about your country. Americans can differentiate between your governments views and it's people's views. If you would ask any American on the street how they felt about Iran, you would hear positive things. American's don't hate Iran nor it's people. I guess after reading the various articles you sent, it's made me curious of your feelings on the subject. I respect you a lot, and you are my friend. That's why it makes me somewhat saddened to think perhaps you might feel this way yourself. I hope not. I appreciate our differences, and your personal opinions, and I enjoy debating and sharing ideas with you. However, since we're friends your opinion's and ideas matter to me more. I wouldn't care about what someone else would think. If I'm being too sensitive I apologize. I guess I'm not as political minded as others. People always meant more to me than ideas and politics. We're all the same inside. Our blood is all the same color, red. It's difficult discussing things with someone, when you can't look into their eyes, and tell if they understand what you're trying to convey to them. I want you to feel that you can share anything with me, but I don't want to be the spokesman for my country's policies. I consider myself a person first, that happens to be an American citizen. Please understand my friend. I guess I may have been thinking too much about this. It's been a bad day for me today. I hope I haven't offended you in any way. Take care my brother.                                             Your friend,                                           David

Fred letter

I don't believe a person can understand the world without a bit of smarts about economics. The dollar has fallen because George Bush has (1) given a huge tax refund to the rich and (2) has built up a huge federal deficit in the U.S. Of course the 200 billion already spent on Iraq with no end in sight is a large part of this. So now we are the world's largest debtor and nobody wants to buy our treasury bills which drives the dollar down. In a similar way, the powers in Iran spend their billions on the development of nuclear weapons instead of building the country. So if you want to understand the world, begin by knowing the economic rules of survival. FRED

 I don't think I can possibly remember all the books I've read so I'll start with a few that are very good. Unfortunately, I can't recall some of the authors. "The Prize" by Daniel Yergin is a must read because
it spells out how middle east oil became so important to the west. "Stalin, The court of the Red Tsar" tells all about the hoor of the Stalin years in Russia. "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is the autobiographical story of T.E. Lawrence, popularly called "Lawrence of Arabia". It tells
how he helped the Arabs drive out the Turks around the time of WW1. Of course there are many good books about the Arab/Israeli conflict but I can't think of one right now. Also, Leon Uris wrote a fine novel about
this called "The Haj" which I highly recommend. I think these will get you
started. FRED





 Would you list me down some of the books you have read?The books you
 introduced me before were really interesting and informative at the same
 time.
 Yours