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Archive for Live & Let Live
June 14, 2007 at 12:08 pm · Filed under Live & Let Live, Call Bullshit
The President met with GOP Senators Tuesday to try and salvage his Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (the name seems to be as important as any particular provision with the GOP, doesn’t it?).
In fact, as the day went on, the President went from ‘courting,’ to ‘imploring,’ and finally to ‘pleading‘ with the GOP for their support on the bi-partisan compromise.
As delicious as it is to watch Bush grovel to his own party – and ironically frustrating that the GOP manages to be better at cowing him than the Democartic majority is – I actually find myself behind him on this issue.
The immigration compromise isn’t perfect, but it also isn’t terrible; and it’s far better than doing nothing.
The touchbacks and penalty fines are harsh, although Senator Kennedy’s provision to add back taxes to the tab would have been even more financially regressive, yet was striken from the bill.
But what the Congressional Republicans really oppose is the “amnesty” aspect, and want more focus put on “border security.” But the amnesty isn’t really amnesty, is it? And when they talk about border security, they’re only talking about the Mexican border.
This morning, on MSNBC, Pat Buchanan said “Support for this in Congress is collapsing. If this is such a popular bill, why is that?”
It’s about racism, that’s why – and any other explanation offered is simply bullshit. To say that it has nothing to do with race is like saying the Iraq war has nothing to do with oil.
Read the rest of this entry »
April 17, 2007 at 10:44 pm · Filed under Live & Let Live
There’s already so much being written and discussed on the tragedy in Virginia, that it’s hard to know what to say and which chorus to join.
There will be calls for stricter gun control, particularly regarding the 19-round 9mm ammunition magazines found in Cho Seung-hui’s possession. Formerly illegal under the expired Assault Weapons Ban, these will certainly be the centerpiece of much debate.
There will be investigations into the university’s response, specifically the two-hour delay between shootings, during which time campus police failed to lock down the facility, or notify students and faculty. There will be many procedural questions, no doubt followed by a flurry of ineffective and ove-compensatory regulation, legislation and resignations.
What stuck with me the most, though, was the descriptions of this troubled young man’s psyche that grew increasingly disturbing throughout the day – like a diseased onion.
The clincher, however, was listening to one of his English professors recount her experiences with Seung-hui. Concerned with his behavior, she advised VT’s administration that he may be a threat to himself or others – last year. He also had run-ins with campus police over stalking and other predatory behavior – two years ago.
Unfortunately, as with Columbine, there was no procedure in place to provide much-needed mental health care to this ticking bomb of a human being. In addition, school administrators, on every level, tread too carefully in fear of a lawsuit and become ineffective in any situation without a clear procedure.
So the chorus I will lend my voice to is the one that calls for the expanded availability of mental health care, and the means by which to connect it with the people that need it. Colleges and universities need to provide facilities for mental health, as well as physical health. The government needs to make provisions that allow the faculty to trust their instincts and take steps to protect themselves and their students, and to get potentially dangerous students the help they desperately need.
More information: HealthyMinds.org, National School Safety Center, US Department of Health and Human Services.
April 8, 2007 at 6:16 pm · Filed under Musings, Live & Let Live
Last week, Orlando developer Cameron Kuhn bought the long-beleaguered Church Street Station complex.
CSS was the brainchild of Bob Snow, who converted the historic train station and surrounding buildings into an old-time entertainment venue call Rosie O’ Grady’s.
During the 70’s and 80’s, Rosie’s was a popular spot for locals and tourists. There was fine dining, live music – mostly dixieland jazz – and shopping.
For the past five years, CSS has been owned by boy-band creator Lou Pearlman. Like most (if not all) of Pearlman’s dealings, the purchase and operation of the complex was on the shady side. Promises were made in exchange for a backroom sweetheart deal from city, but those promises never came to fruition after the sale was closed.
Pearlman’s been bad news for downtown for a long time, but he’s loaded and connected, so he’s gotten away with giving the city the finger – until he went bankrupt. Suddenly, not-so-loaded equated into not-so-connected, and Pearlman found his assets on the auction block.
But who has $34 million lying around to buy some prime downtown real estate – to be made all the more prime by the pending plans to build a new arena down the street? Cameron Kuhn, that’s who. His goal is, after all, to own all of downtown Orlando; and he’s well on his way.
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January 10, 2007 at 6:58 pm · Filed under Live & Let Live
From Kristian Hvesser:
The continuation of Nazanin’s re-trial took place today. It was delayed from 10:30AM to 12:30PM, in part due to the fact that so many people showed up in support of Nazanin’s campaign. They were required to move court rooms. The international committee against execution says that normally in a case like this, 10-15 people show up. But today, 200-300 came to support Nazanin and there were many news reporters present. Nazanin’s two defense attorneys proceeded with their defense.
After much discussions, the four judges unanimously determined that the lower court decision in January of 2006 was wrong and Nazanin killing the would-be rapist was not intentional. The defense attorneys are hopeful that the final decision on the fate of Nazanin will be announced in the next few days.
This is a very large step forward for Nazanin, and it brings great hope that she will avoid a new death sentence. Maybe she can even be free! This would not have happened without support from people all around the world, so thank you to all of you! But please don’t rest yet. Until Nazanin walks out of the prison gate, she will continue to need our support.
This is very promising, for lots of reasons. First and foremost, it’s fantastic news for Nazanin. There’s no way her life will go back to normal, but it appears that it will go on.
The bigger picture, though, is that Iranian justice is subject to its people – and those people have power. Our government goes to great lengths to portray Iran as a barbaric, medieval society and, as most Iranians will tell you, that simply isn’t the case.
In fact, the Iranian government and its policies don’t seem to reflect the values of the Iranian people any more than the Bush administration’s policies reflect American attitudes. Certainly, Iran is not without its problems – and the same can be said for the United States – but the Iranian legal system has demonstrated that it is not without hope, either.
January 5, 2007 at 5:33 pm · Filed under Live & Let Live
One of my MySpace friends, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, brought to my attention the plight of her namesake, Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi .
On January 3, 2006, 18-year-old Fatehi was sentenced to death for murder by a court in Iran after she fatally stabbed one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece, in a park in Karaj (a suburb of Tehran), in March 2005.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam has released a documentary titled The Tale of Two Nazanins. It features Fatehi’s family in Iran and an emotional phone conversation with her from prison. It’s heartbreaking to watch.
Fatehi’s re-trial is set for January 10th.
Please visit www.helpnazanin.com, sign the petition, view the documentary and spread the word.
If you have and broadcast media connections, ask them to view the documentary. If they are interested in broadcasting it, or a portion of it, a television broadcast quality tape is available and can be sent to them. Contact Nazanin, or email me.
Please do what you can to help this poor girl.
December 15, 2006 at 12:23 pm · Filed under Live & Let Live
Americans have a problem.
We have lots, really, but if I had to pick the single-most detrimental one, it’s this: Identifying the enemy.
The evidence is all around us.
Think about it:
“A bunch of privileged Saudis with U.S. Embassy ties led by a stripper-loving hard-partying Egyptian playboy bought first-class plane tickets with money from Pakistan’s secret service and crashed passenger jets into the WTC, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
In retaliation, the Bush Administration attacked some fanatic goat herders in Afghanistan and then began an occupation of Iraq that’s already lasted four bloody years.” (Excellent summary by Wonkette)
But that was yestrerday’s war. I’m talking about today’s war – the War on Christmas.
Oh yes, it’s real enough. All over the country, people are revolting against the only religious holiday that’s also a federal holiday. And who’s to blame? Liberals? The Media? Montgomery Ward?
Nope, it’s the Christians. That’s right, the Christians.
Not all of the Christians, mind you, just the loony ones, like this one. And this one. And of, course, this one.
For decades, Americans were able to stroll down the avenues of their bustling downtowns and wish one another a hearty “Merry Christmas,” without offending anyone. If you were Jewish, Muslim, Buudhist, Hindu or Atheist, it didn’t really matter – it was an expression of peace and goodwill.
Then the religious right came along and ruined everything.
The 70’s brought Pat Robertson and the Bakkers into the public eye, trying to cram Jesus down everyone’s throats: “This is a Christian country, it’s founded by Christians.” Sound familiar?
As part of that, the wrestled Christmas away from the world to hog it for themselves. To be fair, it is their holiday. But if there was ever a universal time of peace and goodwill, it was Christmas. But the tight right wouldn’t stand for that, and like everything else, they’ve turned something that brought the world together into a divisive issue with “Merry Christmas” as its battle cry.
Since Christmas is “for Christians only,” the rest of us, sadly, have only two options: Abandon the holiday season altogether or adapt, by adopting a more universal approach. And, as such, we are the ones viewed as the enemy.
Wrong again.
December 7, 2006 at 9:28 am · Filed under Live & Let Live
Carrie Gordon Earll seems to think so.
The policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family said “Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”
Alright, I have to admit that she wasn’t talking about that Mary. She was actually talking about Mary Cheney. But the mentality is disturbingly similar to some of the attitudes behind Mosaic law at the dawn of year one (or year zero, for you accuracy nuts).
I’ve never understood all of the fuss over the homos. The Gay Agenda that the religious right wants us all to be so afraid of was totally made up by them.
Furthermore, the idea that marriage needs to be protected from gay couples – not so unlike similar laws that restricted black marriage – is ridiculous.
But most heinous of all is the idea that children are better off with no parents than with gay ones. How tragically absurd.
If this is where Christianity takes us as a society, then maybe Carrie Gordon Earll was onto something. Maybe just because the baby Jesus was conceived outside of a one-woman, one-man marriage, that doesn’t mean it was a good idea.
Prove her wrong. Please. For Christ’s sake.
November 28, 2006 at 11:00 am · Filed under Musings, Live & Let Live
We went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom today. The weather was nice, the mood was happy and the crowd was absent. We didn’t wait more than fifteen minutes for anything, even the new Expedition Everest ride, which was awesome.
We rode the rapids six times and got totally soaked. William said it was a perfect day.
This was such great news after yesterday’s Santa-slaying.
For those who have never been, Animal Kingdom is Disney’s most underrated offering. It’s small, but manageable. You can do the whole park in a day without killing yourself, and be back home in time for dinner (it closes at 5:00).
Despite it’s protestations, much of it is a zoo – but it’s a really nice zoo. The animals spend the day in large, lush habitats and evenings in sophisticated, climate-controlled facilities.
The only thing I don’t like about it is the safari “ride.” Like every other theme park ride in Central Florida, it is the “otherwise uneventful ride gone wrong.” In the middle of the safari, our bantering guide gets a call and we have to leave to assist in the capture of some dastardly poachers.
First of all, can we please come up with a new adventure ride premise? I’ve been on three time machines, two spaceships, a helicopter, a flying car, an elevator, and scads of other vehicles with restraining bars when I’ve heard the words “Uh, oh! Hold on folks! This going to get…”
There’s nothing wrong with a nice leisurely ride across the savannah, looking at magnificent wildlife.
Second, now that we’ve dispensed with the melodrama, can we please slow down so I can take a fucking picture of the giraffe?!?
Still, it was a wonderful day.
I would like to recognize Disney for their conservation education efforts, though. They do an unrivaled job at bringing you face to face with magnificent animals, and then illustrating the threats that are posed to them.
Every area also has sections devoted to recognizing the efforts of conservationists, and urging guests to assist them. But this, IMO, is where they fall down.
First there are the unconvincing cast members pretending to analyze biological samples – a lesson they didn’t seem to learn from the slow demise of EPCOT’s Future World.
Then there is the idea that’s put forth that “Disney is on the case,” leading guests to believe that they don’t need to worry, since the world’s greatest imagineers are tackling these tough problems.
Finally, there’s no real “what you can do” message. All of these millions of people go through the park, are genuinely touched by what they see, and then go to Sam’s Club the next day. They just don’t see a connection.
Sure, no one wants to go to Disney and pay $75 for a guilt trip (that’s what relatives are for), but Disney puts it out there – they only need to go the distance.
All the same, it’s a great way to spend the day.
Did I mention that Expedition: Everst was awesome?
October 13, 2006 at 3:54 pm · Filed under Finish Ahead, Live & Let Live
While enjoying a lovely weekend at New Smyrna Beach, it occured to me that Beterwas needed a new category: Live & Let Live.
I was at the Flager Tavern, talking to the bartender/owner about the “good old days.” My family has been coming out to New Smyrna for over twenty years, and we reminisced about being able to park on the beach overnight, have bonfires, drink beer, bring your dog, shoot of fireworks, etc.
Slowly, each of those things were taken away, and at the behest of beachside condo owners.
“That’s my beach!” they say through clenched teeth, shaking their fist at the woman walking her silky terrier. “Your dog is shitting all over my beach!”
How about we all just settle down a bit. First of all, if you own a condominium, you just own that condominium - not the beach, not the water, not the view - just the condominium.
Now if a wild party is keeping you awake at night, you have every reason to complain about that party.
But you don’t get to ban parties altogether. Or dogs. Or beer. Or my very presence on “your beach.”
If people in your community are trying to “own the beach,” don’t let them! Call your councilman, call the mayor, make some noise. Let us all together tell them to live and let live.
