January 15, 2009
Greets and Huggers. Posted the evening of January 15, 2010. I celebrate my 62nd birthday, today. Dr. Martin Luther King and I have only two things in common. We were both born the same day, he, January 15, 1929 and me, January 15, 1948 … and we both had a dream. His, much more worthy than mine. He, to liberate us all from the cancer of racism. Make our America live up to the promises contained in our Constitution … become the promised land. As for me? Just become like an “Atticus Finch“: a small town lawyer, representing real people, with real problems. That’s what I am, and that’s what I do. I suppose in our own way, we have both realized our dreams. He championed the cause against “racism”, equality, color blindness … and succeeded. We have an African American President. Racism still exists, of course, but legally, our America has, indeed, become the promised land. Yet, as a society, we are not yet “color blind”, when “race” remains a selection factor, in the name of “diversity”. Bigots remain bigots … both black and white. I kind of wonder though … whether … there aren’t more Black bigots playing the race card, than White bigots? Share with me? How does a white bigot play the race card? Certainly not on “Prime Time”. Seems to me, Black Bigots own that venue. White bigots snipe in the background … spewing venom when and where they can. There will always be bigots, (both Black and White), but they will only have something to hang their hats on until we as a society become completely “color blind”. Until we focus on the real discrimination issue: economic disparity. Although “race” may be one to the factors of “diversity” … socioeconomic standing and cultural background, in my mind, remain the most important factors. A fact Dr. King realized: “In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the “Poor People’s Campaign” to address issues of economic justice. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C. demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. King traveled the country to assemble “a multiracial army of the poor” that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created a bill of rights for poor Americans.” He was assassinated April 4, 1968.
And in the “some lawyer will no doubt come up with a new cause of action and sue” category: (CNN) – Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ blues. “James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.” A new “wrongful death” action, perhaps? I guess this means they will have to put a disclaimer at the beginning of the Movie: “WARNING: The scenes and scenery in this movie will bum you out if you lack the ability to see the beauty in your life, assuming you have one, which we doubt, since you just spent a bunch of money to escape it.” Give me a break. Is this the fallout from a 3D experience? It’s so real, you become lost in it? Easy enough to cure – join a new virtual reality game site, like “EverQuest” or
“Second Life“. Course, if you lack the social skills to have a life in this reality, can you really do any better in a virtual reality? I doubt it.
BBC NEWS – China faces growing gender imbalance. “More than 24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without spouses by 2020, says the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The gender imbalance among newborns is the most serious demographic problem for the country’s population of 1.3 billion, says the academy … The academy says gender selection abortions are “extremely common” … The latest figures show that for every 100 girls born in China, 119 boys are born, the academy says in a new book.” Now that’s a comforting thought: 24 million horny Chinese men in their late teens and early 20’s driven by a biological/hormonal need for female companionship? Absent a war to kill off excess males, I’m sure “polyandry” may become the norm for future Chinese families … really makes sense, if you think about it. If the primary evolutionary goal, survival of the species, rests in providing for offspring, what would be better than having 2 - 3 males providing the resources, (food, shelter, Nintendo, etc.). Frankly, after doing the research, I don’t understand why there are so many Chinese. According to the Durex Survey (2003): “The countries with the lowest frequency of sex are Japan (37 times per), Malaysia (62) and China (69).” If you do the math, that is an amorous evening about once a week. So if a woman was encouraged to marry 3 men, each would have the ability to enjoy a couple of evenings per week with “his” wife, sit around, eat some Chinese and watch propaganda TV … and she would still have one quiet evening per week to be by herself, while the 3 “husbands” watch the children … and each of the 3 “husbands” would have at least 3 evenings per week to hang out with their “buds”. Share with me … what women or man wouldn’t enjoy such a lifestyle? The more I think about it, the more elegant a solution it appears to be.
BBC NEWS – Having a big bum, hips and thighs ‘is healthy’. “Carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems, UK experts have said. Hip fat mops up harmful fatty acids and contains a natural anti-inflammatory agent that stops arteries clogging, a Nature publication has reported. Big behinds are preferable to extra fat around the waistline, which gives no such protection, the authors said.” That certainly explains why Americans are living longer! Take a look around. How many people can you see that don’t have fat *sses? Sheesh! And here we thought having an enlarged derriere and fat thighs was a bad thing. No doubt a conspiracy by the clothing industry and fashion magazines, pushing the “thin is healthy” agenda. Obviously, it takes less cloth to cover a thin butt: resulting in a larger profit margin!! Also explains why corpulent women were considered the most beautiful and desirable in the middle ages. I guess unclogged arteries have their charm.
Horrible tragedy in Haiti this week. A 7 point earthquake devastated the country. Projected death toll? Well over 180,000. According to the CIA Factbook, Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island in the Caribbean. Haiti’s population? 9,035,536. Ethnic Breakdown? 95% Black, 5% Mulatto and White. Religion? Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% … and roughly half of the population practices voodoo). GNP? $11.53 billion (2008 est.) Dominican Republic’s population? 9,650,054, (July 2009 estimate). Ethnic breakdown? 11% Black, 73% Mulatto, 16% White. Religion? Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%. GNP? $78.19 billion (2008 est.) Haiti was devastated, the Dominican Republic was not. Why? Interesting article gives a good explanation: Guardian.Co.UK – A divided island: the forces working against Haiti. “Why did the political, economic and ecological histories of the Dominican Republic and Haiti two countries that share the same island � unfold so differently?” Part of the answer? Haiti was a French Colony while the Dominican Republic was a Spanish Colony. The French relied on slave labor while the Spanish did not. “A second social and political factor is that the Dominican Republic with its Spanish-speaking population of predominantly European ancestry was both more receptive and more attractive to European immigrants and investors than was Haiti with its Creole-speaking population composed overwhelmingly of black former slaves.” Read that to mean an industry based culture instead of an agrarian based culture.
Sitting here finishing off these Ramblings, the Editorial Staff scampering around, playing. “Smarticus” and “Farticus”, asleep on their pillow. I’m watching the evening news video feeds out of Haiti. As densely populated as Port-au-Prince is, the death toll will ultimately be much, much higher than the 180,000 projected. Not from the earthquake per se, but from the lack of food, water and medical attention. Societal unrest will be difficult to deal with when you have no food and water distribution infrastructure and providing security for aid workers will be near to impossible. Protecting Haiti’s 9 million civilians from each other will also be impossible. Thugs will rule the streets. For my birthday, Susan bought me a set of TV Ears. Her ears are a lot younger than mine and also have not been subjected to gunfire, so she has no hearing loss. Read that to mean she can actually watch and hear the TV, at a volume level that requires me to read lips!! Kind of an interesting device. A two piece unit: a base that recharges the batteries in the headset and plugs into the audio out of the TV, which also relays the audio, wirelessly, to a headset you wear. It works really, really well. You can control the Bass and Treble settings and the overall volume level. I would recommend it. Time to post these Ramblings, and to all of you who Emailed birthday wishes to me: Thank You. My Dear Friend Bryan S, Dawn and their daughter will be coming to Ft Timmerman Sunday for a photo shoot. I love shooting portraits, so should be a really good time. I will spend the rest of this evening working on some images, then hit the sack … and as I drift off to sleep, pray for the folks in Haiti, (they truly need it), a pray of thanks for my greatest blessing, having Susan to share my birthday with … and a prayer for the relief workers in Haiti and our men and women in uniform: I pray they all come home safe and soon, (care to join me?) Be and sleep well, take a look around at what you have in this life and be thankful. Many have nothing, not even the basic necessities, nor their health. You are safe, warm and have eatin today. If my post offends, I apologize, that is not my intent. As always …
A Warm Brotherly Hug
KarlT (the dumb 62 year old, country lawyer from Holden, Missouri … and the Editorial Staff, Karly, Willie, Dinker, my ‘Lil Buddy … and Floyd, the copy boy, (Smarticus and Farticus are crashed … so they didn’t contribute anything to these Ramblings … other than being adorable!!)