Thursday, September 3, 2009

I fear that my beloved America is on the fast track to second-nation-statushood (I know, that word doesn’t exist. I just made it up). The 5:00pm news report (Radio 880am, WCBS in NYC) had a piece on the U.S. President’s speech on education that is to be given next Tuesday during school time and is to be directed to children. Fifty years ago, when I was still in elementary school, if Dwight Eisenhower had come on the radio to talk about education, you can bet your boots that not one person would have objected. Everyone would have been tuned in for the broadcast. For gosh sakes, we’re talking the President of the United States. Our generation was of a mind to believe that the President should be given the respect that the elected leader of the most powerful country on the face of the earth deserved. In fact, we Americans were proud of the fact that we had never lowered ourselves to the second world status that the once mighty British had as was evident from their press-run-amok reports of parliamentary failings and royal family bloopers. Yes, that’s right, the same Britain that once “ruled the waves”, that mighty empire whose territories spanned the globe and upon whom “the sun never sets”. Yep, “that one” (to turn a McCainian phrase). Oh, they’re good as a backup when America needs a “known” representative to give credence to a coalition of the “just” in wars against Evil but when it comes to real moxie, America is the land of the free and the home of the brave and our institutions and beliefs are rock solid.

Wow, what’s all that got to do with the President’s up and coming speech on education?, you ask. Well, as the radio report went on, it indicated that there is “some parent” who has objected to his child hearing what the President of the United States has to say about education. The “parent’s” objection was stated in an audio clip where the “parent” makes the verbal assertion that we must remember that “when Castro took over Cuba, the first thing he did was to make an address to the children….”

Excuse me! What is the agenda of a radio station that would even bother to place the audio file of an unidentified “parent” making a claim that is pure unsupported opinion? Who is this parent who wishes to shield the precious ears of his child from the statements of the President of the United States? And why is it that a man, duly elected by the voting citizens of the United States cannot be afforded the respect that his position deserves?

Our president, like the leaders of that mighty Britain years ago, all of a sudden has found himself in a world that has changed from what it was just 11 months ago. Transparency in government has brought with it equal access and attention to all parties that, in a time of stress and economic crisis, creates the illusion that position no longer demands nor deserves respect.

The thirty or so years following Britain’s loss of its mighty empire were the grist from which sprang some of the best comedy the world has ever seen or heard. Perhaps, America is headed for a very funny time. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps a darker time is coming as was envisioned by Boutros Boutros-Ghali (in July 1996): “In so many spheres, the political leaders no longer have real sovereignty of decision making. But they have the idea that they themselves can still resolve the central questions. I mean, they have only the fancy, only the illusion that this is so”(p.954, History in Quotations by M.J. Cohen and John Major, Copyright 2008). It would seem that Mr. Boutros-Ghali would have a point when even the President of the United States cannot make a speech on such a benign issue as education without public comparison of his actions with those of a third-world Communist state.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

It appears that this Thursday, in his first pre-season game, Michael Vick will be returned to the ranks of those who play professional football for the NFL. As virtually every sports enthusiast and animal loving humane society supporter knows, Michael Vick was the highly salaried and visible member of the Atlanta Falcons football franchise who was deeply involved in the use of dogs for fighting. He has completed 18 months of incarceration for his actions and has recently signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in a two year contract to complete his return to the NFL.

My own son, who has Guinea Pigs and is awaiting his first dog but who also loves sports was taken aback when the news broke about Michael Vick just over two years ago. As a regular patron of “the Animal Planet” TV program and avid reader of “Sports Illustrated” he has seen and/or read most of the coverage as it has unfolded. Mr. Vick’s travails have led to numerous conversations concerning the “rights” of both animals who are mistreated and humans who are accused of crimes (both against animals and against other humans).

As an adolescent, my son is always interested in the images of “strength”, responsibilities of adulthood, the limits of authority, places of sanctuary in time of danger, severity of penalties for mistakes of violation of law and means by which the perpetrator of a crime can satisfy dues owed and be returned as a whole person to society. We have followed Mr. Vick’s progress with great interest and were very pleased that he was given a chance to play again. We are hoping that his new commitment to assisting the efforts for the proper treatment of animals will be aided by his return to football and look forward to seeing his talents devoted to winning efforts for both his new team and his commitment for the humane treatment of all animals.

I salute Michael Vick for recognizing and trying to correct the poor record he had established among those who love animals. I salute Tony Dungy as an excellent mentor for Mr. Vicks rehabilitation efforts. I salute the Philadelphia Eagles for giving Michael Vick an opportunity to return to the profession that, it appears, he is best suited for. And, for those who plan to protest and continue to castigate Michael Vick, I would urge a little bit of Philadelphia’s historic commitment to “tolerance”. There could be much good gained by animal rights groups through Mr. Vick’s return to the NFL. What better platform to establish the needed peace between Mr. Vick and animal rights activists than as a member of the team that resides in the city of “brotherly love”.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Today is a sad day for Massachusetts and a sad day for America. Edward M. Kennedy is dead. He was part of a fabled family, suffered the loss of one brother to war and two to political assassination, experienced the humiliation of the Chappiquiddick affair, rebounded to champion the cause of access to heath care as an American right and was visibly supportive in the campaign of the man who would become the first African-American President in U.S. history. He was many things, but most of all, Ted was the best of the many Senators produced by the great state of Massachusetts. Just stop and think for a moment of the known Senators from that state: John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, Henry Cabot Lodge, John F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

I happened to see a series of letters in a magazine the other day, the meaning for which I did not know. The letters were “RFID” and with all the other letters, numbers and symbols one must keep track of these days, somehow, the letters were “flying under the radar”; however, following a quick check of their meaning (thank God we still have open access on the internet through portals and search engines) I suspect that we all should pay closer attention to RFID.
In short, RFID stands for “Radio Frequency Identification” and is currently used by several well known manufacturers to track large portions of their inventories. They are microdot size chips with intelligent data storing capability that can be scanned by specialized readers. They became attractive to retailers because they are so small and inexpensive that they can be unobtrusively added to packaging for inventory management purposes. In reality they can be made about the size of the dot for the letter “i” in the word size or the period at the end of this sentence. Depending upon the functional purpose and the amount of the tracking or metric intelligence required they can be larger; however, so much information can be stored that they have become a key component of the new drive for national ID cards, secure area access cards, employee cards, personal health record cards and even secure counterfeit-proof currency. Beyond the tagging of inanimate products there is already use of the tags for pet identification and serious discussions are beginning on “tagging” of all criminals and, just possibly, all U.S. Citizens. I can hear the pitch now: “You never have to worry about accidentally leaving your passport behind. A biometric ID chip under the skin can be readily scanned as you go through the airport security screener." Oh, Joy! George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Ira Levin must be thinking in the great beyond: “We told you so….”Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J47hny8q_J4

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Wow! What a celebration of America's 233rd "Birthday" yesterday, the 4th of July. For the third year in a row, our family was priviledged to be in Boston, Massachusetts for the festivities and the fireworks. This year, the weather cooperated. Neil Diamond sang "They're Coming to America" and, that was the understatement of the year. Statistics show that the wave of immigration into America within the last 15 years will go down as one of the all time great surges in immigration; adding an immigrant population larger than that of the migration from southern and central Europe that took place at the end of the 1800s and beginning of the 1900s. Some of the larger cities, such as New York, have as much as 20% of their current population as recently immigrated. As with past increases in immigration this creates great change in America and change begets stress. Some have ventered the statement that this is not good for America but I believe that this stress is a vital part of what makes America ever strong. So, Happy Birthday America! May you always have an open door for those "...tired and huddled masses yearning to breath free".

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Dregs from the morning coffee on July 2nd:
Isn’t it interesting that when you achieve the thing you wanted, in addition to the joy, there is always an undercurrent of sadness. June 30th was the official “last day” for American forces to take the front line police and terroristic response duties for Iraqi cities and territories. After all of the hubris and resultant angst of the past seven years America is finally going to return the sovereignty of Iraq back to the Iraqi people. As we do, the news sources are filled with stories of both Iraqi celebration and American pride in accomplishment. The belief that nearly our entire 130,000 Iraq based troops will be coming home or redeployed to other areas of the world within the next year brings joy to both the Iraqis and Americans alike. America’s involvement has moved to one of planning and technical assistance, logistical support and information gathering. But, as we leave, other news stories already make me very uneasy about the future of Iraq. Terroristic attacks within Iraq are on the increase. The recent auction of oil rights within this nation possessing the third largest oil reserves in the world was a bust with only the Chinese acquiring one of the available field sites. And, in the not-so-far-off “Land of the Pure” the Taliban has seen a strong resurgence that has become a threat to the stability of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It would seem that for all of the human, material, international political relationship and financial cost of America’s involvement in Iraq the vision of the future for the Iraqis, the region and the American international policy should be much brighter. I guess that’s where the sadness part comes from.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Recently I ran across this protest song that emerged during the days following the June 2009 Iranian Elections and the subsequent street conflicts between the forces controlled by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and those of defeated challenger Mir Hussein Moussavi. In brief, it is a beautiful song. Reflective of the faith of ages that wrongs can be righted, that the powerless can be given a voice and that those who seek to rule through darkness may be expunged by the light of truth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqkSmpKkfdI
June 30, 2009 I have created this blog as a means to communicate interactively with my students and others in this ever flattening world. It is a first attempt in maintaining currency and should provide many entertaining, exciting and informative opportunities for discourse. It is hoped that, in the coming school year, students will be able to examine issues at a level and within a medium that extends beyond the confines of the walls of the traditional classroom setting. For the most part, the comments I leave will apply to current events; however, it is my hope to do so with an eye towards past events or personalities that may help to shed light in understanding the impact and implications of a current news story. So, pull up a chair, check in from time to time, explore some of the issues, share your insights and your opinions. Welcome to my blog! R. Hayman