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.

I See Dead People

As a nation we genuinely have our priorities misplaced.  We are spending millions upon millions of dollars attempting to prevent people with Ebola from entering our country.  Don't get me wrong, Ebola is very frightening and we are not well prepared to fight this deadly infection.  And we had that one very well documented, reported and investigated case of a man from west Africa dying in Dallas, Texas.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of young Americans are dying every year due to gang and gun violence in virtually every American inner city and pocket of poverty.  Many, many are completely innocent, guilty of only being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And many, like Laylah Peterson, are just children.  Laylah was shot and killed last week while sitting safely on her grandfather's lap in their own home in Milwaukee.  Two men fired shots into the house, for some unknown reason, and shot the child.

Laylah was white and the shooters allegedly were black and some are claiming this was racial violence.  I'm pretty certain the reason doesn't matter.  If you want to write this off to racial violence, I'll be happy to post the story of a black four year old girl shot the day before in nearby Racine, Wisconsin.  Here the shooters were also black. Race doesn't matter.

That fact is that deaths from Ebola here in the United States will be rare.  Yet by the time I finish writing this blog entry another child, perhaps two or three, will be dead from the massive violence right here in America.

You probably know all the steps we are taking to prevent Ebola, airport screenings, triage centers, CDC edicts, hospital preparedness and more.  We even have an Ebola Czar.

What are we doing to end youth violence in our inner cities? On a Federal level virtually nothing.  Not a damned thing.   Unless the victim is black and the shooter is a white policeman (or neighborhood watch patrolman), you are unlikely to hear a peep from the President or the U.S. Attorney General.   Again, this isn't about race, it's about priorities.

The greater St. Louis area is preparing for riots and an eruption of violent protests this week when the Grand Jury might possibly fail to indict patrolman Darren Wilson who fatally shot eighteen year old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

"Hands up, don't shoot."  Do you suppose if little Laylah had raised her hands, they home invaders would have held their fire?

In Milwaukee there are no protests, there are no riots and there will be no violence over the murder of a 5 year old girl.  Police have few leads and there have been no arrests. There isn't even a person of interest. The FBI isn't there and neither is the justice department.

But by tomorrow there will be one or more similar murders in the same Milwaukee neighborhood.  And by next weekend there will be more.

My personal hero today is Milwaukee District Seven Alderman Willie C. Wade.  Alderman Wade is walking his district alone, knocking on doors, looking for a lead as to the identities of the shooters who killed five year old Laylah in cold blood.  He is hoping that his constituents will talk to him, a black, a trusted friend, when they might not talk or "snitch" to the police.



Willie C. Wade is a real hero.  We need more heroes.  I'm tired of seeing dead people,

Ebola Infects the Presidency

Three Short Ebola Observations:

• We American citizens were over confident and, well, downright smug about the ability of our vastly superior Health and Medical Structure to combat Ebola if it ever invaded our country.  Now, as it turns out, our strengths have proven to be our weakness.  In small African nations, the population is very poor and relatively stationary making it easy to locate and quarantine the infected people.

Here in the United States, people are relatively wealthy and extremely mobile, taking trips constantly by plane, train, bus and even vacations on cruise ships.  In Africa an Ebola victim generally can only infect family, friends and very close neighbors.  Here anyone EXPOSED can jump on a plane, train or ship and expose hundreds or even thousands of people.  Our wealth and independence make controlling the disease both more difficult and vastly more expensive.

• President Obama's extremely poor management style where no one is ever held accountable for anything, has created a massive bureaucracy of sheer incompetence throughout the Federal Government.  Never in our history has our government been less prepared to face a crisis.  As error after error piled up on the gross mishandling on the first Ebola patient, no one from the CDC ever did so much as issue an intelligent guideline, let alone provider hands-on direction to health care workers.  

The hospital did not even have the correct protective gear for doctors and nurses for days.  The CDC never issued guidelines on how to handle the infection.  CDC Director Thomas Frieden, no matter how intelligent or educated he might be on infectious diseases, is a grossly incompetent manager. Worse, he is an ineffective spokesperson.  Many Democrats as well as virtually all Republicans are calling for his resignation.


Peggy Noonan writes in The Wall Street Journal "The administration’s handling of the Ebola crisis continues to be marked by double talk, runaround and gobbledygook. And its logic is worse than its language. In many of its actions, especially its public pronouncements, the government is functioning not as a soother of public anxiety but the cause of it."

• Only a President as totally unprepared for his job, a President who seemingly has learned nothing over six years, could possibly appoint someone as thoroughly unqualified as Ron Klain to the EBOLA CZAR.  Klain has not one second of medical experience and not one second of experience in handling an epidemic.

To be certain Mr. Klain will have, as his primary job, communicating with the press and public.  Since he cannot credibly answer a single question, the press will eat him alive and the public will further lose confidence in the Obama Administration.

You would think at least on person advising the President would have said, "Sir, you know this appointment of a political manager is going to look very bad and will reflect poorly on your continued handling of this crisis.  This IS NOT a political crisis, Sir, it's a medical crisis." 


Perhaps it was said. Perhaps the President chose not to listen.

Ebola: Coming to a City Near You

Zsuzsanna Jakab, the European Director of the World Health Organization warned today that Ebola is certain to spread throughout Europe.  He stated it was "quite unavoidable."

This warning was tempered in a way that he hoped would not frighten Europe but enable them to prepare for the certainty that people in their countries, and perhaps their cities would contract the disease. 

It's not easy to contract Ebola, but it is difficult to provide the necessary isolation to keep the disease from spreading.  Fear is our very worst enemy.  People will lie to both avoid isolation and to seek treatment.  It's a dangerous brew.

Jakab's warning should have been made for the United States as well.  As it spreads through Europe it will invade the USA increasingly often.  And we lack practical methods of prevention, reasonable methods of isolation, and we have zero efforts at education.  

I'm frankly more worried about the impact on our economy even more than our national health.  Even a relatively minor outbreak will frighten most citizens.  And frightened citizens do desperate things.  The cost of prevention will be astronomical.

As has been the case under President Obama, virtually every threat has been underestimated, minimized or dismissed by the administration.  Ebola is no different.  We need a national health response plan now and our citizens need to be educated and informed to avoid panic.  

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

Last night I prepared to watch President Barack Obama's Address to the Nation about the latest continuation in the war with Islamic Terrorists, the SIS or ISIL threat in Iraq and Syria.  Megan Kelly on Fox News interrupted her broadcast to show the twin beams of light thasat had, seconds ago, be illuminated on the site of the 9/11 attack.  It is a beautiful site, a beacon of strength, hope and spirit.

And yet here we are, thirteen years later, facing the same threat that destroyed so many lives on Spetember 11, 2001 and we face the same threat, perhaps even greater.  It is a threat based entirely on blind hatred.

Can we ever possibly overcome that?  Are we doomed to an ageless war that will eventually destroy us all?

September 11, 2001 was horrific.  In a few short hours 2,996 were murdered by the same terror from Islamic Fundamentalists that threatens us today.  We will make it through today? Last year the terrorists attacked Benghazi on the Anniversary of 9/11 just to commemorate the anniversary of the attack.  Our Ambassador and three others were murdered.

Since 2006 I have maintained my own small commemoration of the tragedy that was 9/11 by repeating here in this blog the story of Sue Kim Hanson and her husband Peter and their beautiful daughter Christine who were killed in the holocaust of 9/11.  I've placed a series of links at the bottom of this post to each of the preceding eight years of blog entries.

Last year I wrote that I hoped we might eventually learn to replace hate with love if we focus on the people, their lives, their loves, hopes, fears and dreams.  With a heavy heart this morning I light again that small candle of hope.  I believe understanding and love may somehow overcome hatred and evil.  At least I pray so in the memory of Sue Kim, Peter and Christine.

Please join me in remembering Peter Hanson, the handsome, young software engineer, Sue Kim Hanson, his Korean-American bride, and their two their 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.

-------------------------------------------------------

Susan Kim Hanson was one of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack that took the lives of 2,996 souls in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the fields of Pennsylvania.

Sue, her husband Peter, and her two year old daughter Christine were on United Airlines Flight 175 that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Her daughter Christine was the youngest victim of the September 11th attack.

Sue was a great scientist in the making. She was a doctoral candidate in micro-biology immunology at Boston University and working on her final thesis. Her work promised to reveal the workings of a chemical believed to regulate immune responses. She had isolated in lab mice a gene suspected of being involved in asthma sufferers and AIDS patients. Her work had the potential to help millions of people.

Susan Kim was one of those wonderful American success stories. A Korean-American, Sue had lived with her grandmother in Korea until she was 6. Her mother died when she was 15 and she was raised by her strict Korean father. Through hard work and discipline, sacrifice, dedication and sheer will power she neared the goal her mother and father and grandmother had hoped she would achieve, her doctorate degree.

Dr. Hardy Kornfeld, Hanson's thesis adviser, said "She was sort of fearless. Sue just took on tasks that were incredibly challenging, and more often than not she was able to make a go at them."

That she would be attracted to the wild and undisciplined Peter Hanson was a great surprise. Three years younger than Sue Kim, Peter gained his education by following The Grateful Dead. Peter believed that the group and its music would become classics, up there with Beethoven, Bach and company, and he tried to sway the opinion of anyone who would listen. Many of our listeners to Wizard Radio would certainly agree with Peter.

But even if Sue wasn't quite convinced about the Dead, she believed in Peter. And her faith was well placed. Peter was, by all accounts, a brilliant software engineer, a great salesman and a wonderful person.

He was passionate about Sue and Sue fell head over heals in love with Peter. She obviously had a great effect on him. Legacy.com has a reprint of a New York Times article about Sue that tells the story:

"The relationship spurred Peter Hanson to clip his tangle of brownish-red dreadlocks, trade in tie-dyed T- shirts for suits, go to business school and become one of the best software salesmen his friends and family had ever met. He was vice president of marketing at TimeTrade in Waltham, Mass."

"Her bond with the Hansons was so strong that they accompanied her to California when she went to inform her father about her engagement. She worried that her father would protest because Peter Hanson was not Korean. But her family embraced the Hansons."

Sue and Peter were married and had a beautiful daughter. Sue continued to pursue her doctoral degree. She was scheduled to defend her thesis in November, 2001.
Taking a last break before finalizing her research and thesis, Sue, Peter and Christine were on their way to visit the Sue's father and grandmother in California, and take Christine to Disneyland, when they boarded United Airlines Flight 175. Peter was one of those who made a final cell phone call to his parents moments before the plane crashed into the south tower.

Sue's friend Mona Pengree writes, "Sue was awarded her PhD posthumously, as her professor finished her work on her behalf. This is a wonderful picture of her, and she shone every bit as brightly in person. Probably more. Her loss was a loss to all mankind."

Sue gave a great deal to Boston University and she gave a great deal to all of us. Her work in immunology inspired her fellow students, faculty and the University to continue her research and finish her thesis. They awarded her a doctorate degree. And they established the Sue Kim Hanson Lecture In Immunology, not just to honor her memory, but to give full credit to her work and the inspiration, the strength and the courage Sue provides to us all.

Michelle Malkin wrote this in her syndincated column:

"Eight children were murdered on hijacked airliners that crashed on Sept. 11. Christine Hanson, 3, was on United Airlines Flight 175 with her parents. She was on her first trip to Disneyland. Christine was brown-eyed and rosy-cheeked and button-nosed. At family meals, she made everyone stand and hold hands while singing the theme song from Barney. During Christine's funeral, mourners re-enacted the scene, singing:

"I love you, you love me . . ." "

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back in 2006, the 2,996 Project asked bloggers to prepare tributes to all who died in the tragic events of September 11th. Many of those blog entries remain on line and many will be reprinted today.   Each year since the project began I have repeated my effort to honor Sue Kim, Peter and Christine.  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

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

"...you have to get shot by a white cop to get any justice..."

America's Genocide continues every day.  It's a damned shame American's don't know about the "killing fields" right in their own country,  Maybe they know but they don't care. Maybe they're just numb.

Here's just one story. Marcus McCarty, only 14 years old, was fatally shot Sunday afternoon. He's just one of several young black men murdered on Sunday. There is no day of rest in America's killing fields. 

Marcus was standing on the sidewalk when two older boys (or men) walked up. One of them was carrying a gun and opened fire, striking the boy in the back. The murderers walked calmly back to their Infinity and drove away.

Marcus was rushed to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, but was pronounced dead minutes after arrival.

As is often the case, no arrests have been made and no one is in custody for the shooting.

The story received almost no press, but here is a short story in the Chicago Homicide Watch.

In the middle of the afternoon on Sunday in a residential neighborhood, it is likely several people witnessed the murder.  Gangs and criminals have instilled a "don't snitch" mentality into the folks who must live in the area the gang controls.

In addition we cannot minimize the impact of the police killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri two weeks ago.  Inner city blacks already didn't trust the police.

The saddest comment of all came is a comment attached to the story linked above. 
In his comment a person using the name "Tracksuit Al" noted (quite correctly), Sickening that you have to get shot by a white cop to get any justice in this country if you're black.

America's Genocide

No teenager, black, brown or white should ever be murdered by a police officer.  Not ever.

Fortunately, it actually is a very rare occurrence, in spite of what you might "feel" after listening to the non-stop television reports and the rantings of certain pundits.  In  fact, it makes the national news because it is so rare.  We can spend hours upon hours concentrating on the events in Ferguson, Missouri because not one other similar event (white officer, black victim) happened since that date.  I am thankful for that.

But events in Ferguson further distract us from the real American Genocide happening EVERY SINGLE DAY WITHOUT EXCEPTION all across America.  Not one of these stories make national news. Not one of these genocidal murders ever gets the attention of President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, or any leaders in the Black community.

None-the-less, black teenage males are being murdered at an alarming rate, every day.  The dead numbers in the thousands just this year.  When do we make this a priority? When do we step in to save lives? When do we stop the Genocide?

Thirteen year old Nizzear Rodriguez was shot and killed Sunday in Atlanta by three black men (ages 17 to 24) as he slept in bed during a home robbery to steal his Play Station.

Nine year old Antonio Smith was shot and killed execution style, shot four time, just minutes after he ran outdoors to play. in his Chicago South Side neighborhood.  

The shooter or shooters have not been identified and the crime may never be solved. The Chicago Tribune has an excellent story here: Parents Visit the Block Where Antonio Was Killed

I could go on...... I have over seventy more stories in just over the last ten days......

We cry for justice for Michael Brown, exactly as we should, but we ignore the American Genocide of young black men happening right before our eyes.

Straight Talk from Rand Paul

Ferguson, Missouri, USA is downright scary.

I think nearly everyone in America who is aware of the police shooting of an unarmed 18 year old boy, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri and the aftermath of riots and police confrontation is terrified by what is happening there.

This level of racism in the midwest was unexpected.  And the attitudes of the police in their interactions with the public and the press after the shooting is frightening.  We have a police force that is genuinely out of control and we don't know what to do about it.

Unfortunately 99 percent of the nations politicians are busy staking out their old, worn-out, pre-programmed, hackneyed political positions.

Imagine my surprise this morning to find one politician is actually, "gasp," telling the truth.  Even more remarkably, it is a Republican, telling truths his fellow Republicans generally don't want to hear.

My hero today is Senator Rand Paul.  Writing in Time Magazine he attacks the issue of Racism head on:

Anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention. Our prisons are full of black and brown men and women who are serving inappropriately long and harsh sentences for non-violent mistakes in their youth.

If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be shot.

More importantly Ron Paul attacks head on the over-reaction, military style response from the police who are attempting, unsuccessfully, to address the reaction of the people of Ferguson.

Republicans generally want to defend the police, but here their actions are indefensible. Paul knows that and takes the issues head on.

The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm. It is one thing for federal officials to work in conjunction with local authorities to reduce or solve crime. It is quite another for them to subsidize it.

Americans must never sacrifice their liberty for an illusive and dangerous, or false, security. This has been a cause I have championed for years, and one that is at a near-crisis point in our country.

It is incredibly refreshing to hear a politician, especially in an election year, tell people the truth and address the issues affecting our nation. We don't need sugar coated, focus group tested, platitudes. We need to be able to handle the truth. I urge you to read Senator Puals full essay here.

"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that"

"Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."

Assuming you've seen the Sprint "Framily" commercials you recognize that line, spoken by the father (alright, he is a hamster living in a plastic ball) in response to his rather dim witted son Chuck's comment at the dinner table with "Grandpa." Here is a link to the commercial in case you somehow missed it ---> Dinner with Grandpa

Dad's frustrated punch line in the commercial, "Ok, I don’t know where to go with that," mirrors my frustration with the inexplicable behavior of our virtually absent Commander in Chief, who appears to be nearly totally uninterested in world events in Gaza, the Ukraine or Libya, the border crisis here in the United States or even his own plummeting poll numbers.  He seems to be blissfully ignoring them all.

Surely President Obama is not as dim witted as Chuck in the above mentioned commercial.  So what is he doing?  It's a great mystery to nearly everyone.

Frustration among Democrats is starting to boil over as President Obama faces criticism from many members of his own party in Congress who simply don't understand why he is so unengaged, detached or oblivious to events swirling around him.

He demonizes Republicans at every chance (mostly at fundraisers), but never attempts to actually engage them. He claims to have a "pen and a telephone" but the telephone is never used.  He never calls John Boehner or Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan in an attempt to broker a deal, reach a compromise and reduce tension.  He quite literally has no friends or allies in Congress or anywhere on the world stage.

The entire nation, indeed the entire world, simply "doesn't know where to go with that."  No one alive today has ever seen the President of the United States simply abdicate his role in world affairs.

Yesterday, spokesmen from the White House suddenly gave credence to the wildly speculative talk of possible Impeachment.  I simply must say, "Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."  It's almost as if they wish Republicans would engage in that behavior as it might actually raise the President's approval rating much as it did for President Clinton. Perhaps they believe talk of impeachment would help turn out Democrats in the fall elections.

However, curiously, two polls about his possible impeachment were released yesterday.  It's laughable to read CNN's downplaying the fact that their own poll indicated an astonishing 35% of Americans favor impeachment.  That number is huge and more than a little scary.

The media downplayed a Fox News Poll, also released yesterday, that showed a nearly identical 36% favor impeachment.

I don't believe that impeachment is even a remote possibility today. House Speaker John Boehner says it's "off the table."

But.... If Barack Obama continues his absentee role as President and his approval rating continue to fall.... and more Democrats continue to criticize him... well, "Ok, I don’t know where to go with that."

--------------------------------

Perhaps because I spent a good part of my career in Advertising I really appreciate the genius of the new Sprint "Framily" commercials. They have become a cultural phenomena.  Virtually everyone I meet, both friends and random acquaintances seem to know virtually every line from every commercial in the series.  It is a client's dream and I'm sure Sprint loves that this series of commercials has gone viral.

The voice of Dad, also known as Tom Frobinson (the hamster), is voiced by Andrew Dice Clay.  The part of Mom, or "Tacos" Mollie Frobinson in the commercials is played by brilliant Judy Greer  The son "You can also text" Chuck is played by Kyle Mooney. And the part of "It's pronounced Gor-don" is played  fantastically by Justin Michael.

The series of commercials, referred to in the industry as "The Frobinsons" was created by Figliulo & Partners and is their first campaign for Sprint.  The campaign was created in partnership with DigitasLBi and MediaVest and designed to promote a rather unique cellular telephone plan now called the Sprint Framily Plan.  Under Sprint's concept you get to decide exactly who you consider to be members of your "Framily." It can be actual family, friends, acquaintances, roommates or even hamsters.  The more members of your "Framily" the lower the bill for each member.