2/6/2015
Fear & America
From here in the Heartland, it looks like the terrorists have won the War on Terror. For what is the purpose of terrorism after all? To instill fear in the target, and if the target is a nation or a people, to disrupt their way of life, cause the target to expend money and manpower in futile gestures and to generally raise Havoc.
On September 11, 2001, the terrorists won. In one terrible morning, they caused us to panic. We immediately began to give away freedoms - the right for citizens to travel freely, the right to freely associate, and to a great degree the right of privacy in our daily lawful pursuits. We have squandered both treasure and and American lives in two useless wars.
Once upon a time, Americans were admired worldwide as a courageous people, quick to defend the right and punish the wrong, and who lived by the rule of law, and fervently believed in Justice For All. Not so much, now. The RWNJs (Right Wing Nut Jobs) have shoved their fear propaganda in our faces for so long now that we're beginning to believe their nonsense. A Department of Homeland Security? Really? What was it Ben Franklin said 2-300 years ago? Oh yeah: "A people who will give up freedoms for security will soon have neither." Or something like that.
Remember the heroes of Flight 93 on 9/11? They took care of business themselves, preventing an airliner from crashing into the White House. That's the true spirit of Americans: Don't Tread On Me.
Oh, and there's a group calling themselves the "Tea Party", who have hijacked the Gadsden flag (an early Revolutionary War flag) and seemingly are determined to destroy American democracy by shoving their extremist right-wing views down everybody's throats. I would remind them that the Boston Tea Party (after which they named themselves) was an act of vandalism and destruction of property in which the perpetrators dressed up as Native Americans to avoid being identified. Not really brave...
We have allowed the fear-mongers to strip away our freedom to stand up for ourselves. Now we get the black-helicopter conspiracy theorists telling us the the government is going to come and take away our guns so we can't defend ourselves. As a result you get paranoia-driven nuts walking around in public with their pistols on their belts or even their assault rifles slung on their shoulders. If there was ever a recipe for a massacre, that's it. I'm more worried about the "law-abiding gun owners" than I ever would be of terrorists.
Fear. More destructive than bombs.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Election Woes
Nov. 12, 2014
Well, The election is over. What can I say? Only that the younger generation talks a great game, but leaves it all in the locker room. The voter turnout was disgracefully small, especially among the under-thirty crowd. Whatever happened to all the outrage against the gridlock in Washington, the war against women, the religious right's attempt to eliminate the First Amendment separation of church and state, the exponentially-increasing acts of violence throughout our society, and income inequality?
Seems like there's a lot of talk, but no do. All these problems won't go away just by talking about it. Get out there and vote, or march, or rally, or whatever it takes. In the 1960s, we marched, rallied, demonstrated, protested, and did what was needed to achieve our goals: civil rights, ending a war that we never should have been in, or whatever. And yeah, some people died, but that made our resolve even stronger. Our military goes out and sometimes dies to protect our nation and what it stands for. Can't the civilians join the battle on the home front? As one of our Founding Fathers put it, "The Tree of Liberty must be watered periodically by the blood of Patriots." Freedom isn't free and there's no such thing as a free lunch, folks. Tanstaafl.
You have to make your voices heard, and sometimes it hurts, but you do it because it is the right thing to do. Americans used to be known as a courageous people who stood up for what was right. Nowadays, not so much.
Well, The election is over. What can I say? Only that the younger generation talks a great game, but leaves it all in the locker room. The voter turnout was disgracefully small, especially among the under-thirty crowd. Whatever happened to all the outrage against the gridlock in Washington, the war against women, the religious right's attempt to eliminate the First Amendment separation of church and state, the exponentially-increasing acts of violence throughout our society, and income inequality?
Seems like there's a lot of talk, but no do. All these problems won't go away just by talking about it. Get out there and vote, or march, or rally, or whatever it takes. In the 1960s, we marched, rallied, demonstrated, protested, and did what was needed to achieve our goals: civil rights, ending a war that we never should have been in, or whatever. And yeah, some people died, but that made our resolve even stronger. Our military goes out and sometimes dies to protect our nation and what it stands for. Can't the civilians join the battle on the home front? As one of our Founding Fathers put it, "The Tree of Liberty must be watered periodically by the blood of Patriots." Freedom isn't free and there's no such thing as a free lunch, folks. Tanstaafl.
You have to make your voices heard, and sometimes it hurts, but you do it because it is the right thing to do. Americans used to be known as a courageous people who stood up for what was right. Nowadays, not so much.
Police Violence
Nov. 8, 2014:
I've just read a "diary" on the Daily KOS (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/06/1342660/-Two-drastically-different-ways-police-can-subdue-a-man-armed-with-a-knife?detail=email) that I found profoundly disturbing. I urge the reader to go there and read this article and view the videos. ...
OK - now that you've read this and played the videos do you still wonder why this nation is viewed in the world as violent and savagely uncivilized? What part of "serve and protect" don't these officers understand? And regarding the cops in Saginaw, MI: have any of them received basic firearms training? I mean, 1 out of 3 hits on an unarmed man 20 feet away who didn't even run or dodge? Really? I was a better shot than any of them when I was 12 years old and had never fired a gun before! (True - I out-shot my Dad, who was an expert ex-Army WWII vet.) And I don't own anything more powerful than a pellet gun (for chasing squirrels off the bird feeder), now.
Here's my solution to this problem : Make it a federal crime for a police officer to use a firearm on any person not pointing or threatening with a firearm. Hey, that's why the Taser was invented, after all, folks.
I've just read a "diary" on the Daily KOS (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/06/1342660/-Two-drastically-different-ways-police-can-subdue-a-man-armed-with-a-knife?detail=email) that I found profoundly disturbing. I urge the reader to go there and read this article and view the videos. ...
OK - now that you've read this and played the videos do you still wonder why this nation is viewed in the world as violent and savagely uncivilized? What part of "serve and protect" don't these officers understand? And regarding the cops in Saginaw, MI: have any of them received basic firearms training? I mean, 1 out of 3 hits on an unarmed man 20 feet away who didn't even run or dodge? Really? I was a better shot than any of them when I was 12 years old and had never fired a gun before! (True - I out-shot my Dad, who was an expert ex-Army WWII vet.) And I don't own anything more powerful than a pellet gun (for chasing squirrels off the bird feeder), now.
Here's my solution to this problem : Make it a federal crime for a police officer to use a firearm on any person not pointing or threatening with a firearm. Hey, that's why the Taser was invented, after all, folks.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
'Hobby Lobby' and Women's Health
...
The arrogance of politicians (and the justice system) never ceases to amaze me. In the first place, the idea that a man (or men) not medical personnel can presume to know what is best for a woman's health and well-being, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, is ludicrous and presumptuous in the extreme.
It is obvious, of course, that those men are doing so not because they think that they really understand women's issues, but to satisfy their own twisted sense of "morality" and (chuckle) "superiority". Perhaps, as others have suggested, if a man could get pregnant, he might have a somewhat different outlook on the issue.
The recent "Hobby Lobby" decision by the Supreme Court Of The United States (hereinafter referred to as SCOTUS) has raised a storm of outrage, and rightly so. To confuse the right of freedom of religion with the regulation of for-profit corporate business, "closely-held" or not, is in itself outrageous. If Hobby Lobby was a not-for-profit religious organization, there would be nary a murmur from the public. Here's a quote for you by an anonymous Internet writer: "I'll believe corporations are people when I see one come home from Afghanistan in a body bag."
But the idea that a for-profit corporation can impose its religious beliefs on employees is not only stupid, but in direct violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, that idea is in direct contradiction to Citizens United! If a corporation is a person, then freedom of religion means that that person cannot impose its religious beliefs on another person.
The mandate of SCOTUS is to interpret and apply laws according to their constitutionality, not to ignore the Constitution as their personal beliefs dictate. When they put on those robes, personal beliefs and morality should be left in the robing room, and not brought to the bench.
The arrogance of politicians (and the justice system) never ceases to amaze me. In the first place, the idea that a man (or men) not medical personnel can presume to know what is best for a woman's health and well-being, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, is ludicrous and presumptuous in the extreme.
It is obvious, of course, that those men are doing so not because they think that they really understand women's issues, but to satisfy their own twisted sense of "morality" and (chuckle) "superiority". Perhaps, as others have suggested, if a man could get pregnant, he might have a somewhat different outlook on the issue.
The recent "Hobby Lobby" decision by the Supreme Court Of The United States (hereinafter referred to as SCOTUS) has raised a storm of outrage, and rightly so. To confuse the right of freedom of religion with the regulation of for-profit corporate business, "closely-held" or not, is in itself outrageous. If Hobby Lobby was a not-for-profit religious organization, there would be nary a murmur from the public. Here's a quote for you by an anonymous Internet writer: "I'll believe corporations are people when I see one come home from Afghanistan in a body bag."
But the idea that a for-profit corporation can impose its religious beliefs on employees is not only stupid, but in direct violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, that idea is in direct contradiction to Citizens United! If a corporation is a person, then freedom of religion means that that person cannot impose its religious beliefs on another person.
The mandate of SCOTUS is to interpret and apply laws according to their constitutionality, not to ignore the Constitution as their personal beliefs dictate. When they put on those robes, personal beliefs and morality should be left in the robing room, and not brought to the bench.
Friday, June 27, 2014
The Seven Deadly Sins - Origins
Thanksgiving Day, 1967, Riis Park – Chicago, Illinois
It’s a cold, wet day. Rain is falling, and freezing on grass blades and the hairs of your arm, and you're wishing you were home, waiting for that delicious turkey to come out of the oven. Standing there in the rain, in a line abreast of 40 or 50 other nut cases, you wonder how you got yourself into this mess. In short order that guy in the raincoat with a clipboard in his hand is going to fire a silly little blank pistol into the air, and you’re going to dash off madly across this huge puddle, up a steep embankment, and run around this stupid park for three and a half miles.
You haven’t run in competition for seven years, and then it was just the hundred-yard dash. No distance. You’re out of shape, and you smoke for God’s sake, and your girl is sitting over there in the car, no doubt agreeing that you are out of your macho mind. Thank God, Jim Weldon is there too. He’s in better shape than you are, and that way you can drop out after a lap or so without looking like a complete fink. They'll still have the five necessary to finish a team. There’s Vince Wall, Tom Blake, Chuck Krause, and Jim Kinnehan, besides Jim and yourself. Of course, Weldon has on a pair of rather nice dress slacks and his shoes are dress Oxfords, but then he’s as crazy as the rest of you.
This is all Vince’s fault, of course. You have a dark suspicion that he planned it this way right from the start. Come on down to Riis park, he said. We’re running in the Central AAU Cross-Country Championships. Cheer us on. Yeah. Right. When you get there, he spots you sitting in the car (you’d have to be out of your mind to stand outside on a day like this), and hustles over to your window. We could take third-place in team competition! All we have to do is finish five guys! You and Weldon come on and run! Are you nuts? I’ve never run more than a quarter-mile in my life! Jim’s not a runner at all! Aw, c’mon - you can do it! So reluctantly, you go with him. You don’t have running shoes, or outfit. Heavy jeans for clothes. Ordinary street shoes. Will you be OK here, Jackie? Sure, don’t worry.
On your mark! Whoops! Time to stop wool-gathering. Bang! What? Weldon is turning around and heading for the car! Damn! Double-Damn! Now you have to finish the race! Damn, again! How could he do that to me? No time to argue – gotta get moving. Up the hill. Not so bad, the first time, but then there's a long flat stretch of grass. Starting to feel it now. Damn. Not even halfway around the first lap. This isn’t good. Dance across some rocks, along a little gully, back down the slope to the track. Already been lapped by the leaders. Starting to hurt now. Want to quit, but honor-bound to keep going. Can’t let the guys down. Back up that hill. On the flat. Passed now by my buddies. They give encouraging words, and promise to help after they finish, but by now you're concentrating on your pain. You don’t register much else.
Over the rocks, down the gully, back to the track. Starting to stagger . My buddies have almost finished. Embarrassing to be lapped twice in the same lap. Once more up the hill . At the back of the pack now, dead last and all alone out there. Hear a pounding behind you. Up runs Tom Blake; little guy, lots of guts. He’s already finished his race. How’s it going? Come on, Gary; you can do it. You wish you were as confident. Runs (slow jogs?) with you for a full lap. Then Jim Kinnehan, of all people, shows up. His tactics are completely different. No encouraging and kind words here. Instead, he insults you. He curses you, he reviles you and yours. He makes you mad. All the while running backwards ahead of you. You’re so mad that for a little while you forget your pain in the need to get your hands on him, to show him you’re made of sterner stuff.
On the last lap now. One more time around, then you can stop. God, that embankment gets steeper and taller with every time around. Just barely make it up, only slipping a bit. Kinnehan still in front of you, taunting, ever just out of reach. You know now of course, what method there is in his madness, but now it doesn’t matter either way. You know you'll make it, if only because that’s the way back to the car.
Down that last slope to the track and the finish line. There’s the starter. You don’t wonder at the time of course why he’s stayed out there all this time, when everyone else has been finished for 20-30 minutes. You find out later that Vince and Chuck did everything but hold a gun to his head to persuade him to stay until you finish. You summon up all the strength and will you have left. Gotta come in with class. Kinnehan has left you, to wait at the finish line with the rest. Ok, now for the kick. Your “kick” isn’t much, but your speed increases, and you're pounding along like you really are a runner. Oddly enough, that feels good. A great psychological boost. Finally, the finish line. You can stop.
Everything’s a blur for a while after that. You remember being inside the fieldhouse at the park, collapsed on the floor while they made the awards. Yes, you won the third-place team ribbon. Of course, only three teams entered, but nonetheless...
In one of the many bull sessions in the days following the race, somebody suggests that you all could start a track club. Huh? Well, why not? You placed third in the CAAU Cross Country Championships, didn’t you? OK, then whadda we call it? Can’t be anything conventional, like South Side Ramblers, or 79th Street Runners, or something common like that. What do we believe in? I have it! The 7 Deadly Sins! Great - the name is approved by acclamation. You doodle up a logo, with a big black number seven crossed by a Devil’s pitchfork, on a scarlet background, with “DEADLY SINS” in an arc above it, and “TRACK CLUB” in a reverse arc below. Uniforms are ordered, and received.
The club rules are simple. Each of the top seven finishing members of the seven founders (Phil Hicks and Mike Wall have by now been included) are assigned a title corresponding to one of the classic seven deadly sins, according to how they finish in the club’s Bastille Day Mile, with the top five places reserved for the original five finishers of the seminal event, the 1967 CAAU Cross-Country Championships. The winner, of course receives the most coveted title of “Lust”. You have a permanent lock on “Pride”, the fifth sin, since you’re always in last place in any distance run.
The club is active for only a couple of years, with the glory days being the summer of 1968. During that summer, dual meets are held with some regularity against the University of Chicago Track Club, whose coach took a fancy to the 7DSTC’s approach to the sport: Instead of water and Gator-Ade, a cooler of beer is brought to the meets. You didn’t win anything, but you had fun.
On Thanksgiving Day of 1977, one last resurrection of the old colors took place at Riis Park. We ran again in the CAAU Cross-Country Championships. It was the last time the Red and Black appeared in competition.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
What is a "Christian"?
June 17, 2014; 2:50 PM
What is a Christian? An interesting question, given the proliferation of bigots, misogynists, and outright narrow-minded ignoramuses in American and Western society today, who claim the title. In my humble opinion, a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, also called Jesus Christ, Who, when asked what was the first Commandment of all, answered, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." (Mark 12:28-31)
You will note that He did not add any exceptions to that second Commandment, like "except if they're gay, (or transgender, or black, or white, or Mexican, or Muslim, or Jewish, or Arab, or Palestinian, or...)". (That list could go on for several pages, I suspect.)
The point is that the acronym WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) is very appropriate for today's so-called "Christian right". Under that criteria, I suspect many of them will be doing the old "wailing and gnashing of teeth" bit, come Judgement Day.
I don't claim any special ranking among the Christians of the world - indeed, I have as many sins on my soul as anybody. I know very few real Christians - no more than a handful. I know of, without having met them, maybe 2 or 3 more. Oddly enough, the current head of the Roman Catholic Church heads that list. In fact, I suspect, that he will be named a saint within a month of his passing. Pope Francis is the only Pope since John XXIII to be what I would call a true Christian.
I don't mean to make this a religious rant. I am merely trying to point that we could all (Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, atheist, agnostic and all the others I've missed) stand to "lighten up", as we used to put it "back in the day". Cut your neighbor some slack, and do a few "Random acts of kindness" to others as you go through life. It'll brighten your day, and that of others as well.
What is a Christian? An interesting question, given the proliferation of bigots, misogynists, and outright narrow-minded ignoramuses in American and Western society today, who claim the title. In my humble opinion, a Christian is one who follows the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, also called Jesus Christ, Who, when asked what was the first Commandment of all, answered, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." (Mark 12:28-31)
You will note that He did not add any exceptions to that second Commandment, like "except if they're gay, (or transgender, or black, or white, or Mexican, or Muslim, or Jewish, or Arab, or Palestinian, or...)". (That list could go on for several pages, I suspect.)
The point is that the acronym WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) is very appropriate for today's so-called "Christian right". Under that criteria, I suspect many of them will be doing the old "wailing and gnashing of teeth" bit, come Judgement Day.
I don't claim any special ranking among the Christians of the world - indeed, I have as many sins on my soul as anybody. I know very few real Christians - no more than a handful. I know of, without having met them, maybe 2 or 3 more. Oddly enough, the current head of the Roman Catholic Church heads that list. In fact, I suspect, that he will be named a saint within a month of his passing. Pope Francis is the only Pope since John XXIII to be what I would call a true Christian.
I don't mean to make this a religious rant. I am merely trying to point that we could all (Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, atheist, agnostic and all the others I've missed) stand to "lighten up", as we used to put it "back in the day". Cut your neighbor some slack, and do a few "Random acts of kindness" to others as you go through life. It'll brighten your day, and that of others as well.
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