Kill the Messenger

The NPR story was about five young Muslim Americans who were detained in Pakistan that may have wanted to train in terrorist camps. "Making them the most recent Americans known to have been radicalized in the U.S. who then traveled abroad to act on their beliefs."

What is disturbing is not about the five becoming radicalized, but about how the blame is being placed on the messenger, that is, the Internet.

U.S. officials say the young men used the Internet — specifically the social networking site Facebook and videos on YouTube — to link up with extremist groups in Pakistan.

"Basically most of the noise on the Internet are the clarion calls to battle from the jihadis, the inspirational and motivational messages that they communicate," says Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. "And there has really been almost no concerted, systematic and strategic effort to counter those messages."

This case provides more evidence that radical Islam's Internet messages are effective.

My concern about all this is that we as a society will settle on the easy fix - ban thought and speech we do not agree with. We have a mechanism to do just that, if it is designed to incite violence it can be banned. But to do so misses the bigger question here. Why did these five make the transition? There are millions of other young people their age from the same background that are not motivated or persuaded to act out. What was ground zero here? It was not the words being spoken and heard, although words have the power to motivate, there must always be something else in play. The question is what?

One of the young men also left a video message for his parents. The head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, says he saw the 11-minute video. "I walked away with the feeling this was disturbing that young people think this way and they're angry [and] this may lead them to do something wrong," he said.

OK, they were angry - yes - but so are a lot of other people and they don't carry it to that end point. Is it something akin to suicide clusters? Something similar is in play here that if it could be quantified might just be the thing to focus on, to keep the switch to act out turned off, to find an alternative release for that anger.

But no, we'll take the easy way and blame the internet, video games, rock n' roll music, comic books or...... What we will not do is try to figure out the why. there is a why, and its not the messenger, their sex, or their religion, its something else that is in play and can be influenced by them. Even if you removed every form of speech that could be considered hateful or a cry for action, the genesis for radical destructive behavior will still be there.

Isn't it better to just ban it - you know give it that ol' zero tolerance? I don't think so, I mean after all Cane and Able came about way before the internet didn't they?

Mr. Pitts I Respectively Disagree...

Wow, not even a week went by........(my email today regarding his column on Sammy Sosa)


Mr. Pitts;

When you make the comment "you're not black" it does a disservice to people like me. I can be empathetic, reasonable, and understanding simply on the preponderance of the evidence.

We have two issues at play here, first is your assumption, which the email writer points out, that "Your column seemingly assumes he lightens his skin color out of shame and fails to recognize that he may simply be doing it out of vanity or his own sense of personal style." The second is how you see it, and that relates entirely to what we in public health call the greater good. Your point - and it is not lost to me because I am white - is that taken as a whole, these types of actions chip away at the self-image of blacks, especially children.

On the other hand, what one individual does or does not do may not always fall within the reasoning behind the actions of the whole. Why young black children see black as bad may have nothing to do with why Mr. Sosa wants lighter skin. Unless we can somehow get into his brain we can never know - and that is what the reader took issue with - you cannot paint everyone with the same reasoning brush, which is what you did.

Your fight is for the good of the whole, which like me, understands that there is an overall problem with self-image that needs to be addressed. Mr. Sosa and Mr. Jackson unfortunately have perpetuate this lighter is better attitude by their actions which may be from their dislike of being black or a result of using skin softeners. You take issue with this for reasons I can glean from your writing but alas can never fully know, not because I am white, but because I can never know with certanty what motivates you.

Why we behave in ways that unintentionally hurt others is a complex social issue beyond my understanding. But before you assume the motivation behind the action, you need to accept the fact that you just don't know. As Freud is quoted as saying "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Palin...a Rock Opera

My lame attempt at parody. With apologies to the Who’s Tommy, Weird Al, and the Capitol Steps. Real lyrics

Sung to the tune “Tommy’s Holiday Camp”

Uncle Hannity:
Good morning Tea Baggers!
I'm your Uncle Hannity
and I want you all in Palin’s political camp
We’re the movement with the difference
Never mind the hubris
When you come with Sarah
Its conservatives forever………..
Welcome!


Sung to the tune “We’re not gonna take it”

Sarah Palin:
Welcome to my Camp,
I guess you all know why we're here.
My name is Sarah
and I became a phenomenon this year

If you real Americans want to follow me,
We’ve got to play hardball.
So put on your lipstick...
....your dress from Neiman Marcus
You know where the tea bag goes!

Hey you Fags wanting to be married, so sorry!
Not on my watch.
Hey you listening to mainstream media!
You only need Fox!
Hey you un-American ACLU loving Mr. Liberal,
I’ve come to seal your fate.
‘Cause when I become the President,
I'll tear down that wall between church and state.

Democrats:
We're not gonna elect you,
Didn’t in 2008 and never will,
We're not gonna elect you,
Gonna work against you, gonna expose you,
let's get America to forget you better still.

Palin:
Now you can hear me,
‘cause I’m constantly being interviewed.
I get the chance to speak freely now,
but my voice is still so shrill.
You aint seen nothing yet,
And my brand of conservatism completes the scene.
Here comes Uncle Hannity to lead you to,
an ultra-right theocracy.

Democrats:
We're not gonna elect you.
Didn’t then and never will.
Don't want no Palin nonsense.
And as loud as we can yell.
We ain't gonna vote for you.
Not ever – no, never will.
We're not gonna make you our President.
We are embarrassed of you.
Let's get America to forget you better still.

Palin:
Buy my book.
Hear me speak.
I’ve gone rouge.
Don’t blame me.

Listening to me,
You get my viewpoints.
Gazing at me,
I’m still hotter than Hillary.
Voting for me,
Will get me elected.
I’ll stay a few years and then I’ll quit!

With my new book deal,
I will make millions.
With you,
I can become your leader.
With you,
I crave your accolades.
With you,
I can save my Party.

Call me...Mr. (white) Leonard Pits

There are very few people that I can truly relate to in terms of sharing my particular sensibilities. I see things very different then most of the folks I spend my day-to-day with.

I try to read as many different view points as I can. I force myself to listen to those who purposely , in my opinion, try to mislead. I am open to having my conventional wisdom challenged and am not afraid to change my mind. As my friend Marc puts it - "I go where the data takes me."

Without an exception, well maybe one time, the columnist Leonard Pitts has always articulated issues and events in a way that closely resembles my way of looking at it. Except he can write and defend it better than I can, oh yea, he has also won a Pulitzer Prize for doing it. But besides from all that we are almost twins, except he is black and I am white (Stevie Wonder song get out of my head!).

Why do I share a similar stream of consciousness with this guy? Is it because we are both the same age and are both from Southern California? But we grew up very different. I had a very stable family life, he did not. He was very smart and did well in school, I struggled. Then there is the black/white thing going on in how we lived, although it was not really that big of deal in California - at least for me.

So there is something in both our makeup that is unique to both of us. Something we share that transcends race, upbringing, geography, and culture. I am not sure exactly what it is, but I see it in his writing and I see it in mine. We seem to both be very pragmatic and empathetic to a fault. I find it comforting that there is at least one other soul out there that sees it like I see it.

When my blogging wins me a Pulitzer we will truly be equals. But for now I'll settle just for one reader. Crickets....Crickets.....

That's a really big stretch

Researcher: Faint writing seen on Shroud of Turin

She asserts that the words include the name "(J)esu(s) Nazarene" — or Jesus of Nazareth — in Greek. That, she said, proves the text could not be of medieval origin because no Christian at the time, even a forger, would have mentioned Jesus without referring to his divinity. Failing to do so would risk being branded a heretic. "Even someone intent on forging a relic would have had all the reasons to place the signs of divinity on this object," Frale said Friday. "Had we found 'Christ' or the 'Son of God' we could have considered it a hoax, or a devotional inscription."

OK so the hypothesis is that a medieval forger would be incapable of completing this elaborate hoax because he would not risk being branded a heretic by leaving off the divinity.

In other words the fact that he produced a fake cloth in an effort to get people to believe that it was the burial cloth of Jesus and the image was that of Jesus would be nothing compared to mentioning Jesus without referring to his divinity.

Misleading people into believing the forged image is Jesus - no big deal.

Leaving off the divinity part when you forged the name of Jesus - Heretic!

Please...please do not call this woman a researcher.

Fear of the word complacent

I was listening to Casey Kasem on Serius, The year - 1978. He was disusing the death of co-founder Terry Kath and how the band was forced to change because of it. The story was not about the death but about the band understanding that they had become complacent.

Now for me, words have taken on a whole new emphasis in my life. I cannot spell, I have very poor grammar (In fact I just misspelled it grammer), and I mispronounce words. All of this, especially when it is pointed out to you, takes a toll on one's confidence. But lately I have realized that those are just my faults, that's all they are and everyone has something they do worse then someone else. So I have begun a journey to write, learn, read, and try to better myself. So when I write this blog, I write it for me as well as anyone else that reads it that may be unaware of what the particular "word of the blog" is.

So on to today's theme - complacent:

Contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions.

Well what's wrong with that? But I always understood complacent to be kind of a bad thing to let happen. Then I find:

A feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.

Now that one fits the meaning better, at least for me. So why all this fuss over over this word? Well it comes down to having to face your fears. Now some folks fear death, or financial ruin, and others loss of standing, for me - I fear becoming complacent.

The reason for this is that I know that it can happen to anyone who lets down their guard. Complacency is the path of least resistance, the easiest road to follow. You become complacent because you do not challenge yourself. I fear it because it wants into my life and as much as I want to keep it at bay, external issues out of my control are helping to create a fertile media for it to take root.

Why be so afraid? Because complacency leads to stagnation, non-growth, lack of innovation. What makes it bad comes down to "especially when unaware of upcoming trouble." Upcoming trouble is your competition that has not become complacent. Complacency stifles creativity and causes one to become stale and boring. It's the one's that offer something new that capture the attention.

But complacency is also very cheap to maintain. No risk in failure because there is nothing new being developed. No added cost because its a fine oiled machine - don't fix what aint broke! Why change it when it is working - it's good enough.............

Complacency happens when you when you realize that you can put lipstick on a pig and they buy it. At some point I will be handed the lipstick, my fear is that I will pick it up and use it

Muslim Sympathizer

As heard in College Station, Texas, 10:30ish Central Time on a christian radio station 89.9:

Caller: Isn't he (Obama) a Muslim?

Host: Well he is not an admitted Muslim, but he is a Muslim sympathizer.

So Obama sympathizes with Muslims....OK, and as our President this is somehow seen as bad because....???

So what does it mean to "sympathize"?

1. to be in keeping, accord, or harmony
2. to react or respond in sympathy
3. to share in suffering or grief : commiserate ; also : to express such sympathy
4. to be in sympathy intellectually

So what the christian radio host was saying is that the President of the United States should not participate in any of the above if it is directed towards a Muslim. There are an estimated 5-7 million Muslims in the United States, does he think Obama is not living up to his oath to defend the Constitution? Is unsympathetic behavior what God would instead condone?

I'm sorry, I just don't get it. How one behaves is what's in question here. Because some Muslims want a jihad is no different than some Christians wanting to kill abortion doctors. I should not paint everyone with the same brush. And the President has not only a moral but a constitutional obligation to do the same. As Thomas Jefferson stated:

"Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship......" (Letter to the Danbury Baptists, 1802).

To be critical of the President for being in "keeping, accord, or harmony" with all religions is not very American like. Come to think of it, it's not very Christ like either.