The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Archives - Page 47 of 56

The New Pearl Harbor

By Chris Carosa on December 8, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the December 6, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Thirty-nine years ago, the United States government misinterpreted some very clear signals being sent by the Japanese. Depending on your point of view, a very naïve or very calculating Franklin Delano Roosevelt failed to prepare for the growing military aggression Japan would soon unleash upon an unsuspecting United States.

In his best-selling book At Dawn We Slept, Gordon W. Prange maintains the Japanese should have never surprised the Continue Reading “The New Pearl Harbor”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Foriegn Policy, Japan, PAC, politics

How to Declare War

By Chris Carosa on December 1, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 29, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

What the Constitution says: The Constitution of the United States of America clearly states only Congress can declare war on another nation. Our founding fathers correctly determined the impropriety of putting an entire nation at risk as a result of one person having too much authority. Though naming him Commander-in-Chief, they astutely forbade the President from declaring war.

Constitutional scholars call this juxtaposition the separation of powers. The separation of powers between the three major branches of government creates a very durable system of Continue Reading “How to Declare War”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Commander-in-Chief, Congress, Constitution, Grenada, Gulf War, Iraq, James Madison, Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Panama, President George H.W. Bush, President Nixon, Saddam, Thomas Jefferson, Vietnam, War Powers Act

Fill Out The Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Survey!!!

By Chris Carosa on November 24, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 22, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

(N.B.: The author is a member of the Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Community Task Force and gratefully thanks everyone in the Mendon Fire District for completing their survey.)

By now, many of the households in the Mendon Fire District should have received their Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Community Opinion Survey. Being only one page in length and with return postage provided, it’s very simple to fill out. In addition, it’s very Continue Reading “Fill Out The Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Survey!!!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged DiPalma's Restaurant, Honeoye Falls Rotary, Mendon, Mendon Academy, Mendon Business Association, Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse, Mendon Fire District, Mendon Town Republican Committee, Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Community Task Force, St. Catherine's

Consumer-Oriented Cars

By Chris Carosa on November 17, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 15, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

The American automobile industry, and General Motors in particular, has failed to successfully incorporate consumer behavior into their American marketing efforts. Market share data clearly shows the industry’s poor performance. From 1978 to 1989, the market share of the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) has fallen from 82% to 67%. (“Detroit Under Siege,” The Economist, April 14, 1990). Furthermore, GM itself saw its market share drop from 46% in 1979 to 35% in 1989. (“Detroit’s Big Three,” The Economist, April 14, 1990). Only in light of overwhelmingly negative market share figures has GM finally begun to realign its organizational structure to address the critical consumer behavior issues.

GM’s Failure

We can see GM failed to recognize or successfully execute upon four basic assumptions of Continue Reading “Consumer-Oriented Cars”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Big Three, Chrysler, Detroit, Ford, Four Basic Assumptions of Consumer Behavior, General Motors, GM, Kansei, Saturn

White Cream Donuts

By Chris Carosa on November 10, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 8, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

To the world: I apologize. I confess to a vice of unimaginable corruption. I am truly sorry. In my regret, I confront a life-long affliction – my passionate ardor for… white cream donuts.

It began as a child. On bright sunny Sundays, my parents would take me, my brother and my sisters to the donut shop after church. As soon as my father parked the car, we would joyfully yank open the doors and leap out into the modest bakery. Inside, our nostrils filled with the warm sweet smell of freshly made donuts. We had Continue Reading “White Cream Donuts”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Donuts & Cream, Growing Up, M-Cubed, Mendon, Orchard Park, Wegmans, White Cream Donuts

The Environmental Bond Act – Why People are Voting “No!”

By Chris Carosa on November 3, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 1, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

(Author’s Note: What follows is a factual review of next Tuesday’s Ballot Box Proposition #1 – the 21^st Century Environmental Quality Bond Act. While I try to fairly present both sides of the issue, the reader should be aware that I am co-chairman of People for People and the Environment, a non-partisan grass roots organization which has taken a position in opposition to the Bond Act.)

Last spring, in the days following the 20^th anniversary of Earth Day, governor Cuomo and the rest of Albany agreed to offer voters of New York State a choice. Our state government has asked us if we will allow them to borrow nearly $2 billion for Continue Reading “The Environmental Bond Act – Why People are Voting “No!””

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Earth Day, Environmental Bond Act, Mario Cuomo, New York State, People for People and the Environment

American Egalitarianism

By Chris Carosa on October 27, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 25, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Is America equal?

We immediately respond with a resounding “Yes!” As youngsters, we begin learning the lessons of the American saga. A free and open democracy – like that in the United States – implies and demands a society of equals. Our founding fathers’ forged the idea of “one man, one vote.” (Most of us forgive our ancestors, who took nearly 150 years to add “one woman, one vote” to our forbears’ edict.)

Yet, can a society in which less than 1 percent of the population owns more than 20Continue Reading “American Egalitarianism”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam Smith, class warfare, Daniel Moynihan, Founding Father, Great Society, Horatio Alger, King George, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, life, Lyndon Johnson, Social Darwinism, Social Mobility, Thomas Jefferson

Penalize Colorado! Ethics Begins on the Football Field

By Chris Carosa on October 20, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 18, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Sure I wanted Notre Dame to score on that last second touchdown pass. Just like a lot of other people, I was disappointed when the receiver dropped the ball. Yet, something else occurred on that particular Saturday which upset me even more.

College football bashing seems to be a regular event among the more erudite columnists. Many people complain the big money business of NCAA football runs counter to the spirit of the educational university. Certainly, we can’t encourage putting bucks ahead of books. But a solid education must Continue Reading “Penalize Colorado! Ethics Begins on the Football Field”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1972 Olympic basketball, Bill McCartney, Colorado, education, ethics, Extracurricular Activities, fair play, football, honesty, NCAA, philosophy, Vince Lombardi

The Speed of Light

By Chris Carosa on October 13, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 11, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. It takes light about one and one-third seconds to go from the Earth to the Moon. We know this because scientists have shot lasers at the reflectors the Apollo astronauts left on the lunar surface. The Moon orbits at a distance of 240,000 miles from the Earth.

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. The light emitted from our Sun has aged a little over eight minutes by the time it hits the Earth. The Earth circles the Sun from a span of 93 million miles away.

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. That’s equal to nearly six trillion miles in one year. We refer to this distance as one light-year. The nearest star (Proxima Centauri) looms a mere 4.3 light-years from our Solar System. That translates to just Continue Reading “The Speed of Light”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alpha Centauri, Apollo, distance to moon, distance to Sun, Einstein, ether, Galilean Transformation, Galileo, light-year, Michelson, Michelson-Morley, Morley, Newton, Principia, Proxima Centauri, Relativity, science fiction, Speed of light, Theory of Relativity, wave-particle duality

EDITORIAL

By Chris Carosa on October 6, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 4, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]
No Carosa Commentary appeared this week. In its place appeared an unsigned Editorial concerning the school budget vote.

Next Week #79: Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions (originally published on September 27, 1990)
Next Week #81: The Speed of Light (originally published on October 11, 1990)

[What is this and why is here? See Interested in Discovering My Time Machine? for more details.]

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries