Finally: A Liar to Admire April 2, 2008March 10, 2017 SO THAT YOU CAN BE CONTINUOUSLY ON EDGE There is now this site with a constantly updated map of global terror incidents, amber alerts, calamities, and false alarms. “CANADA: Activist and Coast Guard Ship Collide.” “AUSTRALIA: Possible Nail Bomb Explosion.” “SURINAME: Guyanese sea pirates detained by Suriname police.” And so on. (Outbreaks/Bird Flu Map: “coming soon.”) IOWA Chris McMahon: “Have you read this week’s Time? The cover article is about ‘green’ fuels and how they are destroying the planet. [‘Ethanol increases global warming, destroys forests and inflates food prices. So why are we subsidizing it?’] Their argument is that we are pushing for more ethanol use and that requires corn. This drives the price of corn up, so all the Midwest fields that used to grow soybeans are now switching to corn. This in turn causes a defecit of soybeans, driving the price of soybeans up. Brazil can grow soy, so they are burning down huge swathes of rainforest to turn it into farm fields. This rainforest contains enormous amounts of carbon and burning it releases that carbon into the atmosphere. Brazil is currently the 4th largest emitter of carbon in the world due to this. Amazing cause and affect!” ☞ And it’s all because Iowa gets to go first in the primaries. We need to change that. (Sorry, Iowa.) MORE PROFESSORS SHOULD LIE This is ingenious. As some of you are professors, it might come in handy. And as some of you know professors, you might want to pass it on. (Thanks, James.) GAY HEROES Erich Riesenberg: “Joel writes: ‘We don’t often hear about gay heroes . . . too often stories in which our humanity is front and center are lost in the chorus of the Christian Right. We deserve these stories to be told.’ This story of soldier Alan Rogers [17 years in the Army], who died in Iraq, states he was treasurer of ‘the D.C. chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays.’ His master’s thesis was on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Yet, the hard-hitting mainstream media can’t figure out if he would want his services as a gay man acknowledged, so it is left out of news stories. One fewer gay American role model. In my opinion, since he spent a good amount of time working to make it possible for gay people to serve with pride, it dishonors him to have this aspect of him ignored.”
April 1 April 1, 2008March 10, 2017 Today should be a national holiday – we have been nothing if not Fools, these last few decades, burning our wealth into thin air so as not to have to drive more fuel efficient vehicles. The impact on our economy and prosperity – and national security – has been colossal. The national palm should strike the national forehead with force enough to jar Mt. Rushmore. But I’m running way too far behind to be ruining with my distemper* your April Fool’s Day. April 1? Already? I’m only barely ready to acknowledge the first official day of Spring. To wit: Kathi Derevan: ‘Click anywhere, or click and drag around. You may want to take your allergy medication first.’ ☞ Bah, humbug. JOHN BOGLE And if you think I’m a little grumpy today, here’s my hero John Bogle’s take on the markets. (‘Wall Street subtracts value from our society. There can be no question about that.’) Every dollar Wall Street makes is, pretty much, a dollar its customers don’t. Keep your transaction costs low. Because you know what they say: A fool and his money are soon parted. And finally, veering from fuel, flora, and finance to the deeply sad . . . LAST THURSDAY Joel Kelly: ‘On Thursday afternoon in Columbus, Georgia, as reported here, a man entered Doctor’s Hospital, shot and killed two hospital workers and then another man in the parking lot on his way out before he was apprehended. My boyfriend Kevin Perry works at the hospital on the floor where the shootings took place and was at work when this happened. I knew both of the nurses that were killed. They were two of Kevin’s closest friends. A couple of things which I feel are important to say…one of which is that the second person who was shot and killed was gay. Not that this particular fact is noteworthy in and of itself…but I would like to say that Les Harris was shot in the face while he was trying to wrest the gun out of the hands of the shooter. The man was trying to kill a young woman and Les gave his life in order to save her. We don’t often hear about gay heroes . . . too often stories in which our humanity is front and center are lost in the chorus of the Christian Right. We deserve these stories to be told. The second part of this and the reason that I am sending this to you is to let you know that his partner, Keith Cavendar, another nurse at the same hospital, was unable to secure his partner’s personal belongings, was kept from seeing him before and immediately following his death, and of course will receive none of the benefits due our heterosexual counterparts. Common human decency is not a privilege accorded us under current law. Please let the powers that be in the Party know that we desperately need to win back the White House and let everyone know that we have heroes among us.’ ☞ We have, indeed. The first man to lose a limb for his country in Iraq was Marine Staff Sgt. Eric Alva. One of those who kept hijacked Flight 93 from destroying the U.S. Capitol (or was it the White House?) was Mark Bingham. And for each who becomes famous, there are the thousands of gay and lesbian soldiers and cops who have the courage to serve their country and communities; and the Les Harrises who just instinctively rise to the occasion. _________________________ *Distemper. Yep: I’m still listening to the biography of Alexander Hamilton, even as I watch HBO’s seven-part John Adams, and – thus historically enrapt – find myself, through sedulous immersion, ever more obedient to the felicitous circumlocutions of the day.