Should Muslims Get A Mosque At Ground Zero?
Should New York build an Islamic mosque near the World Trade Center site in Manhattan? Amidst economic crisis, oil catastrophe, and the plummeting popularity of a president this heated debate has exploded onto the scene in recent weeks. Folks keep asking me what I think, so I figured I should formulate some kind of educlayted opinion.
The argument has already gotten pretty nasty since the announcement of the project. The issue remained somewhat quiet until a recent vote by Community Board 1 came down 29-1 in favor of the worship/community center. A quarter of the board members abstained.
This issue comes down to two main questions. Should Muslim leaders pursue this project? Do they have a right to build a mosque there? Everything beyond those two factors falls into the camp of emotions, lots of emotion. As one protestor stated at the board hearing: “This house of evil will be the birthplace of the next terrorist event.”
***
A recent caller to a talk show on a radio station which I will leave unnamed objected to the project with this statement: “Would they build a monument for Hitler next to Auschwitz?” That’s an intense reaction. Some folks find that comparison incredibly offensive while others find it accurate. Nazism was short-lived and brutal. These days the beliefs and symbols of Hitler’s regime are outlawed in Germany. I find the Holocaust comparison somewhat off for this debate.
Perhaps a better example would be the Japanese-American conflict of the 1940s. It’s hard for this generation to understand the impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941, but that event felt a lot like 9/11 and cost a comparable number of lives. What would you say about a project to build a Shinto temple a few hundred yards from where the U.S.S. Arizona was sunk by Japanese fighters?
Nearly a decade after Pearl Harbor, Japan and the U.S. were building a healthy relationship. Could you imagine a Shinto priest pushing for a facility in that spot? How would Americans have reacted then? Let’s flip the scenario. How do you think Japanese people would have felt about a big, ol’ catholic church right on the doorstep to the Hiroshima memorial? Why would any American even promote such a plan? Sounds like a slap in the face.
Allow me one more distinction between 1941 and 2011. Pearl Harbor was a military facility staffed by men and women serving their country. The World Trade Center was filled with civilians just working and trying to live out their free lives.
Islam is accepted by our pluralistic society, as are many other beliefs. We tolerate opposing beliefs, but we’re under no obligation to celebrate them. Muslims who want this facility have rights in America because heroes of this nation have shed blood by the millions to guarantee freedom. To mere suggestion of this facility does not seem like the workings of peace but a stirring of conflict. Lots of folks say, ”Build a mosque, just NOT THERE!” Yet there’s another significant fact that warrants incredulity.
The Imam and company claiming a desire to “bridge the gap” between Muslims and the rest of America want to break ground on this facility to celebrate Islam on September 11, 2011–the 10th anniversary of the attack. Read more »
Young America, Job Hunting, & Desperation
ARE COLLEGE DEGREES WORTHLESS?
Hey there college crowd, raise your hand if you’ve earned a bachelor’s degree. Now put your hand down if you’ve found a position in the career you were shooting for. According to an article on Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday, more and more of you still have your arm raised and may be throwing both hands up in total desperation.
What’s going on? I’m an optimist but also a realist, and truthfulness demands taking a hard look at some tough facts lest we bury our heads like the ostrich who finally looked up only to see the rest of the pack had moved on.
THE SITUATION
The youth unemployment rate is nearing a whopping 20% these days. That’s the highest number since the Department of Labor began compiling the data in 1948. I said 1948! Let’s clear up two quick points here. First, the age bracket for youth unemployment is generally considered 16-24 years old. Second, the 20% figure is unemployment which means people trying to find work yet unable to do so. The number of 16-24 year olds without jobs is way higher, somewhere over 50% in recent weeks. We haven’t seen this many young Americans without jobs since World War II.
THE CAUSE
An estimated 7 million jobs worked by young people have disappeared during the current economic downturn. Basic economics explains much of this shortage of opportunities, but there’s another factor that can’t be ignored. We have never seen this type of competition for entry-level jobs between young and older workers in America.
Older Americans are themselves facing a jobs crisis. Pensions have been devastated, securities threatened. More folks over the age of 55 are working now than before the recession as spousal incomes and home values decline. When these workers get laid off they enter the same race for work already packed with so many young job seekers.
Another challenge is increasing competition among cohorts of recent graduating classes. The current class is competing with grads from ’09, ’08, and so on.
THE OUTLOOK
Let me submit to you three major impacts we’ll likely see from this trend.
1. Tougher future.
Future job and earning prospects are hurt by this current downturn. The Bloomberg article notes that two recessions in the early 80s created wage losses for the next 15 years for those who entered that bad job market. Their initial entry positions were lowered, their wages less, their skills slower developing. We are hovering around that same unemployment level now, so the future may not be as bright for new workers as it was 5 or 10 years ago.
Put simply, the quicker you get out of the gate the better, and right now the gate is jammed for a lot of entry-level seekers.
2. Deeper Debt.
There’s no end in sight to our skyrocketing debt (personal and national) in an age of continued consumption. The average college debt is now over $23,ooo up from around $18,000 in the mid-late 90s. Incomes are down, living and education costs are up, and financial discipline disappeared somewhere back there behind that broken starting gate.
Overall credit card debt in the United States increased around 18% in 2009 with some states seeing a rise as much as 30%! The plastic cards are double-edged swords indeed. Plenty of those charges go towards living expenses, but you know many of the purchases are for non-essential items. Too often being broke and out of work is no longer an excuse to deprive ourselves of what we just gotta have. After all, we deserve it right? Read more »
Meaning Amidst The Violence
Today is the anniversary of one of the most shocking events of my lifetime. On this day in 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold carried out their sickening assault at Columbine High School. Last year, upon the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the massacre, President Bill Clinton said the events at that school in Colorado “changed us forever.” 
I wonder what that change has looked like for us. There are plenty of different perspectives after an event of this magnitude. Some people are closer than others, some always seem to see things more clearly, and some are perpetually clueless. Now that eleven years have passed, there’s a large segment of the population who weren’t old enough to notice the worst public school shooting in American history.
Change comes in a lot of forms. The harshest form reshaped the lives of the families of the 15 people who died, two dozen wounded, and countless others in that devastated community. Some folks used the shootings to pump up the gun control debate. A lot of people threw their hands in the air and saw no hope. Many more, especially those inspired by the character of Cassie Bernall and Rachel Scott, found light in the midst of darkness, meaning amidst the monstrous.
I think if we’re honest, a lot of us hear about these hellish tragedies and thank God that it didn’t happen to us. Then we go on with our lives hoping that nothing like that ever will.
We always want everything to make sense, but sometimes life just doesn’t. So what do you do with a story like this? How are we supposed to commemorate what took place in Littleton, Colorado? The short answer is that we live purposefully, intending to make a positive difference in the world around us ev
eryday.
If you could, would you reach out to one of the parents whose child was slaughtered while they were at school? Most of you would. Then who is around you today, even right now maybe, and hurting? What person in your life needs a soft word of encouragement or a few minutes of your time?
What about those victims? Would you love to go back in time and tell them what was coming? I think we all wish we could go back and prevent some terrible things that have happened. Of course we can’t, but the future is coming. How much of it do you have left? What if tomorrow is your day? What if it’s today? Are you ready? None of us want to face that reality right now, but could you if you had to? Cassie and Rachel did.
The last one is toughest of all. What about those two young guys who planned the rampage and never looked back? Why did they hate? What did they need? We’ll never have all the answers, but wouldn’t you like to go back to the point in their lives when they ran so far from the main path? I wonder if maybe they were pushed a little from that path, from the crowd. I bet they were pushed a lot. Read more »
AFC North Blotter
For the love of the Chief. What would Art Rooney say if he saw his beloved franchise piling up more citations than a frat house fight club. The Pittsburgh Steelers were once the cleanest cut of all sports franchises. Now, they’ve spiraled into a police blotter laughingstock.
Maybe they’ve been brought down by the company they keep. The AFC North division of the NFL continues to produce some of professional football’s finest idiots. I’m surprised the league hasn’t realigned to get the Oakland Raiders in with the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Brown, and em’ Stillers.
If you ignore these stories, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger just dodged another legal bullet yesterday when the DA in the case announced no charges would be filed over allegations of sexual assault. In the meantime, Super Bowl MVP receiver Santonio Holmes got in more trouble for smoking more weed (among other things) and proved that winning doesn’t make you mature when he posted messages to the public which might as well have said, “Dear Steelers, please get rid of me as soon as possible for being such a complete…” You get the idea. These events come on the heels of over two years of other legal problems for players Jeff Reed, James Harrison, and Cedrick Wilson.
Let me be clear about Big Ben first. He is not guilty of anything more than terrible judgment. The showboating DA made this point repeatedly and inappropriately during the press conference to announce there would be no trial because there was no evidence and the alleged victim and her family were adamantly against even filing in the first place. So Ben is innocent of criminality but guilty of stupidity. College was fun and all, but what is an internationally-known super-millionaire doing in a college bar in Georgia?
I wish he would talk to Read more »
Healthcare… Hmm.
So the healthcare bill passed. I feel like I should say something profound, but there’s nothing really much to say. Are you surprised? This is what you voted for.
For those of you super excited about this new legislation, you won’t see any problems or potential pitfalls ahead. You don’t think the lessons of history apply because, after all, we’re Americans. We’ll do it better than all those other countries. We’ll get it right.
For those of you who just don’t care about this type of political stuff, why start caring now? After all, you’ve never got involved before and things worked out just fine. This time won’t be any different. Right?
The rest of you probably aren’t too happy as this near trillion-dollar behemoth makes its way up to the White House for a giddy President Obama to sign. Some of you are despairing; some ready to scrap.
The rest of this year might top the insanity of the past decade in which we’ve already seen so many political battles along fiercely divided lines. The conflict over the next few months will challenge our system in ways never before seen. The Supreme Court will be involved. Over 30 states are already protesting, threatening lawsuits. Democrats who voted for the bill might very well get axed in the political bloodbath quite possible in November’s elections.
Some folks seem to be losing their m
inds in these times. I feel bad for those who put all of their faith in their country or government. World-changers like yesterday’s vote tend to dominate people’s focus, but there’s a larger issue here. There are more important things than what conniving politicians are up to. To me, the real issue is about all the folks so desperate for so much from above. When they look up their gaze stops at the elevated perches of politicians who build careers on promises that aren’t theirs to make.
Where do all of these desperate masses come from? Why have we left it to a dysfunctional government to fix all of society’s problems?
I understand that a lot of the “needy” people are slugs, losers even who waste their lives away waiting for the next bailout. They game the system and add to the cost paid by the rest of us. On the other hand, there are truly needy folks all around us who really need the help of their neighbors. In so many cases we stopped taking care of them long ago.
We are the ones who are supposed to pick up the slack. The people hurting all around us should find solace and comfort in their families and communities and churches. All of the honest solutions must start at the simplest, individual level. We each have to stop complaining about what we deserve, whining about how terrible our lives are as we exist at a level of wealth that tops 99% of the rest of the world. We’re out of our minds! Read more »
Python Hunting Season Is Here…Finally
Get ready Florida residents cause it’s that time of the year. That’s right: Python hunting season is here. Florida is a strange place with a long tradition of stranger traditions and rules. Like Forrest Gump once said, “It’s this whole other country.”
For just $26 South Florida residents can obtain a special python hunting permit. That may seem a little pricey when you consider that South Florida residents can already walk into the Everglades and suffer a horrible death enjoy nature for free.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re saying, “Sure fella that’s great for professional snake hunters, but what about those of us inexperienced with man-guzzling pythons?” Good question. Florida officials are one step ahead of you. They are offering workshops on how to identify, stalk, and capture deadly reptiles.
> |
| Some pythons will reconsider their next joy slither |
Seriously.
First off, I can probably help out with that whole “how do I identify a reptile that may end my life?” dilemma. Here are some tips. If it ain’t furry, moves quick, and hisses at you while striking, you’ve probably located something to watch out for. If a creature looks nothing like a puppy yet curls up in your garage, be leary. If you are in the Everglades, don’t trust anything that moves.
As for the whole capture thing, you may want to consult those professionals or just watch Bear Grylls capture and kill a gator in the swamp.
Now for you extra-zealous reptile hunters out there, you might be wondering why so many limitations. “Only Burmese Python season?” you say. Fret not my psychopathic friend. Also in season are fellow pythons of the Indian and African rock persuasion. I imagine the ACLU already has a lawsuit in the works for some type of reptilian discrimination. But wait there’s more! You can also take green anacondas and Nile monitor lizards. Seriously.
Bay 9 News in Florida has a constant stream of python related stories. I know this because my sister is a total Bay 9 junkie. Consider some of these stories. Read more »
Students On Strike
College students across 32 states skipped classes yesterday. Well, that actually happens everyday, but yesterday they had a purpose beyond sleeping in. These motivated matriculators are protesting budget cuts, employee layoffs, and increasing costs which damage the quality of education. I think. It’s also possible they just wanted get out of class. Also their teachers might just be offering them extra credit for making so much noise to administrators.
Students from all walks of life participated in the chaotic movement. See them as you want to see them but student protestors include athletes…and basket cases…and princesses…and maybe even a criminal. Whoever they are, they better not mess with the bull or they’ll get the horns.
One witness reportedly heard the following exchange yesterday.
UPTIGHT TOP BRASS AUTHORITY FIGURE: “What was that ruckus?”
FAST-THINKING ANGST-RIDDEN STUDENT: “Uh, what ruckus?”
UTBAF: “I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus.”
F-TA-RS: “Could you describe the ruckus sir?”
And so it went until the hard-nosed administrator threatened to “crack skulls” if the demonstrators persisted.
***
The walkouts ranged from coast to coast. Students from CUNY to the University of Washington participated in the nationwide “March 4th National Day of Action for Public Education.” Their goal was to shut down campuses for half a day in protest of rising tuition costs and supporting educational workers. Another problem seems to be that tuition is going up as scholarship opportunities go down.
In a USA Today article on the student rally, Maryland junior Jon Berger was quoted as saying:
“We’re seeing more classes taught by adjuncts and grad students who aren’t getting paid (fairly). We’re seeing larger class sizes, and some kids in certain majors … can’t get all the courses they need in four years.” Read more »
Nasty (Bacon) Bits & Pieces
Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez told his people last week they better lose some weight if their glorious revolution is to be successful. ”There are lots of fat people,” said the not-so-svelte tyrant. He explained the solution during a televised speech. “Doing sit-
ups. Eating well. One has to learn how to eat.”
> |
| Will Michael Moore heed the diet call of his buddy Chavez? |
So what does a good revolutionary eat? Soy milk and rice pasta for starters. Such healthy dishes make Chavez feel “ready to continue commanding the Bolívarian revolution”. Unfortunately, most Venezuelans prefer coke, beer, and fried pork.
I’m sure the fact that Chavez is calling his people fat has nothing to do with their love for American-style food products. I’m further confident this speech has nothing to do with coming restrictions on the lives of Venezuelans. Riiiigggghhhht.
In other news this past week, pigs may not be as stupid as we thought. Actually, let’s face it, no one cares about how smart pigs might be except for misguided researchers intent on wasting millions of dollars so we can figure out how smart our food might be before it walks to slaughter. A study on pig cognition has shown that pigs must be quick learners. Wanna know what it is to lead an empty life? Become a scientific researcher that doesn’t benefit society no matter how “successful” they ever become. I wonder if this is a government-funded (our tax money) project.
Speaking of fat pigs, Rosie O’Donnell was back in the news last week. I guess 
pigs aren’t that smart after all. She managed to chortle out a couple swears before dropping an F bomb on Fallon’s audience. By the way, Fallon loses a ton of cred in my book for appearing to be so happy about her. I thought we knew you better Jimmy.
Rosie’s lone positive contribution to society is that she didn’t ruin A League Of Their Own. I still can’t believe she played Betty Rubble, beloved cartoon of my youth. She makes Miss Piggy look like Marilyn Monroe. I never thought twice about Miss Nasty until I happened to catch her ambushing Tom Selleck on her doomed show back in 1999. She’s been an abject failure ever since.
Maybe they can send some of these fools to the moon. According to NASA, there’s plenty of water there for them to drink. You may remember back on October 9th when some hopeful observers stood on their front porch or lawn to see the Lcross Centuar make impact with the moon. Apparently you can’t see a car crash 250,000 miles away. Shocker. Read more »
D.C. Sniper Will Die Tonight
Imagine cruising down to the local car wash one mid-morning to vacuum your car out. Now imagine that’s the last thing you ever did because a bullet that seemed to come ou
t of nowhere took your life. Lori Lewis Rivera was only 25 in October of 2002 when she met that fate. Imagine if she were your child.
Tonight, John Muhammad–the monstrous coward who killed 10 people and injured more from a trunk in 2002–will be executed on purpose. The Supreme Court isn’t letting him off. He’ll be dead by the time the Pittsburgh Penguins finish up with the Boston Bruins. Read more »
20th Anniversary Of The Wall’s Fall: Thanks For Playing Communism
Let’s see if I can slip one past the censors here like Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning Vietnam. The Berlin Wall–the very symbol of the Cold War between capitalism and communism–came down twenty years ago today. You won’t hear too much about this monstrously historic day from media types hell-bent on leading America towards some of the same failed ideas symbolized by that wa
ll. You also won’t hear about it from President Obama who is skipping the international celebration of the event! What?
Well, forgive me if I’d like to celebrate the failure of the Soviet Union and the victory, yes victory, of America and the free world in the Cold War led by President Reagan. Such statements may shock your American sensibilities, so let’s check in on Europe where they are prominently celebrating this historic anniversary, the commemoration of the day freedom won out, when our open system conquered the veiled evil, yes evil, of the Soviet’s communist empire.
The Berlin celebration will balance glitz with sobriety. World leaders such as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Sarkozy, Russian President Medvedev, and more will be there to speak. Yet Obama won’t. As the German news publication Der Spiegel put it, “Barrack is too busy.”
Obama has already made more international trips in his first year than Bush and Clinton combined, yet he doesn’t have time to go to Berlin. Now, thanks to a little something called high school, I know a thing or two about getting blown off. I’ve heard plenty of excuses in the “I have to wash my hair all weekend” mode. So I feel qualified to say that Obama is full of it. Sorry Berlin. Like Molly Ringwald in Pretty In Pink, you can keep putting on all the makeup you want, but sometimes he just isn’t going to show no matter what he says.
This just in from the Not Speaking Of Makeup department: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is attending in Obama’s place. Oh goodie. Read more »
Obama’s Uh-Oh Of The Month
The results are in. For those of you unaware, yesterday was actually an election day. If you missed it, don’t worry. It’s only the staple of our entire republican way of life in which we give all power to elected representatives in a free and fair process that is the hallmark of democracy. Whew. Where was I?
Oh yeah, the Democrats got trounced. Not surprising if you read history books. This trend is common. As a matter of fact, you’ve perhaps heard that in all America’s history, each time a political party takes the White House (i.e. Dems in 2008), that party loses the following midterm elections. The only two exceptions are FDR and George W. Bush. Roosevelt had the country’s attention during the Great Depression while Bush rocked America’s approval following 9/11.
So independents in key states broke for the GOP last night. That simply lines up with our history, a two century string of checks and balances where the winners eventually lose and the losers can usually make a comeback.
You can read any of a thousand articles for details, but here’s the important basics you should know to gather the meaning of these elections.
- Obama ‘s influence takes a hit. He personally campaigned a good deal for his party, most notably Democratic gubernatorial candidates in NJ (Corzine) and Virginia (Deeds). They both lost even with the president’s backing. Read more »
Obama’s House Gives Censorship A Twirl
The White House got a kick in the pants this week from Constitution-wielding media networks. Fitting that at Halloween time our Executive branch would attempt one of the scariest violations of democratic rights I’ve seen in my lifetime. Obama’s had a problem with Fox News for some time now for what he feels is unfair treatment. By unfair, he means they report the news even if it’s critical of him. Love ’em or hate ‘em, if Fox News were making stuff up all the time, they wouldn’t be a part of the White House pool. 
The White House pool is a five network rotation of media outlets that share costs and responsibilities of covering White House happenings. Fox News has been a part of the pool since 1997. On Thursday, the White House tried to exclude Fox News from interviewing Obama’s pay czar Ken Feinberg. The decision to ban a major news network from the president’s administration is stunning, and I don’t mean stunning as in “look at Kate Beckinsale!” I’m talking stunning as in here’s a taser right to the gut of First Amendment rights.
Remember Thomas Jefferson’s take on the importance of the press? If you’ve never read this before, here you go.
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.” — Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787.
Well, here comes the good part of this story. The other members of the D.C. press put aside partisan obsession and decided that Jefferson was right and Obama’s White House is wrong. ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN refused to interview Feinberg if Fox was to be ostracized. The White House caved. How cool is that? Read more »
Obama Get Nobel Peace Prize, Plans War In Middle East
The AP headline this morning read “In A Surprise, Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize.” In related news, other shocking announcements reveal that the sun rose, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers again, and David Letterman isn’t perfect. Quite frankly, I was more surprised this morning at how much Fruity Pebbles we had left.
A white-knuckled, teeth clenched Chelsea Clinton told reporters that “No, really, mom and dad are thrilled for the president. They have in no way turned the living room into an MMA fighting arena.”
Many observers won’t be stunned that Obama was given a Nobel. He has gone to great pains to hook up with the rest of the world, but you’re not gonna have to find Glenn Beck on the radio to hear someone question the merits of this award. Questions are already popping this week about Obama’s relationship with the left-wing media. Wolf Blitzer’s beard almost came off as he condemned Saturday Night Live’s sendup of the president’s year one lack of accomplishments. Early reaction to this morning’s announcement is drawing more criticism.
Newsweek blogger David A. Graham doesn’t share the Prize Committee’s zeal. In an article detailing some other controversial selections, Graham points out that it’s a bit early for such acclaim. After all, didn’t Arizona State University feel Obama shouldn’t even get an honorary degree? Furthermore, the author notes, “Obama is likely to order thousands more troops into a warzone within weeks.”
The president’s support
ers have been picking up criticism lately over Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan and his failure to close Guantanamo or even release prisoners anywhere near the rate of the Bush administration. While Obama draws ire from his base, he ain’t exactly gathering new supporters from the right. One might suggest that Obama could end up a man without a country, but that’s not the case. Tons of countries love him; he just isn’t doing so well in America.
You can expect a parade of skepticism from all over the world similar to that of Lech Walesa, former President of Poland, the baddest Pole I’ve ever met, and 1983 Nobel Peace laureate. “So soon? Too early. [Obama] has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act.”
I can’t seem to find any lines in there to read between.
The AP makes this business sound like dog training. The peace prize committe meant to scold former President Bush while luring the young president with a Nobel bone. “Come on Obama. You’re doing good! Keep it up!” If the criticism ever gets too tough, die-hards can always fall back on the comforting knowledge that Obama only makes mistakes because of what George Bush did to America. Read more »
Summit Madness
We are off and rolling here in Pittsburgh, The City of Champions and unlikely host to the international conference that is your G-20 Summit. Well, get in the fast lane grandma cause the bingo game is ready to roll, and the real story of this event has begun to unfold. We’re talking about the protestors, th
ose crazy cats so popular among the young and rebellious, so annoying to everyone else with jobs.
Some environmentalists got things started today. A few members of Green Peace decided to unfurl a massive sign over the side of the West End Bridge. Four of the Greenies then repelled to the base of the sign to hang out for a while, grab a lot of early attention, and generally warn us all that nature is doomed and we’re the doomers. Hey don’t blame me GP, I sometimes prefer paper over plastic after driving my SUV to a food conglomerate retail center to buy chemically enhanced mea
t.
Something tells me we’re just getting started. Many world leaders are arriving as I type, streets are being shut down, and college campuses and office buildings are being taken over as staging grounds for the heaviest presence of law enforcement this town has ever seen. And wait until Joan Jett and the Black Hearts play an outdoor concert tonight.
Rumor has it that other cities turned down the “opportunity” to host this event. I can’t imagine Obama offered the Summit to anyone before giving Chicago a chance. I guess other major metropolis types didn’t want the headache. This town just doesn’t know any better. Now the eyes of the world are upon us. Pittsburghers are a nutty bunch, but they may have met their match.
We have a beautiful city here, the only one ever named most livable twice. International reporters already in town have commended their hosts and the beauty of the city. That last one may be
a little unexpected, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better entrance into a major American city than the panorama unfolding as you emerge from the Fort Pitt Tunnels.
Speaking of those tunnels, police foiled another protestor plot down there a little while ago. From the looks of things, these folks were gunnin’ to make something happen on that mountain. Maybe they wanted to emerge ala Moses, a righteous leader descending into a land of sinners, a spectacle of lust and greed that is corporate capitalism and modern politics.
Villains of this ilk hide behind their sparkling facades adorned with logos of the damned, names like GAP and APPLE. Don’t believe me? Hop on over to Shadyside, a ritzy little town as “enlightened” as it gets, a cozy spot where you can sip $6 lattes while sporting the latest in eyewear frames. Along the posh streets of Shadyside, business owners are directing contractors in last minute preparations for the aggression that is to come. Apparently there is a list, a target sheet if you will, of those major conglomerates so happy to destroy the earth while defecating on the poor. Read more »
Should Dead People Have Sex?
Those Nutty Germans Are At It Again. Take a peek at this little chestnut fresh off the wire. 
“Anatomists in Germany plan a show dedicated solely to dead bodies having sex as part of the Body World’s exhibitions.”
Listen, I just report this stuff. Politicians in Germany are being critical using words like “revolting” to describe the exhibit of chemically manipulated corpses being posed for, well, you know.
Sounds like a Perry Mason novel. The Case of the Copulating Cadavers.
This Berlin controversy isn’t the first of its kind in recent years. An exhibit called Bodies continues to make the rounds from Asia to America. Outrage erupts wherever the exhibit goes. Protests focus on the macabre nature of dead humans as well as reports that the corpses were illegally obtained from Chinese prisons.
Angelina Whalley, director of the Body Worlds exhibit and certifiable sicko to 88.73% of most everybody, claims to be attempting to counter the media’s portrayal of sex as something indecent. What media is she watching? Yeah, that’s a real problem, how the media and culture are so down on sex and indecency. Read more »
Welcome To Here
In The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo he can take the blue pill and go on believing whatever he wants to believe. Or he can take the red pill to stay in Wonderland and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
This is a red pill type site with a weekly column (and some extras in between) that provides information in an entertaining way. It’s about clear thinking and good writing. It’s about truth.
I’m a writer/speaker who teaches history and political science at a local college by day. Where is local, you say? Well, that would be Wonderland of course.
From pop culture to pop politics, this is my column.
- __________________
-
EduClaytion RSS
