Bill Sykes' Newsletter from America.
(October 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
October Newsletter - Part B
Preface:
The initial contents of this edition may come as a surprise to some
of my supporters, and maybe a sigh of relief from others, but there comes a time
in ones life, especially when one is rapidly approaching and passing their "sell
by date", that changes have to be made, and after much thought, due deliberation,
and in some ways a feeling of sadness, I feel that now is the time to retire
from my amateur journalistic status before I outlive my usefulness to society.
One should know when to step down gracefully:
As I said in the preface, this may come as a
shock to some and a relief to others. On
this very day four years ago, (September 11th 2001), the
day that war came to American soil in the form of Muslim
terrorist actions against New York and Washington D.C,
I started writing what was to become known as the Bill
Sykes newsletter "View from America" which
has been published on a monthly basis ever since on the www.huddersfield1.co.uk website.
(And also believe it or not the newsletter get a honourable
mention on Google).
The published articles have covered a very wide range of topics and a varied
field of information, (plus my personal comments), which I chose mainly because
of their topical nature and current applicability to everyday life both in
the United States and overseas.
I must admit that many of the subjects that I chose had controversial issues
woven into them which required the readership to think for themselves and provide
their own answers, which I encouraged them to do at all times as the monthly
newsletters were meant to be a forum for public discussion. No return comment,
(whether it was good, bad, or indifferent), was ever ignored and was given
wherever possible an immediate reply, and at a later stage after receiving
authorization from the writer many of the comments from the readers were considered
for publication.
Now let me get down to the crux of the matter:
 After due consideration of all the known and unknown
parameters of the latter stages of life, (and for no other
reason), it is with many regrets and more than a little
foreboding that I have come to the conclusion that the
time is now appropriate for me to step down from the platform
of private and public opinion and discontinue my monthly
series of Newsletters from America on the www.huddersfield1.co.uk website.
During the last four years I’ve been very fortunate
to have been given the opportunity by my friend and colleague
Peter the webmaster of Huddersfield One,
to produce nearly fifty monthly editions of "View
from America",
each with around four thousand words, and even in some
cases many more when I got carried away and became exhilarated
with a subject matter that interested me. So if my mathematics
are correct, that is probably more than two hundred thousand
words that have been published during the last four years.
I wonder who apart from myself and
Peter have read every one of those words, or
even half of them.
Even though it has taken a lot of hard work and has been
very time consuming to research and develop stories that
I considered to be newsworthy and then add my personal
comments plus various anecdotes that I considered to be
of general interest, I have found the work to be extremely
satisfying, worthwhile, and for me certainly productive
in keeping the diminishing memory cells in this aging brain
of mine reasonably active, and I have tried to live up
to my personal aim of delivering items of interest which
would educate or entertain the readers without malice or
vindictiveness. There is one thing for sure, I have never
shirked the responsibility of expressing opinions that
may have been be considered in certain instances to be
unfavourable, such as my disbelief of religious teachings,
and have given my honest opinion without malice aforethought
and without fear or favour, whether such opinions were
considered to be acceptable or not acceptable in this world
of political correctness.
A major contributor to my work has been the collaboration
and tolerance shown to my choice of subject matter by the
Peter who has offered friendship,
professional advice when needed, and critique of my amateur
journalistic offerings when necessary.
Peter has been extremely
supportive at all times in this venture and has provided
a high degree of intelligence in editing the bare draft
material that I have provided and placing it in readable
paragraphs and also adding relative supporting graphics
to the written text.
I must give Peter a great deal of
credit for allowing me the freedom to choose the subjects
and add my opinions without ever expressing a negative
opinion about the subject matter or the content, and for
publishing the articles verbatim without deviation from
the basic principles that I set for myself.
I must thank the many readers who have provided
comments, inputs, and support for the newsletter, and at
times have critiqued, (which is their prerogative), some
of the articles that I have produced.
A number of the reader’s letters have been published, (after I obtained
the reader’s authorization to do so), for as I say these newsletters
are supposed to be a public forum for discussion and as such they are open
to praise or critique, and even disagreement when warranted.
As I mentioned previously, every letter that I have received from any reader,
good, bad, or indifferent, was acknowledged and where possible a personal e-mail
response was sent to the reader within twenty-four hours of receipt.
Ladies and Gentlemen please accept my sincere thanks for the support and encouragement
that you have given me over the last four years, it has been very much appreciated.
I do so hope that you have enjoyed the somewhat controversial offerings that
I have provided, and I of course would be delighted if you would keep in touch
with me from time to time on any subject, as I am very much indebted to you
for the friendship shown and must add that I’ve appreciated very much
your kind words, expressions of support, and your written communications voicing
appropriate agreement or disagreement, as warranted, with my words of choice.
I know that I’m going to miss my "daily" task
of preparing, critiquing, and updating each edition of “View
from America”, as it has become a major part of my
life, but there comes a time when all good things must
come to an end and it is a wise person who knows when that
time has come. So, as I once expressed in a previous newsletter
when referring to a song sung by Joseph Locke from the
"White Horse Inn", it is with some regret that
I say, "Goodbye,
goodbye, I wish you all a last goodbye".
I do so hope that the many readers that I have come in contact with over the
last four years, and who I have corresponded with many times, will continue
to write and keep me informed as to the well being of themselves and their
families, for after all we have been fellow travellers on the path of seeking
knowledge and acknowledging truth on a monthly basis for the past four years
and I still need some personal contact with the outside world in order to retain
a degree of sanity.
The last word goes to my friend Peter who without his
help, computer expertise, and his personal understanding
of what I was trying to achieve, there would never have
been the Bill Sykes Newsletter from America, written in
my own inimitable style, without ever transgressing from
my philosophy of treating all people equal and without
bowing to either “fear or favour” with respect
to comments made or discussions entered into.
Thank you Peter - and thank you all the readers that
have corresponded with me over the years - and also my
thanks goes to all the readers that I have never known
and who have remained invisible and somewhat speechless
over the years by never expressing any opinion, good, bad,
or indifferent.
I remain yours sincerely.
Eric (Bill) Sykes. (Southern California).
bill25ca@hotmail.com
Comment From Peter:
It is with great sadness that I bid farewell, on behalf
of the contributors and readers of Huddersfield One,
to Bill and wish him long life and happiness. It's been
a pleasure working with you! Please feel free to call
in the next time you are in Huddersfield.
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