Tuesday, February 15, 2005

American POWs Being Abused... by America!

This story makes very little sense, and makes the Bush Administration appear about as cold-hearted as Saddam Hussein: Los Angeles Times: White House Turns Tables on Former American POWs

The gist: American soldiers that were captured and tortured by Iraq during Desert Storm now CANNOT sue Iraq, because "we've freed Iraq".

"It seems so strange to have our own country fighting us on this," said retired Air Force Col. David W. Eberly, the senior officer among the former POWs. I am sure he uses stronger language when he's among friends.

"No amount of money can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering that they went through at the hands of this very brutal regime and at the hands of Saddam Hussein," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters when asked about the case in November 2003. So I guess Bush is taking that statement literally, and making sure our soldiers receive "no amount of money".

How can they sleep at night?

More later...
Paul

Thursday, February 10, 2005

This Is A Shame

The cost of motor vehicles has never been higher, and yet, according to this article, the vehicles made by General Motors are released to the market before all of the defects have been addressed:GM Recalling Over 193,000 Vehicles

The article goes on to say that in 2004, GM recalled more than 10 million vehicles! That is a remarkably sorry figure. But did you hear anything about it in the news? I read both Car and Driver and Road & Track magazines on a regular basis, and I don't recall ever hearing about such an astounding fact about America's largest automaker. 10 million defective vehicles in one year alone? How do they stay in business?

The defects described in the article are not minor ones. Pickup trucks, vans and SUVs may develop leaks in the braking systems! Top of the line Cadillacs have problems with the accelerator pedals! Some top end SUVs have the windshields installed improperly. It just doesn't make sense that a company can get away with marketing products that are severely defective.

And it makes one wonder: what defects are they NOT reporting?

More later...
Paul

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

The History of Black History Month

Here we are again, another February, another Black History Month, another few moments spent wondering if I’m going to see the same old stories and advertisements trotted out by the media “in honor of Black History Month”. Here we go again.

This time, though, I started to think about the whole deal. Who is Black History month for, anyway? Who benefits? I used to think the idea was to recognize the contributions that certain high-achieving Black people made to our great country, in an effort to neutralize the lingering effects of racial prejudice. The concept that maybe if people are exposed to the stories of folks like George Washington Carver and his numerous peanut-related inventions, then those same people will not think so badly of black people, or at least not lump them all in the gangsta-rap, ho’s and bitches stereotype.

Whether this has worked or not is certainly up for discussion.

Then there are those that believe that Black History month is for the benefit of Black people, Black Americans in particular. They say this is a time to celebrate our “blackness” and revel in the stories of folks like Granville Woods, who invented a telegraph that allowed moving trains to communicate with other trains. Some say we should use these stories to motivate our children, and remind them that they, too, can do great things. Part of this argument also includes the accusation that the nation’s schools give short shrift to Black History during the course of the normal school year, so Black History Month is a way of forcing the curriculum to include these stories.

Well, instead of my continuing to make up stuff off the top of my head, I turned to Google, which returned this History of Black History by Elissa Haney. I was quite surprised to find that this tradition started not in the turbulent era of Civil Rights, but way back in 1926! Back then, it was called Negro History Week, and it was set in February because the month marks the birthdays “of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.”

The truth of the matter is this: there are a large number of Americans that have accomplished great things, and we would all do well to learn more about them. In this way, perhaps, we can learn more about ourselves. But American History has historically (sorry) ignored the achievements, accomplishments and contributions of its people of color, and Black History Month has, in its own small way, worked to bring light to some of them. I just wish the people who REALLY need the lessons… those folks in the so-called flyover states, those people who live in non-diverse regions… it is my fervent hope that they benefit from the lessons of Black History Month.

Call me an optimist.

More later...
Paul

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Voodoo Economics, Pt. 2

So, the Presidents submitted his budget request and INTENTIONALLY LEFT OUT the anticipated expenses for the War in Iraq and Afghanistan AND his projected costs for privatizing Social Security: Boston.com / News / Nation / Washington / Key expenses are omitted, analysts say

Talk about hiding a rabbit up your sleeve.

"Daddy, can I have some money?"
"What do you need it for, son?"
"Well, I wanna see a movie and buy some ice cream and maybe get a present for Mommy."
"Okay, how much do you need?"
"Um, $2.7 trillion oughta cover it."
"*cough* Er, are you sure that's enough?"
"Yeah, that'll do it."

Three months later, in a televised address to the country...

"In order to keep the terrorists from killing Daddy and raping Mommy, I will ask Daddy for an additional $81 billion..."

Yeah, THAT won't have any effect on the deficit. And they call the DEMOCRATS tax-and-spend...

More later...
Paul

Monday, February 07, 2005

Our Modern Roman Empire

Yesterday was Sunday, February 6th, 2005. An unremarkable date for most, except for the fact that it was Superbowl Sunday, a date important mainly to Americans. Or to be more precise, American football fans. Like many of my fellow citizens, I settled down in front of my television to watch this sporting spectacle, to join in on alarmingly large “television audience”, and to share the “experience” of collectively consuming whatever the Fox network, the National Football League and the best of Madison avenue deigned to throw at us.

I turned on my tv set just before game time, just in time to catch the playing of the National Anthem. I have recently begun to wonder when and why it has become an American tradition to play and/or sing the “Star Spangled Banner” prior to the start of any major sporting event. I admit that I haven’t begun to do any research on the matter; my curiosity is still at the nascent, “just wondering” stage. But it seems to me that if the song is so important to our national identity, why don’t we perform it prior to undertaking more serious matters than entertainment? For example, Congress should sing it everyday before beginning their work. Judges should lead the courtroom in song before the start of every trial. Certainly the military should begin each day with each soldier standing at attention while someone belts out our proud anthem.

Why sporting events?

And why “honor” the military before the beginning of the Superbowl? What is that all about? To me, the parallels are clear. The professional football athlete is indeed the modern day equivalent of the Roman gladiator, sent to do battle in a large coliseum, solely for the amusement of his owners and those who pay to see him sacrifice his body for “sport”. Why not recognize those professional soldiers who do the same thing, but in a different type of arena, the theater of War? At yesterday’s pre-game show, the Fox network made a big deal about presenting images of past and current soldiers… and the National Anthem was sung not by a current music superstar, but by the combined “choruses” of the armed forces, backed up by an Army band.

“We are a warrior nation, and we are proud of our soldiers and our propensity for battle”, that was the message sent loud and clear to the television audience. This message reminds me of a quote by Albert Einstein: “You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.” If it was not clear before, it is crystal clear now: America is in no way trying to prevent war.

We are currently in the Season for Nonviolence, which runs from January 30th to April 4th every year. Of course, there was no mention of this during the Superbowl broadcast. Everything about football is violent; the game itself is a metaphor for empirical warfare. The object is to advance upon your opponent and take his land; to plant your flag in his “end zone.” After the appropriately-named New England Patriots won the game, news reports from Boston seemed genuinely surprised that there were no riots in the streets. The violence, thankfully, remained on the tv screen and did not spill out into the city. For now.

Our values are askew. We need to set another course before we find our Empire burning.

More later…
Paul

Friday, February 04, 2005

Rest In Peace, Ossie

A great actor, Ossie Davis, died today: Actor Ossie Davis dies

Ossie, I never met you so I can't claim to know you, other than through your work, but let me take this opportunity to publicly thank you for your memorable performances.

I especially want to thank you for your moving performance in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever", when you played a father dealing with the tragedy of a son addicted to drugs. That unsung role was one of your best, in my opinion.

Thank you also for having the guts and sense of humor to play the role of JFK in "Bubba Hotep". That was one of the funniest movies I've seen!

I hope your transition was peaceful and I look forward to seeing you again.

Peace.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Is He Really Sick, Or Just Sick Of Kobe?

So the new coach of the L.A. Lakers has just quit the job, less than 7 months after taking over for Phil Jackson: Sports News Article | Reuters.com

According to the article, the coach said stress had reduced his resistance to infections.

Stress? Whatever could he be talking about?

Here's hoping the poor guy rebounds quickly (no pun intended).

More later...
Paul