An Unexpected Message

I received this message in my inbox today from Amesty International. It shocked me so much that I at first thought it was tongue-in-cheek.

"Amnesty International USA is thrilled to promote the new film, Lord of War, directed by Andrew Niccol, starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage.

"Lord of War is an action-thriller chronicling the global exploits of international arms dealer Yuri Orlov (Cage), a U.S. based arms broker who traffics in weapons to dictators and human rights abusers while trying to stay out of the clutches of an intrepid Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke). AIUSA's collaboratuion with the film will help advance our U.S. based action work with the international Control Arms Campaign.

"See the film, join Amnesty Internaional, and lobby the U.S. government to lead global efforts to stop transfers of small arms and light weapons to human rights abusers."

It makes no sense to me. From previews the film looked like end-of-summer fluff, hardly worthy to even be called film.

And Nicolas Cage is not known for choosing pieces with message.

I did not realize it was Andrew Niccol. I have loved both of his other films - Simone & Gattaca, both of which have cherished places in my collection. He wrote a wonderful, dark, moody first draft of The Truman Show - even if the end-result, which he wasn't allowed to direct once Jim Carrey became attached, was a wishy-washy mess. He may well have something interesting to say.

I just saw the trailer again while I was typing this up. I still can't quite take this movie seriously.

Thoughts?

Kitzmiller v. Dover

Dover, Pennsylvania.

What are people's thoughts on Intelligent Design? I firmly believe that there is not enough discussion going on in this blog.

I really did intend to get back into the swing of things, posting regularly.

Then Katrina hit and the Baton Rouge sister site of the firm I work for was destroyed and our services were volunteered to take Red Cross calls. I've been doing 16-hr days trying to help out with the recovery efforts in what limited capacity was available to me. I would put in my regular shift and then volunteer for as many extra hours as they would let me.

50% of the calls I was taking at the beginning were donation calls. Probably 40% of the calls were folks trying, desperately, to find out if loved ones were still alive. The other 10% was the killer. It took the hardest toll and yet kept me going back in after just two hours sleep. They were calls from folks still trapped in the city who just happened to find a live phone and were trying to reach anyone they could.

It was hell. Because there was nothing I could do. Not really. And they were desperate. Frantic. And confused as to why no help was coming.

They were good people though. Not once did I see specific blame. They just couldn't understand why the rest of the world had forgotten about them.

I would come home and kiss my children.

And turn on MSNBC or CNN.

It felt like I was doing good work until I saw the pictures of the convention center. The president of Jefferson Parrish.

My wife and I decided to sell most of our possessions in order to forward the money on to where it was so desperately needed. So many people were doing nothing. And it made no sense to me.

And afterall, they were only belongings. They could be replaced. As others would have to replace those things that they had owned. And how much of the accumulated detritus of a person's life really is essential.

At the end we hadn't liquidated as much as we'd planned. But we raised $700 dollars that we passed on to various charities.

It's sickening - and I don't quite understand it, understandable since I've had very little time to check news reports and this is my first time online in weeks - but the calls changed. The people who waited for hours in queue to make a donation disappeared. One day the efforts were going strong. The next day I got to work and found that everyone - not everyone, but a very large percentage of the callers - weren't donating. They in fact wanted their money returned to them. I even started to get the prank callers, people saying that the folks still trapped in New Orleans or recently rescued, those people who had suffered so much - had deserved it.

For the largest part, those left behind were too poor or too sick to leave. And I know that because I was hearing it from people who hadn't seen a CNN exclusive or read a Washington Post expose, people who hadn't had contact with the outside world since their city became a no man's land.

That work is done now. It's not such a sensitive issue anymore. The work can be farmed out to other groups now. The calls from the city have long since thinned away. Others can handle the donation and referral calls. It had been assigned to us due to the sensitivity of the situation. The need for empathic, human responders. Straight up volunteers are taking more of the calls now from authentic Red Cross locations.

And in time heads will roll because of the lack of response to this crisis. But there's time for that later. Right now, there is rebuilding to be done. Both of a city and of the lives of so many affected persons.

The American conscience is fickle.

But we'd better not drop the ball on this one.

We'd better not forget.

The anger is appropriate. But there will time for that later. It will be necessary that we deal with that. Fix blame and execute great changes. But now we must funnel our energies in other directions.

It might be slow going with posts over the next few days. I have schoolwork to catch up on. And I missed out on a lot of time with my children. But I just couldn't put it out of my head. And I couldn't trust others to deal with those people with the respect they deserved. I couldn't look at my kids and do nothing.

Am I Going Insane? Trent Lott Makes Sense.

I fear I may be losing my mind.

Just watched Jon Stewart's Daily Show, and he interviewed Trent Lott about general issues and his new book Herding Cats. A ridiculous title, yeah, but the things he was saying to Stewart made sense. I started to think, this is the guy I've demonized?

I don't know.

A little weird.

But I definitely understand what he was talking about when he was discussing sessions late into the night with President Clinton, who he was admittedly not a fan of. But he talked about how the parties need to cooperate in order to actually perform the necessary functions of government and how that often falls by the wayside.

From a guy I literally can't remember the last time I thought was noble, something that seemed to make sense.

A healthy reminder that not everyone Republican is evil. Perhaps they have priorities not my own, different points of view, but in the end there can be accord. At least temporary reprive from the partisan politics that stimy progress.

Pat Robertson is a Threat to National Security

Recently on a program giving in depth coverage to the events of 9/11 I heard an FBI agent tell an anecdote about how there are many at the FBI that say that what we as a people really need is another 9/11.

When I heard about the Pat Robertson thing I thought for sure he must be trying to give them that.

It's the kind of commentary we should come to expect from Robertson. Unfortunately, I had been lulled into a place where - despite his endoresement of Rick Santorum and his pledge that CBN would endorse him fully should he ever make a bid for the Presidency - I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I had reached a point, however brief, where I expected religious leaders to be ethical - the supposed moral majority to actually have some morals.

Pat Robertson called for the assassination of the leader of a foreign leader, elected by his people and not necessarily considered a despot by the world community. Robertson feels the President of Venezuela is too far to the Left, worries about his connections to Castro in Cuba (whom, I would point out, is not really a threat to the US), his potential for promotion of "Communist infiltration," and potential source of trouble when it comes to the US obtaining a certain supply of oil. I would argue that Pat Robertson does indeed have the right to free speech - but wher is that often quoted addendum about shouting fire in a theatre? This is not only the kind of public statement that will cost us the "hearts and minds" of the world community, but also the kind of wreckless abandon that might lead a delusioned crackpot to try and actually take action. If something were to happen to the President of Venezuela now we would almost certainly look guilty. And indeed there would be a good chance we would hold at least partial blame. Even if he were killed in something other than a state-sanctioned assassination it would appear that whomever had done this would have been acting with the blessing of Americans.

They would certainly not have my blessing.

I understand that as a Jew I am not exactly on Mr. Robertson's list of favored peoples already. But I was taught a strong sense of tolerance in my childhood which has never left me.

I understand the Christian viewpoint - and I undrstand that media heavy high profile Christians often fail to represent it accurately. Still, one would think that ANY follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ would be more interested in the promotion of peace rather than the advance of dogmatic political views.

I can only pray for God's action. The only assassination I endorse is that provided by the most high.

I pray that God take this serpent from our midst. Please God, God of my ancestors, Great Creator of all being, remove from us this sacrilege that desolates. Please smite Pat Robertson and keep him from his position of influence over too many willing to see his words as directly representative of Yours. Restore to us religous leaders truly representative of the tenets of their respective faiths. Help us to realize that decisions about a man's life and death, no matter who the man, should not rest in our hands - that these decisions belong under the purview of the divine and the divine only. Amen.

Please visit this website to sign a petition that will appear in Mr. Robertson's local newspaper urging him to consider his words before addressing his flock and reminded him of the decalogue's edict "Thou shall not kill."

Notice that we as Americans do not endorse this kind of behavior can be given by contacting the CBN switchboard at (757)226-7000 or by using one of the e-mail options available as part of the 700 Club's feedback service here.

I encourage everyone to let Pat Robertson, CBN, and the 700 Club know that these statements are not only un-Christian but also un-American and that this kind of behavior is unacceptable.

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Program Already In Progress

I apologize for being away from the computer these last few days.

The truth of the matter is that being the father of two young children, working fulltime, attending a university full time, and trying to maintain a successful marriage doesn't leave all the time in the world for this. It doesn't help that I type very... very ... slowly.

There's a lot that's happened in these last few days I wish I'd had time to comment on.

I realized over the last few days I'm probably going to use this space to talk about educational issues and parenting conundrums as well as political commentary. So there's your fair warning.

Iraq Constitutional Delay

Does anyone else think we have no business demanding a solid timeframe on the formation of an Iraqi constitution? Wouldn't it be better to give them as long as they need to establish a government proper for the handling of their nation?

Give them time. Let them do the job well. Allow them to create a government capable of sustaining itself.

This is not a proceedure where fad or world opinion or agreement with allies should be considered essential. And we, from the outside, should not be dictating internal Iraqi policy- constitutional or otherwise.

Law Against Panhandling

Atlanta is set to pass legislation against those who panhandle. Among propsed punishments - jail time.

This is Ridiculous.

Jail time for asking, "Brother, can you spare a dime?"

Help for the needy. Food for the hungry. Kindness for beggars. Principles of Christianity. And here we are inside a supposedly Christian society. Passing laws against being poor and turning to what might be considered a last of all possible options: asking gor help.

Granted there are a lot of panhandlers out there who are not really in need but instead use it as a method of subsistence. But it is impossible to tell at first glance.

This is a ridiculous law. Purportedly it will help local businesses and tourism. In reality, it will assuage the guilt of those who would never give. Or those that would like to but are reluctant because they wonder where their money would go.

The law, as it stands, would create as penalties: 1st offense - warning
2nd offense - referral to a county agency
3rd offense - one month jail time

I'm fine, indeed I would encourage, the referral of those seen panhandling to a gov't agency. Any offer of help is preferrable to the cold, hungry night. That's exactly where the heart of this should lie. Compel aid. Yes. Punish someone for an act of desperation? No.

We've been too hardened. My mother used to run a gov't homeless program. I grew up with this issue. I've heard all the arguments against allocations of funds and all of the justification. And since leaving for college I've heard more than I would care to confess about survival of the so-called fittest and social darwinism. And yes, there are some people who choose to beg for a living rather than work. But that doesn't mean we have cause to turn a blind eye and leave folks with no recourse. We cannot criminalize the symptoms while our society spreads the disease. It is remarkable how many in this great nation live under the poverty level. Remarkable and repugnant that we allow it to happen.

As one protester was quoted, "The ability to ask for alms is a God-given ability." And for many an absolute last recourse.

Former city coouncilman Derrick Boazman was quoted as saying, "This is a day for Atlanta that no one should be proud of." I heartily concur.

Trouble Comes For Cindy Sheehan

It's never easy to do the right thing.

Cindy Sheehan is the prime example of that.

Reports today confirm that she is waiting for papers of divorce to be delivered to her, just yesterday I read a letter disseminated through the press from the Sheehan family the purpose of which was to let the world know without any modicum of doubt that she was acting independently of them and without any blessing, and cnn.com is reporting that residents of Mclennan County have requested that the board of county commissioners expand a no-parking zone surrounding the President's ranch almost certainly compelling her to remain in Crawford city limits some 7 miles away.

It's never easy to do the right thing.

But I certainly am glad there's someone with the balls to try.

"Before my son was killed I used to think to think that one person could not make a difference. But one person that is surrounded and supported by millions of people can be heard." Sheehan (more details)

Sheehan, eight years a youth pastor, may not be the most eloquent of the voices raised in protest. Nor the most educated. But I really don't think it's about politics for this woman. I think it's about the grief of losing a son. To a war he was never really committed to, that he went off to out of a sense of duty after being misled by a recuruiter - this from Sheehan's stated point of view. This isn't about revenge. It isn't about attention. It's about making something right that can't really be made right.

And she's provided just what we needed here at home when a rallying cry was necessary.

And to all those who say that her protest is hurting troop morale and damaging the war effort... to hell with them. We must not ever for any reason or for even a moment abandon one of of foundational principles such as that of free assembly or free speech. I reject completely the notion that what Sheehan is doing is damaging to this nation or it's people. It is our civic duty to
excercise our freedoms whenever we feel compelled. It is that ability which makes us American and separates us from other world cultures. I also reject the notion that there would be anything to fear from letting her objections be heard if this war were truly justified.

sign the petition for Sheehan to be interviewed by the big four, the four major networks have been talking about the issue without allowing her to comment - here

view cindy's blog at the Gold Star Families for Peace website - here

Crossfire vs. The Situation Room

Has anyone seen The Situation Room, CNN's Wolf Blitzer vehicle replacing Crossfire and Inside Politics?

Purportedly, it was inspired by CNN's coverage of the 2004 Presidential election. This is amusing to me. I didn't find the coverage that night particularly inspiring, nor do I find Blitzer particularly captivating.

I hate Carville and I HATE Novak, but at the end of an hour's worth of Crossfire I felt like I'd learned something. I usually had. Both sides couched themselves in familiar party rhetoric but, somehow, Crossfire had a way of helping me to see current issues, even polarizing issues, from a new point of view.

Blitzer's manner is tedious. And the format of The Sit Room so far has proven close kin to improv with bad actors.

For those who don't know, The Sit. Room is an up-to-the-minute presentatiopn of raw news data as the data comes in to Blitzer in his high tech news room and through use of CNN correspondents in the field, Cafferty File editorial interjections via flatscreen tv, and immediate blog reports. It's all part of CNN's plan to revitalize itself for the modern age. The first step of a plan that involved moving CNN's American Morning to a new set and away from the open courtyard which it was felt compromised it's journalistic integrity in the opinion of the public at large.

This new importance on CNN distinguishing itself in the market place, trying to capture back ratings from Fox News and MSNBC at the cost of journalistic content, may be the largest mistake since MSNBC President Rick Kaplan's aborted attempt to dismiss Keith Olbermann.

Quality is what we need. More than we need CNN to maintain its position as leader in the telivision news industry, we need it's dedication to broadcast excellence. In an effort to "mainstream" CNN, to bring it more in line with the sensationalized and unfortunately successful methodology employed by Fox News and a generation fed their nightly dose of world events by comedian Jon Stewart , CNN President Jonathan Klein eliminated an insightful, effective piece of programming with three hours of "competitive" fluff.

CNN's Situation Room homepage -- here

An excellent article about the Jon Stewart/Crossfire debate -- here

Playboy is Mocking You

here

and

here

Wal-Mart's Oil Woes

Hot on the heels of a weak second-quarter and after announcements of setting their sights on India as a booming center of future revenues, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott has has gone to press with an announcement that high oil prices are cutting into their profit-margin and their client-base may soon be paying higher prices to make up the difference.

I find it hard to empathize with the corporate monolith looming on the outskirts of every American town, with it's litany of broken small business and ruined small-town economies. I recently read a poll that suggested that 1-in-5 of all Americans is in some way employed by Wal-Mart.

I'm sure it will get pointed out that I'm not much of a capitalist. Well, that's the truth. I'm not much of a capitalist.

I believe in a balanced capitalism. And a social conscience. And when it comes to entities like Wal-Mart where the cases of employee mistreatment - sexual discriminition, extreme reaction to any employee found trying to foment worker organization, Vice President Tom Loughlin's admitted corporate fraud, complicit employment of illegal immigrant workers, the recent EPA violations settlement, required unpaid overtime ... just to name a few of recent issues ... I find it hard, with good conscience, to shop there unless my my finances leave me no option for a small period of time or the services are unavailable elsewhere. It baffles me that a company with such admitted problems of personnel treatment and so many instances of disregard for corporate law can do so well in this "moral" nation.

So today CEO Lee Scott announces that Wal-Mart is being hit hard by the soaring cost of fuel.

And all I can think is... wouldn't it be nice if this were really a sign that Target was edging out this other immoral W?

And all I can think is ... wouldn't it be great if this were an indication that those various teacher's unions back-to-school boycotts and the actions of good folks like those at boycottwalmart.meetup.com were beginning to have a real effect? Wouldn't it be nice if people were suddenly interested in preserving their communities and keeping their higher quality, higher service, always-been-there Mom and Pop stores?

And all I can think is... it's not indicative of anything nearly so noble. People will think with their wallets and their convenience.

I can only hope that James Hoffa Jr and his new splinter union really will be more effective than it's parent, and that social reform can be brought to Wal-Mart and Fed-Ex and the other giants on whom they've set their sights. Until then, we can seed the dissent by flying the colors made available to us by sites like www.hel-mart.com.

Welcome

I suppose everyone has their reasons for doing this - entering the community of bloggers, finding their soapbox and beginning to speak.

For me it was at the suggestion of friends.

Once I start talking I can't help but feel they might regret that suggestion but...

So welcome to Liberal in Pennsylvania, a place where good people can gather together to share in lively discussion about a wide range of topics effecting Pennsylvanians and Americas at large. We will not always agree, but in the discussion we will find strength.