Another side of a different coin

I was really pretty shocked to have read that Henry Louis Gates Jr., professor extraordinaire of long standing at the venerable institution Hahr-Vahrd, was arrested two days ago.

But I wasn’t shocked to have read the context and circumstances of his arrest. Sure, there’s the easy explanation of racism in America (you really will never convince me a white professor would have been treated the same way), but then there’s the even easier explanation that no one seems to be talking about and it is this: the arresting “officer” in the affair is yet another example of a douchebag cop with a Napoleon Complex.

Sure, I have no doubt the cop behaved in a racist manner, but that is an action coupled with a personality trait and that trait being that the he is yet another douchebag cop with a Napoleon Complex.

A professor here at school is a retired cop and relayed to me the different types of people who become police officers:

1. The Fitness Nut: the guy or gal who somehow relives their high school athletic glory days by being a cop. They are all about how they look in the uniform. Being a good or bad cop is strictly a matter of happenstance.

2. The Gun Nut: I think this speaks for itself. The Gun Nut, who is almost always male, is also closely related to the Penis Insecurity Nut.

3. The Righteous Nut: this person has an overwhelming sense of self-importance and truly thinks that the worse they behave towards the general public, the better cop they are.

4. The Drunk Cop: who is actually a pretty okay person who took the job as a way of redemption but at the same time, does not know how to handle the stress better.

Now according to Professor Cop, a police officer can actually be a combination of these varying traits but one is always more dominant than the other. Like the thing about Elvis and the Beatles: you can like both, but you always like one more than the other.

With regards to incident involving Professor Gates, my money is on Cop #3. Then again, I’m not at all familiar with the inner workings of cop-hood and the public perception I have garnered of them over the years is really just boils down to the simplicity of the douchebag cop with the Napoleon Complex scenario.

A Change of Tune

Gotta have my tunes. It’s how I get through the day. I listen to what fits my mood and never just listen to music passively. I’m a big soundtrack kind of person. Thematic if you will. If I’m not in the mood for Yo-Yo Ma, then I turn him off. If I’m in the mood for the Pixies, then I crank it up. It’s just how I roll.

Given that, I credit Green Day’s 2004 album, “American Idiot”, and a great deal of Nina Simone protest songs of the 60’s with helping me get through this last four years of the Bush Administration. I look at my stats on iTunes and they are easily the records most often played.

But now that a new administration is officially installed, I noticed I have been skipping over most of the Green Day songs on my iPod this past week. Tolerance, cooperation, and diplomacy seem to be the order of the day for the first time in a long time, so a record that rages against such things no longer appeals to me. The music of “American Idiot” did its job and now I am ready to move on.

I’m cautiously optimistic but since everything still feels like its in a handbasket on its way to someplace incredibly warm, I’ve been struggling to find some music to give voice to my current world view. So much so that I’ve turned off the radio and my iPod because nothing matches my mood towards the current state of the nation.

I was driving home from school today and after a week of radio silence, I decided to give the radio a whirl. Neil Young, in all his brutal honesty and majestic glory, came blaring into car with “Rockin’ In the Free World”.

And this my friends is my new national anthem.

After 20 years since this song was recorded, Young still raises a valid point: how is it that we seek to solve the world’s problems when we can barely solve the most basic ones on our doorstep? What does a “thousand points of light” do to get a homeless man some shelter?

Now granted these issues don’t exist in a vacuum. You have to address both separately and equally. For example: I recognize the necessity to further science and as such, I support NASA’s endeavors. However, when you look at the budget for NASA (which is 17.6 billion by the way) and what a mess this world is, do we really need to be exporting our nonsense into outer space? Couldn’t -shouldn’t- we be using that money elsewhere? Honestly, I don’t know. But recognizing the complexity of what lies ahead is generally problematic enough, forget about actually answering the question.

Another example: Family planning subsidies were stripped from the latest economic stimulus packaged under the premise that such subsidies are not an actual economic “stimulant”. I find this belief interesting because I know I would love the spend the $1000 I fork out yearly for family planning elsewhere. Not to mention, in tough economic times, assisting women in not having children they can not afford is really in the best interest of society as a whole. But how do you balance two opposing interests?

I don’t expect President Obama to solve all the world’s problems, but I do expect decisions to be thought through. Am I upset over the family planning subsidies? Yes. But I feel this new administration will do good things for women’s health in the coming four years. They are already well on their way simply by eliminating the global gag rule. I can be upset by this issue or choose to recognize that this new administration is trying to remember that they are not only governing Democrats but Republicans and Independents as well. Something we haven’t see in this country for 8 years.

So I go back to my Neil Young and I listen to what is essentially a very depressing song, but hey, it’s got a rockin’ beat, it gets my head bangin’, and it lights a fire, and really, sometimes, that’s all I need.

A Viking View of American Politics

If you want to explain the effed-up spectacle that is American Politics to a Viking, it is best explained via the Prose Edda, a collection of poetry about Norse Mythology.

In one particular understanding fo the world, there is the World Tree, Yggdrassil, which is inhabited by several beings: Veðrfölnir, a hawk residing at the top of the tree, and Níðhöggr, a dragon who resides at the bottom eating the roots.

The most interesting character residing there however, is Ratatosk, a red squirrel whose sole job is to ferry insults between Veðrfölnir and Níðhöggr and spread gossip.

So as we enter the final two weeks of this election season, and tempers flare hotter, and the attack ads get nastier, I think it is safe to assume that despite whomever one takes for being either the hawk or the dragon in this election, I think we can all agree who is Ratatosk.

I’ve never been more thankful to not have the TV hooked up.

The Ho You Know

As the economy continues to spiral down the drain, and yet another weekly bailout plan is thrown at us, I’ve been contemplating the increasingly strange evolution of the relationship of this government with its people.

The best idea of the government has been to throw more money at the banks and Wall Street. All of course with tax payers’ money mind you, which in theory gets the bank lending to each other again, and in turn, to their thinking, will somehow get us into back into the bed with these scummy entities via the form of investing in the stock market.

And the all the while Henry Paulson acts like he’s some noble hero by stealing our money and strong-arming the banks into accepting money some of them don’t even need. What Paulson fails to realize is that this behavior does not make him or the government heroes, but it does, however, make them pimps.

Yeah, that’s right, you heard me, big ol’ Pimp-thug-dealers. In fact the only thing missing from this picture of the government is the hat.

For years the government, let’s call it Big G, so Big G sat on the corner trying to entice people with his cadre of lovely banking beauties, his “Ho’s”, by stripping away every layer of regulated inhibition. C’mon what’s it gonna hurt? Who’s gonna know? Pushing and pushing until people felt a little toss underneath the sheets was a victimless crime. I mean really, who would it hurt?

But the economics of being a good pimp means you also have to diversify your product line. Few pimps deal strictly in sex. A little drug dealing, just enough to keep both “Johns” and “Ho’s” hooked, and the occasional enforcing to keep the deviants in line, all help flesh out the portfolio.

The banks got hooked on the crack of deregulation and the people got hooked on the sleazy ease of unlimited credit. And then the proverbial condom breaks and we all end up with a fat and nasty STD in the form a financial meltdown.

(Big G also failed to realize that if your Johns and Ho’s all die of overdoses and disease, you lack a both product and a customer at the end of the day.)

But really, the fact is it doesn’t matter how much play money Big G throws at this situation anymore. The Johns are not inclined to get into bed with a Ho who is going to them financial syphilis or worse. When England nationalized their banks, heads rolled and a new harem of Ho’s were brought in. No such provision is being made here.

Clearly, a massive does of penicillin is required. Whatever metaphor you want this penicillin to stand for is up to you. I just know that it’s time to either double-bag it, switch street corners, or get thee to a nunnery.

The Voices in My Head

Any body else as sick of this election as I am? I’m at the end of the proverbial rope. It would be worse if I had the TV hooked up because I’m sure the political assaults are in full force. However, the radio is performing admirably in its deluge of bad financial news and campaign hooplah and I can barely even tolerate that anymore.

Now that I think of it, I think listening to the radio makes this all much more vivid. TV is a primarily a visual medium, walk out of the room when one of the attacks ads is playing and you don’t receive half the impact because you lack the imagery. With radio, you can’t escape it except to turn it off. Words written for just audio impact it pretty strong stuff. Switch stations and it’s only more of the same.

And let’s not forget the voices in our heads: McCain, Obama, Palin, Biden.

If McCain says “my friends” one more damn time…I mean…!@#$%$!…can’t he think of another word??? Honestly, get that man a thesaurus! Here, I’ll help: amigo, brother, chum, sister, confidant, confidante, mate, pal, comrade, dog (as in yo’), Romans, countrymen! Seriously, I’ll take anything, just switch it up already!

And Obama: decibel control, dude! I know on radio they are recording him speaking at events, but wow, Big! Booming!Voice!All!The!Time!

And Palin? Ah, jeez, I cannot, simply cannot listen to that idiot babble on. It wouldn’t be so bad if were just the babbling, but factor in her incredibly annoying, kindergarten teacher voice and something just takes over: must.shove.pencil.in.ear….

Is Biden even alive anymore? Where the hell is he? Maybe this is a radio thing and he’s just not getting the same play, but really, where is he? Not that I need to hear his schizophrenic, love/hate relationship speech with McCain anymore.

I just need this all to be over. Make the voices stop.

Happiness is a Warm Gun

One person’s news blip is another person’s major revelation.

Iceland, my dear, dear, Iceland has taken a loan from Russia in the amount of $5 billion dollars to help offset its potential banking collapse.

Dayamn.

Now let’s be clear that this was an option of last resort for Iceland since its Western Allies weren’t ponying up some dough. And this is a HUGE mistake on behalf of the US. I won’t comment for the UK or the rest of Europe, but if we are in fact, and I think we can all agree on this, on the verge of brand spanking new Cold War, then militarily speaking, we should have found a way to help out Iceland. Period.

A quick review of the facts for a moment, shall we? As I’ve been writing about for over a year now, Russia has launched illegal flights over the island nation, claimed sea floor for Russia dangerously close to Iceland’s territorial waters, and they’re building a scary new submarine not all that far from the most strategic point of the North Atlantic. And now Iceland has been put in the position of having to borrow money from them?

Where the hell is the US strategic policy on this one?

As I previously quoted, Iceland is like a revolver pointed at the back of the head of the person not holding the gun.

And since America stepped out of Keflavik air base in Iceland in 2006, they are wide open. I hope that when Iceland is need of as second loan, and it is looking as thought it will be necessary, I hope the US smartens up and finds a way to help them out.

Among all the other things we can’t afford right now, this is another item on the list.

And of course I speak as an American on the topic and what Iceland means to us strategically. Hildi, I hope you’re out there. I’d love your input on this.

How I Learned to Stopped Worrying & Love the Fallout

I haven’t checked my 401k or any of my IRA’s lately. No need to really. They’re all in the hole to some degree or another, of that I can be absolutely sure.

I’ve also stopped listening to the news for a while. There’s only so much you can take with regards to the bail out, the election, and economy. We’re blind people wandering about a coat room looking for a green print jacket. And while the guy clearly has made a wad of dough in his time, I don’t believe Dr-Strangelove-Henry-Paulson is the guy to find the coat.

So here’s my thing as far as all this election hooey is concerned: I’m almost to the point where I don’t give a damn about the personal politics of either candidate. Just give me a freakin’ business manager already. Congress and the Senate can handle to other crap, just give me an executive who can keep a budget.

We’re in freefall here and I have learned to accept it. I don’t plan on retiring for thirty years or more so I’m going to hope that there’s time to build back the lost nest egg. I don’t believe in this bail out so I’m willing to see where the absence of one takes us in the market place. The worst thing that can happen is that we hit absolute bottom and I don’t know about you, but I’m fairly sure I can see it from here.

And the best part about hitting bottom is that you have no where to go but up.

Power Vacuum

I’ve seen this theory bouncing about on the Internet that for every old, white man in politics that dies, an equally powerful black man in entertainment dies as well. I’m trying to find the thread again, so if anyone comes across it, let me know and I’ll post it here.

The theory goes that these tandom deaths balance the universe. Such as when Ronald Reagan died (6/5/2004), Ray Charles passed away (6/10/2004). When James Brown passed on (12/25/2006), Gerald Ford kicked the bucket (12/26/2006). You get the picture…

So we’ve had a couple doozies the last few days: Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. Too soon for the both of them, really. But this leaves me wondering: Which old, white man in US politics can we expect to kick it in the very near future? Sailor Man thinks the political death of John Edwards suffices, but he’s not old, so I’m not convinced. Possibly Ted Stevens, the evidence seems pretty stacked against him and he is 85…hmmmmm….

Maybe the horribly tragic death of Bernie Mac balances the lack of a counter-part when Jesse Helms passed on last month. And Isaac Hayes, damn, that’s just sad. I can’t imagine why this great entertainer had to go so soon. But who do you suppose his counter-balance is? Does the Helms/Mac-Edwards/Hayes cover it, or should we be waiting for the other shoe to drop?

Death Pool anyone?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, sick and wrong, I’m horrible, I’m evil, yadda, yadda, yadda…learn to laugh, it makes life a lot more bearable…

Two Steps Back

So Sailor Man’s cousins were in town last week, and aside from being a little more than insulted by the wife of one of said cousin about the state of my marriage, I also had the “pleasure” (note sarcastic quote symbols) of enduring some highly racist smack during beer-time on the deck.

Already pretty peeved-off about the whole marriage brouhaha, I wasn’t terribly inclined to get into it over the absolutely horrific “political discourse” about racial minorities. I merely put my drink down, picked up my things and quietly left.

And I’ve felt pretty crappy about it ever since.

Mostly this is because I have never let this kind of talk go on before (not the way I was raised), and being tired or in a bad mood is never enough of a reason to ever let talk like that continue, so in a way, I feel like I let myself/parents down. On the other hand, I have the tendency go pretty nuclear and it’s pretty hard to know how to approach the situation without creating more hurt feelings (which often tend to cloud the issue at hand) while still calling people on the carpet.

I had mentioned this problem to a friend of mine and he emailed me this YouTube link which perfectly lays out what to do and how.

No excuse next time. Next time I act.

Says Who?

Far be it for me to agree with Supreme Court Justices Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, and Alito, but sometimes my Irish gets the best of me.

The Supreme Court struck down the death penalty for child rape convictions. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority opinion, states: “The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child.”

Oh yeah? Tell that to a parent who has to pick up the pieces of their child’s life destroyed. Tell that to any child who has survived such an attack.

The justices cite that such penalties constituted cruel and unusual punishment. I offer a few of the following as rebuttal:

•The typical offender is male, begins molesting by age 15, engages in a variety of deviant behavior, and molests an average of 117 youngsters, most of whom do not report the offense.
-Dr. Gene Abel in a National Institute of Mental Health Study.

• More than 1/2 of all convicted sex offenders are sent back to prison within a year. Within 2 years, 77.9% are back.
-California Department of Corrections.

• Recidivism rates range from 18-45%. The more violent the crime the more likelihood of repeating.
-Studies by the state of Washington.

• 3 in 10 child victimizers reported that they had committed their crimes against multiple victims: they were more likely than those who victimized adults to have had multiple victims.
-BJS Survey of State Prison Inmates, 1991.

• Like rape, child molestation is one of the most underreported crimes: only 1-10% are ever disclosed.
-FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

• The behavior is highly repetitive, to the point of compulsion, rather than resulting from a lack of judgment.
-Dr. Ann Burges, Dr. Nicholas Groth, et al. in a study of imprisoned offenders.

And, unfortunately, I could go on.

I don’t have children but I have nieces and nephews for whom I wouldn’t hesitate to cut a thumb off for and you can be damn sure that if anyone perpetrated such crime upon them, I would be hunting that offender down with dogs, guns and immeasurable fury. Children are the most defenseless of our population and if these people are not going to be kept off the streets, then they need to be done away with.