The recent kidnapping of about 270 Nigerian girls by Islamist
extremist Boko Haram is an irony underscored by an event three
days this week, the World Economic Forum, to be held right
there in Nigeria's capital. Boko Haram's leader has bragged that
Allah encourages selling to the marketplace, therefore, he will sell
the girls into forced marriage...ah. So young Nigerian girls are a
mere commodity, not an oddity or a scarcity, sadly, in our insane,
injustice-weary world; what perfect timing! Maybe market-driven
extremists at the forum can haggle over prices for the different
girls, ruinously reminiscent of our country's former slave markets.
Sarcasm aside, even with short notice, can't the toffs attending
this conference reschedule their meeting? Boycott Nigeria
altogether and meet anywhere else BUT.
President Jonathon, does anyone believe your PR claims that
you have teams out assiduously searching for the girls? As to
patience, few of us interested in human rights and justice have
any with all of this. Silence wife Patience; she should have nothing
to do with the presumably ongoing investigation. Can Nigeria's
First Lady legally order arrests of protesters? Nigeria is now
a mirthless joke, finally, I have to believe.
Good luck, Jonathon. Seriously, get to work and mobilize
many men to root out these insane (and blasphemous, by
the way) Boko Haram kidnappers, stiff sentencing applied
at the minimum.
********************************************
The WEF meeting is a vast undertaking, with big shots from
all over Africa and China in attendance; there was no hope of
cancellation. The irony will have to stand...but attendees
at the 2014 WEF in Nigeria HAVE made strong stands in
statements about the ~270 girls, while Boko Haram has
killed several hundred people in the last few days.
President Obama is right: Darkness in the human heart has
yet to be extinguished.
P.S.: Readers can comment here, but I can't do so
on this browser; I can reply using a different one.
Dan and Mr. Lester, looking forward to your thoughts.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Our Brains Circling Down the Drain: PBS, Then and Now
Watching Wednesday night PBS, "science night" in 2014
is "science lite". Decades ago, we watched more serious
physics programs like "Key to the Universe", several hours
long, with Nigel Calder, only one example. Sir David
Attenborough may not produce and narrate many more
future nature series. (All his superior and endearing/enduring
body of work is still available at PBS online and elsewhere,
thankfully.) Some cable offerings might delight us still, although
none I've seen can compete with PBS at its best.
Free Wednesday nights now feature "Your Inner Fish"
with way too much Dr. Neil Shubin and his university's
scenery, way too little of the actual science. [--Damn
all this dumbing down vanity video!] Don't even talk about
"Nova Science Now" with Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson and
David Pogue acting far too immature (silly-cute), again,
at the expense of the science, given programming and
watchers' time constraints.
"Nova" is funded by a Koch Industries brother, so I
won't bother contributing to PBS until Koch disappears
from the credits.
Meanwhile, I can feel my brain circling down a
metaphorical drain, viewing various vanity science
showpieces showcasing certain profs.
is "science lite". Decades ago, we watched more serious
physics programs like "Key to the Universe", several hours
long, with Nigel Calder, only one example. Sir David
Attenborough may not produce and narrate many more
future nature series. (All his superior and endearing/enduring
body of work is still available at PBS online and elsewhere,
thankfully.) Some cable offerings might delight us still, although
none I've seen can compete with PBS at its best.
Free Wednesday nights now feature "Your Inner Fish"
with way too much Dr. Neil Shubin and his university's
scenery, way too little of the actual science. [--Damn
all this dumbing down vanity video!] Don't even talk about
"Nova Science Now" with Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson and
David Pogue acting far too immature (silly-cute), again,
at the expense of the science, given programming and
watchers' time constraints.
"Nova" is funded by a Koch Industries brother, so I
won't bother contributing to PBS until Koch disappears
from the credits.
Meanwhile, I can feel my brain circling down a
metaphorical drain, viewing various vanity science
showpieces showcasing certain profs.
Geography AND History Are Almost Destiny...
Unless many brave and intelligent souls militate publicly against
the outrages and mistakes of the past. To wit: The Monroe
Doctrine has hubris written all over it. Current and future U.S.
presidents can't rely on that old, imperialistically controlling
document, morally, any more than Russia rightfully reinstitutes
the Soviet Union by fiat and/or devious ambiguation.
The charges and counter charges now flying back and forth
between big bear and exceptional eagle are dangerous,
dragging us all back by degrees to a past MOST do
not want. The U.S. and Russia are attempting to mold
the entire planet in their competing yet flawed images.
Get gumption now, please, people of any ability:
get organized, create an indisputably LARGE cohort,
focus on a few important goals, and present them
FIRMLY to both Russia and the U.S.
The lives you save just might include your own.
Meanwhile, Santayana, make room for Nostradamus;
you two may as well spin together, joint outrage,
one grave.
the outrages and mistakes of the past. To wit: The Monroe
Doctrine has hubris written all over it. Current and future U.S.
presidents can't rely on that old, imperialistically controlling
document, morally, any more than Russia rightfully reinstitutes
the Soviet Union by fiat and/or devious ambiguation.
The charges and counter charges now flying back and forth
between big bear and exceptional eagle are dangerous,
dragging us all back by degrees to a past MOST do
not want. The U.S. and Russia are attempting to mold
the entire planet in their competing yet flawed images.
Get gumption now, please, people of any ability:
get organized, create an indisputably LARGE cohort,
focus on a few important goals, and present them
FIRMLY to both Russia and the U.S.
The lives you save just might include your own.
Meanwhile, Santayana, make room for Nostradamus;
you two may as well spin together, joint outrage,
one grave.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Travelers, Be Wary of the Ferry--at Home and Abroad
...Because many of them have serious design flaws, to say
nothing of the totally inadequate safety protocol/information
culture. Too top-heavy and high in the water, aggravated in
some instances by having too many cars parked too high up
atop many of these working ferries causes some of the very
same sinkings of more than a few cruise liners.
Physics is fundamental; we WERE to have learned that in
school, but if not, ignorance is not bliss, so learn how it
controls your every waking hour, in cars, ships, boats,
motorcycles, building and architecture. (You can't expect
your luxury home to survive long term if it is perched on
a mountain made almost solely of mudslide-prone earth,
look out California!)
Please, I beg you: check out the design and safety culture
of any ferry you may wish to take. As we have all sadly
seen, many lives can be lost when we are too trusting.
nothing of the totally inadequate safety protocol/information
culture. Too top-heavy and high in the water, aggravated in
some instances by having too many cars parked too high up
atop many of these working ferries causes some of the very
same sinkings of more than a few cruise liners.
Physics is fundamental; we WERE to have learned that in
school, but if not, ignorance is not bliss, so learn how it
controls your every waking hour, in cars, ships, boats,
motorcycles, building and architecture. (You can't expect
your luxury home to survive long term if it is perched on
a mountain made almost solely of mudslide-prone earth,
look out California!)
Please, I beg you: check out the design and safety culture
of any ferry you may wish to take. As we have all sadly
seen, many lives can be lost when we are too trusting.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
A World-Famous Philosopher Has Never Stopped Spinning in His Grave
...why on Earth should he have? It is difficult to understand how
world leaders can continue to react in the same dangerously,
murderously tired ways they have always done--knee jerks
BY JERKS. George Santayana cautioned that those not
learning the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them:
so here we go again...the armed skirmishes in the Ukraine
have devolved into violent clashes with deaths, about three
so far, but it's early days.
There are two solutions that might make sense I'll offer here:
(1) Let the Ukraine become two states, divided by the
Dnieper River which does cut the country in half, call them
East Ukraine and West Ukraine. Let the East U align itself
with Russia, which seems to be what that region wants,
let West U line up with Western factions like the European
Union. Not NATO, however: I don't see the Ukraine
anywhere near the Atlantic.
(2) Perhaps Russia could remove its troops in a face-
saving manner, all in charge could begin to relax,
and allow the Ukraine to line up with BOTH
Russian-related interests and European ones, as it is
literally located between both.
Geography is destiny, someone said once. Being
mindful of such situational realities, can't we all
just get along? (so right, Rodney King). If we
can't, more murders, mayhem and destruction are
inevitable in a world that lost approximately 40%
of its financial worth during the Great Recession
2007 and counting.
Meanwhile, George Santayana continues his
graveyard spins....
world leaders can continue to react in the same dangerously,
murderously tired ways they have always done--knee jerks
BY JERKS. George Santayana cautioned that those not
learning the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them:
so here we go again...the armed skirmishes in the Ukraine
have devolved into violent clashes with deaths, about three
so far, but it's early days.
There are two solutions that might make sense I'll offer here:
(1) Let the Ukraine become two states, divided by the
Dnieper River which does cut the country in half, call them
East Ukraine and West Ukraine. Let the East U align itself
with Russia, which seems to be what that region wants,
let West U line up with Western factions like the European
Union. Not NATO, however: I don't see the Ukraine
anywhere near the Atlantic.
(2) Perhaps Russia could remove its troops in a face-
saving manner, all in charge could begin to relax,
and allow the Ukraine to line up with BOTH
Russian-related interests and European ones, as it is
literally located between both.
Geography is destiny, someone said once. Being
mindful of such situational realities, can't we all
just get along? (so right, Rodney King). If we
can't, more murders, mayhem and destruction are
inevitable in a world that lost approximately 40%
of its financial worth during the Great Recession
2007 and counting.
Meanwhile, George Santayana continues his
graveyard spins....
Friday, April 11, 2014
A Heap O' Hubris (-and apparently, ignorance!)
U.S. sailors are suing Japan because they were
exposed to radiation during a rescue mission
to the stricken Fukushima disaster area. SURE,
why not kick a dog when it's down, WOW,
wotta brave move...so who do (should) the sailors
suppose CAUSED this disaster? Why, the
USA's GE Mark I and II reactor designs, sold
to a not quite up to speed technical society,
our former enemies, the Japanese--sold to an
island people subject to numerous earthquakes
and tsunamis...
If the Japanese were really smart, they would
countersue re: being sold a pig in a poke,
faulty reactor designs by GE. Smart people
all around the world AND here at home
know/have known the GE Mark series are
flawed--GE engineers knew it in the
SEVENTIES when most reactors were
being built. Certain Japanese engineers
realized it as well, but ego and big-business
thrills often outweigh good sense; good,
innocent people are actually killed when
dangers are dismissed/overlooked.
Our sailors should sue the U.S. government,
but wouldn't dare, as employees; probably
some federal law exists to forbid such a
lawsuit...
A heapin' helpin' o' hubris (aka willfull
stupidity) going back to the late 60s and
the seventies are at work here, to the
detriment of all.
exposed to radiation during a rescue mission
to the stricken Fukushima disaster area. SURE,
why not kick a dog when it's down, WOW,
wotta brave move...so who do (should) the sailors
suppose CAUSED this disaster? Why, the
USA's GE Mark I and II reactor designs, sold
to a not quite up to speed technical society,
our former enemies, the Japanese--sold to an
island people subject to numerous earthquakes
and tsunamis...
If the Japanese were really smart, they would
countersue re: being sold a pig in a poke,
faulty reactor designs by GE. Smart people
all around the world AND here at home
know/have known the GE Mark series are
flawed--GE engineers knew it in the
SEVENTIES when most reactors were
being built. Certain Japanese engineers
realized it as well, but ego and big-business
thrills often outweigh good sense; good,
innocent people are actually killed when
dangers are dismissed/overlooked.
Our sailors should sue the U.S. government,
but wouldn't dare, as employees; probably
some federal law exists to forbid such a
lawsuit...
A heapin' helpin' o' hubris (aka willfull
stupidity) going back to the late 60s and
the seventies are at work here, to the
detriment of all.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
USA/USAID, Stay Out of Cuba! We Can't Control the World...
and we'd better stop trying. Cuba is an independent
nation, deal with it; 1962's Cuban Soviet missile threat
is not a current issue, so stay outta there--do you want
more problems like those we have with our not-quite-a
state, Puerto Rico? If this nation were so on top of the
many myriad concerns we've had here, why did it take
sooo long for Washington DC's residents to get full voting
rights? --Come ON. Democrats and Liberals, why aren't
you (figuratively) baying for blood as your peers with the
same philosophical inclinations did during Reagan's little
adventure (actually Ollie North's) in 1980s'
Central America?
Cowardice married to presumption has trumped good
sense yet again: USAID, authorized by -?someone?-
has been broadcasting a Twitter-like program called
ZunZuneo to Cuba--COVERTLY. Just as anonymous
screedsters can say whatever they wish, because there
are presumably no accountability repercussions attached
to withholding one's identity, some in authority want
to control Cubans and their political destiny by secretly
propagandizing....shame! Go through the Voice of
America, my dad's old employer, for any honest,
practical power of persuasion.
Check out the Platt Amendment; decide objectively,
if any American can, whether we have our collective
heads screwed on correctly regarding Cuba. For
those who don't know, 70 and more years ago Cuba
was near enough, yet far enough away for philandering
U.S. Senators and other "big shots" to escape their
dumpy, out of shape wives, having affairs with young
Cuban females...disgusting. (If you require sexual
variety, don't marry!)
I'm a Brazilian-Cuban American; I was in Havana
for several weeks in 1955 before Castro took the
island, follow events there and the antics of the
Miami Cubans as well. Because of the Spanish
American War (1898) we became occupiers
of the place...can't we let it go?? The scenario
is pathetic, reminding me sharply of Putin with
the Crimea, using his old KGB mindset.
Two shaky world powers, Russia and the USA,
with lack of control internally must externally
bully two little places in proximity. Memo
to Obama and Putin: this is NOT the way to
maintain super power status, count on it.
USA/USAID, stay out of Cuba, we are not
the world;
Russia, leave the Ukraine alone,
aren't you big enough right now?
--YOU aren't the world EITHER.
nation, deal with it; 1962's Cuban Soviet missile threat
is not a current issue, so stay outta there--do you want
more problems like those we have with our not-quite-a
state, Puerto Rico? If this nation were so on top of the
many myriad concerns we've had here, why did it take
sooo long for Washington DC's residents to get full voting
rights? --Come ON. Democrats and Liberals, why aren't
you (figuratively) baying for blood as your peers with the
same philosophical inclinations did during Reagan's little
adventure (actually Ollie North's) in 1980s'
Central America?
Cowardice married to presumption has trumped good
sense yet again: USAID, authorized by -?someone?-
has been broadcasting a Twitter-like program called
ZunZuneo to Cuba--COVERTLY. Just as anonymous
screedsters can say whatever they wish, because there
are presumably no accountability repercussions attached
to withholding one's identity, some in authority want
to control Cubans and their political destiny by secretly
propagandizing....shame! Go through the Voice of
America, my dad's old employer, for any honest,
practical power of persuasion.
Check out the Platt Amendment; decide objectively,
if any American can, whether we have our collective
heads screwed on correctly regarding Cuba. For
those who don't know, 70 and more years ago Cuba
was near enough, yet far enough away for philandering
U.S. Senators and other "big shots" to escape their
dumpy, out of shape wives, having affairs with young
Cuban females...disgusting. (If you require sexual
variety, don't marry!)
I'm a Brazilian-Cuban American; I was in Havana
for several weeks in 1955 before Castro took the
island, follow events there and the antics of the
Miami Cubans as well. Because of the Spanish
American War (1898) we became occupiers
of the place...can't we let it go?? The scenario
is pathetic, reminding me sharply of Putin with
the Crimea, using his old KGB mindset.
Two shaky world powers, Russia and the USA,
with lack of control internally must externally
bully two little places in proximity. Memo
to Obama and Putin: this is NOT the way to
maintain super power status, count on it.
USA/USAID, stay out of Cuba, we are not
the world;
Russia, leave the Ukraine alone,
aren't you big enough right now?
--YOU aren't the world EITHER.
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