Perhaps What We Need are "Thoughts and Prayers"

Today, our President will commemorate the real attack on our Democracy that took place on 9/11/2001.  He'll speak during a brief stop-over in Alaska.  No big deal, just another item on his calendar.  Sadly, that will be true for most of us. Like the photograph below, 9/11 has faded into a blur.

Today, when politicians speak of an attack upon Democracy, they are referring to January 6th when a normal political protest in Washington, D.C degenerated into an unruly crowd and then into a relatively small riot. One person was tragically killed. And a few hundred politicians saw it as the opportunity of a lifetime to gain control of the political dialog in our nation. Somehow they managed to arrest over a thousand people for this relatively tiny event.  Nearly 500 have received jail sentences.

Compare that to September 11. 2001.  On that day 2,997 lost their lives.  For those of us who were alive that day (our numbers decrease each year) we witnessed a terrorist attack so huge and so evil we thought it would shape our country forever. Boy, did we call that one wrong. We thought the terrorists were evil incarnate.  We thought their cunning, hatred and their sheer power to inflict pain were without parallel in modern history.  We underestimated the power of our own U.S. politicians.  9/11 is gone. January 6th reigns supreme.

Did you realize we never convicted a single person for killing 2,997 people?   We genuinely lack the will to convict the terrorists and are now considering releasing them from Guantanamo Bay.  It is important to note that we did track down and execute the 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden.

But, because we have learned nothing, we have abandoned the people of Afghanistan... again... as usual.

Meanwhile we have managed to place former President Donald Trump on trial all over the United States as he attempts to run for re-election. Priorities, people! January 6th, that is what is important.

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Today, as I have every September 11th since 2006, I'm taking a time to remember Peter Hanson, the handsome, young software engineer, Sue Kim Hanson, his Korean-American bride, and their two old daughter, Christine.

The Hanson's were killed when United Flight 175 was hijacked by the terrorists and purposely crashed into the World Trade Center.

Sue Kim was a Doctoral Candidate at Boston University.  She, Peter and Christine decided to take a vacation to Disneyland and to visit Sue Kim's father in California before she had to defend her Doctoral Thesis.

Blind hatred killed the Hanson's.  The terrorists never knew them, because to know them might have lead to understanding, to doubt in their mission, to have concerns about the justness of their cause.  The leader of the terrorists, Osama bin Laden didn't want to know people, he wanted to see numbers.  Peter, Sue Kim and Christine weren't people to the terrorists, they were just the number 3. Just 3 out of 2,997.  We need to remember them, as angels.

Please take a few minutes today to remember Peter, Sue Kim and Christine.  Say a prayer for them and their families.  Say a prayer for us all.  Remember people today, not numbers.

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In 2006 a blogger project was begun on the fifth anniversary of 9-11.  Called the "2,996 Project" volunteers were asked to write a short remembrance for each of the victims of the September 11, 2001.attack.  I was randomly assigned Sue Kim Hanson.  Each year since I have repeated my effort to honor Sue Kim and her family.  You can read each of my essays following the links below:

September 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson

September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson

Spetember 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate, Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson

September 11, 2014 - Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11

We Have Forgotten

 I returned to my Blog on September 11th, as I always do, to revisit the entries I had made to "remember" Sue Kim Hanson, one of the 2,996 victims of the horrific attack on American made on 9/11/2001.  Back in 2006, as part of The 2,996 Project, I had "voluteered" to write a short memorial about one of the people who died during the attack.  At random I was assigned Sue Kim Hanson.  I knew nothing about her.

But in 2006 we were still raw from the unexpected violence, the carnage and the shear audacity of the attack.  And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were nearing their peak. After 5 years, it was still the news of the day.

Blogging was a big thing then, too.   Today, blogs are a relic in a world filled with TikTok, U-Tube, Instagram, Podcasts and nearly endless videos of Korean Street Food being prepared in stunning detail. But I digress.

Having Bloggers lead the way in remembering the victims seemed like a good idea. It seemed important that we never forget. We knew we would never forget. It was important we never forget.

Fifteen more years have passed and we have forgotten.  

No, we haven't forgotten Sue Kim Hanson, nor her husband Peter, nor her daughter Christine, perhaps now the most famous of the victims, primarily because she was the youngest.  In fact I was heartened to search Sue Kim Hanson on Google and see so many pages of entries. My small contribution is just a tiny part of the wealth of tributes and remembrances.  Sue Kim was loved and is still loved.

But we, as a nation, as a society, have forgotten 9/11.  Yes, I know you've all watch an endless cable news display of documentaries, and interviews this past weekend. So many I bet you turned them off or changed the channel. Thank god college football began in earnest on 9/11.  

But Fox News (I think it was on Gutfeld!) did their typical student on the street interviews with college kids asking about 9/11.  It was awful. They were not alive on 9/11, so can we blame them for not remembering? And the schools sure don't teach anything about 9/11.  Still, it was painful to watch.

To make matters worse, we just witnessed an Abbott and Costello version of a military retreat from the long forgotten, yet never ending, war in Afghanistan.  

To make matters much worse, we have culturally decided that Republicans are worse than NAZI'S and January 6th was worse than the Civil War.  I mean these things are serious. They must be. Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon and Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert told us so. 

Today 9/11 is the equivalent of the War of 1812.  Quick, tell me what that one was about!!

The horror is gone. Our Fox News students told us we ought to be very careful about teaching about 9/11 and we must be careful in who we blame. We might offend someone. We must not blame Muslims, or Afghan's of Saudi's or, well, anyone.  And, it's very important we not talk of the heroics of our policemen (aren't we supposed to be defunding them, anyway?) or our first responders or soldiers, less we imply Nationalism or cultural superiority.  

Students at a Washington state high school football game were banned from wearing red, white and blue in honor of 9/11 victims because some may find it “racially insensitive.” [ LINK - New York Post Story ]

God Bless You, Sue Kim Hanson and Peter and Christine. We will never forget you.  9/11 however.... well, we have forgotten.

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September 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson

September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson

September 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate, Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson

September 11, 2014 - Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11

September 11, 2016 - The Angels are in the Details

The Angels Are in The Details

The Angels are in the details.

On September 11. 2001 2,997 lost their lives.  Our nation was the victim of a terrorist attack so evil we still can't get our heads around it.  The terrorists were the devil.  Their cunning, hatred and their sheer power to inflict pain are without parallel in modern history.  Although their followers are trying to again plumb those depths.

We are once again in an election year here in the USA.  It's the ugliest, most mean spirited, most delusional election in our history.  There is a lot of talk about hate, hate speech, racism, misogamy, fanaticism and more.  We would do well to get ride of the hyperbole and remember what real hate, real evil really is.

But if we look back on September 11th, we need to realize the that the real legacy is not hatred, but the 2,997 angels that should really be the focus of the story, our history.

Until 9/11 these angels had lives, loves, hopes, fears and dreams.  Let's remember the angels.

Today, as I have every September 11th since 2006, I'm taking a time to remember Peter Hanson, the handsome, young software engineer, Sue Kim Hanson, his Korean-American bride, and their two old daughter, Christine.

The Hanson's were killed when United Flight 175 was hijacked by the terrorists and purposely crashed into the World Trade Center.

Sue Kim was a Doctoral Candidate at Boston University.  She, Peter and Christine decided to take a vacation to Disneyland and to visit Sue Kim's father in California before she had to defend her Doctoral Thesis.

Blind hatred killed the Hanson's.  The terrorists never knew them, because to know them might have lead to understanding, to doubt in their mission, to have concerns about the justness of their cause.  The leader of the terrorists, Osama bin Laden didn't want to know people, he wanted to see numbers.  Peter, Sue Kim and Christine weren't people to the terrorists, they were just the number 3. Just 3 out of 2,997.  We need to remember them, as angels.

Please take a few minutes today to remember Peter, Sue Kim and Christine.  Say a prayer for them and their families.  Say a prayer for us all.  Remember people today, not numbers.

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In 2006 a blogger project was begun on the fifth anniversary of 9-11.  Called the "2,996 Project" volunteers were asked to write a short remembrance for each of the victims of the September 11, 2001.attack.  I was randomly assigned Sue Kim Hanson.  Each year since I have repeated my effort to honor Sue Kim and her family.  You can read each of my essays following the links below:

September 11, 2006 - Susan Kim Hanson

September 11, 2007 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2008 - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2009 - Remembering the Reality: 9-11-2001: Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2010 - Reflections on the Life of Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2011 - Tears in Tragedy - Remembering Sue Kim Hanson

September 11, 2012 - Honoring the Memory of Peter, Sue and Christine Hanson

Spetember 11, 2013 - The Tragedy of War, The Victims of Hate, Remembering Peter, Sue Kim and Christine Hanson

September 11, 2014 - Will Hatred Ever Be Replaced with Understanding? Remembering Sue Kim Hanson on 9/11

Brain Dead is the Most Brilliant Piece of Political Satire Ever - But Is It Fiction?

Three things about the short summer series Brain Dead on CBS Television.

First you should be watching this show.  It's fast, funny, brilliant, cleverly written and wonderfully acted. The link above will let you see past episodes.

Second, as a satire on the current state of political discourse and governmental function it is stunningly on point.  Watch the scenes from the show taking place in the Senate, then watch the real news and you're unlikely to be able to tell the difference.  Its terrible funny..... or is it?

Third, the show creators, Robert and Michelle King are having entirely too much fun.  The "I think I love you..."  sequence in Sunday episodes is one of the greatest moments in television history.

The Man Who Wasn't There

When did Barack Obama lose his ability to understand, to identify with and to inspire huge groups of people?  In 2008 Barack Obama was a master communicator.  His campaign appearances drew tens of thousands and motivated millions more.  He swept Hillary aside in the primary election, easily who the Presidency and even won the Nobel Peace Prize. He quite literally inspired the entire world.

Somehow he lost that ability.  It's been gone for a few years.  It faded away slowly and we didn't really notice at first.  But it's completely gone now. Maybe the Presidency has worn him down. Maybe he is so isolated that he has simply lost touch with the people.

Obama has done some very bold and courageous things. None may be more important or have more of a lasting impact than his warming relations with Cuba, reopening the Embassy and relaxing travel.  This was long overdue and it will, in fact, be a major part of his legacy.

But then he completely mishandles his reaction to the Terrorist Attack in Brussels.  Obama actually DID NOTHING WRONG, HE SIMPLY DID NOTHING.  He reacted badly, coldly, even callously.  When people needed comfort, warmth and support he offered...... well. he offered nothing.  He completely mishandled the optics of the tragedy.  He appeared uncaring, aloof, out-of-touch.

A baseball game and a Tango didn't help.  

I think we all miss the Barack Obama of 2008.  I think the world needs that Obama and not the sad, isolated shell of the once great man that we are presented with today.

How to Eliminate All Free Speech

For reasons that are unimaginable, many Liberals and virtually all Progressives are anxious to eliminate Free Speech here in the USA.  It is, I believe, all about control.... thought control.  There is a bizarre desire to eliminate all opposing ideas and, most certainly, all opposing political ideas.

The effort of any and all groups to eliminate opposing ideas is not new.  It's as old as mankind itself.  The United States, however, was founded on the exact opposite principle: FREE and OPEN exchange of ideas, political points of view and opposing thoughts.  In our relatively short history the exchange of ideas has been robust and often firey.

But the Progressives now have a new weapon to eliminate debate and stop all opposing speech without crossing the hallowed "free speech" line.  It's called "you hurt my feelings" gambit, also known as the "safe space" demand.

Curiously, in demanding a "safe space where the supposed victim can avoid having their feelings hurt, the progressives wantonly destroy their opponent's entire lives.  They don't just "hurt their opponent's feelings" they cause the opponent to lose their job, perhaps their entire career, be removed or expelled from school, and ruin their reputation.  And they do this without any proof that this opponent ever caused the slightest harm to any one.

The bottom line is you damned well better keep your mouth shut or you will be ruined forever.  Of course you still have your blessed "freedom of speech" provided you never use it.

There have been dozens of horrific examples of these assaults in recent weeks.  One of the most egregious however is the attack by the progressive citizens of Revere, Massachusetts of a local high school cheerleading captain, Caley Godino. Godino's offense? She actually took an interest in local politics instead of spending her time on SnapChat or watching One Direction videos.

God knows we cannot let our children have any opinions.  And we certainly can't let them Tweet those opinions on their own Twitter page.  Those opinions might hurt someone's feelings.  Those opinions might threaten someone's "safe space."  Note the word "might" in my analysis. No one actually ever said they were harmed in any way.

Godino sent out one Tweet in response to her high school teacher's Tweet about the poor turnout in a recent election.

"When only 10 percent of Revere votes for mayor cause the other 90 percent isn't legal," Godino replied sarcastically, maybe even a little snarkily, in her tweet.

Of course all hell rained down on Godino after she dared to voice her opinion.  Some other unnamed and protected students complained to the school "authorities" and, in order to shelter and protect these unnamed students, the mighty forces of the school district stepped in to make certain Godino would never, ever voice her opinions again. 

Revere Superintendent Dianne Kelly says the district believes in freedom of speech, but cannot support what she calls insensitive language. "If you're going to stand up and say something that other people will find offensive, then you need to be prepare to deal with the ramifications of that," Kelly said. The ramifications? Kelly kicked Godino off the cheerleading squad for the rest of the year.  

Allow me to translate. What Ms. Kelly means is she will never allow any free speech on her watch. Debate is forbidden.  Opposing ideas are never to be allowed.  If you dare to voice your opinion, you high school career is over and your life will be a living hell.  Thank you for molding America's future leaders, Ms. Kelly.

Caley Godino's opponents never had to name themselves. They were and are anonymous. They never had to defend their political positions or engage in debate.  They never were forced to tell Godino why her opinions were wrong or why their's were right.  The very debate upon which America was founded was never allowed to happen.  That might have violated someone's "safe space. " 

ULTIMATE IRONY:  The mascot of the Revere High School is the "Patriots."

We Have No Solutions to Gun Violence

Yes, I hate videos on the Internet, too. But you really need to watch this.  Gun violence is destroying inner city America yet it seems like only white, rural college shootings get the press.

We need solutions. Sadly every proposal I've seen from President Obama and  our "leaders" would accomplish nothing beyond harming law abiding citizens.  We really need solutions that will reduce Chicago violence.

We are witnessing America's Genocide.  We're shooting 11 month old babies.

Cultural Genocide

The lives of our political opponents matter.  Not their physical lives, we don't care about that. It's their cultural lives, their cultural symbols, their values, morals and mores that matter. To defeat our political enemies we must utterly destroy all the factors that give their lives value, meaning and structure.  And, let's be honest, we do want the complete and utter destruction of all who might disagree with us in any way.

This attitude of complete cultural destruction has led the left to try to eliminate everything remotely connected to the pop culture "Confederate Flag" icons of the conservative and especially southern society.

This excuse for such destruction of an icon is, of course, the senseless murder of the nine black church members at the hands of white supremacist Dylann Roof in Charlotte last week.

But, as horrific as those murders were, they are not the subject of this post.  Instead it is the remarkable reaction that has swept our entire culture in just a few short days, to effectively ban all things remotely connected to the Civil War.

As a Sociology major in College this is simply stunning to behold.  This is the equivalent of a paleontologist discovering the bone of an undiscovered species of dinosaur.  Rarely do you get to see what can only be described as a tidal wave of coordinated social activity happening across all political spectrums, all races, all economic classes, all at once.

This isn't simply South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley suggesting the Confederate Flag be removed from the Statehouse grounds.  That might have started the chain reaction, but look how far its come!

Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Sears and more are pulling everything Confederate off the shelves.  States are pulling down flags and statues and memorials.  Film critics are calling for the withdrawal of the movie "Gone With The Wind," allowing it only to be shown in museums and only on special occasions.  Amazon and Walmart are "suggesting" authors or publishers revise their cover art if it contains anything related to the Civil War.  Will we ban books from schools and public libraries?

Polygon, the gaming news website, reports that Apple was quickly affected by the societal groupthink with a form of censorship that is breathtaking to behold:

"Now, it appears that Apple has decided to join them by pulling many Civil War wargames from the App Store. As of the writing of this story, games like Ultimate General: Gettysburg and all the Hunted Cow Civil War games are nowhere to be found. Apple is famous for reaching for the axe rather than the scalpel when it comes to political issues (like rejecting Hunted Cow's Tank Battle 1942 for depicting Germans and Russians as enemies), so this move doesn't come as a great surprise." 

Can we erase history? It appears Apple is going to try.  But they are not alone.  When Republican Governors like Robert Bentley of Alabama personally remove Confederate Flags and further suggest any school named after a Civil War General be renamed, memorials removed and school mascots banned, you realize we have a seed change turning into a tsunami

Until two or three days ago, Walmart admits it had virtually never had a complaint about pop culture Confederate merchandise.  The public outcry, mostly on social media, happening that quickly.

People tend to jump on the bandwagon. They love to be on the "winning side."  What they may have never noticed Thursday, becomes issue #1 by Friday.

How long will this last? Will there eventually be blow back.  So far only (former) Senator Jim Webb has offered any caution or defense. Certainly his thoughtful and nuanced response absolutely dooms any hope he had of a Presidential candidacy.

Societies and Cultures that "Work"

Sociologists and Anthropologists (my duel majors in college) attempt to study cultures and societies objectively, dispassionately, scientifically.  It is relatively easy to do when studying ancient societies or remote and isolated cultures.

Some societies, cultures and religions work and work well for centuries. And by working I mean they thrive, gathering wealth, power, population size and geographic size.  They have the ability to affect other surrounding cultures and spread their values, laws and morals.

If a culture or society works and thrives, that doesn't mean it moral, good, fair or free.  It does mean the members of the society generally follow their rules and laws. Very very often, historically, these laws and rules are religious in nature and survive nations and governments.  

Morals are passed down from parents to children, values that must shared by all and must be strictly upheld.  For example marriage is discouraged outside of many cultures, ethnic groups and religions. This insures children receive the values, attitudes and strict moral codes of the culture.

ISIS is attempting to form a Caliphate in Iraq and Syria (and beyond).  But the Muslim culture and the Islamic religion that is its base, including and especially Sharia Law, already have proven to be the basis of a culture and societal structure that works.  Sharia Law and the overreaching Muslim culture have already survived hundreds of years through multiple nations and governments.

That does not mean it's good or moral.  That doesn't mean its actions are fair or free.  Most of us are horrified by the stoning of non-believers, the murder of the victims of rape or incest or the enslavement of people from outside the tightly closed society.  We in the west, see these actions as savage.

Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world are joining ISIS.  It's a virtual world wide mass migration.  Here in the west we're trying to stop people from moving the Iraq and joining the armies of ISIS.  Yet people do make their way to a society they see as moral, just and, especially, functional.  They want the rules, the laws, the morals and the leadership to guide their lives.

We need to understand how cultures, societies, nations and religions all work to help us understand why other cultures often breakdown. We need to understand why some cultures thrive and their members prosper, while others live in poverty, riddled with crime and corruption.

We need to understand this in our own American Society and culture where, through our inaction, ignorance and neglect, seem to have said "In spite of our Tweets to the contrary, Black lives actually don't seem to matter."  How is it that we allow this American Genocide continues unabated, ignored or tolerated by most of society.  We need to understand why violence and crime are rampant throughout American inner cities and now are spreading into the supposedly safe suburbs.  

This Wall Street Journal article by Heather Mac Donald is an excellent place to start. 

The Silence of the Lambs

This will be my shortest blog post ever.

Its sole purpose is to highlight that the presumptive Democratic Party Candidate for President, Hillary Clinton, has not held is single press conference or ever a single press interview since launching her campaign one month ago.  She has answered virtually no questions and has never addressed any of the real and substantive issues surrounding her candidacy.

So far it appears this strategy is working.  How long can she continue?

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UPDATE 5/30/2014  - Although Ms. Clinton took a very few questions two days last week, her strategy continues to avoid all questions and make the press hungrier and hungrier for any sort of news.  It's a blazingly brilliant strategy.

Even Fox News fawns over her every speech of scripted interaction with so-called voters (all of whom are carefully screened shills).  She get her message and exactly her message out every day.  It is easily the best election strategy I've ever seen!

Can it continue through the election?  We're all beginning to think it can.

Speak Truth to Power

There is a great deal to like and to admire about Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple.  He is a courageous and visionary liberal leading what is arguably the finest and best run company in America. He came out recently as gay and is the only openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Among the many liberal convictions he has put into practice at Apple in an environmentally responsible effort on climate change, going even so far as to challenge shareholders who are, in Cook's opinion, "climate deniers."

It is from this framework that he led a chorus of corporate leaders, politicians and celebrities in condemning Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Cook said, "Our message, to people around the country and around the world, is this: Apple is open. Open to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. Regardless of what the law might allow in Indiana or Arkansas, we will never tolerate discrimination. Opposing discrimination takes courage. With the lives and dignity of so many people at stake, it’s time for all of us to be courageous." 

Writing in an op-ed in The Washington Post, Cook said, in part, "There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country. A wave of legislation, introduced in more than two dozen states, would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors. Some, such as the bill enacted in Indiana last week that drew a national outcry and one passed in Arkansas, say individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law."

I am greatly bothered by the fact that Cook and many other "Liberals" are on exactly the wrong side of this issue, demanding conformity to a rigid and terribly narrow standard of behavior instead of standing up for individual's right of moral conviction.  

But I am even more concerned that Cook leads a group of bullies in a mob action to demand an orthodox Jewish photographer or a Muslim baker be forced under penalty of law to deny their religious and their moral convictions and participate in acts or ceremonies forbidden by their religion.  Deny Allah or lose your business, livelihood or freedom.  

Cook insists we deny to others the very freedom of moral conviction that allowed gays to gain an open and free place in our society. Cook seems to have forgotten that when the so-called "majority" forced gays into hiding, it was the religious minority of Unitarian Universalists (and other liberal churches) who welcomed gays and lesbians into their churches and performed gay marriages when they were outlawed.  

Unitarians have for centuries lived their beliefs even when prohibited by the state.  They are the religion of the pilgrims, driven out by The Church of England and the King to find freedom in the America they founded.  Now Cook wants to deny this freedom of moral belief.  God help the next persecuted group as Cook wants actions taken based religious belief to be denied by the state.

Errr...well, he wants then denied in Indiana and Arkansas.  Not so much elsewhere.

V the K, writing over on The Gay Patriot responded perfectly, "It takes N0 courage to “stand up to” bakers and florists who just don’t want to take part in gay weddings (although it gets you a lot of “trained seal applause” from other sanctimonious poseurs). Standing up to legitimately brutal regimes … that would be actual courage."

Indeed, as it turns out, Cook wants no part in speaking truth to power.  Challenged by more that a dozen bloggers and pundits, they wrote an open letter to Cook.  The letter reads, in part,  "Tim Cook says that, “Opposing discrimination takes courage,” and we agree. We call on Mr. Cook to live up to our shared principles by pulling Apple out of Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Iran until they stop their official government policies of jailing and murdering gays and lesbians."

Tim Cook has not, as yet, responded.  Sadly, I've lost substantial respect for Mr. Cook.  He is, as V the K implied, a poseur.

#Black Lives Matter

#Black Lives Matter.  If there was a signature Tweet that defined the year 2014 it was the hashtag "Black Lives Matter."

What I think bothers me is that hashtags have become the feelgood contribution of too many people toward curing our society's ills.  I did my part. I sent out a Tweet.

The problem is that Tweet won't save the life of a single Black person.  Nobody will find a job because you Tweeted a socially responsible Tweet.  Schools will not improve.  Gangs will not stop their turf wars.  Random acts of violence will not cease. Nothing will change.

Because, for all too many people, the value of a "Black Life" is a random Tweet.

The protests are now dying down, as they must.  The protester's beclowned themselves with their stupid acts of violence and meaningless, pointless, goalless splendor. Protests with a hashtag driven mentality.

The biggest result of the nationwide protests was the implosion of Bill De Blasio's New York.  But De Blasio was well on his way to destroying the city on his own.  The protests simply accelerated the process.  Black Lives Matter.  You will see a massive increase in murders in New York this year.  As usual, most lives lost will be black.

Maybe the Glitterati will come up with a new hashtag to decry that violence.  After all, hashtags are easier and cheaper than the real investment that must be made in our society to actually save black lives.  And hashtags make our Hollywood stars, sport's gladiators and various celebrities feel so very good.

#Black Lives Matter.