But I haven’t given up. And you cannot give up.

Why Getting Into Trouble is Necessary to Make Change

I’ve seen unbelievable changes during the past 50 or 60 years. When people say, “Nothing has changed,” I feel like saying, “Come and walk in my shoes.” I truly believe that if there is faith and hope and determination, we can continue to lay progress and create an American community at peace with ourselves. The next generation will help us get there.

When I was growing up as a child in Alabama, I saw signs all around me–I saw crosses that the Klan had put up, an announcement about a Klan meeting. I saw signs that said White, colored, white men, colored men, white women, colored women. There were places where we couldn’t go. But we brought those signs down. The only place you will see those signs today will be in a book, in a museum or on a video. When I was growing up, the great majority of African Americans could not participate in a democratic process in the South. They could not register to vote. But we changed that. When I first came to Washington to go on the freedom rides in 1961, black people and white people couldn’t be seated together on a Greyhound bus leaving this city. They travel to the South without being beaten, arrested and jailed.

Now all across the South and all across America there are elected officials who are people of color. In the recent elections in Virginia and some other places around the country, you saw more people of color and more women getting elected to positions of power. They are African American, they’re Latino, Asian American, Native American. Our country is a much better place–a much different place–in spite of all the setbacks and interruptions of progress.

I heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. say on many occasions, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I still believe we will get there. We will redeem the soul of America, and in doing so we will inspire people around the world to stand up and speak out. I believe that it’s true today, and it was true when Dr. King said it years ago. I tell friends and family, colleagues and especially young people that when you see something that’s not right or fair, you have to do something, you have to speak up, you have to get in the way. When I was growing up, my mother and father and grandparents would tell me, “Don’t get in trouble. This is the way it is.” But then I heard Dr. King speak when I was 15. To hear him preach, to be in a discussion with him sitting on the floor, or in a car, or at a meeting in a restaurant or a church, or just walking together … He instilled something within us. I never in my years around him saw him down. Never saw him hostile or mean to a single person.

Dr. King and others inspired me to get in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. And I think we’re going to have generations for years to come that will be prepared to get in trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble. And lead us to higher heights. It’s a struggle that doesn’t last one day, one week, one month, one year. It is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe many lifetimes.

The next generation will help make this society less conscious of race. There will be less racism, there will be more tolerance. Dr. King said we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters. There was a man by the name of A. Philip Randolph, from Jacksonville, Fla., who moved to New York City and became a champion of civil rights, human rights and labor rights. At the March on Washington in 1963 he said, “Remember our mothers and our fore-fathers all came to this great land in different ships. But we’re all in the same boat now.” That is true today.

You have to be hopeful. You have to be optimistic. If not, you will get lost in despair. When I travel around the country, I say, “Don’t get down–you cannot get down.” I’m not down. I got arrested, beaten, left bloody and unconscious. But I haven’t given up. And you cannot give up.

~~~

How will you commemorate 9/11?

Someone asked. Figured I'd answer.

Likely I'll get up out of the bed and jump in the shower... much like I do every day.

Probably I'll head into the kitchen and scavenge something to eat. There's a small slice of that apricot pecan poundcake left that would go good with four or five slices of thick-cut bacon and maybe a fried egg.

Normal practice would be to fire up the the laptop and cruise the news while polishing off breakfast and a few cups of that strong, black Columbian roast... about the same as yesterday and the day before.

I'll fix a lunch... probably since my friend Jeannine brought me over a nice, big ripe tomato I'll make a bacon, tomato and cheese on toasted wheatberry bread. I've always loved a home grown tomato.

When 5:45 rolls around I'll hop in the truck and head north to do another hitch at the daily grind. I'll take the county roads slowly toward the highway, because I know that as soon as I merge onto the 4-lane it'll be every man for his-own.self-bumper-cars. It's like that every day.

Being as I'm an early riser I'll have my choice of parking places and I'll pick that one just a little further away than those closest to the building door, but that has that nice, big shade tree that will keep the cab from being so hot when I come back out at 15:30. In Texas a good parking space is judged by the shade, not the distance. It's been that way as long as I can remember.

I'll juggle my coffee cup and my sack lunch as I fumble for the key to get in. I've always been there before the building is unlocked. Always.

Once inside I'll look longingly at the elevator, but I'll go on around and take the stairs instead. I'm getting fat so the climb will burn an extra calorie or two. Nothing new there except that I should'a never let myself get into this shape.

Another locked door and hopefully not too much spilled coffee before I'm in the hive. I'll flip on the lights and head to my cube. Yep. These days I'm a cubizen. Been one for too long already and I miss the field.

I'll put in my eight shuffling papers and answering the phone... drink more coffee, eat my sandwich when the time comes, smooze with my coworkers and snigger at David's pitifully painful groaners. David has always been the one to come up with the puns.

About 15:25 I'll start winding it down and securing anything that can't be left out for curious eyes. HIPAA can be the bane of my existence... when it isn't FEMA instead... but government has always been a pain in someone or another's derrière.

I'll head down to the parking lot, climb in the cab of a truck that has been sitting shaded by that big, old pecan tree all day long, and I'll get a small grin on my face looking around at the cars of all those drivers that just had to get the space closest to the door. My truck will be cool, and leaving as early as I do I'll miss most of the bumper cars on the highway as I cruise to the house. Takes about 30 or 35 minutes. Almost never fails.

There are chores needing done around Casa Phudpucker. I'll take care of some of them and blow the rest off for another day. Around dinnertime I'll forage through the pantry to see what looks good and fix a bite of supper. Pretty routine stuff.

Next I'll get on the laptop and joust with some bible thumper or some right wingnut about what is real in this world and important. The thumper will tell me I've got to fear god and the wingnut will tell me I've got to fear just about everything even slightly different than "us." I'm passionate about the rights of others, and from my perspective the best way to lose rights is to support some religion or some fear-mongering politician. I've always been like that... and so have they.

At some point today I'll find time to be sad that although humankind can use science to cure polio, to put a man on the moon and a robot on Mars with high definition cameras, yet there are still far too many who will turn to mysticism... which is what led those men 11 years ago to fly airplanes into buildings... and all the while peddlers of fear and discontent will capitalize on the stuff for profit or political gain.

The reason this is a day of note is because of extreme religion and extreme politics. It was extremism generated and fanned by fear, hate and discontent... pounded out of a Qu'rans... that brought about the deaths of all those folks in New York, DC and Shanksville.

Here at home a bunch of bible pounders and right wingnut politicians have spent the past eleven years rousing the rabble... playing on ignorance and fear... demonizing the other guys and their religion... dehumanizing our fellow humans. They use the memory of 9/11 to shore up their base and keep the flames of hatred fanned. There are idiots around. Always have been. Humans die unnecessarily because of them. Always have.

I'm an advocate for human life and liberty and today I'll pontificate about real freedon. Freedom from the chains of religion and of politics. We're slaves to our ignorance. So long as there is some grand notion of life after this one in some paradise in the sky, we will always be slaves. We have the knowledge to change that, but for some reason we can never get the job done.

I'm atheist and politically moderate, but still probably more liberal than many. Those folks will continue to bow to some master or another... and people will keep killing each other for political expediency and because of bronze age myths. Always been that way.

Nothing much changes in my day to day life. Seldom ever has. Today will be of little difference. What happend on 9/11 is nothing new to this world... different only in scale from many other atrocities committed upon other peoples by people toting bibles and qu'rans alike. It disgusts me that humans can find such evil within themselves to perform such acts... but it does not surprise me. We've done things like this to each other since the dawn of history.

It won't change much of my routine. If I changed anything because of what some hate-filled crazy people had done or what they might do next... then they would win. I'll remember what evil does... but I'll not let evil win.

###

Arizona legislature endorses controversial contraceptive bill

For my conservative friends saying that the government should stay out of the contraception issue, this story ought to make your day.

“I believe we live in America. We don’t live in the Soviet Union,” Lesko said. “So, government should not be telling the organizations or mom and pop employers to do something against their moral beliefs.”

So it is the Soviet Union that would impose upon a "mom and pop" if the government insists that insurance must cover all people equally, but it isn't when the government passes a law authorizing said "mom and pop" to pry into an employee's medical records? ...and Senator Lesco thinks the First Amendment allows this?

Really?

The Republicans keep on telling us they are the party of liberty, small governemnt and freedom. So why do they keep on trying to pass laws that allows the governemnt (and now my employer) to poke noses into my library and my bedroom?

###

Chicken Littleism

How Hysteria = a Win for Terrorists

About two years ago the Cato Institute’s Ben Friedman wrote an article in the Washington Times regarding what he called the Politics of Chicken Littleism, and how media hysteria and the use of the Precautionary Principle is giving the Terrorists just what they want. The goal of terrorism is to instill terror, and because of hysterical reporting and commentary surrounding even amateurish, failed terroristic efforts, the terrorists are winning.

Friedman identified some recent examples of the Principle’s application, such as the U.S. involvement in the Iraq war. The excuse for the war was that Saddam had WMDs, and the reactionary assault on Iraqi sovereignty was "necessary" as a "preventive measure." The reactionary definition of the Precautionary Principle as applied to the "War on Terror" could be summarized:

“…any threat to national security should be met with preventive action, regardless of cost or the remoteness of the risk.”

Keep in mind that bit about cost, then consider the unnecessary clamor over the “Underwear Bomber,” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

That the pre-boarding security systems failed is undeniable, but media hysteria and wingnut reactionism is playing right into the hands of terrorists. The delusional boy failed in his attempt at martyrdom (thanks to quick reacting fellow passengers) and is now talking his head off providing some (hopefully) good intelligence.

So this must mean that, in the end, the premptive transportation security system worked and terrorism failed, right?

Wrong

A single, amateur terrorist failed, not because of the premptive systems we have instituted, but because of individual passengers who did not want to become victims. Terrorism came out a big winner.

As evidence, witness the reactionaries marching to the pulpit...

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, (R-Michigan) is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and on FOX News Sunday, Rep. Hoekstra suggested that President Obama was responsible for the security failures, and that Mr. Abdulmutallab's ability to board the flight was evidence that the administration doesn’t take preparedness seriously. "The threat to the United States is real. I think this administration has downplayed it," said Hoekstra.

Rep. Peter King (R-New York) got into the act as well, speaking on CBS's Face the Nation. “We do need the full-body scan, especially when you have countries like Nigeria, which have inadequate security to begin with; then you have passengers transiting in Amsterdam and coming here.”

Not to worry, fellas, awareness is heightened and additional security measures were being instituted before you could rush in front of the nearest camera, and even the innocent will pay the price for something that could have happened... but didn't.

The goal of terrorists is being realized thanks to a shrill media, pompous politicians and over-reacting bureaucrats. The terrorist act attempted by Mr. Abdulmutallab achieved its purpose without the taking of a single life, and now we'll be lucky if the TSA doesn’t require us to strip to our shorts and submit to a full-body, hands-on pat down and cavity search.

It may indeed be prudent to institute precautions in our efforts to protect people from terrorists, and that pre-boarding security screening is necessary, but to what extent do we allow the invasion? How much liberty are we willing to sacrifice? In every instance we must, in spite of the desperate warnings, consider the cost. One of America’s greatest wordsmiths, Benjamin Franklin, in a February 17, 1775 address to the Pennsylvania Assembly, observed that “…they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

You can put me on Ben's side when it comes to matters like these. Considering the rarity of success the terrorists have enjoyed, I am of the opinion that we have sacrificed quite enough of our freedom.

~~

Of Anniversaries and the Rights of Man

This blog turns one year old today. It began out of frustration. I enjoy writing, and was encouraged to submit some of what I’d penned for publication. Never got a bite, so with further encouragement I turned to blogging. Reading back on my own missives I think maybe I shouldn’t have been so quick on the trigger, but I still like the first piece I published.

My first piece was a memorial to the human rights movement, and a tip of the hat to those who have fought for what I called (with apologies to Thomas Paine) “The Rights of Man”. The post was timed to coincide with 60^th anniversary of United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10, better known as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So today is the resolution’s 61^st.

Today is International Human Rights Day. The United Nations officially came into existence at the end of World War II, on October 24, 1945, with a mission to preserve world peace and security; develop friendly relations between nations; work toward solving world economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems; and to protect and promote respect for human rights and freedoms.

The UN’s definition of human rights is “those rights which are inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings.” “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These is the first statement found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet today, the fight against discrimination remains a daily struggle for millions around the globe. Americans take our inherent rights for granted, but many in the world continue to have what we consider basic denied. In the 1948 Declaration, the UN listed the basic human rights:

1. Right to life and liberty

2. Right to freedom of movement

3. Right to equality before the law

4. Freedom of opinion and expression

5. Freedom of assembly and association

6. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion

7. Right to be recognized as a person before the law

8. Right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty

9. Right to appeal a conviction

10. Freedom of choice in whom a person marries

11. Freedom from discrimination based upon race, sex, color, national origin, or language

12. Right to self-determination

13. Right to wages sufficient to support a minimum standard of living

14. Right to equal opportunity for advancement

15. Right to equal pay for equal work

16. Right to paid or otherwise compensated maternity leave

17. Right to form unions

18. Right to strike

19. Right to free primary education

20. Right to accessible education at all levels

21. Freedom from exploitation of children

The list of human rights originally enumerated in 1948 have been expanded over the last three-score years, and now includes new issues, such as a nation’s right to develop; capital punishment; children in armed conflicts; compensation of victims; disability; expanded discrimination based on HIV or AIDS; enforced or involuntary disappearances; environment; impunity; indigenous peoples; migrant workers; peacekeeping operations; the sale of children, terrorism; and war crimes.

TRIVIA: The UN recognizes six official languages. Do you know what they are? (answer at the end)

The first UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights was awarded in 1968, posthumously to American human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt, who was active in the formation of numerous institutions—most notably the UN, the United Nations Association and Freedom House. She chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

There were 48 original members of the UN, and the vote on the Declaration of Human Rights was 48-0. There are 192 member nations today, and one must wonder, if the same resolution were voted on today… just how much consensus we would find. So we can debate the effectiveness of the UN, but the founding goals were admirable.

This year marks the 61st anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR. The theme for International Human Rights Day 2009 is “Embrace Diversity; End Discrimination.” Human Rights Day this year will focus on non-discrimination.

“Discrimination lies at the root of many of the world’s most pressing human rights problems. No country is immune from this scourge. Eliminating discrimination is a duty of the highest order.” Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Another admirable goal…

CITATIONS:

United Nations 24-Hour ‘Hot Line’ for Reporting Human Rights Violations

A Summary of United Nations Agreements on Human Rights

Human Rights Watch

About UNICEF: Who We Are

Bill of Rights Day

Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

United Nations Fact Sheet on Human Rights

The United Nations and Human Rights

United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights: Background

The six official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish

~~

Independence Day post redux

I am so uncultured. How was I to know that the Penn & Teller video I linked to yesterday had roots in popular television. Here, apparently, is the origin of the act.



You gotta love it...
~~

A gal named Becky...

Becky writes one of my favorite blogs. JUST A GIRL IN SHORT SHORTS TALKING ABOUT WHATEVER. If you don't read her, you should.

My more liberal friends may find much with which to disagree on Becky's blog, but for myself... I only find some with which to disagree. She is conservative/libertarian while I am liberal/libertarian.

Go figure.

Anyway, she has written a most wonderful piece on the state of dumbness in America. This is a piece that would make Carl Sagan weep. I'll reproduce it verbatim here, but you really must visit her blog to see the artwork with which she has decorated the piece. The artwork makes a good post even better.

The Dumbing Down of America.

During the presidential campaign Barack Obama would often use a catch phrase to rebut McCain and Republican talking points--- “the American People aren't stupid.”

I am sure Barack Obama is quite aware that is not true at all—Americans are dumber than dirt and susceptible to all kinds of manipulation--- whether it is the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, or that it is somehow possible to drastically increase federal spending and reduce the crushing national deficit at the same time.

The Goldwater Institute commissioned a study to find out if recent Arizona high school graduates had the requisite knowledge expected of naturalized American citizens. The result was that, except for the fortuitous circumstance of having been born on American soil, only 6.4% of public high school graduates would be entitled to the benefits of American citizenship.

Most of these scholars were unable to identify the first president of the United States, or the name of the Ocean located on the East coast of America.

When I was young and naive I used to think there had to be an explanation for Jay Leno's “Man on the Street” shtick. I always thought the participants were nervous, intentionally attempting to get their thirty seconds of fame on the Tonight Show, or that one of Jay's producers passed them a couple bucks.

But the explanation is much simpler—America is the land of the dumb and dumber.

Americans are much better versed in the composition of the Homer Simpson family than they are with the Constitution.

A study found that about 1 in 4 Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances). But more than half of Americans can name at least two members of the cartoon family.

They found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just 1 in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

Europeans have long joked that "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.”

But it was not until the advent of modern scientific polling that it has become clear what spectacular dumbasses we really are—and how rapidly we are becoming even dumber.

In a book, called Just How Stupid are We?, destined to never become a bestseller, historian Rick Shenkman stares into the deep abyss of American Ignorance and directly confronts the continued legitimacy of the cherished notion of the wisdom of the people.

And the sad thing is while there is greater participatory democracy, and unprecedented access to information, as a society we are getting dumber and dumber.

As the American voter dumbs down they are increasingly misusing, abusing, and
abdicating their political power.

The end result is the erosion of freedom and liberty, and everything that made America special. Since we are so stupid and uniformed we are increasingly willing to hand over all decision making and power to the federal government and it's apparatchiks.

Indeed, nearly half of Americans think that the president has the authority to suspend the Constitution.

In the end dumb dumbs get what they deserve—tyranny.

As Thomas Jefferson observed:

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

Becky has it straight. I deal with kids daily who cannot spell and haven't a clue about grammar. Ask them about recent news and they get a glazed over look.

They know Al Franken, but couldn't identify Norm Coleman... and they wonder why you would put the two in the same question. They probably recognize the name of the country, but couldn't find Afghanistan on the map.

The untimely death of Michael Jackson is the only current news they know or care about.

What is most unfortunate is that many of the ignorant have ascended to seats of political power, and those of us who actually read and pay attention to the news see and recognize the disturbing inconsistencies these dumb asses spout. The dumb and dumber in the electorate don't, and are fooled by the shrillness of the fear machine into reelecting the idiots time and again.

... and the sheep have not a clue just how dangerous that is.

Go read Becky's blog. Take my word for it. You will love this gal.
~~