Losing Ground

It's sad to see a thriving community that could fit nicely into American society be ravaged by the outlandish, cowardly perceptions of fearmongerers.

 

Enter Islamic Americans.

 

Muslims have been identified as a fringe religious group ever since the day that Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and stood up against the Vietnam War. Ironically, a religion once associated with a peace movement has now been tarred with the brush of ultraviolent.

 

Nevermind that every religion (with the possible exception of Buddhism/Hindu) could be tarred with that brush at any moment in history. Nevermind that the United States committed what amounts to genocide in Iraq of Muslims, detracting powerfully from the good works done in the oppression of Muslims in Bosnia. Nevermind that Americans...Christian, Jew, atheist...stand in opposition to the opening of a goddamned social hall in lower Manhattan, detracting mightily from the message of freedom we pretend to promote.

 

No, it is Islam that is in the wrong, at every turn.

 

No one is denying that some branches of Islam, like the Wahhabists, are radical, and behave radically. And not much differently that radical Christianity, who teaches that the Pope is the AntiChrist and will at Armageddon be exposed as the instrument of Satan. Or much differently from even moderate Christianity which until not too long ago taught that Jews were held responsible for the death of Jesus and condoned the elimination of Semites.

 

We forget ourselves in protesting the Cordoba Center. And you'll note that I'm not even looking at past grudges. The Crusades were centuries ago. We can assume that's water under the bridge, even if the very word raises hackles.

 

I'm looking at current affairs. I'm looking at the state of Israel which has all but turned a blind eye on Jews establishing settlements on the West Bank, despite the acknowledgement that they shouldn't be there, with all the baggage that implies. I'm talking about Muslims launching missiles from the Gaza into Israel, too, lest you think I'm defending Islam.

 

I'm looking, in other words, objectively.

 

It's weird. Each generation of America has its bugbear, its "not in my backyard" ethnic group that is ridiculed, harassed, even assaulted, all in the name of cultural purity. It's not just the blacks of the 50s and 60s. It's the Irish. The Italians. The Jews. The Germans. The Japanese. And that anyone with any of these bloods flowing in their veins stands against the assimilation of Muslims into American culture speaks poorly of their own heritage, much less their cowardice. 

 

I say "cowardice," because there is not one single logical argument to be made against inclusion, from the building of the Cordoba Center to the right of a Muslim to earn a living as a cabdriver without fear of reprisal. When logic breaks down, when you cannot prove a case from facts, then all you are left with is abject fear. 

 

This is America. We are stronger than that. We are better than that. I watched those buildings there fall. I'm not afraid of the cultural center, anymore than I'm afraid of the next cabdriver I talk to, the next halal vendor, or my friends like Richie and Yasamin. Why should I be afraid? American history tells me that we change other cultures more than they change us, and that the changes they bring are almost all good. 

 

Indeed, the worst thing we can do to a minority in this country is isolate and outcast them. Just look at the history of the Native American population for an object lesson in what happens when we lord it over a people.

 

This Saturday, September 11, there is supposed to be a huge rally down at the cultural center site. Pamela Gellar, the shrieking harpy of hate, has decided to take what should be a sacred day, if she considers Ground Zero sacred ground, and defile it with anger, and hate.

 

And cowardice.

 

She should remember from where she comes.     

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Nobody Asked Me, But...

1) The good news rollout by the Obama administration is beginning in earnest, and none too soon. When an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal agrees in substance with a tax hike on millionaires, you have a pretty good piece of PR.

 

2) Hawking may be right. He may not be. Who cares? There's evidence to support either contention, and I suspect the human mind is too limited to wrap itself around the truth of the matter.

 

3) Exhibit A for the existence of God: This Vancouver, WA woman...you know, the place it rains 367 days out of the year?... didn't own a pair of sunglasses, didn't even like wearing them, until she purchased a pair "on a whim" just 20 minutes before a crazed woman threw acid in her face, thus saving her eyesight, and possibly her life.

 

4) Possible terror attack in the Miami airport. A seventy year old man carrying four metal canisters in his luggage. Right wing claims of an "Ocotober Surprise" in three....two....one....

 

5) It's Labor Day weekend. Spare a moment to remember the men and women who made your life possible. The unions who fought to form, and then to obtain things we take for granted like overtime, vacation and sick days, disability insurance, coffee breaks, keeping our children in schools and out of the factories, 40 hour work week, fair wages, minimum wages, safety inspections, worker arbitration, dental and health insurances, job security, and so on. For this, they were beaten and killed, slandered and libeled, thrown into jail and beaten some more.

 

We've given a lot of things back out of fear of losing our jobs in tough economic times. We should look to our ancestors and remember the fight they put up for us, and honor that fight by fighting for what we had and more. It may be earnings to our employers, but these jobs are our lives. Loyalty works both ways.

 

6) Check her identity card! She can't speak English! Karma's a bitch, Governor Brewer.

 

7) Cuba. It looks like I won't have to sneak into Cuba under my European passport soon.

 

8) Someone could make a fair amount of money opening a Motel 6 on the Beijing-Mongolia highway.

 

9) BOOBIES! Um, "for a good cause," I mean.

 

10) As Bob Ross might put it, "The world's happiest accident"

The Wilding

Weather is really strange.

 

There are five named storms roaming the Atlantic right now. The biggest, hurricane Earl, is about to scrape the Outer Banks of North Caolina and could even pose a threat to New York City by Friday afternoon.

 

Tropical storm Fiona looks destined to strike Bermuda. Tropical storm Gaston is foaming up the central Atlantic and a new depression that should get its name by the end of the day is beginning to percolate off Cape Verde in Africa.

 

And then there's Danielle, which has been wandering the Atlantic around Bermuda like a drunk hooker. First a tropical storm, then a hurricane, then a tropical storm and now again, a hurricane. Danielle and Fiona have both been kept away from the coast of the US by a Bermuda high that's been sitting over the northeast, which has brought its own troubles to cities like New York, Boston, and DC.

 

Earl groped his way along the edge and found a backdoor to the coast. Gaston may have an easier time of it. Soon-to-be tropical depression Hermine will be hot on the heels of Gaston.

 

The potential for a sort-of perfect storm, where Danielle, Earl, and Fiona combine, is small, but not impossible. A small shift north in the high that's deflecting Danielle would be required to squirt her westward and Fiona is already beginning to catch up to Earl. The string of low pressure areas...well, imagine three ball bearings on a sheet of rubber. The closer they get, the more likely it is they'll collide.

 

Keep in mind, September 1 is the tradition mark of the beginning of the heart of hurricane season. It gets worse before it gets better.

 

Only once in recorded weather history has the Atlantic gone clear thru the alphabet (there are no Q, X, Y, or Z names) and into Greek letters: 2005, when 28 named storms, and fifteen hurricanes including Katrina and Wilma, formed. The last tropical storm, Zeta, formed on December 30. It was not the latest storm to ever form, by six hours. 1954's Alice2 (the second hurricane with the name that season) holds that distinction.

 

Forecasts made before the hurricane season started predicted unusually heavy activity: at least 15 named storms, up to 14 of them hurricanes, with up to seven Cat3 or higher. After the start of the season, predictions were bumped up, and even then, the projectors made it clear they were understating the case.

 

Fasten your seatbelts, it looks like a bumpy night!    

Could You Imagine?

Imagine a nation where a business owner apologizes to his employees for harming them?

 

Welcome to Chile!

 

Contrast that with the ham-handed way Massey Energy handled the West Virginia mine collapse in April of this year. Or the International Coal Groups' handling of 2006's Sago Mine Disaster. Or Murray Energy, the Crandall Mine collapse in 2007. And those are just in the past five years.

 

I understand the United States is a litigious society, and that business owners are prudent to protect their defenses in a lawsuit: "admit nothing, deflect everything" is  standard operating procedures taught in business schools across the country (also rendered as "never complain, never explain".)

 

But you'll note something in the statement the Chilean mine owner made before a federal investigation by that nation:

"The pain caused by this unwanted, unforeseen situation warrants we ask they forgive us for the anxiety they have suffered these days. It has been a terrible situation and we hope it ends very soon."

No admission of guilt is easily extracted there, yet the human factor, that 33 employees who provide a valuable service which enriches his pockets, is acknowledged.

 

It means something. American business owners would ruffle their feathers and pick at the downy bits underneath and explain how an apology is unnecessary at this time, that we should focus on getting the miners out, and they knew what they were getting themselves into anyway.

 

In West Virginia, it's true, coal miner is a legacy industry. It still requires men to risk their lives each and every day, and to take a little slice off their lifespans inhaling toxins you wouldn't subject a machine to. They know the risks. They also know no other industry there. The coal mines have seen to that, basically enslaving the entire state and region with the jobs that tether them to one company for life.

 

Why else do you suppose the people of that region have allowed themselves to be subjected to all kinds of environmental and workplace insults, from mountaintopping to mine collapses? They really have no choice, except to move out of the area to look for similar-paying work, not easy when you have little to no education.

 

Why else would they allow themselves to be so abused by such graceless men?

 

It's like having a Wal-Mart in your area: they can throw their weight around because, really, where else are you going to shop once the local pharmacy and supermarket and hardware, housewares and clothing stores have closed? Yes, maybe they'll act like responsible community members, but only when that spirit and the spirit of profitabilty coincide.