Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
The World In Turmoil
I have been so caught up in things both public and private that I just couldn't believe how much time has passed since my last posting. The private will remain private, it was both good and bad. However the public events are almost beyond belief.
Who would have thought that in a matter of a few weeks the Mid East and Northern Africa would be a whole different place than it had been for centuries. Centuries? Well the names changed over time, the weapons and specific threats changed but for the most part for millennia the area from Jordan all the way to Tunisia remained under one kind of dictatorship or the other. Pharaohs, tribal chiefs, kings, military strong men ruled a vast area united by similar language, religion and in later decades, oil and feelings varying from distrust to outright hatred of the only democracy in the region.
And the changes have been - for the most part, Libya excluded - peaceful pressure exerted by hundreds of thousands of under 30's - hoards of young people who have found out about the rest of the world through the new technology. And, did you notice it was not only men- thousands of women joined the protesters. Somehow that really surprised me since the 'usual' demonstrations in the Mid East and other Muslim countries seemed to be all male. I am wondering if the men have finally realized that women are people also? Or has the Internet and it's related technology exposed women in these Muslim countries to a whole new world and they are demanding their share?
So far the changes seem for the betterment of the people of the countries involved, and hopefully for the world at large. What I am now wondering is if the 'interim' governments will follow through with promises or will we soon see just another repressive wave of governments? In the meanwhile, stay tuned to CNN along with me.
Who would have thought that in a matter of a few weeks the Mid East and Northern Africa would be a whole different place than it had been for centuries. Centuries? Well the names changed over time, the weapons and specific threats changed but for the most part for millennia the area from Jordan all the way to Tunisia remained under one kind of dictatorship or the other. Pharaohs, tribal chiefs, kings, military strong men ruled a vast area united by similar language, religion and in later decades, oil and feelings varying from distrust to outright hatred of the only democracy in the region.
And the changes have been - for the most part, Libya excluded - peaceful pressure exerted by hundreds of thousands of under 30's - hoards of young people who have found out about the rest of the world through the new technology. And, did you notice it was not only men- thousands of women joined the protesters. Somehow that really surprised me since the 'usual' demonstrations in the Mid East and other Muslim countries seemed to be all male. I am wondering if the men have finally realized that women are people also? Or has the Internet and it's related technology exposed women in these Muslim countries to a whole new world and they are demanding their share?
So far the changes seem for the betterment of the people of the countries involved, and hopefully for the world at large. What I am now wondering is if the 'interim' governments will follow through with promises or will we soon see just another repressive wave of governments? In the meanwhile, stay tuned to CNN along with me.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Once More We Mourn and Weep
I had to wait a few days before I could write this. My first selfish thought was "not again in Arizona." It's where I've lived for more than half of my life and I sometimes think that only bad news that happens here is reported. Then I could only stare at the TV, hoping that no one was dead or badly injured. It took several hours before I could wonder about the shooter: was he that angry, was he insane?
Then I heard about people like Daniel Hernandez and the older woman who grabbed the magazine out of the gun, and the one who staunched the wounds of one of Ms Gifford's staff. People on the street all over Arizona wept and showed our best face to the rest of the nation. We are really a melting pot of the US and of the world. People here have sponsored many of the African "Lost Boys." We have world class hospitals that often bring suffering children and adults here for treatment they would never gete in their home countries. The Tribes of Arizona finally have decent control over their own lives and lands. Many more people (even many who oppose the undocumented immigrants) care for the individuals involved. It is a place that attracts people from all over: last time I heard less than half of the population of the two major population centers are native Arizonans. There is so much beauty in this state and so often such a feeling of small town life- even in the 5th largest city in the nation.
Lastly I began to get angry at all the hate in the world today - otherwise sensible people cannot see beyond their own biases to the point of advocating violence against innocent people. They attack funerals with signs saying that God hates dead sholdiers, that God is damning this nation because of Gays, Immigrants, and who knows what. We are all entitled to our opinions on these and other issues. What we are NOT entitled to do is to advocate hate and violence against anyone. There is a process in this country to change what we do not like, and (to be trite) the majority rules at the ballot box.
Now I want to know why none of the people who recognized that something in Loughner had changed and he was in desperate need of help did anything. A fellow student in Pima Community College wrote a long email to a friend telling a chilling story of how Loughner behaved in class and that she expected someday he would come in shooting. The instructor of the same class had him barred from the campus. His writings and speech were disjointed - what I have heard described as "salad talk." This evening's news is talking about several police contacts in Loughner's past including overdosing on vodka and being taken to the hospital. Just hours before the shooting he was stopped for driving with a burned out light- admittedly a minor thing that has happened to many, but the officer is reported as thinking something wasn't quite right but found no evidence for taking any action. A teen neighbor said that the youngsters on the street wouldn't go to the house because of the "strange vibes."
P.S. Between writing and posting this I watched, along with so many others, the service at the University of Arizona last night. Most of the speakers - especially the President and Daniel Hernandez - spoke sensitively about the people who were killed and those who are recovering. However a couple of the speakers seemed almost to be running a pep rally for the UofA. Too many of the audience (students at the UofA?) acted as if it were a pep rally. While I also cheered when President Obama announced that Rep. Gifford had opened her eyes, I found the nearly constant cheering and yelling of those too many attendees out of the spirit and intention of the ceremony.
Today we learned more of the shooter's history. What kept the campus police at Pima C.C. from taking some steps to notify the proper authorities of the vividly dangerous potential of the man? They had over 50 "contacts" with him. Did his parents hide his problems from doctors? Is this a general failure of the current views towards mental health issues? We need an answer.
Then I heard about people like Daniel Hernandez and the older woman who grabbed the magazine out of the gun, and the one who staunched the wounds of one of Ms Gifford's staff. People on the street all over Arizona wept and showed our best face to the rest of the nation. We are really a melting pot of the US and of the world. People here have sponsored many of the African "Lost Boys." We have world class hospitals that often bring suffering children and adults here for treatment they would never gete in their home countries. The Tribes of Arizona finally have decent control over their own lives and lands. Many more people (even many who oppose the undocumented immigrants) care for the individuals involved. It is a place that attracts people from all over: last time I heard less than half of the population of the two major population centers are native Arizonans. There is so much beauty in this state and so often such a feeling of small town life- even in the 5th largest city in the nation.
Lastly I began to get angry at all the hate in the world today - otherwise sensible people cannot see beyond their own biases to the point of advocating violence against innocent people. They attack funerals with signs saying that God hates dead sholdiers, that God is damning this nation because of Gays, Immigrants, and who knows what. We are all entitled to our opinions on these and other issues. What we are NOT entitled to do is to advocate hate and violence against anyone. There is a process in this country to change what we do not like, and (to be trite) the majority rules at the ballot box.
Now I want to know why none of the people who recognized that something in Loughner had changed and he was in desperate need of help did anything. A fellow student in Pima Community College wrote a long email to a friend telling a chilling story of how Loughner behaved in class and that she expected someday he would come in shooting. The instructor of the same class had him barred from the campus. His writings and speech were disjointed - what I have heard described as "salad talk." This evening's news is talking about several police contacts in Loughner's past including overdosing on vodka and being taken to the hospital. Just hours before the shooting he was stopped for driving with a burned out light- admittedly a minor thing that has happened to many, but the officer is reported as thinking something wasn't quite right but found no evidence for taking any action. A teen neighbor said that the youngsters on the street wouldn't go to the house because of the "strange vibes."
P.S. Between writing and posting this I watched, along with so many others, the service at the University of Arizona last night. Most of the speakers - especially the President and Daniel Hernandez - spoke sensitively about the people who were killed and those who are recovering. However a couple of the speakers seemed almost to be running a pep rally for the UofA. Too many of the audience (students at the UofA?) acted as if it were a pep rally. While I also cheered when President Obama announced that Rep. Gifford had opened her eyes, I found the nearly constant cheering and yelling of those too many attendees out of the spirit and intention of the ceremony.
Today we learned more of the shooter's history. What kept the campus police at Pima C.C. from taking some steps to notify the proper authorities of the vividly dangerous potential of the man? They had over 50 "contacts" with him. Did his parents hide his problems from doctors? Is this a general failure of the current views towards mental health issues? We need an answer.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Still Fighting My Photos
Well, the Ipad updated several hours after my last post and it only made matters worse! At least before the photos were sorted by date (well sort of by date: I had forgotten I was many time zones from home so everything is dated as if it were at home and often show the wrong date- will have to remember that if I travel afar again!). Now they're all in one huge album of over 2000 photos! ANGUISH!
Why couldn't the update just have left well enough alone- at least before they were in order even if with wrong dates and so with patience I could resort them into proper files in My Pictures. I still can't find a lot of the photos even though I looked at each and every one methodically - they were there - I saw them and showed them to some people. Where are they now? Hiding? Did some of the "interesting" ones from Pompei censor themselves? (You have probably heard of the brothel in Pompei and it's wall paintings - well they are very faded and, for the most part, if you didn't know what they were you'd never know! However, since not all the populace were literate, the city was liberally sprinkled with "visual guide signs" of stone to help the men find their way - now THOSE are hard to miss!)
Ah, to quote someone in a movie I once saw: "Tomorow is another day." Maybe I'll find the missing photos then.
Why couldn't the update just have left well enough alone- at least before they were in order even if with wrong dates and so with patience I could resort them into proper files in My Pictures. I still can't find a lot of the photos even though I looked at each and every one methodically - they were there - I saw them and showed them to some people. Where are they now? Hiding? Did some of the "interesting" ones from Pompei censor themselves? (You have probably heard of the brothel in Pompei and it's wall paintings - well they are very faded and, for the most part, if you didn't know what they were you'd never know! However, since not all the populace were literate, the city was liberally sprinkled with "visual guide signs" of stone to help the men find their way - now THOSE are hard to miss!)
Ah, to quote someone in a movie I once saw: "Tomorow is another day." Maybe I'll find the missing photos then.
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