“Contra” dance
Your summary of the 2006 bills that have the potential for ”chipping away at Roe” [“Virginia’s newest battleground,” January 17] was very helpful. However, I can’t understand the language you quoted for House Bill 187, where you say the bill would make it illegal for doctors to assist an unmarried woman in any technology “that completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of contraception including, but not limited to artificial insemination…” Surely it should say “conception.” Either the bill is worded wrong or you misquoted it. I doubt that sexual intercourse or any of the cited alternatives can be considered to be contraception.
David Miller
Stoney Creek
The editor responds: Mr. Miller is correct. Where were our heads? House Bill 187 forbids using technology that replaces sexual intercourse as a means of conception, of course, not contraception. That miswording was undoubtedly the result of the author’s wishful thinking! Additionally, we misidentified Lynchburg’s new State delegate. Her name is Shannon Valentine.
We care about Caravati!
Mr. John Borgmeyer’s article regarding City Councilman Blake Caravati [“Cara-vati says au revoir to City Council,” 7 Days, January 10] was just forwarded to me. Regardless of one’s political orientation, Mr. Caravati’s selfless dedication to the Charlottesville community has been admirable in every respect. Mr. Caravati’s tireless commitment to Charlottesville is measured in decades, and news of his impending retirement represents a loss for the entire community.
Mr. Borgmeyer characterized Councilman Caravati’s untiring service to the Char-lottesville community as “eight years of uttering indecipherable folkisms.” This simplistic reduction of Mr. Caravati’s service is insulting to all longtime members of this community.
It has been my experience over the years that the wisdom contained in our rich heritage of “folkisms” is invaluable to those blessed with the ability to decipher that treasure trove of knowledge.
One noted politician, Benjamin Frank-lin, was famous for his use of “folkisms.” Franklin, an accomplished journalist in
his own right, made extensive use of “folkisms” in his Poor Richard’s Almanac. Folkisms, like clichés, are often the rich oral tradition of learned knowledge passed from generation to generation. Often this articulated wisdom has stood the test of time over centuries, and
has endured by virtue of the truth contained therein.
It may be that Mr. Borgmeyer finds himself far too sophisticated to trouble himself with searching for the wisdom contained in our rich tradition of “folkisms.” Perhaps Mr. Borgmeyer suffers from a case of “faux” intellectualism in which he finds this rich oral tradition simply “quaint.” I am reminded of a treatise from Herbert Spencer that may be helpful in broadening Mr. Borgmeyer’s selective intellectual curiosity:
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”
Should Mr. Borgmeyer wish to escape the trap of ”everlasting ignorance” in regard to his reported “indecipherable folkisms,” I would be pleased to assist him in learning to decipher the wisdom contained therein.
Thomas M. Wilson
Woodbridge