To go on strike, you need demands. Oh, and a union helps, too.

Lacking those two details, it's tough for me to follow the TV writers' lead and walk out. So, as self-elected president of Columnists After Some Help (CASH), I'm staying (mostly) silent today. I've allowed a few readers to cross the picket dot - one person cannot constitute a line - to fill in during the monthly feedback column.

Times and Racine

Recently I wondered aloud about the New York Times' interest in Racine. With three glowing stories in a couple of years, the big paper obviously has a crush on us.

It does make me chuckle when outside press glosses over the bad stuff Racinians endure, but locals could also take a lesson from the outsiders and notice the positives.

Julie Jacob wrote in, echoing the latter.

"Yes, I truly believe this city has a major inferiority complex. I lived in Chicago for 15 years before moving back to Racine three months ago. It is striking how fiercely proud native Chicagoans are of their city, warts (and Chicago has some major warts such as rotten schools, high taxes, corruption and poor public service) and all.

She gave an example of a friend who called a national store to request packages not be left outside her mother's door because they could be stolen.

"The customer service representative said 'I'm sorry your mom has to live in a neighborhood like that,' " Jacob wrote. "My friend was outraged. 'How dare she criticize my neighborhood!' she said. 'That's where I grew up, and she shouldn't say that about my home.'

"Now, if that same situation had happened with a person in Racine … well, that Racine native would say 'Oh, yes, you're absolutely right. Racine is a terrible place to live. It's the worst place to live. It's horrible.'

"Yes, Racine has a huge problem with poverty, crime and unemployment. But it also has a serious problem with residents who like to rip apart their city and constantly compare it unfavorably to other places."

'The Golden Compass'

As churches tried to convince people to boycott the movie "The Golden Compass", I wrote they were only making things worse.

The movie is based on a book by atheist Philip Pullman, whose views I described as nasty. That drew a letter from reader Dave Nelson, an atheist himself.

"Philip Pullman is nasty because his views are contrary to those of Mike and his Catholicism," he wrote, summing up my opinion.

Speaking of contrary views, he went on: "I have met Mike on a few occasions. He is a nice enough young man. It's just that having had the good fortune to have been born with above-average intelligence and then having had the further good fortune to have had an above-average education, he then chooses to turn his back on all that and willingly put his mind in thrall to a motley collection of old myth and folklore."

He picked a strange occasion to suggest my faith clouds my reasoning. It may pain him to admit it, but he had the "good fortune" to agree with me on the column's main point.

"I am not a moviegoer. I probably would not have gone to see 'The Golden Compass' had the Church not made such a fuss about it," he wrote. "But since it did I think that I will see it, just out of curiosity."

Paying it forward

Last week I wrote about "paying it forward," the brand of pass-it-on generosity that won Wind Lake's Philip Bosanko an award. A reader wrote back to tell me about her own experience after getting stuck in a snow bank driving to see her grandkids on Highway 38 between 5 Mile and 6 Mile roads shortly before Christmas.

"A young lady dressed all in spotless white and wearing a red, short jacket came to help. She knew just what to do. She scooped the snow away from the front wheels. I rocked and they pushed. The slush and mud flew everywhere. Her white pants, shoes and shirt were splashed with mud.

"She would not accept anything but our thanks, only asking us to pay it forward with good deeds to others."

Mike Moore can be reached at (262) 631-1724 or via e-mail at: mike.moore@lee.net