Sunday, August 26, 2012
Or So It Should Be
"Robertson Reprimands "Right"
"Regent University's founder and chancellor, Dr. M.G. "Pat" Robertson yesterday warned the far Right of the Republican Party that its efforts have brought a dire warning in the form of Tropical Storm Isaac. In the book of Genesis in the Christian Bible Isaac had been taken to be slaughtered by his father Abraham until saved by Divine intercession. Robertson, referring to these passages in the Bible, said that it was clear to him that God was watching the Republican Party about to be sacrificed by the Far Right and that only a rejection of those extremes would bring about the Lord's intercession in the coming elections He went on to point to the fact that "Isaac is transliteration of the Hebrew term Yiṣḥāq which literally means "He laughs/will laugh." With a voice trembling he warned that the Lord was "laughing at the Party while still casting a dire warning." Robertson refused to answer when asked if God may simply be laughing at the Party Ticket of Romney/Ryan. "All was not anger", Robertson said as he recalled that Isaac had dug a lot of wells suggesting to Robertson that the Party still had some vitality should it return to a root effort at digging more wells. "Without question," he tearfully said, "as Isaac had stayed, unlike other Biblical Patriarchs, in Canaan, so should the Republican Party stay within the bounds of rational discourse and compromise for the good of America." Robertson continued in somewhat disjointed references to the fact of the Qu ran's mentioning of Isaac some fifteen times and the science fiction works of Isaac Asimov as broader warnings by God to America."
Friday, July 06, 2012
Please, not again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/world/asia/in-dwindling-afghan-war-air-power-has-become-a-way-of-life.html?hp
"Weary of the costs of a long war, Western military forces have already begun withdrawing and handing greater security responsibility to Afghan forces. One worry, several officers said, is that these air operations have become essential, necessary for ground units that are operating in contested areas of Afghanistan and hoping to maintain influence, or even survive. And the Afghan government has nothing to match the role they play."
Forty years ago the United States, weary of the costs of a long war, withdrew forces handing greater security responsibilities to the South Vietnamese. Air operations had become essential to holding back the North which had begun to mass its units. The South Vietnamese had nothing to match our air power.
Nixon, to force the South to sign the Paris Peace Accords, promised that any violation by the North would be met by substantial US Air and Naval support. The United States turned its back, forgetting that promise. There was no honor then. There was only shame.
Draw your own lesson.
"Weary of the costs of a long war, Western military forces have already begun withdrawing and handing greater security responsibility to Afghan forces. One worry, several officers said, is that these air operations have become essential, necessary for ground units that are operating in contested areas of Afghanistan and hoping to maintain influence, or even survive. And the Afghan government has nothing to match the role they play."
Forty years ago the United States, weary of the costs of a long war, withdrew forces handing greater security responsibilities to the South Vietnamese. Air operations had become essential to holding back the North which had begun to mass its units. The South Vietnamese had nothing to match our air power.
Nixon, to force the South to sign the Paris Peace Accords, promised that any violation by the North would be met by substantial US Air and Naval support. The United States turned its back, forgetting that promise. There was no honor then. There was only shame.
Draw your own lesson.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Gaffes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-political-gaffe-will-be-fodder-in-general-election/2012/06/10/gJQAwZaSSV_story.html
Though presented parenthetically, one truthful sentence sums up the story: "(The point Obama was trying to make, however inartfully, was that the private sector was performing far better than the public sector.)" The reporting that follows should include (if any further reporting is necessary) such clarity of completeness. Instead, the media will feed the Republican propaganda premised on the president's statement unchallenged, uncorrected and unedited to the public. Honest, complete and truthful journalism, reporting and editing, has almost fully succumbed to the greed of market share. Repetition of any political rhetoric from the Right or Left without inclusion of "the rest of the story," i.e., the full truth available, makes a mockery of the First Amendment privilege of the Press.
Of course, spin, twist and alteration is expected from political opponents in situations such as this. However, it will be the allowance of such distortion and retention of viability by the Press (exclude commentators and bloggers from that definition) that ends in deception destructive to a democracy.
Though presented parenthetically, one truthful sentence sums up the story: "(The point Obama was trying to make, however inartfully, was that the private sector was performing far better than the public sector.)" The reporting that follows should include (if any further reporting is necessary) such clarity of completeness. Instead, the media will feed the Republican propaganda premised on the president's statement unchallenged, uncorrected and unedited to the public. Honest, complete and truthful journalism, reporting and editing, has almost fully succumbed to the greed of market share. Repetition of any political rhetoric from the Right or Left without inclusion of "the rest of the story," i.e., the full truth available, makes a mockery of the First Amendment privilege of the Press.
Of course, spin, twist and alteration is expected from political opponents in situations such as this. However, it will be the allowance of such distortion and retention of viability by the Press (exclude commentators and bloggers from that definition) that ends in deception destructive to a democracy.
Thursday, June 07, 2012
draft dodging hypocrite
"Draft dodging hypocrite." These words may not have significance to generations of Americans too young to recall personally the war in Viet Nam. These words will have continuing significance to the men who served in the 1960's after having been drafted and especially those who served in Viet Nam. They should also have meaning to the men and women who have served in uniform then and since. Mr. Romney is a draft dodging hypocrite.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/06/05/romneys-lack-of-military-service-faces-scrutiny.html?ESRC=eb.nl
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/06/05/romneys-lack-of-military-service-faces-scrutiny.html?ESRC=eb.nl
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
CIA Memoirs
"CIA memoirs offer revelations and settle scores among spies" http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/cia-memoirs-offer-revelations-and-settle-scores-among-spies/2012/06/04/gJQAVGTVEV_story.html
"[T]he ex-spies want a little credit, even if it means dabbling in public self-glorification, something seemingly antithetical to the agency’s ethos." The "silent boots on the ground" of the CIA, as I have called them, whether in paramilitary or classic intelligence gathering roles appear to be performing well in the defense of our country. Yet, the distinguishing character of the clandestine service of quiet, personal pride in duty honorably performed has given way to "public self-gratification" to a degree not seen in the past. This article can only point to isolated past writings and fails to show that they generally were viewed with contempt and not as precedent by professionals at the time.
The ethos may have degraded because of growing disdain among career professionals directed at the agency bureaucracy brought on by evolution (from the Soviet Union) or corruption (to Iraq) of mission identification and value. A cause may be the dangerously enhanced use of contract personnel who, though sitting side by side, by definition have chosen the moneyed rather than the principled path of direct government service into and within intelligence work. Assuredly, a cause is the changed culture from which many of these current writers came into the agency. The direct line has broken from generations who appreciated and sought to emulate the selfless service of those in the clandestine service of the OSS or, for example, the case-officer who in Prague in 1967 bent to pick up an agent's dead drop emplaced prior to the Soviet tank and squad moving near. These were men and women who served as Director Patraeus recently said, "never for acclaim, always for country."
It may be somewhat unfair to brand the whole service because of these memoirs yet, if the ethos within were still strong in "never for acclaim," it would be that compact of silent duty which should have been the greatest dissuasion from self-aggrandizement. If the ethos of the clandestine services has so changed it does not just signal a sad day for America it manifests a dangerous degradation of character within the agency and America itself.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
TO ATTACK A CHILD
"TSA Defends Pat-Down Of Crying 4-Year-Old Girl At Kansas Airport"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/tsa-defends-pat-down-of-c_n_1454410.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D155375I pity those Americans who feel so insecure that they cannot see the utter stupidity of the reaction of TSA in the case as it is reported. I am angered by those Americans who do not see the loss of freedom to all of us associated with an unreasonable, intrusive search of a four year old child. I am sickened by Americans who would stand by in silent approval of such an attack (It was an attack.) on a four year old child. I am disgusted with elected government officials who, politically and personally weak, cower to protect an image of "wartime" security. I am tormented that America has so readily succumbed to a terrorist threat that we are no longer America. I am approaching 70 years of age and I am glad that I knew an America of character, courage and pride in our personal freedoms. I deeply regret that this four year old and other children will never know that pride. And, tragically, the broad and continuing surrender of our freedoms is unnecessary in balance to any threat.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Secret Service in Columbia
Having worked for years closely with Special Agents of the U.S. Secret Service, I am shocked at recent reported events. Each of the many Special Agents with whom I worked was a dedicated law enforcement officer of the highest level of trust and integrity. When assigned to either extended or temporary details protecting the president they were unwaveringly dedicated to the task and righteously proud of the responsibility they held in trust.
Agents of the U.S. Secret Service are now alleged to have participated in outrageous conduct while on assignment to protect President Obama. The accomplishment of any task is affected by the conscious and unconscious attitude of the actor toward the objective of the task. Could it be that the incessant, vitriolic, disdainful rhetoric directed personally at this president creating, as it has, its own sub-culture has infected, consciously or unconsciously, even sworn agents within the Secret Service? I sincerely hope that we have men and women of stronger character now assuming the responsibilities of the Secret Service.
Agents of the U.S. Secret Service are now alleged to have participated in outrageous conduct while on assignment to protect President Obama. The accomplishment of any task is affected by the conscious and unconscious attitude of the actor toward the objective of the task. Could it be that the incessant, vitriolic, disdainful rhetoric directed personally at this president creating, as it has, its own sub-culture has infected, consciously or unconsciously, even sworn agents within the Secret Service? I sincerely hope that we have men and women of stronger character now assuming the responsibilities of the Secret Service.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Ryan v. Dempsey
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/paul-ryan-says-he-misspoke-on-military-budget/2012/04/01/gIQAlwi2oS_blog.html?hpid=z4
The Republicans may have learned a lesson from the circumstances of General Shinseki's testimony and backed off very quickly. This factor and General Dempsey's almost immediate, strong response to Rep. Ryan pushed Ryan to withdraw from the type of slashing rhetoric endemic on the Right. Though this situation is more subtle than what General Shinseki encountered, Ryan may have intended to pander to or stimulate a political coup from within the Pentagon, present and past. I believe it was in 2007 when general officers began to speak out against the Iraq war and President Bush's handling of it. Ryan may have been soliciting a similar reaction in support of the Right from a broader group of military elite.
The Republicans may have learned a lesson from the circumstances of General Shinseki's testimony and backed off very quickly. This factor and General Dempsey's almost immediate, strong response to Rep. Ryan pushed Ryan to withdraw from the type of slashing rhetoric endemic on the Right. Though this situation is more subtle than what General Shinseki encountered, Ryan may have intended to pander to or stimulate a political coup from within the Pentagon, present and past. I believe it was in 2007 when general officers began to speak out against the Iraq war and President Bush's handling of it. Ryan may have been soliciting a similar reaction in support of the Right from a broader group of military elite.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Justice for All
Justice is never served by inflamed rhetoric or mob mentality. A young man is dead. An investigation is being conducted. The national outcry is no longer merely about Justice for the dead young man and for the man who shot him. Some of the leaders of this outcry rouse not for Justice but for their own issues and agendas. To say, as cited in this article, that this incident "echoes" the death of Emmett Till in 1954 is ridiculous. Said by a Black preacher, who should no better than to interpose the horrible context of the Till murder, gives the assertion no greater credulity at this time. I point this out because it is included in one of the articles which presents a picture of the young man. I follow this with an article, one of comparatively few, about the man who shot and killed him. What parts were played by each person, their movements, their intent, the hoodie, the object in the young man's hand, etc. and what can be determined from taped and other contemporaneous conversations and other relevant evidence is for the investigation. What I see is a field of well and other meaning people tearing at the jail door to get at a man they have judged guilty of racial murder. Whether Black or White at that door - it is wrong.
Monday, February 20, 2012
A September Lyric
I am reminded of the lyrics put together by one of the Triple Deuce Lt.s just before we boarded the boat to Viet Nam. I may have already posted this but since only a handful read this blog they have probably forgotten that I did so. It was to the tune of "See You in September."*
I'll be alone each and every night
While I'm away don't forget to write
Bye, bye, so long, farewell
See you in September
See you when the war is through
There we were saying goodbye at the station
LBJ's nation has taken me away
Bye baby, goodbye [thrown in at various times as I recall]
While we're alone each and every night,
Counting the days and the hours too,
Have a good time
But remember
There is danger when the darkness falls
Will I see you in September
Or will the VC have me by the balls.
* "See You in September" is a song written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards.
I'll be alone each and every night
While I'm away don't forget to write
Bye, bye, so long, farewell
See you in September
See you when the war is through
There we were saying goodbye at the station
LBJ's nation has taken me away
Bye baby, goodbye [thrown in at various times as I recall]
While we're alone each and every night,
Counting the days and the hours too,
Have a good time
But remember
There is danger when the darkness falls
Will I see you in September
Or will the VC have me by the balls.
* "See You in September" is a song written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
My Big Bang Theory
Our society thrives on an acquisitiveness for multimedia-enabled smartphones and pads. The now "normal" use of these devices so isolates a person as to create a disinclination to leave that isolation to directly interplay within the immediate human reality. Try to find eye contact with another person as you walk across a college campus. There is generally an indifference to seek out entertainment other than "app" choices that "take you anywhere to do anything." Even at, for example, a sport's event a substantial number of people will be engaged more with the glowing object in their hand than all around them. This self-imposed isolation also creates a laziness to the expression of human emotional response outside the Wi Fi capability. The movement of a finger to express LOL, 182, OMG, AML, ILU, BWL, and, of course, ROTFLMAO is now sufficient effort at emotion.
I write this now with a single complaint in mind. "The Big Bang Theory," a well written, very funny television sit-com is debased and ruined by a ridiculous and unnecessary laugh track undoubtedly targeted toward an audience too lazy to laugh on its own. LLTA .
I write this now with a single complaint in mind. "The Big Bang Theory," a well written, very funny television sit-com is debased and ruined by a ridiculous and unnecessary laugh track undoubtedly targeted toward an audience too lazy to laugh on its own. LLTA .
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
West Point Prayer Breakfast & Lt. Gen. Boykin
"Army officer who sparked controversy with remarks on Islam pulls out of West Point address"*
As a renowned institution of higher learning West Point should encourage and facilitate a broad range of perspectives presented to the student cadets. West Point, in its mission of preparing young women and men to be officers in the US Army, should provide education regarding radical views they may encounter in the service. The education should be structured and balanced within course and program context. There are, I expect, ample courses during which Lt. Gen. Boykin could present his defense of his ill-informed, insulting prejudices. The annual, ecumenical prayer breakfast at the Military Academy is not the circumstance for his presence, much less his being honored as a featured speaker. The Academy's administration failed to recognize the hypocrisy, if not the stupidity, of the situation. Three stars on a shoulder is not a blanket free pass.
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/army-officer-who-sparked-controversy-with-remarks-on-islam-pulls-out-of-west-point-address/2012/01/31/gIQAMrDyeQ_blog.html
As a renowned institution of higher learning West Point should encourage and facilitate a broad range of perspectives presented to the student cadets. West Point, in its mission of preparing young women and men to be officers in the US Army, should provide education regarding radical views they may encounter in the service. The education should be structured and balanced within course and program context. There are, I expect, ample courses during which Lt. Gen. Boykin could present his defense of his ill-informed, insulting prejudices. The annual, ecumenical prayer breakfast at the Military Academy is not the circumstance for his presence, much less his being honored as a featured speaker. The Academy's administration failed to recognize the hypocrisy, if not the stupidity, of the situation. Three stars on a shoulder is not a blanket free pass.
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/army-officer-who-sparked-controversy-with-remarks-on-islam-pulls-out-of-west-point-address/2012/01/31/gIQAMrDyeQ_blog.html
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
West Point Honor Code II
In 1976, the Corps of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy faced the consequences of a cheating scandal. The junior class had been given take-home assignments in an electrical engineering course. After investigation, some 150 cadets of the class of 1977 were dismissed or had resigned for cheating. Allegations at the time were that possibly half the class had violated the Code. After intense political pressure, the Academy reinstated some 98 of the dismissed cadets. Having taken the relatively identical electrical engineering course (called "Juice") about ten years earlier, I can attest not only to the difficulty of the course but the extreme anxiety cadets felt about the exam.
During my four years the West Point Honor Code stated simply "A Cadet will not lie, cheat or steal." As presented to me as a Plebe: "The Cadet Honor Code requires complete integrity in both word and deed of all members of the Corps of cadets and permits no deviation from those standards....These exacting standards are complied with to the letter, and if any cadet violates them he is immediately discharged from the Corps of Cadets." I was aware during my cadet days of a few outstanding young men who reported their own violations and resigned out of respect for the Corps and and Code. In 1951 some 90 cadets, 37 of whom were football players under Coach Earl Blaik, were dismissed from the Academy. The only change to the Code by 1976 had been the addition of "or tolerate those who do," a corollary that was fully accepted, though unstated, as part of the Code during my time.
The Honor System, suspect and challenged also in 1976, applied the Code within the Corps and has radically changed since those times but the Honor Code remains the standard to be achieved and carried into a career in the U.S. Army and throughout life. It was within the context of my cadet experience and that of an Army officer that I wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post when the story of the cadet reinstatement was announced. Politics seemed to have accomplished in 1976 what even the revered Earl Blaik could not in 1951. My letter was published alongside of a letter from a member of the Class of 1942 that expressed the same sentiment and opinion. I have not changed my mind.
There has been no other stimulus to my adding this to my blog other than finding a copy of the letter among some old files.
"Secretary of the Army Martin Hoffman and West Point Superintendent Lt. General Berry, by their lowering of the penalty traditionally and justifiably associated with cheating at the military academy, have seriously undercut the very foundation of the honor code. They have shown that integrity and honesty should be judged not as ideal virtues to be fostered and sought but rather as variables rising only to the level of the average acceptable behavior. That responsibility to a fellowship consisting of not merely a junior class but of those thousands of graduates and former cadets who through mutual agreement, mutual ambition and mutual respect set and maintained personally difficult high standards of integrity, means less than the attainment of selfish personal objectives.
"The harshest indictment should not be now directed at the suspended cadets for I am confident that the majority of them will, in the end, be their own most exacting critic. I suggest that the real evil is not in a system that attempts to uphold the highest standards embodied in the code, nor in those who have transgressed the code, but in the hypocrisy and lack of moral strength evidenced in the governmental officials. The government that decries the lack of personal integrity shown by the Watergate actors, that condemns the practice of bribery by persons in our nation's most successful corporations, and that criminally prosecutes the very consequences of low standards of integrity and honesty - more specifically, the white collar crimes, announces, not a reaffirmation of its demand for the highest personal standards embodied in a code of honor, but rather a politically expedient capitulation."
During my four years the West Point Honor Code stated simply "A Cadet will not lie, cheat or steal." As presented to me as a Plebe: "The Cadet Honor Code requires complete integrity in both word and deed of all members of the Corps of cadets and permits no deviation from those standards....These exacting standards are complied with to the letter, and if any cadet violates them he is immediately discharged from the Corps of Cadets." I was aware during my cadet days of a few outstanding young men who reported their own violations and resigned out of respect for the Corps and and Code. In 1951 some 90 cadets, 37 of whom were football players under Coach Earl Blaik, were dismissed from the Academy. The only change to the Code by 1976 had been the addition of "or tolerate those who do," a corollary that was fully accepted, though unstated, as part of the Code during my time.
The Honor System, suspect and challenged also in 1976, applied the Code within the Corps and has radically changed since those times but the Honor Code remains the standard to be achieved and carried into a career in the U.S. Army and throughout life. It was within the context of my cadet experience and that of an Army officer that I wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post when the story of the cadet reinstatement was announced. Politics seemed to have accomplished in 1976 what even the revered Earl Blaik could not in 1951. My letter was published alongside of a letter from a member of the Class of 1942 that expressed the same sentiment and opinion. I have not changed my mind.
There has been no other stimulus to my adding this to my blog other than finding a copy of the letter among some old files.
"Secretary of the Army Martin Hoffman and West Point Superintendent Lt. General Berry, by their lowering of the penalty traditionally and justifiably associated with cheating at the military academy, have seriously undercut the very foundation of the honor code. They have shown that integrity and honesty should be judged not as ideal virtues to be fostered and sought but rather as variables rising only to the level of the average acceptable behavior. That responsibility to a fellowship consisting of not merely a junior class but of those thousands of graduates and former cadets who through mutual agreement, mutual ambition and mutual respect set and maintained personally difficult high standards of integrity, means less than the attainment of selfish personal objectives.
"The harshest indictment should not be now directed at the suspended cadets for I am confident that the majority of them will, in the end, be their own most exacting critic. I suggest that the real evil is not in a system that attempts to uphold the highest standards embodied in the code, nor in those who have transgressed the code, but in the hypocrisy and lack of moral strength evidenced in the governmental officials. The government that decries the lack of personal integrity shown by the Watergate actors, that condemns the practice of bribery by persons in our nation's most successful corporations, and that criminally prosecutes the very consequences of low standards of integrity and honesty - more specifically, the white collar crimes, announces, not a reaffirmation of its demand for the highest personal standards embodied in a code of honor, but rather a politically expedient capitulation."
CADET PRAYER
O God, our Father, Thou Searcher of human hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural.
Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service. Kindle our hearts in fellowship with those of a cheerful countenance, and soften our hearts with sympathy for those who sorrow and suffer. Help us to maintain the honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied and to show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point in doing our duty to Thee and to our Country. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of all. - Amen
Monday, January 23, 2012
So, what did you expect?
I have written in this forum about the content and level of rhetoric against President Obama presented and tolerated by the Right. The affects of that continue to reverberate less on the surface yet in a societal subconscious that has cured and hardened over time. The editor of an Atlanta weekly, "Atlanta Jewish Times," proposed a scenario suggesting Israel kill the President. http://www.military.com/news/article/editor-killing-obama-an-option-for-israel.html?ESRC=eb.nl ; I wonder how many Americans may read of this and accept the premise as rational without distinguishing the fundamental evil in it because of their own predisposition against a non-citizen, Muslim, "colored," socialist, "pathetic" person in the office who wants to abandon Israel and destroy America.
An Israeli correspondent is quoted at the end of the article: "I know, and most of you know, that [the editor's] crazy and criminal suggestions are not the ranting of some loony-tune individual and were not taken out of thin air -- but are the inevitable result of the inordinate volume of repugnant venom that some of Obama's political rivals, Jews and non-Jews included, have been spewing for the last three years," I couldn't have said it any better. To be sure, the comments of this editor in Atlanta have been publicly condemned and he has resigned but, we may ask ourselves what the reaction would have been had comparable comments been written and published by the "Atlanta Muslim Times."
As before, I am not speaking of politics, political parties or issues but of the degradation of our culture. There are hundreds of emails floating within the internet that decry the loss of respect of citizen to flag, child to adult, son to father, youth to ambition, etc. within our culture. A good number of those who forward these emails to me, however, follow them with monkey images, "birther" fabrications, and baseless fear-mongering about the man and not his politics. Heck, even "spell-check," while recognizing Reagan, Roosevelt, Clinton, and Bush does not acknowledge "Obama." (No, this is humor and not conspiracy.)
An Israeli correspondent is quoted at the end of the article: "I know, and most of you know, that [the editor's] crazy and criminal suggestions are not the ranting of some loony-tune individual and were not taken out of thin air -- but are the inevitable result of the inordinate volume of repugnant venom that some of Obama's political rivals, Jews and non-Jews included, have been spewing for the last three years," I couldn't have said it any better. To be sure, the comments of this editor in Atlanta have been publicly condemned and he has resigned but, we may ask ourselves what the reaction would have been had comparable comments been written and published by the "Atlanta Muslim Times."
As before, I am not speaking of politics, political parties or issues but of the degradation of our culture. There are hundreds of emails floating within the internet that decry the loss of respect of citizen to flag, child to adult, son to father, youth to ambition, etc. within our culture. A good number of those who forward these emails to me, however, follow them with monkey images, "birther" fabrications, and baseless fear-mongering about the man and not his politics. Heck, even "spell-check," while recognizing Reagan, Roosevelt, Clinton, and Bush does not acknowledge "Obama." (No, this is humor and not conspiracy.)
Friday, January 20, 2012
"How do atheists find meaning in life?"
Interesting article by Ms Paula Kirby in the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/how-do-atheist-find-meaning-in-life/2012/01/18/gIQAbiFP8P_blog.html?hpid=z11
When describing the "value" of life from her view as an atheist, Ms Kirby appears to focus only on a standard for the life of a single person. Of course, the individual life is worth living well for its own sake and for the benefit of existing beings with or without a divine plan. However, is there no inherent value in humanity as a whole? Is there no responsibility of the individual to the formulation and strengthening of non-divine morality, justice and the betterment of all in the progress of the human race? I believe that the answer is twice, yes, and what a magnificent meaning for the individual life. Even a God should expect no less of a single human or of humanity.
When describing the "value" of life from her view as an atheist, Ms Kirby appears to focus only on a standard for the life of a single person. Of course, the individual life is worth living well for its own sake and for the benefit of existing beings with or without a divine plan. However, is there no inherent value in humanity as a whole? Is there no responsibility of the individual to the formulation and strengthening of non-divine morality, justice and the betterment of all in the progress of the human race? I believe that the answer is twice, yes, and what a magnificent meaning for the individual life. Even a God should expect no less of a single human or of humanity.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Not at West Point
The headline: "DoD: Reported Sexual Assaults Up at Service Academies" http://www.military.com/news/article/dod-reported-sexual-assaults-up-at-service-academies.html?ESRC=eb.nl
The article begins: "The number of reported sexual assaults at the nation's three major military academies rose overall in the latest academic year from one year earlier,..."
The article concludes: "West Point reported the same number in both years,..."
The headlining and editing of this article and similar articles at CNN and other news outlets are misleading as they fail to distinguish among the academies by making it clear that the number of reports did NOT rise at West Point which had the lowest number of reports each of the two years. The articles are a wrongful affront to the cadets at West Point and the efforts at this academy to preclude such criminal conduct and foster appropriate relations.
The article begins: "The number of reported sexual assaults at the nation's three major military academies rose overall in the latest academic year from one year earlier,..."
The article concludes: "West Point reported the same number in both years,..."
The headlining and editing of this article and similar articles at CNN and other news outlets are misleading as they fail to distinguish among the academies by making it clear that the number of reports did NOT rise at West Point which had the lowest number of reports each of the two years. The articles are a wrongful affront to the cadets at West Point and the efforts at this academy to preclude such criminal conduct and foster appropriate relations.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
To Those of a Faith II
A friend has asked for a clarification to my last comment ("To Those of a Faith"). On Christmas eve I took a young family member to a church service we had attended annually for the last three years. The Christian service in a group, self-described as a "non-denominational multi-ethnic church, drawn from 20 nationalities," included hymns and Christmas messages familiar to this old Catholic. Without bogging down in detail, suffice to say that I no longer share a belief in fundamental doctrines of Christianity, whether in Catholic or other variations. Nor do I share all the tenets of other major religions. I never challenge the faith held by anyone else. I do believe, however, that the truly fundamental teachings of all major religions are love and compassion for others. Religions seem to set aside or ignore doctrinal differences during periods of "high" Holy days, such as at Christmas for Christians, and return to those fundamentals.
Joining in the singing at the service, however, I wondered whether I was being hypocritical or professing, to my young companion at least, a false piety. After some reflection during the Bible readings, I concluded as I discussed with her following the service and then published here. Where any group meets to declare or solidify an honest message of unselfish love and compassion, whether in a religious or other context, I feel no hypocrisy in joining with them. Christmas eve is, for that reason, my one annual direct involvement with Christianity. My lack of foundation in the specific rituals of other religions precludes my recognition of similar opportunities.
Joining in the singing at the service, however, I wondered whether I was being hypocritical or professing, to my young companion at least, a false piety. After some reflection during the Bible readings, I concluded as I discussed with her following the service and then published here. Where any group meets to declare or solidify an honest message of unselfish love and compassion, whether in a religious or other context, I feel no hypocrisy in joining with them. Christmas eve is, for that reason, my one annual direct involvement with Christianity. My lack of foundation in the specific rituals of other religions precludes my recognition of similar opportunities.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Payroll tax extension: Cynicism or Conspiracy
The "Ol' Payroll Tax extension" argument has a sinister feel to it. Now, I have never been a "conspiracy" theorist. Highly cynical, yes. But, does anyone else see the possibility of a Republican conspiracy between their own Senate and House leadership? A brief recap: The President asks for a one year extension of the relief and Republicans recoil in horror. The matter, as required by no less than the Constitution, is handed to Congress and the Republican controlled House passes its own version with reasonable and unreasonable add-ons. A significant number of Republicans go on the record as opposed to the tax relief - go figure on that one. The Senate in a burst of unexpected cooperation by Republicans and after some quiet debate passes its own version with the inclusion of a Republican victory on a pipe-line issue. So, the President gives in on the pipeline and only gets two of the twelve months he asked for earlier. House Speaker Boehner, who we were told had consulted and nodded agreement with the Senate version, then demurs saying that only the twelve month extension would be reasonable and acceptable. The House demands, as might otherwise be normal, a joint committee to resolve the different versions in the remaining 11 days. House Republicans "pack" the committee with seven members, five of whom are on record as opposed to the tax relief extension.
This seems to me to be the situation in a nutshell at the moment. Other twists and turns, of which there are many, are generally irrelevant to my question. The maneuvering of the Republican leadership has placed their Party as the Party fighting for the twelve month extension. Ignoring, as the general population is want to do, their predicate conduct, Republicans may now argue that they are the defenders of the middle class. Please understand that I credit very few Republicans (I speak of a potential Republican conspiracy) in Congress with ability to successfully act clandestinely. I credit more in Congress with the Machiavellian determination and lack of integrity to attempt such a slight of hand.
Isn't it possible that the Senate Republican leadership intended to limit the extension in their negotiations to a two month period and thereby position the issue for the House Republican leadership to take the "higher ground" demanding the President's original twelve month extension? The value to the Republicans is in the rhetoric and not in the substance. The value to the American people is irrelevant.
This seems to me to be the situation in a nutshell at the moment. Other twists and turns, of which there are many, are generally irrelevant to my question. The maneuvering of the Republican leadership has placed their Party as the Party fighting for the twelve month extension. Ignoring, as the general population is want to do, their predicate conduct, Republicans may now argue that they are the defenders of the middle class. Please understand that I credit very few Republicans (I speak of a potential Republican conspiracy) in Congress with ability to successfully act clandestinely. I credit more in Congress with the Machiavellian determination and lack of integrity to attempt such a slight of hand.
Isn't it possible that the Senate Republican leadership intended to limit the extension in their negotiations to a two month period and thereby position the issue for the House Republican leadership to take the "higher ground" demanding the President's original twelve month extension? The value to the Republicans is in the rhetoric and not in the substance. The value to the American people is irrelevant.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
A Brief Hope Shattered
Leaving the drugstore this morning I glanced at the newsstand and seeing the Washington Post on display I stopped. My eyes fixed on the heavy black print on the left of the front page. I began to smile, do a fist pumping and exclaim loudly "Yes! There can be justice!" Regrettably, the moment passed when I realized that the headline did NOT refer to the Supreme Court Justice.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper?dt=2011-12-03&bk=A&pg=1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper?dt=2011-12-03&bk=A&pg=1
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