Mens Rea

On authority....

On authority: it is important that we respect authority... BUT not blindly. I will never blindly follow authority for with authority oftentimes comes abuse. AS an adult, I feel it is my job as an American to challenge and question authority. It is how progress happens. This does not mean I do not respect those who are police officers and prosecutors. It does mean that I am inherently suspicious of them. I do not subscribe to the construct that a police officers opinion is necessarily more accurate than even a crack addict. It should be judged on a case by case basis. This is what a jury should do. I've met many a wonderful cop and many dedicated prosecutors. But there are more than a FEW rotten apples. This is also true in education. I teach my kids to respect authority. It is inappropriate for them to question per se, but I also inform them that if something goes against what we, as parents, have said, you do not have to answer and can ask to speak with us. Think I am paranoid? On Friday's 20/20 two boys were arrested and charged with sexual battery for spanking the girls on their ass. They called it booty day or something to that effect. These boys were 12 and 13 years old. The boys and girls both engaged in this behavior. The "victims" in the case feel that nothing wrong happened. The boys were questioned for five minutes and arrested and put in jail and subjected to multiple strip searches. They were not able to see their parents for three days. The boys were read their rights, but they did not understand them. They asked to speak with their parents and were denied. The prosecutor proceeded. They were staring at being in jail until they were 25 years old and be placed on the registered sex offender list. After six months dancing in the courts, the judge finally dismissed the charges after every alleged victim signed an affidavit stating that they did not feel they were victims. Who is to blame here? The cop for being such a nebish and being rash to judge and put a notch in his belt. The prosecutor bears most of the responsibility for their ego is out of whack. However, the American public bears responsibilty as well for religiously submitting to authority and not challenging such abuse. Want more? There was another feature on this 20/20 episode where a girl was working at a McDonalds in Kentucky. A manager receives a call saying they were a cop and that this girl had stolen a purse. The man on the phone demanded that the manager put her in the back room and asked her to empty her pockets and take her keys and cell phone. Then to my horror, the man on the phone asked the manager to have the girl strip searched. So they leave this poor girl in this room for over two hours...naked. Then the manager's fiance goes and watches her. The man on the phone asked the man to spank the girl. Then the man asked the fiance to perform oral sex on him. Eventually someone else was called in and they put a stop to this nightmare. Okay, who is to blame? The manager is certainly to blame and she was, in fact, charged with false imprisonment. The fiance was convicted of forced sodomy. The man on the phone was charge but acquitted. Should he have been? No, but in my wildest dreams I cannot fathom how anyone could ever do this. The victim said that she was taught to accept authority and not to question it, especially from adults and authority figures. The manager said that he sounded like a cop so she did what she was told. So... who's to blame? We often wonder how the holocaust happened. How could so many people turn a blind eye? How you ask? By blind submission to authority. I do not care if a cop were standing over my shoulder I would never listen to a stupid cop tell me to do something like this. It just would not happen. Man reading this would say the same thing, but ask yourself, do you trust a cop more than someone else by virtue that they are a cop? I do not. Does it make me better? No, but it is just the way I am. I am not alone and many people are starting to recognize the complacency of the American people. It is why a hyper authoritative president like Bush still has many people who say "he's the president therefore I agree with him." What in the hell? Wake up people, your life just may depend on it.

Technorati Tags: 20/20, authority

Speaking Out

Yesterday the Feds shut down a very large charity organization here in Dearborn, Michigan. For those who are not from here, Dearborn, from my understanding, has the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the Middle East. Of course, not all Arabs are Muslim, but a significant portion are. Dearborn is one of the larger suburbs of Detroit and is about 20-25 minutes from me. With that cursory background out of the way, the Feds shut down a major charity organization that operated under the guise of funding orphans in Lebanon. In reality, they were funding Hizbollah.

The first reports from the Dearborn community was typical. The Arab equivalent of the Anti-Defmation League stated that we should not discriminate against Arabs and Muslims. Okay, my intellectual side says "okay, these are rotten apples." However, the pragmatist in me wants to see this. I want to see universal condemnation, not defensive posturing. I am sorry, but at this point when there are so many examples of extremist behavior within a given religion and a given region, it makes one take notice. I would have preferred the league to say "this is an outrage and only hurts our community, we, collectively, as a community condemn this action and it is not to be tolerated, we will work to do anything in our power to assist the authorities in bringing justice and shall provide education to our community to prevent such occurence from happening again." Basic PR 101. When you get defensive, you will only piss people off. Look, if I am starting to get fed up with these excuses, then Joe Blow American is probably seething. Thus, by saying "don't discriminate against us" you will only piss people off more. The Arab and Muslim population have a PR nightmare of monumental proportion on their hand. While this community is analogous to the Cuban population in Florida-that is they wield political power- I can tell you first hand that there is a growing movement, even among progressives that enough is enough. Clean up your fucking house, otherwise, you will see someone else who will. I am a champion of civil liberties and vehemently against torture; however, we live in the '24' era. Is this right? No. Torture and trampling on our constitutional rights only makes us become "them," but to the hoi polloi it seems not only reasonable but commendable.

Because of this community we have some of the best Lebanese food anywhere. There is a local chain, called La Shish that experienced part of this first hand. It seems that first the owners son was charged with a violent murder (non-terrorist related, but who cares, he's Arab thus there is a visceral response whether right or wrong). This murder coupled with the Feds charging them with tax violations as well as also funding (either directly or indirectly) supposed terrorists through charities made the local papers for over a year. In late 2005, just when this information was coming to light, Ann Arbor got its first La Shish. We were excited. We had a lot of local Middle Eastern restaurants, but they catered mostly to the university crowds. La Shish is elegant and their food is extraordinary (there are better in Dearborn, but for a chain it is fantastic). When it opened it was packed. However, quickly after the news about the owner's 'issues' came to surface the masses stopped going. This is interesting on several levels. First, this was a franchise, not owned directly by La Shish-but you would not know that by looking at it. Second, this is fucking Ann Arbor, where we have Jews marching for Israel out of Palestine. In other words, ridiculously liberal "progressive" folk and yet they were staying away in droves. The local owner, then changed it to "Mike's La Shish" (I know this is wrong, but I can't remember the actual name). However this did little to stem the tide of lost patrons. It was recently reported that they are going to completely change the name to something entirely different in breach of their contract. Personally, this is smart. Any lawyer with half a brain could get out from underneath the franchise agreement under the circumstances. But the central point is that if you have lost the Ann Arbor/university crowd on suspicion that they'd be somehow complicit in funding terrorists, you are truly fucked. Acknowledge the situation, deal with it, or you will suffer. It is that simple. Do I agree with this approach? I don't know. All I know is when I heard the reports on the charity and their community's first response, I was irritated and felt that they only have themselves to blame for this.

All groups have their nutjobs. However, as I have mentioned previously, when a nutjob anti-abortion Christian fundamentalist kills an OB/GYN it is universally condemned, even within their community. You do not hear a defensive plea "not all Christians are bad." Instead you heard anger and condemnation. Moreover, whether right or wrong, statistically speaking, the numbers are against the Arab and Muslim communities for being a source of recent terrorist activities. Why not address this?

Faith

No this is not going to be some theological discussion (well, at least not solely on it) but I think that there is a problem with faith in our society. The greatest question I have is, in what? In a little old man in the sky? In a fat, long eared happy man? In a stern bush from a burning tree? Hmmm... I don't think so. But that is just me.

But what about in your fellow man? Surely some people will have faith in others. I know I have in the past. Unfortunatley, the jaded cynic in me has said that there is no point in having faith in someone external to yourself. After all they too are human, and thus falliblle. Would you put faith in a craps table? Of course not. So why do we put faith in our fellow humans who are just as much a game of chance? It is a uniquely human response I suppose. A yearning of wanting to trust, the metaphorical leap of faith. Unfortunately when we rely on someone or something it will only disappoint us. In essense, if we are hoping (a projected positive mind manifestation of the future) that someone will do something for us we are failing to act ourselves. To have 'faith' in them, prevents us from individually doing what we can do ourselves. It is a barrier. Does this mean we should be insulent of others? No. But if we are told we may receive something from someone or something by way of faith (or hope) in them, we should understand it for what it is, merely a random gesture of kindness. It is like predicting where an electron will be. We can only approximate it, we cannot know for certain. Therefore, we must do what is necessary ourselves... NOW. If help or assistance comes along... then wonderful, but do not hope for it. Unrealized hope does more harm than the potential benefits of hope itself. Like everything in life, everything has its opposite and with hope, its opposite is disillusionment. To eschew both means truth faith.

Technorati Tags: Faith, Hope , Religion

Daily Kos: Book Review: Dan Gilgoff's "The Jesus Machine"

Daily Kos: Book Review: Dan Gilgoff's "The Jesus Machine":


Book Review: Dan Gilgoff's "The Jesus Machine"
by SusanG

Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:01:58 AM PDT

The Jesus Machine
How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War
By Dan Gilgoff
St. Martin’s Press
New York, 2007

"The average person in the establishment is not aware of what Dobson is saying to five or ten million people every week," said Richard Viguerie, the conservative activist who pioneered the use of direct mail for the Republican Party in the sixties and seventies. "That has served us beautifully."

The Jesus Machine is a tough read, my friends, for anyone in this country who believes in the separation of church and state. Tough, but absolutely necessary.

As a case study in patience, ingenuity, flexibility and political movement building, this book can’t be beat. The rough read part comes in every time you get jerked back to reality about what the Christian Right wants to impose on this country, and how deeply and uncompromisingly con

Technorati Tags: Jesus Machine, James Dobson, Religion

Thanks Mom and Dad

Many people do not know that I was born in the heart of the South, Greenville, South Carolina- home to the nutty Bob Jones University, an ultra-fundamentalist, neo-fascist institution where they prohibited black students until 1971 (yes, 1971!) and where you had to be chaperoned to go on a bloody date. Oh... you can't watch any movies on campus, and here's the kicker, you can only watch G rated movies OFF-campus. You can only listen to traditional Christian music (not even contemporary Christian music is not enough for these radical neo-fascists.) Why do I feel comfortable in calling them fascists? Well, is it not the same term that Bush calls the terrorists? The Islamo-fascists? Isn't this exactly the same? To prevent the world from entering your life, just like the Taliban. Yep, that is my home town!

Well, thankfully, my parents were scared shitless about living there and got the hell out of Dodge. I bring this up because one of the singers on this season's American Idol, Chris Sligh, is from Greenville. Because he is not singing pure OLD Christian music, he's singing the Devil's songs. Their tail feathers are all askew. If one wants to know why I am not a Christian. This is it! The hypocrisy. The controlling nature. the 'afraid of your own shadow' syndrome. This guy Chris seems like a nice guy. He is funny and has a endearing personality. The fact that he is or is not a Christian is irrelevant to me. This is not American Piety. It is a singing competition. Since when did singing become immoral or the Devil's deed? Seems to me the Psalms were all sung. What is wrong with singing a song from the heart? Is a romantic poem the work of the Devil? Give me a break. There are a lot of Christians in the music business. Who is Bob Jones to judge? Let thee cast the first stone, I say.

Technorati Tags: Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC, American Idol, South Carolina

Boxing ourselves into a corner, Round 2

I will say it now: before Bush leaves office, the US will engage Iran. Period. This one of those moments that I really hope I am wrong. But I suspect that he'll go out with a bang. He and his Neo-Cons have one last crack at the bat so to speak and they are not likely to squander such an opportunity. Personally I do not even begin to understand their "end-game." I don't understand what motivates them. Obviously it is religion-specific at this point. Okay, if that is the case, why not Saudi Arabia? Saudi is the epitome of an oppressive regime. Only the Taliban can compete in terms of choking off basic human rights (especially for women). Iran, by contrast, is surprisingly "progressive" on such things. Like the US, women make up more than 50% of medical students. Female doctors and dentists regularly have male patients. It is not, of course, widely reported. Recently, I have had a number of Iranian clients and was utterly amazed at the degree of sophistication in their paperwork. For example, property transfers were every bit as detailed as ours. Why was I surprised? Because of the propaganda that is constantly forced down our throats. I grew up thinking that only repressive regimes readily utilize propaganda; but the United States is actually the master. This of course should come as no surprise. As the creator of Madison Ave. marketing/adverstising, the US knows how to manipulate consumers to buy anything. Our government realized this and has utilized such methods to 'sell' their policy.Fortunately, like most things, consumers will eventually realize that things are wrong. BUT... only after it hits home personally.

The title of this entry is a continuation of an entry I wrote when Israel and Lebanon were actively engaged in a skirmish. I surmised that because we set the ground work for going to war as violations of UN sanctions we have effectively boxed ourselves into a corner, leaving very few options for diplomacy. If we do not force compliance, then we have the most amazing example of diplomatic duplicity (mind you our entire administration is duplicitous in my opinion). It is like a parent who scolds child one for lying while permitting the same for another. These mixed messages call the parents authority into question. Does anyone actually think that the Neo-Cons will permit such an accusation? They are the proverbial "put a boot in their ass" types. This is their final moment and they will seize upon it. Unfortunately, no matter who wins in 2008, what Bush will have started will be on auto-pilot like Iraq. There is no easy way out of it, which is why we use the term quagmire to describe it.

Can you say projection?

I think that every voter in the United States should take a remedial psychology 101 and learn about the defense mechanism of projection. For it seems that everything that Mr. Bush says falls under that category. When he talks about the looming threat of "Islamo-Fascism" he is merely projecting the omnipresent threat of our home grown terror at the hands of the Christian right. The Christian right is attempting to exploit the justifiable fear to their own advantage to shape the country in their own skewed image. I will also use the word Christian loosely as I have not seen any of these individuals act "Christian." Rather they embody everything that Jesus had railed against. Self importance, self piety, judgmental, unforgiving... gee, it seems to me there is a story about this in the bible. I say that from a political perspective we should throw these bastards from the 'temple.'

More on this later.

Technorati Tags: Religion

Israeli/Palestinian Rant

To Ramona from the album "Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 - Bob D" by Dylan, Bob

I have been thinking a bit of this Israeli/Lebanese crisis that is going on. The one thing that I took from this at the end of the week is that in the United States we are no longer discussing the colossal mistake of Iraq. While I tend not to be overly conspiratorial, I do think that this situation is clearly in the Republican's best interest for the mid-term elections in November.

Israel is not a mere ally of the United States, it is an appendage. We are (to use a phrase from a friend of mine) 'intricately intertwined' with Israel. We are essentially one in the same. When US leaders condemn Israel's actions, it is perceived disingenuous to the same extent that we would view a parent saying "Johnny, don't kick Jimmy's ass." It is a hollow condemnation. Israel the metaphorical neurotic kitten in the region. When someone says "boo" they jump- oftentimes out of proportion to the actual threat. It is altogether understandable their quick-triggered mentality when examining history. There is only one country that I can think of that every neighbor does not believe that they should even exist and thus should be wiped from existence. Israel faced off against every neighbor in the 1967 war and violence has persisted to some degree ever since.

While I understand Israel's perspective, we need to understand the broader context. Great Britain always seems to wring their hands clean of this issue while they, among all nations, are to blame. Yes, the United Nations, heavily influenced by American Jews, spearheaded the creation of Israel, Britain had effectively divided the region years prior. They went into the region (like they did in so many parts of the world) and stirred up tensions without even realizing what they were doing. We have seen the same issue in India/Pakistan, Ireland, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in addition to other hot zones in the world. I am of the belief that Israel needed to be created after World War II in light of the halocaust, but those who carved it out should have done so with a better perspective of history.

First, it was one of the great blunders of history that a Palestinian state was not created. Since the 1940's Palestinians are stateless and if you want to introduce anger, frustration and hatred, that is certainly a good way to achieve it. Secondly, we have irreconciliable behavior in the region due to are buddying up to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich nations that are hell bent in wiping out Israel. Diplomatically it makes no sense. The US always boasts that it does not negotiate with terrorists. Bullshit. If you have enough oil, we will look the other way. Simple reality.

The fact that the American populace is grossly naive of world affairs fuels the flames. When we hear about Lebanon, people think that it is a militant Islamic nation such as Iran. A simple wiki search will quickly reveal that over 45% of the country considers themselves Christian. Perhaps that would change their perspective a bit. To me Hizbollah came about similar to our modern theocratic Republican party. Special interest. The modern Republican party was hijacked by right-winged Christian fundamentalists who want to impose their interpretation of the bible on the country. Some will say "how can I equate Hizbollah with Republicans, that's absurd." Here's why. Hizbollah has a disproportionate amount of influence relative to its actual support. Just like most in the Republican party do not consider themselves fundamentalists, most in Lebanon do not support Hizbollah. However, considering their backers (i.e. Syria, Iran) are heavily funding them (similar to the huge sums the evangelicals pour into the Republican coffers) they are able to push through extreme policies (like kidnapping Israeli soilders or vetoing the stem cell research bill). Again people will argue that is just a bill, that is a far way from killing someone. Is it? The aims expressed by the Christian right are to create a Christian nation similar to its founding. They are re-writing history. Look at the masterpiece of political statements, the U.S. Constitution, where is the mention that this is a Christian nation? It is not there. They debated it and determined that a secular democracy was the best approach. When religious people attempt to impose their myopic perspective on others, it will undoubtedly lead to violence. It is just a matter of time.

...back to Israel. Israel always suggest that if Hizbollah or the PLO stop bombing they will. I think that they should get the fuck out of the Golen Heights immediately. See what happens. If Hizbollah does not cease its violence, then I say that Israel is in its rights to attack.

Technorati Tags: Iran, Israel, politics, Religion

Earth to Tom Monaghan

Tom... you, in your quest and zeal to turn the U.S. into a Catholic theocracy, replete with pro-life measures, I humbly will deliver a one way ticket to El Salvador. You see, El Salvador is your paradise on Earth. A conservative Catholic country run by an Archbishop who is a member of Opus Dei, the radical sect, featured prominently in the bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. El Salvador not only is decidedly "pro-life" it is also the only country that actively investigates and prosecutes women who have had an abortion. There are no exceptions for rape, safety of the mother, etc. It is a damning sentence and women have been sentenced up to 30 years to life for "aggravated homicide." They are taking an anti-ulcer medication to induce a "untraceable" abortion, but unfortunately, it can lead to dramatic blood loss and possibly comas. The medical industry has violated its Hippocratic oath and is turning against their patients and "narc'ing" against them. Gee... what a paradise. So Tom, stop trying to make the U.S. into El Salvador- just go there if it is such a utopia.

Read the New York Times article here.

Technorati Tags: Abortion, Ave Maria, politics

Tom Monaghan is the new American Taliban

Now that Newsweek finally ran a story on Tom Monaghan's attempt to build an entire town centered around his anachronistic and fundamentalist interpretation of Catholicism people in the rest of the country are starting to learn about this man's sick agenda. Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza sold the majority of his assets in the company several years ago and Wall St. has estimated his new worth to be approximately $1 billion. Monaghan is on record that he wants to die a pauper. Personally I have no problem with that portion. A rich person can do what they feel like, however where I draw the line is pushing an intolerant agenda and creating one of the most powerful organizations designed to attack Roe v. Wade, Ave Marie Law School in my back yard.

Monaghan wanted to open his Ave Marie University in his hometown of Ann Arbor, however people around here have long been suspicious of this duplicitous man. In the early to mid-80's he attempted to stack the deck and get his cronies elected to the Ann Arbor Township Board so that he could erect a massive sky scraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at Domino's world HQ, also inspired by the renowned architect. Based upon a series of skirmishes with the local government, local residents began to look at his ambitions as something to be concerned about. Monaghan is a human embodiement of a bi-polar behavior structure. He is one of the most grandiose humans to walk the earth. The shear positing of creating an entire town after his strict beliefs is appalling. Juxtapose this with his statements that he wants t build the largest football stadium in the country- as if that shall serve God's purpose bears this out. Moreover, he wants to build the largest Cathedral in the United States. EVerything this man does is grandiose. Yet he tries to portray himself as some martyr of his faith by saying that he wants to follow in the aims of St. Francis and have a vow of poverty. And here's the kicker: he wants to build the biggest football stadium in the country! Yes, a fucking football stadium. It is all bullshit. Monaghan still lives in a swanky portion of town. His daughter Maggie Monaghan and her husband purchased one of the most expensive houses in the area a few years back. This is a man who bought a Bugatti in the 80's that was one of the most expensive cars ever purchases. This is a man who admitted to purchasing $40 socks back in the early 80s. This is a man that essentially screwed a hometown here, Bo Schembechler, renowned former coach of the University of Michigan football team (I played hockey with Bo's son).

I know the story better than most. I went to high school with his daughters. His daughters were "normal." His oldest was a bit wild (one year my senior) and was one of the few people to have a punk-look in our Catholic school. Our school was not very strict, owing to its location near University of Michigan. His younger daughter Barb was far more subdued and I would dare say homely. In 1984, Monaghan owned the Detroit Tigers when they beat the Padres in the World Series. We all thought it was neat that in our school of 300+ students that we had such access to a "powerful" person. But Monaghan never supported our school during this time. Never really did anything... until sometime after I graduated there was a fire and it exceeded the insurance policy. The school looked for a benefactor and it turned to the only one who could capitalize such an endeavor, namely Monaghan. Thereafter what was an amazing Catholic prep school that was borne out of the classic jesuit tradition became a personal experiment in Draconian policies and knee-jerk, reactionary policies. My brother experienced that and the horror stories are outstanding and echoed by many.

This is my personal take. I think that somewhere along the way Monaghan felt guilty for having such wealth, which is common among wealthy people and decided that he was going to "change things." You couple this with the fact that he was adopted and raised by nuns *presto* you have a situation where his ambition was abortion. Perhaps he thought if abortion was a "choice" when he was a child that he would not be around. Perhaps that could be true. However, it belies the fact that it is the law of the land and from Roe we get many of our modern rights. In order to do his bidding he established a legal think tank at Ave Marie Law School and poured tons of money into it. The American Bar Association fast-tracked him to quick accreditation. His school has very high passing rates and is rather selective, taking the "best of the fundamentalist Catholics." Bork was brought in early to give it some gravitas as was Richard Thompson, the former inept prosecutor that unsuccessfully attempted to go after Kevorkian. This school's mission, if you will, is to change the courts to reflect their very narrow view points. In fact much of Monaghan's beliefs are not even current Catholic policy. Monaghan disagrees with the Vatican II reforms (as does Mel Gibson, another "traditional" Catholic zealot) and wants to return the church to a time years ago. Never mind the fact that the Catholic church turned a blind eye, and I would dare say was complicit with the spread of fascism in the 1930s.

Monaghan has mutual funds devoted to funds that are consistent with his beliefs. Personally I have no problem with it as it is there money, but it is creepy to say the very least. These conservatives will argue that many universities, including University of Michigan did not invest in South Africa and boycotted Nike for sometime, hence there is no difference. However, here's the difference. The university policy was aimed at correcting an injustice in the world, rather than facilitating one. I am sorry but promoting a position of intolerance and theocracy is not morally equivalent to wiping out apartheid. In fact, I find this to be fascist.

My cardiologist is in the Dominos building and I always feel queasy going in there as I feel that I am indirectly benefiting their landlord (Monaghan himself still owns the building where Dominos is located despite selling the company). The only thing that I can say is that because of the expert journalism in the Ann Arbor Observer, we, in this area have learned the truth about his aims and ambitions and all but run him out of town. Monaghan is frightening as he has the means, the power, influence and the ambition to move this country towards a theocratic state. His ideals are not that far off those espoused by the Taliban. There is no room for dissent. One must live, breath, work, etc. all for the sake of Catholicism. Hence, one's life is completely and entirely centered around their faith. I know many Christians who I believe to be very sincere in their beliefs but they do not shun society. They don't cloister themselves in an artificial bubble of a town. They don't find that being part of modern life is mutually exclusive to their faith. Only radicals and bigots do that.

Technorati Tags: Law, Morality, Ave Maria, Abortion, Religion