Notes from the Boat (That We're All Riding in)...

Some thoughts about the news...

• I have been impressed with the news coverage about the Haiti earthquake and aftermath by Anderson Cooper and the news reporters at CNN. That is good broadcast journalism.
• For now, I would like to commend Google with its latest threat to pull out of China if it has to continue to filter out words and images that upset the communist dictatorship. It is about time, I would add. Where is Microsoft and Yahoo and the others in also standing up, finally, for freedom and rights? When all the American Internet companies hurried into China, their goal, of course, was one greedy measure: $. Since then, the companies have gotten deserved criticism for being complicit in censorship and the jailing of activists. China should allow the photo of the Tank Man at Tiananmen Square to be accessed on its computers. And everything else that comes with a real worldwide web. China's tricky mix of communism and capitalism has shown that capitalism doesn't equal democracy. But we knew that with all the other dirty little dictators around the world that like to enhance their coffers while they step on people's rights. Now, we will see if Google stands for something greater, in terms of ethics. I hope I will commend Google later for standing tall. I know I will not be using the "Bing" search engine of Microsoft and others until those companies gets some ethical guts, too.
• The win by Republican Scott Brown in the Senate race in Massachusetts was interesting in many ways. I wondered if sports (baseball knowledge) mattered; apparently it did to some voters there. I wondered that if the woman candidate had been the centerfold rather than the man candidate, how would the media and societal response have been different? But I don't think Brown's victory means the Republican Party is now in a better place. I think it means that incumbents or those coming from the incumbent party (in the case of Martha Coakley) need to worry. It will only take a few conservative "nothing" votes by Brown to put him into the disappointment category, unless he has figured out a way to attain populist progress after an election.
• President Obama (and all the conservative national media) need to quit chasing the unicorn. A unicorn is mythical and doesn't exist. So, is the idea that going to the political center to produce watered-down, crap legislation is the way to lead or to attain real progress for the nation or to have any legacy of greatness.
• All a person has to do is look at the major issues and see whether those issues naturally and progressively go to the right or go to the left. Health care--Do we want the status quo on that when other nations in the world do better to provide health care for their citizens? No. So, which way do you go? Of course, you go left, providing more coverage. Most people in this country wanted universal health care. Most people wanted the public option in the latest debate. Why wasn't that the way the politics went? It went to the center and has nearly strangled Obama's campaign idealism as seen by his voters. The wars--Go to the right andthat means adding more troops and spending more money on war. Go to the left and that means leave doing the mission swiftly and getting out. (The use of troops as peacekeepers and rescue assistance in Haiti was a better use of money if the Pentagon wants to think of ways to sustain its huge budget.) Those are just two examples of why conservatism doesn't work. Look at any generation. Is any current generation more conservative or more liberal than their parents? They are almost always more liberal. That's the path of history.
• After the U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, decided that limits on what corporations can spend on political campaigns are against freedom of speech, I pulled out my wallet and looked inside it to see how much free speech I had. Hmmm. Not very much there. But I never figured, even before, that my amount of financial power would ever equal the power of Microsoft, Time Warner, Disney, or Exxon. That's why I write, why I blog, why I try to voice my opinion in any way I can, knowing that money also talks. The U.S. Supreme Court did no favors to the status of the American citizen by blessing corporations with one more advantage. Does it also then mean that corporations that are largely controlled by foreign countries, such as China, or have great interests there will get to try to influence American politics? I hate to think, though I guess it could backfire, too. Probably an endorsement to an issue or candidate by a corporation linked to a foreign dictatorship or agendas would be a kiss of political death.

The life (and death) of Miep Gies...

Miep Gies died on January 11. She was 100 years old. I read about her in a book I'd recommend, titled "Anne Frank, A Biography" by Melissa Muller. She was also mentioned in the book, with another theme of a diary, titled "Freedom Writers' Diary" by the Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell.

Probably not a lot of people know her name. Certainly, more people would know the name of Anne Frank. Anne Frank was the Jewish girl who hid with her parents and others in a secret annex in a commercial building in Amsterdam, Holland, a country that was occupied by the Nazis during WWII. Born in Austria, Miep Gies was one of the Dutch residents who hid Anne, the Frank family, and the others, and supplied them with food and necessities while trying to keep them from being discovered by the Nazis. It was risky and dangerous, and it led to the tragic ending when someone informed the Nazis of the hiding place and Anne and others were sent to concentration camps. Of the Jewish people who hid there, only Otto Frank, Anne's father, would survive the concentration camp. When he returned to Amsterdam, Miep Gies gave him the diary journals by Anne that Gies had found and saved.

After Otto Frank published what is best known by the title of "The Diary of Anne Frank," Anne became the face representing the millions of innocent people who suffered the brutality of Hilter and his Nazi regime.

With all his power, Hitler delivered hatred and death to the world. No one in that time in that place was probably as powerless as a Jewish teenage girl. Yet the publication of her story demonstrates that the powerless can be given a voice and can speak to greater and lasting lessons.

The story of Anne Frank is about hiding from unimaginable evil. It is about the grace of courage and hope. It is about the inspiration of words on paper, thoughts of a girl mature beyond her age. When I think of the Nazi era, I think of Hitler and I also think of Anne Frank. The powerless trumps the powerful in the important ways.

Anne Frank said, in her writings, that she wanted to become a journalist. In journalism, giving voice to the voiceless, to the powerless, is a crucial and meaningful ethic. Without the media, through books and movies and the TV mini-series programs and the websites over the years, the story might have been unknown. Without Miep Gies preserving the diaries, the story might have been lost. And Gies stands for something greater as well. She represents the goodness of people who act on principle and care about others rather than just stand by and do nothing in the face of cruelty and injustice.

Miep Gies had a long life. Anne Frank had a short life. But their lives touched each other in amazing and positive ways and then touched the lives of millions of others.

Notes from the Boat (That We're All Riding In)...

Here are some thoughts about current events...

Probably the greatest speaker in my lifetime was Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights activist who led America to a better place. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is tomorrow.

Certainly, an excellent speaker of these modern times is President Barack Obama. I recently listened to his speech at a Baptist church today.

I find myself looking at Obama near this King holiday and wondering, "What would Martin Luther King Jr. do if he had been the U.S. president?" Of course, King never had the opportunity. King had to sometimes stand alone or in the minority, face danger, advocate change, stick to his values (which included a belief in non-violence), rally support, and merge sympathies and outside powers in order for the power of his words to be fulfilled and turned into reality. He had a very tough journey, especially considering the times and the power structure of the bigoted South.

The problem that Obama faces now is that, while he can inspire with words, he has the power that King never had--Obama has the power of the U.S. presidency. Therefore, it is not enough anymore, at least for me, to hear an Obama speech and to nod in complete agreement. Obama has to inspire more than just through words. He needs to inspire through policy. He has to keep his administration from compromising for qualities that make the ring of his speeches sound flat and false. He has to make progress truly happen.

The expectations are high for Obama because he has what any activist would love to have: the power of policy. If Martin Luther King Jr. could move the country in the ways he did, having little official power, then Obama should be able to, as president. The expectations are high for a reason. With power comes obligation of governance for achievement, well beyond the hope of inspirational words. The words are great as directions for the road map. But, with the privilege to lead and to hold the greatest power perhaps in the world, the destinations have to be reached in order for success and quality to be real and true.

Jackson Hole, estate tax, and the national media...

I waited a whole week for CNN's "The State of the Union with John King" to broadcast of a segment about anchor John King's visit to Wyoming, the last of the 50 states that he has visited since his program began. At the beginning of the segment, King said he wanted to visit all 50 states, so he could talk to "regular" people in America. Wow, that was comical, based upon the choice of Jackson Hole as the site of his visit.

The segment aired on Sunday. And it was quite horrible. It was pretty much a farce. But, no doubt, it gave King a nice assignment junket trip to see some beautiful Wyoming landscape. Whenever some national newsperson wants to involve Wyoming, it usually means a quick plane ride into Jackson, followed by a quick plane ride out. That's what they see of Wyoming. The beautiful mountains in a resort and ski town where only the rich can own houses. The average price of houses in Jackson is $1 million, according to one of the Jackson guests in the report. I would guess that the estimate is correct. Rich politicians, like Cheney, and Hollywood stars own cabins or estates in the Jackson area. Jackson is to Wyoming about as much as Hollywood is to California. John King missed the regular people in Wyoming.

The King interview also featured three Jacksonites who dodged the truth about how many people view the "residency" of former Vice President Dick Cheney. When Cheney first ran with George W. Bush, he had to declare Wyoming as his home state in order to constitutionally come from a state other than Texas which was Bush's home state. Cheney really was a Texan, residing in Texas at the time, working in the state. He had left Wyoming. Yet another fraud of the Bush years. Even when he ran as a Wyoming Congressman, the election allowed him to leave the state. When my brothers were drafted out of Wyoming during the Vietnam War period, Cheney used five deferments to avoid the draft. He ran from military service and, ironically, now acts like he's America's greatest warrior. Another fraud.

I had to dodge the TV networks this Sunday as Cheney's daughter Liz ended up on two. She was on John King's show on CNN, so I switched the channel for that segment. Then she was on ABC's "This Week," so I switched the channel there. We, who are really from Wyoming, know how she ended up with a big-shot job as deputy secretary of state during the Bush years. It is the same way that Michael Powell, son of General Colin Powell, became FCC chairman during the Bush years. And it wasn't because of qualifications. Can anyone, including the media, say "nepotism"?

It is only natural for national news personalities to gravitate toward rich resort towns and rich people, because often they are part of that class; their networks play to that class. Congress and both political parties eagerly serve that class. That's probably why Congress and the national media allowed the estate tax to lapse on January 1. The estate tax brought in $14 billion to the U.S. Treasury, a sizable amount when everyone, especially Republicans, are screaming about the deficit and governmental spending. (The expense of endless wars can be costly, too, by the way.) The estate tax involved only about 5,500 very wealthy families, which is less than one percent of American families. But it wasn't something Congress apparently wanted to keep.

Politicians and the national news media sure are good to rich people. They all may want to fly into Jackson and celebrate.

Good idea about banking...

I like Ariana Huffington's suggestion:

• That people take their money out of the big banks, who helped to cause the economic crisis in the first place, took taxpayers' bailout money, and then lobby against the return to good banking regulations....
• And then people should put their money in small, community banks and credit unions, who invest in the local communities.

Good idea! Spread the word!

Information station...

Here are some interesting random facts from books, TV, and the Internet...

• There are 9,000 species of birds. There are 28,000 types of fish. There are 350,000 kinds of beetles. And there are 2 million (and counting) living species on Earth. (Source: Nova on PBS)
• A human has 23,000 genes, which is the same number that a chicken has but is less than what an ear of corn has. (Nova on PBS)
• An astronomer has estimated there are 37,000 galaxies and that probably at least 361 of them could support life. (CNN)
• Forty percent of Greenland's ice sheet has disappeared in the last 40 years. In Greenland, 100 billion tons of ice per year are melting. If the entire ice sheet would melt, it would cause the oceans to rise by 23 feet. (Anderson Cooper's news show on CNN)
• Of the 3,000 plants used in the fight against cancer cells, 70 percent are found in the Amazon rainforest. (CNN)
• Ninety to 95 percent of people in airplane crashes survive. (CBS)
• The biggest reason for false imprisonment is eyewitness misidentification. DNA has freed 248 people in prisons who were wrongly convicted. In those cases, it also has found 155 real perpetrators. (Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project)
• Latinos are the biggest targets of hate crimes in the United States. (Federal report)
• Thirteen hours of video are posted every minute on YouTube.
• If the U.S. cut its military budget by 10 percent, the United States would still be spending more money on its military than do Russia, China, India, France, England, and Germany on their military budgets COMBINED.

The first Sages awarded...

Roll out the red carpet because here are the first Sage Street Awards, simply known as Sages, for the year 2009:

(Note: This list is likely to grow as I think of the categories, so check back on it from time to time.)

The biggest winner, in a positive way, of 2009: The nominees include MSNBC network's political talk counterbalance to conservative Fox network; Netflix, the DVD company that provides great range of film to the public by mail; the growth of independent film-making as assisted along the way by Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival; the ACLU who continues to challenge what's wrong, even when it's an unpopular cause, and often wins in the Supreme Court for regular people. The winner is Barack Obama who so far has avoided a second Great Depression despite the economic mess left from the Bush years. He wasn't FDR unfortunately this past year, but there's hope that he could be in the future.

The biggest loser of 2009: The nominees included the Republican Party as the new Party of No (and no ideas), Mark Sanford's amazing hypocrisy in journeying down the Appalachian trail; religious fundamentalism of any religion which keeps people in narrow frames of mind and prevents progress. The winner is Tiger Woods, who showed that much of celebrity sports is about popularity, too much money, and superficiality. He proved that even being probably the greatest golfer in history doesn't mean much in the end if the priorities of family and character are abandoned.

The saddest turn of events in 2009: The nominees include the U.S. Postal Service which, though it delivers inexpensively-priced mail with almost daily service and competent reliability, lost income to the computer technology of e-mail; and that Editor and Publisher magazine, which covered the newspaper industry for decades, would cease publication. The winner is: The loss of many newspapers. They are an important media form, crucial to better democracy and community-building.

The biggest political punch in the reality nose for 2009: Nominees included Barack Obama with the notion that there apparently is no such thing as a liberal president, even when we want one and vote for one; the awful Clinton people take over the White House after we voted for Obama; no likely public option in the health care reform plan though most Americans wanted it; Wall Street, the banks and credit card companies who were bailed-out then raised rates, gave outrageous CEO bonuses, and did little for regular taxpayers; the national news media (with the exception of Rachel Maddow) for failing to cover the story of the "Family" religious cult group of conservative Republicans; that there is always political over-reaction to airplane security mishaps and then usually the end result for the traveling public is no better safety but more hassles and delays. The winner is: A surge in deployment in U.S. troops in yet another endless war in Afghanistan.

The most over-rated, annoying, or puzzling media product in 2009: Facebook, a social network that is a bit like when an adult has to sit at the kids' table; more reality TV shows of dull regular people acting stupid and mean; Amazon.com's Kindle or other electronic book devices providing yet another screen and need for batteries; Twitter and the shortening of words, language and communication or the following of people who don't deserve to have followers (though appreciation is given for its importance in non-democratic countries, like Iran and China, where people are seeking freedom and rights). The winner is: Cell phones within an industry that has avoided the scrutiny about possible links to brain cancer and other forms of cancer (as well as increased public rudeness).

The best media product in 2009: The nominees include the vast number of television networks; Netflix, the DVD company that provides great range of film to the public by mail; the GPS devices that help travelers find their locations. The winner is a tie between: 1). The traditional book, with its wide range of informational and enjoyable possibilities; and 2). the Internet, with its worldwide reach and vast resources for knowledge, information, and entertainment.

The worst passage in the Bible and least likely to be quoted from a pulpit: Leviticus 21:18-20 which reads, "For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous; Or a man that is broken-footed, or brokenhanded; Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken." In some versions, "hath his stones broken" instead reads "men with small testicles."

Most intriguing creature in Midwest nature: Nominees included bees, bats, armadillos, paddlefish, and mules. The winner is: Fireflies.

Most intriguing living thing to see in the wild: Nominees included redwood trees, koala bears, condors, penguins, manta rays, dolphins, and giraffes. The winner is: Whales.

The most horrifying creature on Earth (for men), not counting violent humans: Nominees included anaconda snakes, pythons, crocodiles, grizzly bears, lions. The winner is the candiru, which is a Brazilian fishlet that can swim up a man's urine stream and lodge in the urethra of the penis with a ring of retrorse spines preventing its removal. According to the book "The Professor and the Mad Man" by Simon Winchester, it is one of the rare circumstances in which doctors will perform an operation known as peotomy, the surgical removal of the penis.

Most intriguing natural event to witness: Nominees included active volcanoes, migration of gnus and wildebeests in Kenya, bird's-eye view of birds in flight. The winner is: Monarch butterflies in mass returning to traditional Mexico cocoon-emerging site.

Best political or social advocate of the year: Nominees included Russ Feingold, Ralph Nader, Al Franken, Elizabeth Edwards, Cindy Sheehan, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow. The winner is: Howard Dean.

The most horrible politician of the year: Nominees included the Republican Party generally, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, Ben Nelson, Blue Dog Democrats generally, Rahm Emmanuel, Dick Armey, Tom Coburn. The winner is: Joe Lieberman.

The best maverick: The nominees are the Saturday Night Live cast, Michael Moore, Jon Stewart, Mother Jones magazine, Glen Greenwald of Salon.com, Jimmy Carter. The winner is Levi Johnston, who is the best foil and irritation to mother-in-law Sarah Palin.

The Sage Street famous person of the year: The nominees are Howard Dean, Oprah Winfrey, Tina Fey, Meryl Streep, and Walter Cronkite who died this year. The winner is Pete Seeger, for a lifetime of music and activism.