Month: September 2006

Not that there haven’t been earlier responses, from Macca’s well-meaning but insipid tune “Freedom” to some Michael Moore film and other conspiracy theorists. But in the last few weeks, there have been two major motion pictures and seemingly dozens of TV movies, documentaries and “specials”.

So, what I am thinking about five years on? (And how many people will be ticked off by same?)

1. Well, let’s start with an analogy. I felt really badly when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. It wasn’t because I liked him , but because I didn’t. I didn’t trust him as Attorney General, and wasn’t convinced of his transformation as a populist. So when he was killed, I felt a sense of awkwardness.
But nothing like I felt in 9/11. When the Twin Towers were built in the 1970s, I thought they were awful. Ugly. Ostentatious. Did NOT enhance the classic New York City skyline. So when they collapsed, I felt just a little…guilty. And even more so, when in coming days, I learned they were targeted precisely because of their prominence. Actually, I felt AWFUL, as though, in some small way, it was somehow my fault.

2. I believe Usama bin Laden does not belong on the FBI Top Ten list. You may or may not know that he’s on there for “MURDER OF U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES” (I assume this refers to the two 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa; “CONSPIRACY TO MURDER U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES” (ditto); “ATTACK ON A FEDERAL FACILITY RESULTING IN DEATH” (I guess the 2000 attack on the USS Cole.)
He is NOT on the list for 9/11, because, by the definition established by the FBI, the 10 Most Wanted list “is designed to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives who might not otherwise merit nationwide attention.” People such as Bucky Phillips, who allegedly shot three state troopers, killing one, and was fortunately caught on Friday. Now, one may not have known the name bin Laden after the African bombings or after a hole was blown in the Cole, but certainly no one has forgotten him now. Or have we?

3. The near deification of police departments all across America has made me somewhat…uncomfortable. I mean no disrespect to officers who died trying to save others, but the notion that, suddenly, police officers everywhere were exempt from criticism just didn’t/doesn’t sit right with me. (Apparently, other people have their Forbidden thoughts about 9/11.

4. I can’t help but to remember that most of the headlines in the New York Post in August 2001 about Rudy Giuliani were about his messy divorce.

5. Lots of people were collecting LOTS of money – over $1 billion by some estimates – after the event. Some people, including me, were made to feel somehow “unpatriotic” for not contributing. Some of these groups I had never heard of, and I was reasonably (I thought) suspicious.

6. Patriotism is NOT defined by American flag lapel pins, bumper stickers, or ratty-looking flags on their cars (which ought to be destroyed, respectfully), but by being an informed citizen, writing letters to the editor, writing letters to one’s representatives, and especially, voting. Which reminds me:

7. September 11, 2001 was Primary Day in New York State, ultimately postponed. As the law stands now, it will be Primary Day (for all races except the Presidency) on average every seven years. Some people think it ought to be changed to a week later, in order to “Honor the dead”. I don’t. September 11 is a GREAT day to exercise one’s freedom. Besides, I think the state primary is too late anyway. At some point in my adult life, all the primaries in New York were in June, but as they moved the Presidential primary earlier, they found the need to move the other primaries later, which tends to advantage the incumbents and/or the candidates with the most money.

8. After the towers were hit, there was a call from the American Red Cross for blood, anticipating that there would be large numbers of non-fatal casualties, when in fact there were maybe a couple dozen. Then the lines were out the doors of the blood centers, and there were complaints that they weren’t “more prepared” for an unprecedented outpouring. Some of the blood ended up being tossed, which created even more outrage. In fact, I’m a regular blood donor, scheduled weeks before to come in on September 19, and I was asked NOT to come in that day, but to wait a couple weeks. They thought (correctly) that I’d come back, and that most of these folks would not. So, if you donated after 9/11, and not since, go donate again; I promise you the need is great. This is not to say that the Red Cross didn’t make mistakes at that time, such as putting money people wanted to donate to 9/11 victims to the general fund. But go donate anyway.

9. I had some real difficulty with the 9/11 fund that parced out based on the likely income potential, so the three-piece suit families fared far better than the restaurant worker families. And I wonder what the plan will be for the next disaster.

10. I don’t care how he spins it now: GWB and his administration repeatedly mislead the American public into thinking there was a link between 9/11 and Iraq. But still: In a February 2005 Harris poll, 44% of Americans thought that there were Iraqis as pilots on the 9/11 planes, up from 37% in the previous poll. (I haven’t seen a subsequent survey.) This is not Iraq/9/11 terror link opinion, some alleged (though unlikely) secret meeting between Saddam and bin Laden. This is an issue of FACT. Reading that really hurt my head.

Attorney General: the frontrunner is Andrew Cuomo, son of former governor Mario. He was HUD Secretary under Clinton. Ran for governor four years ago against Carl McCall, a bruising fight he finally quit only a week before the primary, which left McCall in a weakened position against the incumbent Pataki. Not inclined to vote for him.

Mark Green (great last name!) was a former NYC public advocate. He was endorsed by the NY Times. He’s a possibility.

Sean Patrick Maloney: I was previously inclined for him. I’ve been getting e-mails for his campaign. And let me tell you my bias; Sean is gay, and I am generally inclined, all other things being equal, to support the gay (or black, or woman candidate). But I found him less impressive in a five-way discussion that Time-Warner Cable arranged last month.

Conversely, Charlie King, who I really didn’t know at all – he was a former leader of Manhattan’s Democratic Party – fared much better with me, and not because he is black- in those discussions.

So, if I were to vote my gut, I’d probably vote King. If we had IRV, I’d vote for King as #1, Green as #2, Leonard as #3. But King (and Maloney) are trailing badly in the polls, and, in fact, King has dropped out of the race this week and endorsed Cuomo, as did Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. This means I’ll probably end up voting for Green. Stll, I’ll vote for ANY of the Democratic candidates for AG against the Republican, Jeanine Pirro, who wanted to run against Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senate, but was “persuaded” by the Republican party bosses to run for A.G.

The primary and subsequent election for governor appears to be actually a coronation of current Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi never gained any traction, and his Republican opponent, John Faso, I think is too conservative to win. Still, there is one issue on which I agree with Suozzi and disagree with Spitzer, and it is not inconsequential to me: the death penalty. Suozzi’s against it, as am I, and Spitzer’s for it in certain circumstances. What gives me SOME comfort is that Spitzer’s hand-picked Lieutenant Governor candidate, David Patterson (black AND legally blind, BTW), is also openly against the death penalty, so maybe that’ll soften Spitzer’s stance.

We had a Congressman around here forever named Sam Stratton. When Stratton suddenly retired in 1988, the Republicans had already picked their sacrificial lamb (a guy I played volleyball with at the time, it turned out), and the Democratic machine was able, without the need for an untidy primary, to annoit Michael McNulty as the nominee. The Republicans certainly would have picked a more formidable candidate if they knew they weren’t running against Stratton, and there were several Democrats who might have sought the job. So, I’ve NEVER voted for McNulty in the primary or general election. But I might now – even though, as anincumbentt, he probably doesn’t need my support: his primary challenger really bugs me. His great complaint about McNulty is that he has steered Homeland Security money to…helping local fire departments? Horrors! More importantly, McNulty, an early and ardentsupporterr of the war in Iraq has had a major change of heart in recent months – one of the several pieces of mail I’ve received from his campaign is solely on his “out of Iraq now” position – and I find the need to reward that.

So much for the secret ballot.

To that end, many colleges utilize something called The Hahm-Beller Values Choice Inventory, which is “designed to evaluate moral reasoning in the sport milieu. Participants read twenty-one short common sport scenarios and evaluate each situation based on a five point Likert Scale from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. The HBVCI is the only inventory specifically focused on sport and developed using moral theory as a guide.”

The following questions describe incidents that have occurred in sport settings. Each question addresses moral issues. Because there are no right or wrong answers, please circle the answer that best describes your feelings. SA = Strongly agree; A = Agree; N=Neutral; D=Disagree; SD = Strongly Disagree.

4. During a youth sport football game, an ineligible pass receiver catches a long touchdown pass and scores. The officials fail to determine that the player was ineligible. Because it is the referee’s job to detect the ineligible receiver, the player or the coach does not have to declare an ineligible receiver.

So, the questions are these:

Do college (high school, professional) sports strengthen character? If so, how? (Building camaraderie, e.g.) If not, why not? (Pressure to compete, leads to violence, e.g.)

Something that wasn’t part of the vocabulary when I was growing up: non-competitive sports, where “everybody is a winner”. Is this a good idea? Or do you believe, “it’s a competitive world out there”, and kids might as well learn early?

Meanwhile, my late summer allergies to whatever grasses I react to, which usually settle in in mid-August, were postponed until this week. I have laryngitis (which some people say is a blessing), a sore throat, and I feel achy. Our new co-pastors, Miriam and Glenn Leupold, are being installed on Sunday, and I’d love to sing for the event, but if I feel – and more importantly, SOUND – like I do now, no way.

Anyway, I was e-mailed something from http://www.paulsadowski.com/NameData.asp, and surprisingly – no, ASTONISHINGLY – I found it about 93 1/2% (or more) accurate:

You entered: roger owen green

There are 14 letters in your name.
Those 14 letters total to 88
There are 6 vowels and 8 consonants in your name.

Your number is: 7

The characteristics of #7 are: Analysis, understanding, knowledge, awareness, studious, meditating.

The expression or destiny for #7:
Thought, analysis, introspection, and seclusiveness are all characteristics of the expression number 7. The hallmark of the number 7 is a good mind, and especially good at searching out and finding the truth. You are so very capable of analyzing, judging and discriminating, that very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You are the type of person that can really get involved in a search for wisdom or hidden truths, often becoming an authority on whatever it is your are focusing on. This can easily be of a technical or scientific nature, or it may be religious or occult, it matters very little, you pursue knowledge with the same sort of vigor. You can make a very fine teacher, or because of a natural inclination toward the spiritual, you may become deeply emerged in religious affairs or even psychic explorations. You tend to operate on a rather different wavelength, and many of your friends may not really know you very well. The positive aspects of the 7 expression are that you can be a true perfectionist in a very positive sense of the word. You are very logical, and usually employ a quite rational approach to most things you do. You can be so rational at times that you almost seem to lack emotion, and when you are faced with an emotional situation, you may have a bit of a problem coping with it. You have excellent capabilities to study and learn really deep and difficult subjects, and to search for hidden fundamentals. At full maturity you are likely to be a very peaceful and poised individual.

If there is an over supply of the number 7 in your makeup, the negative aspects of the number may be apparent. The chief negative of 7 relates to the limited degree of trust that you may have in people. A tendency to be highly introverted can make you a bit on the self-centered side, certainly very much self-contained . Because of this, you are not very adaptable, and you may tend to be overly critical and intolerant. You really like to work alone, at your own pace and in your own way. You neither show or understand emotions very well.

Your Soul Urge number is: 5

A Soul Urge number of 5 means: The 5 soul urge or motivation would like to follow a life of freedom, excitement, adventure and unexpected happening. The idea of travel and freedom to roam intrigues you. You are very much the adventurer at heart. Not particularly concerned about your future or about getting ahead, you can seem superficial and unmotivated.

In a positive sense, the energies of the number 5 make you very adaptable and versatile. You have a natural resourcefulness and enthusiasm that may mark you as a progressive with a good mind and active imagination. You seem to have a natural inclination to be a pace-setter. You are attracted to the unusual and the fast paced.

You may be overly restless and impatient at times. You may dislike the routine work that you are engaged in, and tend to jump from activity to activity, without ever finishing anything. You may have difficulty with responsibility. You don’t want to be tied down to a relationship, and it may be hard to commit to one person.

Your Inner Dream number is: 11

An Inner Dream number of 11 means: You dream of casting the light of illumination; of being the true idealist. You secretly believe there is more to life than we can know or prove, and you would like to be provider of the ‘word’ from on high.
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Fans of Boing Boing may have already read about the “track-for-track mash-up of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds with the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, two of my favorite albums. Let’s put it this way – they don’t describe it as noise for nothing. Or am I just showing my age?