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  • Nuclear Security and Social Ne Nuclear Security and Social Networking?

    • From: DrewHall
    • Description:

       

      Nuclear Security

       

      Last night, Keith Olberman had Richard Fienman on to talk about the Nuclear Security talks happening in Washington DC.  He made the point that Nuclear Security practitioners can learn a lot from Social Networking, of all things.  I thought about it for a while last night and it finally made sense this morning.

      Currently, there are nearly 50 international diplomats in Washington discussing the state of nuclear security and a course forward.  These talks signify the largest gathering of international delegates on this issue since the creation on the UN, and quite frankly, its about time.  Before I address these current talks, lets first look to the beginnings of the Nuclear world.

      With the close of WWII, the world emerged with a concept of "Nuclear War".  To address this, the international community devised a strategy to combat the use and proliferation of these new weapons.  This strategy lead to the formation of the UN (among other reasons).  Only five nations had nuclear capacity - US, France, Great Britain, China, and Russia - and these countries became the core membership of the UN's Security Council.  The UN Security Council not only was given the mandate to authorize the use of nuclear weapons, but was also charged with the authority to authorize all international force.  Needless to say, there has not been any nuclear war.  However, times are changing; this change has brought a new concept of warfare, network warfare.

      network warfareWars are not fought face-to-face on a battle field anymore; instead, modern threats to security are diffuse and bodiless.  Instead of a country with a top-down governance structure, the modern enemy is flat -- central concepts inspire, not central command centers.  Simply put, because the modern enemy is diffuse, diplomatic engagement and negotiations cannot hold.  Furthermore, with nuclear weapons becoming easier to manufacture and easier to transport, modern security must take a new approach.  This approach, as Fienman suggested, can be learned from the lessons of social networking.  

      Social Networking allows individuals to communicate beyond their own network, and also into the networks of their friends.  Because of this capacity to connect one degree beyond our own network, information becomes more available and thus, more powerful.  Fundraising has flourished within social networks.  Event promotion has seen growth.  Applied to Nuclear Security, networking will enable each country to share information with their colleagues, but more importantly it will enable all countries to learn from there connections about developing situations long before they become threats.

      So, I think it is only natural that we apply the lessons learned from social networking to other, more fundamental concerns like nuclear security.  How it will all play put in Washington has yet to be seen, but by "friend requesting" as many foreign countries as possible things seem off to a great start.  

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    • 5 months ago
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  • Health care and lies? Health care and lies?

    • From: DrewHall
    • Description:

      I'm not so sure about this one....

      Like i said in previous posts, its important to express ourselves at all costs - thats why we blog. This idea has been historically known as "Civil Disobedience." (I've got a song about it, check it out).

      At the same time though, this video kinda irks me. Shouting out during an address to Congress is not civil, and its very disruptive to the political process.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgce06Yw2ro&feature=fvst

      i don't know though....do you think Barack is lying?

    • Blog post
    • 1 year ago
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  • Sex Scandal in CA!!! Sex Scandal in CA!!!

    • From: DrewHall
    • Description:

      If you haven't heard already, Southern California Representative Mike Duvall was caught talking to another Legislator about an affair he's been having....and the mic was on!!!!

       

      You've gotta check out this video.

       

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKNOLk78t6Y

       

      Ill embed the code a bit later for you all to view right here. But for now, check it out,

    • Blog post
    • 1 year ago
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  • Why we Blog Why we Blog

    • From: DrewHall
    • Description:

      I think its important we continue to express ourselves whenever and whereever possible. This is the basis of American Liberty, this capacity to write is what men died for. So, I believe it is vitally important to blog, and now more than ever, because the Traditional Media is listening. Bloggers have gained a voice...so lets use it! 

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    • 1 year ago
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  • politics is CRAZY!!! politics is CRAZY!!!

    • From: polisci301
    • Description:

      crazy!!!

    • Blog post
    • 1 year ago
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  • The New "Sensitive" Administra The New "Sensitive" Administration?

    • From: Hansenator5000
    • Description:

      As if the citizens of New York City didn’t have enough to worry about with the memories still fresh in the heads over their beloved twin-towers be felled by a group of terrorists, the Obama Administration decided it would be a good idea this week to fly Air-Force One (another Boeing 747) along with a couple of fighter jets around the Statue of Liberty at very low altitudes… Why in the world would they do that, you ask?  For a photo opportunity!!! 

       

      Just as any prudent person would expect, much of the city was riled into a panic reminiscent of 9-11.  What’s more, the administration didn’t even tell the NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, about the planned public display, and for that, the mayor is now incensed at the level of ineptitude or all out insensitivity over the action.  Either way it’s too bad NYC had to relive elements of that horrible day just so the White House could get a chance to buzz lady liberty for some good pictures.

       

      Think about the nearly $330,000 they spent of your tax dollars to do this (not to mention the pollution created)...  Doesn’t anyone know how to use PhotoShop over there?  It’s just another display of polititians (Democrats in this case) being liberal with the public’s money, and it’s really too bad they had to frighten a bunch of people while doing it…Frown

       

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    • 1 year ago
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  • Democratic Convention Democratic Convention

    • From: kirstenlovesyou143
    • Description:

      It was amazing.  I hope a lot of people were able to go.  It was a lot of fun talking to people about this website.  I was going to stay longer, but my ride came when my volunteeer shift was over.  It was funny though, because Sara and I had new shirts, and a bunch of buttons and stickers everywhere!! I love that this website is like Facebook! It's so much fun!  Helps me learn more also with the news articles.

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    • 1 year ago
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  • Lieutenant Governor John Garam Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi for Congress

    • From: Ravneet
    • Description:

      Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi is expected to run for Congress in CA- 10th Congressional District which includes Contra Costa, Solano, Alameda, and Sacramento counties for 2010. But only if the current Rep. Ellen Tauscher is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve in the Obama administration. Please visit his website if you are interested in knowing more about him. http://www.ltg.ca.gov

      Thanks

    • Blog post
    • 1 year ago
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  • politics rock politics rock

    • From: gurbir04
    • Description:

      GO politics!!!!

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    • 1 year ago
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  • What If Marijuana Were Legal What If Marijuana Were Legal

    • From: mndmstrs
    • Description:

      A audio clip that I found that I couldn't put under Audio.

      It is a NPR radio show where they interview people in a hypothetical world where marijuana has been legal for the past two years.

       

       

       

      http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103276152&ft=1&f=1001

       

      Here is a transcript from the show.

       

      All Things Considered, April 20, 2009 · There's a surge of public interest in legalizing marijuana as a partial answer to a host of problems. Last week, Mexico's congress debated legalizing cannabis as a way to undermine cartel income. And when President Obama held his online town hall last month, he was swamped with the question: Why not legalize pot as a way to help the economy?

      NPR came up with a hypothetical scenario and asked experts to play along, commenting on their imagined outcomes. The scenario: Marijuana has been legal for two years throughout the U.S. It is treated, in the eyes of the law, similar to alcohol. It is taxed and regulated, and users must be 21 or older. Pot smokers can buy it by the gram at licensed dispensaries. Predictably, the law change would make some people very happy — and others deeply concerned.

      Imagine if you turned on the radio and heard this: "From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell. After 70 years of prohibition, marijuana becomes legal today for personal consumption throughout the United States for persons 21 and older …"

      How would the world change if cannabis finally came out of the closet, if it were fully legal to possess, sell and cultivate?

      Willie Nelson, the 76-year-old iconic balladeer and cannabis connoisseur, says there are pros and cons.

      "We don't worry about going to jail anymore for smoking it," he says. But, "a lot of our old friends who dealt it are out of work."

      In Austin, Texas, the legal cannabis created a surge in business at head shops such as Oat Willie's.

      "There's the most popular one, the Volcano," says Doug Brown, the store's longtime general manager, pointing to a conical device that is supposed to provide a milder smoking experience. "It's very expensive — $575 — and they're hard to get hold of."

      In the two years since legalization, Brown has noticed new customers, many of whom are older.

      "More affluent people, more fun people — people that have never done it before, but have decided to try it since it's now legalized," he says.

      One of the new marijuana epicures is Sarah Bird, a middle-aged novelist in Austin and columnist for Texas Monthly Magazine. She says she hadn't smoked marijuana much since her college days.

      "It's been a godsend for the temperamentally tense such as myself," Bird says. "And it's really been a boon to getting me off my addiction to Ambien and Yellowtail Merlot."

      "What's not to like?" Bird asks. It's low-calorie, she doesn't wake up hung over, it's great for the libido, and it's popular at dinner parties, baked into Belgian chocolate brownies.

      But most of all, she adds: "You know you're not contributing to the Sinaloa Cartel and you're not destabilizing Mexico. And in my case, as a parent, I'm not modeling criminal behavior for my child."

      Recreational And Medicinal Uses

      At the University of Texas at Austin, Kevin Prince, coordinator of UT's alcohol and drug program, says he's seen a spike in pot smoking since it became legal. This is troubling to him because national studies show that sustained marijuana use directly affects academic achievement.

      "One of the main issues is there's still a mystique when it comes to marijuana use," Prince says. "A lot of people still don't know that marijuana use is addictive. If you're spending more time smoking weed than going to class or going to work, that's a problem."

      Not everyone uses it recreationally. The end of cannabis prohibition has been a blessing for Marsha, a medical marijuana user with multiple sclerosis. Sitting in a wheelchair in a friend's backyard in Houston, Marsha says she smokes weed to "escape from my body" and the chronic pain caused by nerve damage.

      "Oh, what a relief it is not to be home alone wondering if this minor-league marijuana user, if the cops were gonna come bust me down," she says. "It's nice to feel free."

      The Cartels Stay Strong

      Free at last to smoke marijuana: Since the prohibition on cannabis ended, has it delivered the results its supporters claimed it would?

      With the spiraling drug mayhem in Mexico, some Latin American leaders looked at legalizing marijuana as a way to deny the murderous cartels a portion of their profits. When it was banned, marijuana was the greatest source of income for Mexican traffickers. Now that it's cultivated domestically and sold legally, surely that has crippled the cartels?

      "These are crooks. You're not gonna take 'em out of the criminal activity business," says Robert Almonte, who worked narcotics for 25 years with the El Paso Police Department, just across the river from the ruthless Juarez Cartel. "Because drugs are legalized, they're not gonna say, 'Let's go back to school and get an honest job.' "

      Almonte, director of the Texas Narcotic Officer's Association, says all cannabis legalization has done is force the drug mafias to improvise.

      "As far as marijuana is concerned, they have been selling it less expensive than what it can sell for here in the United States," Almonte says. "But more importantly, we're seeing a more potent marijuana. And with that we're seeing … an increase in the emergency room admissions."

      A similar observation comes from William Martin, a drug policy expert and senior fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.

      "Just as after the repeal of prohibition, organized crime got into many other kinds of activities — protection money, control of the laundry business — so the drug cartels are quite flexible," Martin says. "They've diversified into kidnapping, human trafficking, protection other crime. And they're still selling cocaine, heroin and meth, which are highly profitable. So unfortunately, it has not hurt them as much as we'd hoped."

      Fewer Criminal Cases, Records

      Supporters of legalization say one of the undeniable benefits has been the reduction in criminal cases that have clogged courts.

      "I used to represent a lot of marijuana smokers and dope dealers," says Gerry Goldstein, a prominent criminal defense lawyer in San Antonio.

      Though he is not billing as many hourly fees these days, he believes that's a good thing for the criminal justice system.

      "Back in … 2006 to 2008, 45 percent of all drug arrests in this country for the most part were marijuana offenses," Goldstein says. "That's a staggering waste of resources of our law enforcement."

      And it left young people scarred with criminal records for something that is arguably less dangerous than alcohol, Bill Martin says.

      "If they were convicted, they could lose employment, child custody, student aid, voting privileges, some welfare benefits. They could even forfeit assets like cars or houses. The new regime has eliminated that. Problem users are now being treated as a public health matter and not as a criminal issue, and that's appropriate," he says.

      It Wouldn't Fill Government Coffers

      Since marijuana became legal, farmers around the country — illicit and formerly illicit — have scrambled to put Cannabis sativa seeds into the ground. Under the law, they pay $1,000 for a state license, whether their crop is hydroponic or soil-grown.

      "The marijuana crop's been going really good. … Just wait till the last frost, just start puttin' the plants in the ground, and add a little nitrogen fertilizer to give you a lotta leaf, and after that it just grows like a weed, which is what it is," says Larry Butler. He stands among the crop rows at his Boggy Creek Farm, a 5-acre certified organic urban farm in Austin, Texas.

      His wife, Carol Ann Sayle, says they've been a bit disappointed by their newest cash crop and are nervous about losing the farm's family ambiance.

      "The retailer takes a big hit off the bong, so to speak, and then the government comes in with their taxes," Sayle says. "So what's left for the farmer? After all that work and … trying to ease peoples' fears that we're gonna be giving it to children. So, what's left for the farmer? Stems and seeds is about all that's left."

      Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economist who has modeled and written on the economics of the marijuana market, figures state and federal taxes on cannabis sales add up to $6.7 billion annually.

      And he calculates the savings from not having to enforce state and federal marijuana laws — in arrests, prosecution and incarceration — at $12.9 billion a year. Excluding additional expenses, such as the public health cost of marijuana, or the cost of administering the new law, Miron figures that legal pot creates almost a $20 billion bonus. Miron adds, however, that the people who thought the taxation of marijuana would create a windfall for government coffers will be disappointed.

      "Compared to the size of most federal government agencies, compared to the tax revenue from things like alcohol and tobacco, and certainly compared to the size of deficits that we have, this is just not a major issue, it is not a panacea, it is not curing any of our significant ills," he says. "There may be good reasons to do it, but the budgetary part is not a crucial reason to do it."

      There Are More People Smoking It

      Now that marijuana is legal to possess, use, process, transfer, transport, retail, wholesale and cultivate, has the United States become a nation of potheads?

      The Dutch experiment offers an interesting case study. After marijuana was decriminalized there in 1976, pot smoking didn't jump in Holland, and it remained well below U.S. levels. But it rose sharply after coffee shops opened in the 1980s and began openly selling cannabis. The U.S. already has a huge appetite for drugs: It's the largest illegal narcotics market in the world. Half of all high-school seniors have used pot.

      Drug policy analysts interviewed for this report believe that now that marijuana is legal and socially acceptable in the U.S., there are more people smoking it. And some of them are kids.

      "They'll start using it sooner now because it looks like it's more OK, seems less harmful, because they see their parents doing it," says Rosalie Pacula, co-director of the Drug Policy Research Center at the RAND Corp. "Do we know how to keep kids from drinking alcohol? No, we don't. So why would we expect we'd be any better at it with marijuana?"

      And the reason we should care is because of the effect that marijuana can have on the development of adolescent brains, says Dr. Vicki Nejtek, a research doctor who works on drug abuse at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.

      "We know that marijuana use and chronic use, as it is now, in an adolescent population can cause extreme developmental delay," Nejtek says. "We know the myelin sheath around our brain cells acts like an insulator to an electric cord. When that's stripped away, it can cause memory loss, it reduces our ability to concentrate, and a reduction in brain cell activity."

      In 2007, 14.4 million Americans ages 12 and older admitted to survey-takers that they had used pot in the past month. Rice University's Bill Martin believes, now that it's legal, about one-third more people are using marijuana — maybe 19 million Americans. Martin believes legal pot — which is, after all, an intoxicant — has been good for society but bad for young people.

      "I have nine grandchildren," he says. "I would prefer that none of them use marijuana to any significant extent. I have seen students, I've seen friends, become less interesting."

      NPR's fictitious scenario of legalized marijuana is not likely to come true anytime soon. Most states are still fighting to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize marijuana penalties, much less seriously considering legalization. President Obama is on record opposing legalizing pot as a way to boost the economy. For now, whether legal cannabis would cause an outbreak of reefer madness or make more people just mellow out, makes for an interesting parlor game. But it's only a pipe dream.

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  • Social Symptoms: Literature as Social Symptoms: Literature as a Cure for the Common Bigot Pt 2 03/10/2009

    • From: bababoui84
    • Description:

      New York was hotbed of revolutionary ideas during the mid-nineteenth century, particularly as it relates to the American women’s suffrage movement.  It helped produce women such as Lucretia Mott, who co-chaired the first woman’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 with the author of the Declaration of Sentiments, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.(5)  As publisher of the North Star, abolition activist and freed slave Frederick Douglass was also an enthusiastic member of the suffrage movement and spoke highly of both the women’s rights convention and the Declaration of Sentiments, a document whose call for women’s rights  mirrored the language found in the American Declaration of Independence,  which the convention produced.  He wrote in his paper that the Declaration of Sentiments was a “grand basis for attaining the civil, social, political and religious rights of women.”(6)

                  Born in France earlier in the century, the suffrage movement entailed a combination of political and economic reforms and was led by the demand that women be given the right to vote.  Although it took seventy years for the United States government to make the nineteenth amendment to our constitution, the suffrage movement did not wait as long to produce one of the greatest writers in American history.

                  Edith Wharton was born on January 1st, 1862 to Lucretia Rhinelander and George Jones, an affluent couple who are said to be the reference for the common saying “keeping up with the Joneses”.(7)  While living near Washington Square, Wharton was rigorously educated both home and abroad and was just as commanding with language as she was on the English social scene.(4)  She was married to socialite philanderer Edward Wharton at the age of twenty-three and spent the next quarter-century writing a multitude of novels, short stories and non-fiction pieces.  After authoring roughly twenty books, Wharton suffered a nervous breakdown due to her husbands’ constant infidelity and was temporarily hospitalized.

                  Edith and Edward Wharton were divorced in 1913, after which the former left her home in Lennox, Massachusetts, the famous residence known simply as The Mount, for Paris, France.  While abroad, Wharton became involved with various charities benefiting refugees displaced during World War I which included providing jobs for unemployed French women, opening various tuberculosis clinics, and housing Belgian refugees.  It was through her involvement with the war that she developed an affinity for French imperialism, becoming a “rabid imperialist”.  Finally, Wharton became the first female recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, Age of Innocence in 1921, sixteen years before passing away on August 11th, 1937.(8)  In her many works of literary genius, Wharton employed a sharp wit and a keen grasp of dramatic irony to develop many classic female characters, one of which being Mrs. Anerton from her short story “The Muse’s Tragedy”, one of her earliest published works, found in The Greater Inclination in 1899.(4)

                  In Wharton’s story, young Harvard graduate Lewis Danyers travels to Rome while conducting research for a book he is to write about his idol, fictional poet Vincent Rendle.  While dining in a relatively deserted restaurant at the Hotel Villa d’Este, Danyers runs into Mrs. Anerton, close friend to Rendle and the supposed inspiration for a collection of his poetry titled Sonnets to Sylvia.  The two spent a month together at the hotel, and while their relationship began centered on a mutual appreciation of Rendle’s work and Mrs. Anerton’s uncanny ability to shed light on his works as though she had written them herself, it moved gradually towards one of a more personal nature.  Towards the end of their stay, Danyers finds himself inspired to pursue his own literary accolades at the urging of Mrs. Anerton, who had found a way to inspire not only the master, but apparently his literary prodigy as well.  Danyers says:

       

      How she had divined him; lifted and disentangled his groping ambitions; laid the awakening touch on his spirit with her creative Let there be light! 4

       

                  It is through her relationship to Danyers, one in which she is the intellectual superior, as well as through the background information on her reputation recited almost enviously by Mrs. Memorall earlier in the story, that we get the sense of Mrs. Anerton being a strong, independent and, most importantly, intelligent woman.  At a time when American women weren’t even allowed to vote, the idea that this woman could be such a dynamic character would’ve been preposterous to some male readers of the day.  But, while such women were often seen as cold and calculating rather than warm and compassionate, Mrs. Anerton slowly ascends from Rendle and Danyers elevated status as muse to the master of English meter to become human, a woman who craves human interaction just as much as the next person.  In fact, her fascination with Danyers lends itself to the idea that she might be falling in love with the young scholar, an idea which is dashed asunder by a letter she sends Danyers in which she informs him that she will not be meeting him in Venice as they had originally planned.  But, through a gesture that might seem outwardly cruel, Mrs. Anerton attains a fully realized sense of humanity in that she refuses to lead Danyers on any further, hoping to spare the young man the heartbreak she’d been forced to endure since long before her revered poets’ passing.  Anerton says:

       

                  You thought it was because Vincent Rendle had loved me that there was so little hope for you.  I had had what I wanted to the full; wasn’t that what you said?  It is just when a man begins to think he understands a woman that he may be sure he doesn’t!  It is because Vincent Rendle didn’t love me that there is no hope for you.  I never had what I wanted, and never, never, never will I stoop to wanting anything else…If you knew what a relief it is to tell some one at last, you would bear with me, you would let me hurt you!  I shall never be quite so lonely again, now that some one knows. 4

       

                  In the end, Mrs. Anerton did Danyers a kindness by not meeting him in Venice and it was an act that obviously took a lot of restraint on the part of a woman who had spent so long deprived of such attention.  Although it can be argued that her need to define herself through her relationships with the men in her life detracts from her image of strength and wisdom, it can also be that, having fallen victim to a passionless marriage and the unrequited love of her ‘soul mate’, her need for validation, both intellectually through Rendle and romantically through Danyers, was a heartbreakingly human quality bestowed on a woman who had until then been the definition of an unattainable standard for the Harvard alum.  Her initial cruelty saved him from chasing the ghost of her first, and only, love and spending the days of his youth rapt in the same hopeless pursuit of appreciation that had sapped her of her passion and vitality.  Anerton says:

       

      You will be angry with me at first-but, alas! not for long.  What I have done would have been cruel if I had been a younger woman; as it is, the experiment will hurt no one but myself.  And it will hurt me horribly (as much as, in your first anger, you may perhaps wish), because it has shown me, for the first time, all that I have missed….4

       

                  Again with “The Muse’s Tragedy”, as with Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author finds a way to subversively humanize a character which the audience of their day might have rather stayed dark and foreboding.  Having addressed the symptoms of racism with Jim and the affliction of misogyny through a study of Mrs. Anerton, the only disease that remains untreated is that of homophobia.  And, although her work is considered among the best of her generation, Edith Wharton isn’t the only expatriate whose prowess with the English language can be likened to a great doctors’ vast medical expertise.

                  Of the three infectious, viral ideologies we’ve discussed to this point, one stands out ahead of the rest as still being a point of great contention today, and that is the denial of basic civil rights and liberties for the homosexual population of the United States.  As evidenced by the examples provided earlier in this document regarding minority rights, those Americans that constitute the majority have always been hesitant to relinquish rights to those within an unpopular minority; the women’s suffrage movement lasted nearly three-quarters of a century, not to mention the near-death experience ‘Lady Liberty’ had when slavery was finally abolished.  This concept, as it relates to homosexuality, can be best illustrated by the passing of the controversial California Proposition Eight last November.

                  Despite the fact that the original Puritan settlers fled England to ‘the New World’ in hopes of escaping religious persecution, and that the United States government is firmly based upon the concept that there be division between church and state, Americans have continued to pass legislation banning gay marriage on the basis of religion.  In his 1787 “Notes on the State of Virginia”, Founding Father and fourth President of the United States Thomas Jefferson commented that, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make half the world fools and half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world..."(9)  It therefore stands without question that the original intention of our Constitution was to ensure no one would have to endure legal prejudice on any basis, specifically as it applies to religious persecution.  Truly Californians, or rather Americans, stand upon yet another moral precipice.  To give gay men and women the right to live in a country where they are so egregiously discriminated against might spark a sentiment among our homosexual community that could be considered a kin to the disillusionment which helped define a ‘Lost Generation’.

                  Born on July 21st, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, Ernest Hemingway would grow up enjoying all the trappings of the average upper-middle class lifestyle.  Both intellectually and athletically gifted, Hemingway spent his leisure time throughout high school as any other teenage boy might, playing on the school football team and taking camping trips with his father, Clarence.(4)  After graduation, Hemingway forwent pursuing his college education in favor of accepting a brief internship at the Kansas City Star, where he was introduced to the writing style that would later serve as his calling card, a style in which the writer was to combine a short, concise structure with “vigorous English” and a generally positive tone.  Although his time spent working for the Missouri newspaper would prove to be highly influential in his future authorial endeavors, it would be his time spent on the Italian battlefront during World War I that would lend its voice to not only Hemingway, but to all the future literary giants which were subjected to its wrath.(10)

                  Unable to serve with the United States Army due to an optical deficiency, Hemingway spent his days in Italy as an ambulance driver for the Red Cross until he was severely injured in the line of duty by a trench mortar while trying to deliver medical supplies.  While injured, Hemingway was able to rescue an Italian soldier who had also been maimed, an act of bravery that earned him the Italian Silver Medal of Military Valor and an extended stay at a hospital in Milan.  While invalid, healing from both shrapnel and gunshot wounds, he fell in love with one of his nurses, Agnes von Kurowsky, who later left him in favor of an Italian officer when Hemingway made ready to return home.(10)

                  After a brief sojourn across the northeastern portion of the United States, a stay which consequently saw him marry a Ms. Hadley Richardson on September 3rd, 1921, Hemingway, along with his new bride, moved back across the Atlantic permanently, settling in Paris, France.(10)  Paris, already home to American expatriate authors such as Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald, served as a perfect backdrop for both the life of the author, Hemingway, and his host of famous, or infamous, characters.(4)  The description of the ‘Lost Generation’, originally intended to encapsulate Hemingway and his peers, transitioned seamlessly over to the main characters who constituted the cast in his first major literary success, The Sun Also Rises, particularly the protagonist, Jacob Barnes, his ‘love interest’, Lady Brett Ashley and his closest friend, Bill Gorton.

                  The biggest conflict within The Sun Also Rises concerns the ideas of love and sex and lends itself to one of the books most obvious themes, human sexuality.  Jacob, or Jake as he is more consistently referred to, has been rendered impotent by an injury which he’d suffered during World War I which leaves him unable to satisfy the seemingly insatiable sexual appetite of his love interest, Lady Brett Ashley.  The reversal of the gender roles between the books two main characters allows us to observe how, in light of Jake’s inability to have vaginal intercourse; Brett’s character is allowed to take the reigns as the books’ dominant masculine influence.

                  From her short haircut to right down to her name, Brett initially seems to be the embodiment of the strong, sexually independent woman, due in large part to the way she seems to recklessly use the men in her life to satiate her carnal desires in much the same way men had been using women for centuries.  But, although it would be easy for conventional wisdom to write Brett off as a whore, the facts all point to her being a woman who is just as much a victim of circumstance as her various conquests.  Having lost her first love during the war and being forced to endure a physically and psychologically abusive marriage with Lord Ashley, being doomed to finally fall in love with a man that can never meet her needs sexually makes Brett quite possibly the most sympathetic character in Hemingway’s novel, aside from Jake, who has his own issues with masculinity.

                  The first instance in which homosexuality is discussed comes in Chapter Three, when Brett enters the bar where Jake and his friends had been drinking.  She appears with a group of assumed homosexual men, an act which seems to breed discord, particularly with Jake.  Although he reacts negatively towards the men, it is significant to recognize that not only does Jake recognize his own homophobia, but also the fact that these sentiments are coming from a man who has been doubly emasculated; physically by the war and emotionally by Brett, and who lacks a strong sense of his own sexual identity as a result.  Jake says:

       

                  I was very angry.  Somehow they always made me angry.  I know they are supposed to be amusing, and you should be tolerant, but I wanted to swing on one, any one, anything to shatter that superior, simpering composure.4

       

                  The next, and most significant, discussion of homosexuality comes in Chapter Twelve during Jake’s fishing trip with Bill Gorton.  Strangely enough, the only true example of love in The Sun Also Rises is the friendship between Jake and Bill, who is also a veteran of World War I.  The only character with whom Jake is ever comfortable enough to speak with in any detail regarding the conditions of his impotence, Bill has shared in a horrible experience, one during which the two were constantly forced to fend for one another, huddled in the fetal position amongst the wombs of death that were the trenches.  As survivors, the two were reborn as brothers, doomed to share in the disillusionment and apathy that accompanied witnessing such macabre scenes of such a grand scale on such a regular basis.  Bill jokes about the bond the two share due to the war, in much the same way he does throughout the novel, while still making an astute insight into the pitfalls of forcing people to hide their truest, most passionate feelings.  Bill says:

       

                  Listen. You’re a hell of a good guy, and I’m fonder of you than anybody on earth.  I couldn’t tell you that in New York.  It’d mean I was a faggot.  That was what the Civil War was about.  Abraham Lincoln was a faggot.  He was in love with General Grant.  So was Jefferson Davis…Sex explains it all.4

       

                  In regards to Bill, it is also significant that, just as he is the only one able to talk about his most intimate emotions without the help of alcohol, it is important to note that, although he recognizes Brett’s undeniable beauty, he is the only one of Jake’s male friends who doesn’t become ensnared in her widow’s web.  While some may attribute this to Bill’s in fact being homosexual, I think it’s more telling in that it shows that, where sex without love breeds discord and ruin, love can exist, and flourish, in the absence of sex and that a man can find the love of his life within another man, regardless of whether or not they have a sexual relationship, and simply be at peace.

                  Although, unlike other minorities, the problems which currently plague lesbian, gay, bisexual and pan sexual Americans have yet to go into remission, it is through the examples presented here, along with all the other examples of the social progression of civil liberties and their ties to literary activism that we are given hope that tomorrow might bring a new cure, a more effective procedure, an articulate answer.  Literature can be that answer, or at least can contribute its’ part, because, undoubtedly, its’ main purpose has always been to allow readers the opportunity to walk a few miles is some of the most undesirable sets of shoes.  In a country where two outcasts from a children’s novel can help bring an end the most tyrannical institution in our nation’s history, we must remain diligent in our faith that this too shall pass.

                  As indicated by our legacy of intolerance, both politically and socially, conditions most certainly will not change overnight, but it is our responsibility to remain vigilant and take full advantage when and if an opportunity arises to become the next Clemens or Wharton or Hemingway.  Because, good writers convey meaning and great writer transmit emotion, but the greatest can change history.

                 

      -5,131 words

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  • Social Symptoms: Literature as Social Symptoms: Literature as a Cure for the Common Bigot Pt 1 03/10/2008

    • From: bababoui84
    • Description:

      Social Symptoms:

      Literature as a Cure for the Common Bigot

       

       

       

      “All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.”

       

      - Ernest Hemingway, 1934

       

       

      “Dig, and be dug in return.”

       

      -Langston Hughes, 1951

       

       

       

                  A good writer can convey meaning, but a great writer transmits emotion.  Truly exceptional literature, whether it presents itself in the form of a poem or an essay, the short story or the novel, is much more than letters that form sentences which create paragraphs that fill pages.  It has a deeper meaning written between the lines, a profound purpose which can affect our perceptions, indeed our society, without us having the slightest idea.  It crosses impenetrable barriers and transcends generations.  These notions have never proved themselves more applicable than with the works of American literature we will be examining this semester.

                  From Mark Twain’s gripping portrayal of the power of humanity in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to Ernest Hemingway’s riveting analysis of human sexuality in The Sun Also Rises, American authors have succeeded time and time again in subversively changing the ethical landscape of our great nation since its’ inception in the late eighteenth century.  With the skill of a practiced surgeon, their eloquent words cut through blank pages, along with the hearts and minds of their readers, with effortless precision.   The prose gets directly to its destination, extracting such malignancies as racism, misogyny and homophobia with the reader sometimes none the wiser, as if anesthetized.  Undoubtedly, literatures’ primary function has always been to provide a means for readers to empathize with socially despicable characters.  American literatures’ first major philosophical battle would be with the institution of slavery and the concept of racism.

                  April 9th, 1865 was arguably the single most important day in the history of the United States of America.  With the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia to federal commander General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox, Virginia, the United States had successfully avoided a division of its’ territories that would have irreparably shattered our fledgling civilization(1). Yet the death of the Confederacy and the adaptation of the Fourteenth Amendment into the U.S. Constitution did not go as far in regards to the equal treatment of minorities as would be necessary to fully assimilate the newly freed slave population into American society.

                  To a majority of the white population in the post-Civil War South, their old way of life possessed a grandiose and romantic quality that made it very endearing.  To this portion of Southern residents, the expansion of the ‘Yankee’ way of life and thinking into the South was seen as an invasion, a bastardization of the Southern culture that would bring about the death of such sacred Southern ideals as chivalry and ‘Southern Hospitality’.  This sentiment has been illustrated countless times in the literature and art of the era and is embodied by such classic Southern characters as Scarlett O’ Hara in Margaret Mitchell’s 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone With The Wind.  It would therefore be implied that any literature written in the South during the late nineteenth century would have to incorporate these very powerful emotions in an exceedingly sensitive way to see any measure of success.

                  Born in Florida, Missouri on November 30th, 1835, Samuel Clemens spent his life consumed by an intense love affair with the Mississippi River and its environs.  Clemens was a fan of storytelling since his childhood, when he would spend summers at his uncles’ farm, passing the time in the slaves’ quarters, listening with rapt attention to their many “tall tales” and “slave spirituals”.  Captivated by how the many different cultures which existed within American society blended together to create hundreds of variations upon the same template of colonial heritage, Clemens traveled up and down the Mississippi as a steamboat pilot and back-and-forth across the United States with his brother Orion, writing numerous articles and essays about the places and people he’d encountered for newspapers and travel magazines(2).  Although he’d earned a sizable reputation as an author for works such as “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and Life on the Mississippi, Clemens crowning achievement would come in 1884 with the creation of a character whose eternal complexity, due in large part to his cutting simplicity and complete honesty, would vastly change the way Americans viewed the concepts of race and humanity.

                  Under the pseudonym Mark Twain, a name which itself was a reference to a piece of Southern boating jargon referring to water depth, Clemens penned Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the intentions of having the story pick up where his earlier children’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer had left off.  Wanting to depict the archetypal struggle between ‘the heart’ and ‘the mind’, Clemens addresses the issue of racism through the relationship of his title character, Huck, and Jim, a runaway slave.  In a lecture he later gave on the subject of his progressive masterpiece, Clemens described Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as, “...a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat."(3)

                  In Clemens’ novel, Huckleberry Finn, a fourteen-year-old firebrand who has decided to run away from his abusive, alcoholic father, fakes his own murder in order to slip down the Mississippi River in pursuit of freedom and all the wondrous adventures imaginable.  During his harrowing escape, Huck happens to cross paths with Jim, a slave who’d run away from his former guardian, Miss Watson, in hopes of acquiring his freedom and reuniting with his family, who’d been quite literally been ‘sold down the river’.  Desperate for companionship, Huck agrees to help Jim travel to the northern United States, where slavery had been abolished, despite possessing personal values and religious beliefs that equated Jim to being a very valuable piece of Miss Watson’s property and his helping Jim escape to being theft from an innocent woman, a woman who had took him in when his own vagabond of a father had abandoned him.  He finds himself grappling with this very idea in Chapter Sixteen, shortly after being reunited with Jim, following an accident that had separated them within a dense fog.  Huck says:

       

      …I begun to get it through my head that he was most free-and who was to blame for it?  Why, me.  I couldn’t get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way…Conscience says to me, “What had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you would see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? 4

       

                  This conflict between the legality and morality of slavery reappears frequently in the book, usually where ever Huck finds himself in another predicament where he must make a decision to either do the right thing or take the easy way out, as was the case with both the feud between the Shepherdson’s and the Grangerford’s and the attempted ‘royal’ acquisition of the Wilks’ estate.  But, as the story progresses and the two companions grow closer through their various trials and tribulations, Huck becomes more and more confused about where he stands regarding Jim’s slave status.  In Chapter Twenty-Three, after having to evade the townspeople of Bricksville, who had proven very unimpressed with the Duke and King’s rendition of ‘The Royal Nonesuch’, Huck is once again confronted with the concept of Jim’s humanity.  Huck says:

       

      He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n.  It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so. 4

       

                  Slowly but surely, Huck develops an acute fondness for the runaway slave, no longer regarding him as ‘Miss Watson’s nigger, Jim’, but as simply ‘my friend, Jim’.  Then suddenly, in Chapter Thirty-One, he is finally forced to take a definite stand on the subject of slavery.  After losing all their money in the Wilks scam, the Duke and the King convince Pikesville Reverend Silas Phelps that Jim is a runaway slave from the New Orleans area with a two-hundred dollar bounty on his head and, under the false pretense that they were headed in the opposite direction and couldn’t wait, agree to sell the rights to the bounty over to Phelps for forty dollars.  So, torn on the subject of Jim’s ownership and his own assured damnation for robbing the kindly Miss Watson, Huck writes her a letter telling her where to find her missing slave.  But, before he can send the note off, Huck reaches an epiphany regarding the whole sorted affair.  Huck says:

       

      And I got to thinking over our trip down the river; and I see Jim before me, all the time, in the day, and in the night-time, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we floating along, talking, and singing, and laughing.  But somehow I couldn’t seem to strike no places to harden me against him, but only the other kind.  I’d see him standing my watch on top of his’n, instead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times, and would always call me honey, and pet me, and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he’s got now; and then I happened to look around, and see that paper.

                  It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand.  I was a trembling because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it.  I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself:

                  “All right, then, I’ll go to hell”-and tore it up. 4

       

                  So ultimately Huck chooses to help Jim, and in the process alienates himself from traditional Southern society by allowing himself, a white person, to value his black friends’ humanity over his monetary worth, but does so in a way that outwardly complies with the original concept that slavery is a legal and morally just institution.  It is through this subversion that Clemens presents the idea of the Negroes’ humanity, not to the elder remnants of a dead and decaying institution, but to their children; to children who would pick up where the Emancipation Proclamation left off through their involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.  By allowing the protagonist to be a child, Clemens averted the attention of parents away from any presumed motive or moral, parents who found it easier to blame Huck’s thought processes on being a trapping of his youth.  More importantly, Huck’s youth allowed those same parents’ children to enjoy a popular character, one whom they might emulate in their play with other kids or daydream about on lazy summer afternoons, whose best and truest friend is a black man.

                  Without Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, who knows how far the civil rights movement would’ve progressed to this point in American history.  Would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been allowed to share his dream?  Would Barack Obama have been our forty-fourth president?  It is truly amazing to think how one children’s novel could have so much influence, but the fostering of empathy through the enjoyment of literature doesn’t apply solely to race.  No, just as with racism, sexism, particularly misogyny, has also been diagnosed by those apt and enthusiastic literary physicians as a cancerous growth which needs to be exorcized from the public body.  Leading the charge would be a woman of both great privilege and an astute wit.

      Continued in Part II

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  • The New American Dream: The Ri The New American Dream: The Rise of Intellectual Oppression 10/20/2008

    • From: bababoui84
    • Description:

      The New American Dream: The Rise of Intellectual Oppression

       

       

                      “How you know where I’m at when you haven’t been where I’ve been,

                      Understand where I’m coming from.

                      When you’re up on the hill in your big home,

                      I’m out here risking my dome.

                      Just for a buck-et or a fast ducat,

                      Just to stay alive hey yo’ I gotta say fuck it.

                      Here is something you can’t understand,

                      How I could just kill a man.”

       

                      - Cypress Hill

       

                     

                      What is the “American Dream”?  To live a comfortable life with a loving family while working at a job you enjoy?  I’d like to think this is what the founders of our great nation had in mind while they were penning our Declaration of Independence.  Unfortunately, that idea has become antiquated in the present day and age.  In 2008 the “American Dream” has become a quest for stardom, a mission undertook in search of unnecessary amounts of wealth and obscene amounts of power.  Where there was once a belief that we shared a common condition, that we were “all in this together”, there now presides the belief that you must do whatever it takes to amass as much wealth possible, regardless of what that might cost your community.  Indeed, we have become so self-centered as a nation that we stand at the deathbed of that ideal, community, more concerned with whether or not we have the newest clothes or the fanciest car than with the many problems that face our country, namely the growing rift between the upper and lower class.  This rift has brought about the almost total dissolution of the middle class upon which this society was built.  Of all the causes responsible for this separation, none stand so glaringly at the forefront of the issue as the almost disgusting disparity between upper, middle and lower class education.

                      While our government, and indeed our nation as a whole, allows itself to be distracted by the impalpable threat of terrorism and the spread of despotism, there are children in the streets of our own country, selling drugs and killing one another in a vain pursuit of their own version of the “American Dream”; one which they did not learn in a classroom but in a dank alley; one not taught by a teacher but by some ‘O.G.’ middle-aged hoodlum more concerned with boosting his own credibility than with lifting his people out of a quagmire of violence and, sadly, self-oppression.  It is this cognitive dissonance; this idea that the education of the lower class is not as important as homeland security, that any despair shared by our country’s poor is of their own design; that keeps us from solving the problem and allows those in power to funnel much needed funds away from inner-city schools to serve their own private agendas.  We have a military surplus the likes of which haven’t been seen since the end of the Cold War, yet our kids learn the history of our United States of America from books written before the civil rights movement.  The rich complain about the inequities of affirmative action, but do nothing to bridge the gap between the education their kids are getting and the ones those who are being so unscrupulously ‘favored’ receive.

                      Last year, according to information found of the California Department of Education’s website, only twenty-eight percent of African American students and twenty-nine percent of Latino students passed the math portion of the high school exit exam.  This number, compared to the forty-three percent of Caucasian students who passed the math requirements, plainly depicts the lop-sided nature of the education that poorer minorities of our state, and our country, are receiving in comparison to their often times more affluent Caucasian counterparts.  This isn’t necessarily to suggest that there is some kind of conspiracy to oppress the wage-earning destitute in this country by stifling their access to a decent education, but facts are facts.  A poor education leads people to a lack of earning potential which, in turn, causes those people to then lean towards less honorable means of procuring capital, such as selling illicit drugs, participation in violent crimes, or prostitution.  Kids without proper reasoning skills make poor decisions; decisions that would have them see the inside of a jail cell rather than a college classroom.

                      It is important to point out that I haven’t made the previous statements as some kind of excuse, some kind of explanation of why the poor sometimes act so unscrupulously.  Rather, the whole point of this dissertation is to shed light on the number one problem in America today; the lack of accessibility to competitive education.  And, although I’ve always chose to leave threats of social upheaval and civil war to more revolutionary minds, through my study of this cognitive dissonance, one thing became exceedingly clear: if we can’t come to terms with why the situations are the way they are regarding youth-perpetrated crimes in America’s inner-city communities, we each run the risk of becoming another casualty of the war being waged, not in the deserts of the middle-east, but on the streets of every major metropolitan city in the United States.

       

      -          782 words

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  • Life's A Bitch...And Then You Life's A Bitch...And Then You Die: Life and Death in America's Penal System 11/13/2008

    • From: bababoui84
    • Description:

      Life’s a Bitch…and Then You Die: Life and Death in America ’s Penal System

       

       

      “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”

       - Fyodor Dostoevsky

       

      “…this is a violent part of a violent world and in my desire for non-violence I am probably a minority.”

       -David Lightner, Idaho Correctional Institute inmate

       

      “Love those who love you but don’t never let it fuck up your vision,

      How much love did your loved ones have when you were broke or doing time in prison?”

       -Andre Hicks, a.k.a. Mac Dre

       

       

       

       

       

       

      In 2007 there were approximately 2,299,116 Americans incarcerated in either federal, state or county prisons according to statistics taken from the United States Department of Justice website.  Broken down by race, that means that for every 100,000 black men in the U.S there are 4,618 who make their home in some part of the national penal system.  That number drops to 1,747 per 100,000 Hispanic males and plummets even further to 773 per 100,000 white men.  Is this a statistic that reflects a cultural separation or rather a cultural segregation?  While many factors go into a person having a predisposition towards criminal activity, the greatest of which being education (or the lack thereof), why is there such disparity between ethnicities when it comes to prison population?  It must be mere coincidence that a white man guilty of embezzling millions of dollars from their place of business might be sentenced to spend a year or two in a white collar, minimum security correctional institution while being caught with a hundred dollars worth of methamphetamines could land a black or Hispanic man five to ten years, depending on their prior criminal history, in a maximum security state or federal prison.

                  In her essay “Total Domination”, Hannah Arendt introduces us to the psychological dynamics that made the Nazi ran concentration camps of World War II so effective.  By subjecting their captives to unbelievable atrocities, the Nazi’s were able to quite literally break the spirit of those they incarcerated, not only making them easier to deal with on a day-to-day basis, but also allowing them to hide their voice-less captives from the view of countries like those who comprised the Allied Nations.  Although the United States’ adopted foreign policy of isolationism was the main reason Hitler’s Army was able to commit such horrible acts of genocide virtually unchallenged for as long as they did, much of the information that did leak to the associated press at the time regarding the conditions within the concentration camps was so outrageous it almost served to make itself unbelievable.  In much the same way, the United States uses its’ penal system to oppress minorities through the sentencing of disproportionate amounts and severities of incarceration as well as by fostering conditions so atrocious in some cases that the public either can’t or wont take any interest.

                  Many members of my own family have been incarcerated at one time or another for having perpetrated various non-violent crimes.  Although some had had gang affiliations before being arrested, all those who weren’t ‘cliqued up’, or associated to one gang or another, before their incarceration were upon their release.  This led those more deeply involved in their respective gangs to begin taking part in increasingly violent crimes, eventually landing them right back in prison.  This is not to say however that the blame for their re-incarceration can be laid at the feet of the penal system or that they wouldn’t have eventually ended up as part of a street gang outside of jail.  Many men and women serve their time in captivity without incident, learn whatever lessons they’d been put there to learn, and leave never to return again, which is a sentiment I can attest to myself.

                  Just as with my more raucous family members, I too cannot escape the reality and shame of my own time spent behind bars.  Having served a week in the county jail after being convicted of two separate counts of driving under the influence, I know firsthand the reality of being locked up, and, although my stay was brief and relatively uneventful, it was enough to have kept me out of trouble for the last three years.

                  While in jail, the sheriffs guarding the facility do everything in their power to not only establish their dominance, but also to rob the prisoners of any sense of individuality, an idea that buys directly into Arendt’s concept of dehumanizing prisoners in order to justify the jailers using harsh tactics in handling the incarceration of their inmates as well as making the inmates easier to control.  After what can be hours spent in a cramped holding cell waiting to be matriculated into the Sacramento County Jail in Elk Grove, California, a facility better known to local residents as “the Branch”, each inmate is given a round of inoculations, is strip searched and relinquished of all personal possessions, is given clothing marked with designations as to where in the facility they’re to be residing in, and sent to their barracks.  The quarters for all minimum security inmates of “the Branch” consist of several barracks, each housing approximately sixty prisoners of every imaginable race and creed, placed strategically around a guard post commonly referred to by residents as “the Fishbowl” due to the fact that its walls are comprised almost entirely of windows.  Although most inmates with any obvious gang affiliations are segregated in a secluded portion of the facility, this does not prevent inmates from ‘cliquing up’ into groups not based on territory or gang affiliations but on race, an idea that permeates every level of the penal system.  The next morning at approximately five a.m. the inmates are woken up to attend breakfast, where they are accosted once again by guards who inform them whether or not they meet the facilities appearance standards; whether they needed to cut their hair or trim their beards, request new clothing from the inmate-run laundry service, and so on.  Those inmates found not to be in 100 percent compliance with the staffs demands are sent back to their bunks hungry, tired and angry.

      Everything about being locked up, from being harassed by the guards to being forced into a ‘clique’ based primarily on your ethnicity, is based on a concept of destroying the individual and replacing it with an automaton.  Either you conform to the rules set to you by the guards or you join a gang and follow their instructions.  The latter’s greatest ally in the fight to recruit more foot soldiers is the ever looming threat of violence, something commonplace in all correctional facilities. Whether it is a riot, the threat of rape, or just your garden-variety beat down, the threat of violence is often times the biggest reason determining whether or not an inmate joins a gang.  Surely all these factors, coupled with peoples general disinterest with friends and/or family members who are locked away in the state penitentiary or the county jail, serve to effectively cut the inmate off from normal society, a dislocation that more often times than not leads to the inmates enrolling in a gang and, for those not incarcerated for violent offenses, an escalation in criminal activity and a new found propensity towards violence.

      People make mistakes; ever since man discovered the ideas of right and wrong civilizations have put institutions in place to deal with those who come in conflict with those concepts.  As long as there is law and order there will be a need for prisons, but as long as the judicial system remains biased against minorities there will be the idea of oppression through disproportionate incarceration.  The need for reform, both in the correctional system as well as in those areas that might be strengthened in the hopes of deterring criminal activity, i.e. the educational system, has never been more obvious than in a time which roughly one in every five African-American men can expect to spend some time of their lives as part of the American penal establishment.  Whether through a transition to restorative justice for non-violent offenders or a massive reform in antiquated laws, such as the existence of the three-strike law as it applies to non-violent offenders, America needs to address not only who comprises the bulk of those incarcerated in our country, but why they ended up jailed in the first place.  Otherwise the sentiment of resentment towards those that work in law enforcement will only grow, leaving many of us to question whether or not we actually are a viable part of the American picture.  Because, as said by poet Tupac Shakur, a man whose voice has spoken profoundly on the plight of an entire generation, in a piece titled “Changes”, “…cops give a damn about a negro.  Pull the trigger, kill a nigger and he’s a hero.  Give it back to the kids, who the hell cares.  It’s one less hungry mouth on the welfare.”

      -1479 words

       

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  • The Audacity of Accountability The Audacity of Accountability 10/08/2008

    • From: bababoui84
    • Description:

       

       

      The Audacity of Accountability

       

      “I am of the opinion that all who can should vote for the most intelligent, honest, and conscientious men eligible to office…”

      -Confederate General Robert E. Lee

      “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.”

      -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

      “And although it seems heaven sent, we ain’t ready to see a black president…”

      -Tupac Shakur

                     

                      Although these quotes come from tremendously different men, men whose personal ideals couldn’t be more foreign to one another, their words have never held more relevance than in this time of social and political upheaval.  America stands upon a threshold the likes of which it hasn’t seen since the Civil War; the decisions made in the coming months, the men elected into public office and the policies and laws they put into action will undoubtedly do more to shape the fundamental structure of American society than any previous administration dating back to that of President Abraham Lincoln, quite possibly even to our founding father, President George Washington himself.  Amongst the many valid topics up for debate this election year; healthcare reform, energy conservation, educational expansion; none is more important than the sudden increase in Americans’ interest in the democratic process.

                      Whether due to the plummeting economy, the steady increase in anti-war sentiment, or our ever increasing progression towards what I like to call a majority-minority social situation, increase in primary voting and voter registration has been astounding.  It is in this time of political awakening that America confronts one of the most dangerous issues it has faced domestically since the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.  For the first time in United States history an African American has received a presidential nomination from one of the two main political parties and will be on the ballot, representing the Democrats, for the general election.  Of course I’m speaking of Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

                      In a country whose politics have either flourished or languished (an opinion I’d venture to guess that would depend a great deal upon ones partisanship) under predominantly Caucasian leadership, the nomination and election of a Negro U.S. Senator is exceedingly progressive.  By this definition, the nomination and election of a Negro president would have to be considered nothing less than revolutionary, something Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could have only dreamed about while sitting in a Birmingham jail writing an exceptionally moving and eloquent letter regarding civil rights to the heads of religion for the region.  But, although given the current state of the Union and despite the fact that there is no doubt in my mind that enormous change is both necessary and imminent, I fear the country that both I and Dr. King love, or loved, so dearly has been placed upon an exceedingly slippery slope; to one side is a renewed faith in democracy, to the other an irreparable loss of confidence.  Although Senator Obama’s candidacy has opened the eyes of an unprecedented amount of Americans to the importance of voting, his election into office on the basis of anything other than what he stands for politically (like his partisan affiliation or his being African American) would see our great nation taking yet another step in the wrong direction.  Truly, an election under such circumstances would fall directly under one of the concepts Dr. King wrote so passionately against in his now famous letter, the idea of the inherent evil of using immoral means to reach a moral end.

                      In an article by Associated Press contributor Michael Baker, Senator Obama is quoted as saying, “I guarantee you African-American turnout, if I’m the nominee, goes up thirty percent around the country, minimum…Young people’s percentage of the vote (would go) up twenty-five to thirty percent”.  As evidenced by Baker, a thirty percent increase in pro-Obama voters would effectively swing votes in traditionally Republican states, especially amongst the southern states.  It is my fear that not only does this increase in political interest consist, at least partially, of “ignorant” voters (the term ignorant alluding to their lack of knowledge of Senator Obama’s policies, not necessarily to a lack of intelligence, although among those new voters living in poor inner cities I’m afraid that too is arguable) but that the existence of these newcomers is driving away pre-existing voters, particularly Republicans, disheartened by Senator Obama’s ever increasing popularity.  And although this same ignorant vote has existed in every election for the last three-hundred years or so, meaning I would be remiss to fault Senator Obama for social dynamics out of his control, the presence of such subversion in politics cannot by overlooked.  Nowhere are these new trends more evident than amongst the more ‘politically charged’ states.

                      Take Louisiana for example; according to statistics taken from the website elections.gmu.edu, pre-Katrina Louisiana was won by President George W. Bush over the then Democratic nominee Senator John Kerry in the 2004 elections by 14.5% with 1,102,169 votes.  Compare that to the results of this year’s primary elections; Senator Obama won the Democratic nomination for the state easily with 57.4% of his party’s votes, a percentage equal to 220,632 of the 384,243 Democratic votes, while Senator John McCain, Obama’s partisan opposition, couldn’t even win his own party’s nomination with 67,551 of 161,151 Republican votes.  There was an even greater margin of victory in Georgia during the ’04 elections with President W. Bush winning by 16.6% with 1,914,254 votes.  In this year’s primary however, Senator Obama again easily won Georgia’s Democratic nomination by 66.4% with 704,247 out of 1,060,767 Democratic votes while Senator McCain again failed to earn the Republican nomination, garnering only 304,751 out of 631,625 Republican votes.  And in states traditionally Democrat the margin of victory has only increased.  Take our own state, California for example.  In the 2004 elections, Senator John Kerry beat President W. Bush by 9.9% with 6,745,485 votes.  In this years’ primaries, although New York Senator Hillary Clinton beat out Senator Obama for the states’ Democratic nomination, earning 51.5% of all Democrat votes compared to Senator Obama’s 43.2% and despite the fact Senator McCain won the Republican nomination with 42.3% of his party’s votes, the disparity of Democrats who voted, 5,066,993, to the number of Republicans that voted, 2,932,811, was shocking, even for our liberal state.  Now, although the number of people who voted in this year’s primary elections does not directly correlate to the number of people who voted in 2004’s general election, the difference is not great enough to suggest that one can’t look at these numbers and see the shocking trend; not only are more Democrats voting, but Republicans aren’t finding their way to the polls in the numbers they had just four relatively short years ago.

                      There are many possible causes for this sudden swing in partisan voting, first and foremost of which is our country’s steady progression towards a majority-minority state.  In his book, The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama talks about the increase in the minority population of the United States.  Among the fifty states of the Union, minorities already outnumber whites in five states; Texas, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, and the District of Colombia; and represent more than one-third of the population in twelve additional states.  And, according to census experts, the situation is only going to progress.  By the year 2050, the United States is expected to consist of a majority of minorities.  In response to this trend, Senator Obama suggests that America (whose representative Congress, comprised of 100 seats, includes only three Latinos, two Asians and one Negro) work towards the idea of a “color-blind” nation whose race relations include a realistic representation of the deficiencies present in the current system.  But, Senator Obama also warns that further bitterness on the part of minorities, particularly Negroes, on the subject of racism does nothing but “confer on such bigotry a power it no longer possesses”.  It is through the adoption of these ideas, as well as a continued progression towards racial equality, that Senator Obama, along with other scholars and politicians, hopes to avoid the emergence of the concept of reverse racism.  It is a sentiment shared by all who live in oppressive environments, as is the case in Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, a fictional story set in the backdrop of South African Apartheid: “I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we have turned to hating.”

                      So it is bearing these concepts in mind that I leave Senator Barack Obama with this charge: put your money where your mouth is.  Should he win this election, Senator Obama will have an obligation to not only all those who voted for him, but indeed all Americans, to adhere to the one concept of his platform that stands out, at least to me, as being the most important: education reform.  During a time of a tumultuous economy (an economy where the average black wage is $6,000 annually compared to the average white wage of $88,000) due in large part to the globalization of the manufacturing industry, it is the government’s responsibility to make sure all Americans, for richer or for poorer, have access to the high level of education that is propelling Indian, Chinese and Japanese students far past our own children.  For Americans to be competitive in a global market they need to be able to compete with not only other Americans, but foreigners as well, because, in this information age, it’s far easier to find cheaper technical labor overseas by means of the internet than it is in our own backyard.  A revitalization of education would not only have a trickledown effect with our beleaguered economy (more training means more money means more spending), but it would reverse the effects of unjust means, i.e. the election of Barack Obama to the presidency based on his partisanship or his race, leading to a just end, a notion that Dr. King warned us about such a short time ago.  It is only through education that this country can look forward to the twenty-second century with any amount of hope of still being the nation we are today.  And while his presidential campaign has rallied millions under the banner of change, while The Audacity of Hope has been introduced to a political landscape seemingly devoid of any such sentiment, Senator Obama’s presidency, should he be elected, will have to rely on the audacity of accountability to reach the change he has spoken so eloquently about.  The audacity to think a politician of any race, sex or creed might actually honor the promises made during their campaign.  The audacity to think someone with so much power and influence might use it to benefit others in their community rather than themselves.  Because, in all honestly, despite all the negativity prevalent in today’s day and age, American democracy is still the most beautiful thing in the world and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, I wouldn’t want to be anything else other than American.

                                                                                                                                                         

      -1,774 words

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  • The Republican Party is having The Republican Party is having a Britney Spears Moment

    • From: kellycomedy
    • Description:

       

                  The Republican Party is having a Britney Spears moment.  Floundering doesn’t even begin to cover it.  Seriously, right now the GOP is staggering barefoot in gas station bathrooms, skirt hiked up showing their goodies to the world, and shaving its head on a whim.

                  While Britney lost custody of her kids so in essence has the GOP.  Britney is under a conservatorship so should the Republican Party be, but whom to give it to?  Like Britney’s next album: who really wants it?

                  As Republicans strive to re-connect with their party they only seem more out of touch with the American public.  As the RNC urgently seeks out the four minorities still left in the Party to step up and put a face on their contrived attempt at resurrection, Americans are cringing inside.  The GOP has become that white guy whom after telling an inappropriate joke announces loudly that, “It’s cool”, because he has one black friend.  These sad displays of equality by electing Michael Steel as Chairmen of the RNC are too little too late, and actually seem inherently racist.  The Republicans need to realize we did not elect Barack Obama because he was black; we elected him because he was qualified and ready to clean up the eight year Republican tsunami that has almost drowned our nation.

                  So Republicans, read a little chapter out of the Britney Spears handbook on how to make a comeback.  What not to do is try and pass off an attractive swarthy man as your true love like Britney did when dating paparazzi Adnan Ghalib, and the Republicans are doing in grooming Bobby Jindel for a nomination he could never live up to.  Bobby Jindal is managing a state with some of the worst statistics in the country so it is laughable to say he is presidential material.

                  While the Republican Party scrambles to find its base the way Britney scrambles to find a birth control that works.  I say to them both; pull it together and stick to what you know!  For Republicans it’s the Regan era, Jesus is grand, Capitalism rules, and lose the pork. For Britney it’s hair extensions, layered dance beats, losing the pork you put on in rehab and Jesus is grand.

       What they both need are older rich white men to step in and take control. I know it will work for Britney, the Republicans I am not so sure.

       

       

       

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    • 1 year ago
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  • Poli class Poli class

    • From: policorrect07
    • Description:

      I am taking a political science class this semester and it's a fun class.  I learn many new things such as, learning to write a letter to our congress.  It was cool Wink!!!!!!!

       

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  • We'll Take Your Stimulus We'll Take Your Stimulus

    • From: DTSCalifornia
    • Description:

      What planet is Sanford, Barbour and Jindal on? President Obama held out his hand to Congressional Republicans and Republican Governors only to get it slapped down by the far right.  The President will keep on trying to reach out across the aisle, but don't be surprised when these Governors and the Republican Party gets hit with a two by four over the head in the mid-term elections. 

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  • Inauguration Day 2009 Schedule Inauguration Day 2009 Schedule

    • From: Nickg31285
    • Description:

      inauguration-day-2009-schedule.jpg

       

      With less than 24 hours before the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, this is what you need to know about what’s happening when.

      Inauguration Day 2009 schedule

      8:00 AM Gates open for ticketed attendees — if you have tickets, it will be wise to arrive very early as crowds will be huge and security heavy.
      10:00 AM Preliminary festivities begin, including music by The United States Marine Band, The San Francisco Boys Chorus, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
      11:30 AM If you have tickets to the Inauguration ceremony, you must have passed through security by this time.

      * Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Senator Dianne Feinstein
      * Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren
      * Aretha Franklin will sing
      * Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn into office
      * Music composed by John Williams and performed by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill.

      12:00 Noon As specified by the U.S. Constitution (20th Amendment), presidential terms of office begin and end at 12:00 noon on January 20. Barack Obama will take the oath of office, which is this simple, 35-word, statement:

      I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

      12:05 PM (approx) President Barack Obama will give his inaugural address, speaking to the nation and world, for the first time, as President of the United States, followed by:

      * Poem: Elizabeth Alexander
      * Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
      * The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band “Sea Chanters”

      1:00 PM (approx) Inaugural Luncheon. For details on the menu and invited guests, see the news release.
      2:30 PM (approx) Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. If you have tickets, you need to be in your seats by 1:00 PM. There is open seating along Pennsylvania Avenue. For information on how to get to the parade route, for people with and without tickets, see the Inaugural Committee’s parade information page.
      Evening There are many inaugural balls held around Washington, DC. Some will be hosted by President Obama, others are just parties.

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    • 1 year ago
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