Christmas can be the most deliriously joyful time, as well as the saddest, for it accentuates the void of loved ones no longer with us. I have found Christmas bliss, or rather it has found me, through faith and the flexibility to appreciate the miracles of Christmas present, while treasuring the magic of Christmases past.
Oh, how I relish my early yuletide memories.
They began in my native Whitesburg -- a mystical land, equal parts Mayberry, Sherwood Forest and Oz -- nestled in Eastern Kentucky's majestic mountains, so green in the summer, in winter a wonderland of white.Our house was on Hays Street, at the foot of a mountain, just one street over from Main, which was now decked out in all the nostalgic charm of a Norman Rockwell Christmas portrait, complete with old Coca-Cola script "Season's Greetings" signs and plastic Santa sentries in front of all the stores.
We gathered 'round the piano and sang as my wonderful mother, Genevieve, played. "Frosty the snowman was a jol-ly hap-py soul, with a corncob pipe and a but-ton nose and two eyes made out of coal." We laughed with glee, little brother Willie, sister Mimi, Mom and me. And while it didn't make too much sense, I tried to envision a "one-horse soapen sleigh." (It was years before I learned that it was "one-horse open sleigh.")
Come Christmas Eve, we kids had visions of toys and trains and goodies galore. We'd get up and tiptoe down to the basement to see if Santa came. Dark, no Santa. A little later, we'd sneak down again. Dark, no Santa. Finally we willed ourselves to sleep, but woke early and in unison darted down the stairs to, glory be, a fully lit tree with colorful gifts for our whole family.
There was never a tree as true or pure as that fresh-cut spruce. Today try as it might, even a billion-dollar industry can't package the power of yesterday's pine.We lost little Willie the next year, and all I can recall are the tears that eventually gave way to a serene sort of peace on Mom's beautiful, but forlorn, face.
Dad moved us to Lexington, and despite the pain Christmas managed to find us where we were. Each year had a new tradition, like the day Mom brought home the new Andy Williams Christmas album, undoubtedly the greatest of all time. Thanks, Mom, I love you and miss you so.
With both parents and two brothers now at rest, our traditions must of necessity change. Yet still does Christmas find us where we are, comforting us, giving us meaning and purpose in this life, and the hope of a heavenly reunion in the next.
And like the tree from my first memory, that stays ever green through autumn and spring, does this truth from Christmas fill our being: Peace on Earth, Good Will to All.
Richard F. Dawahare 12.22.07
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving is a perfect prelude to the season of light. It humbles us, and it reminds us of our interconnectedness, without which we would be utterly helpless in our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.
Most of us feel an immense sense of gratitude to, well, depending on one's lineage, to God or Allah ("of the book" Abrahamic religion adherents), Providence (deists -like most of our founding fathers) or the Great Spirit (Native Americans, the first inhabitants), for the good fortune bestowed upon this great land.
Beyond this collective feeling of gratitude, Thanksgiving arouses appreciation for our many individual blessings. Health, wealth, family, friends and freedom come quickly to mind. Others are subtler, like the "approved" credit message at the checkout terminal, or a stranger's smile.I am also reminded of how lucky I am for the happenstance of my birth -- of the good parents I did not choose, but had; of the charmed spot on earth that I likewise did not choose, but was born into.
Others have not been nearly so lucky.Imagine, for instance, the Wampanoag Indians at Plymouth in 1620. Were it not for their help, the newly arrived Pilgrams might not have survived. That fall, they celebrated for three days in what we now call the First Thanksgiving, with the Wampanoag, led by Squanto, Samoset and Massasoit, providing most of the food. Over the next few years, more and more English came, and as their numbers grew they did not need the Indians' help anymore.
The Puritans sought to impose their beliefs on the Native Americans, conflicts ensued and 50 years later the sons of those who once supped together were now fighting each other. The Wampanoags were all but wiped out. In 1970, at a ceremony marking the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrams' arrival, one of the remaining Wampanoag ancestors spoke:
"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of looking back to the first days of white people in America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my people. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the white people. Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important."
His story -- ooh "history" (so when will we have herstory?) -- reminds me of one more thing for which to be thankful: the indomitable human spirit that from error seeks truth, and from trial finds treasure.
Richard F. Dawahare 11/23/07
Most of us feel an immense sense of gratitude to, well, depending on one's lineage, to God or Allah ("of the book" Abrahamic religion adherents), Providence (deists -like most of our founding fathers) or the Great Spirit (Native Americans, the first inhabitants), for the good fortune bestowed upon this great land.
Beyond this collective feeling of gratitude, Thanksgiving arouses appreciation for our many individual blessings. Health, wealth, family, friends and freedom come quickly to mind. Others are subtler, like the "approved" credit message at the checkout terminal, or a stranger's smile.I am also reminded of how lucky I am for the happenstance of my birth -- of the good parents I did not choose, but had; of the charmed spot on earth that I likewise did not choose, but was born into.
Others have not been nearly so lucky.Imagine, for instance, the Wampanoag Indians at Plymouth in 1620. Were it not for their help, the newly arrived Pilgrams might not have survived. That fall, they celebrated for three days in what we now call the First Thanksgiving, with the Wampanoag, led by Squanto, Samoset and Massasoit, providing most of the food. Over the next few years, more and more English came, and as their numbers grew they did not need the Indians' help anymore.
The Puritans sought to impose their beliefs on the Native Americans, conflicts ensued and 50 years later the sons of those who once supped together were now fighting each other. The Wampanoags were all but wiped out. In 1970, at a ceremony marking the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrams' arrival, one of the remaining Wampanoag ancestors spoke:
"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of looking back to the first days of white people in America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my people. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the white people. Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important."
His story -- ooh "history" (so when will we have herstory?) -- reminds me of one more thing for which to be thankful: the indomitable human spirit that from error seeks truth, and from trial finds treasure.
Richard F. Dawahare 11/23/07
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Radio Waves Goodbye to Fairness
Just today, a promo for WVLK-am (the Hannity station) had just a 10 second blurb from yet another biased talking head, railing against the US House resolution officially recognizing the Turkish genocide of the Armenians--up to TWO MILLIONS OF THEM--way back in 1915-1917. This guy had the audacity, the sheer unmitigated WARPED sense of values to call the House members so voting disgraceful (or despicable, I can't quite recall).
Imagine that--just a promo for the station, a promo that promises more of the same. The Congressional leaders FINALLY standing up to tell the truth of the long, long overdue and THEY are the ones who are "disgraceful" for doing so.
OUR MEDIA (airwave) IS A MESS! You who are in the media--public media, newsprint, commercial airwaves--how can you not be addressing the following scenario: Sean Hannity, Rush, et al who non-stop, every day, every hour LIE and propagandize for the Republican Party and demonize everybody else. You know it if you've listened for just a few minutes. NO attempt at objectivity, ever. And no requirement for equal time for the opposing political viewpoint--as there was for over 40 years until the death of the Fairness Doctrine.
Since the Republican controlled FCC, under the Reagan Administration, voted 4-0 to trash the Fairness Doctrine, opposing views and opinions have absolutely been squeezed out of the airwaves, particularly radio. Ironically, the Conservative-ran FCC justified ending the Fairness Doctrine by saying, "the intrusion by government into the content of programming occasioned by the enforcement of [the Fairness Doctrine] restricts the journalistic freedom of broadcasters ... [and] actually inhibits the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and the degradation of the editorial prerogative of broadcast journalists."
NOTHING IS FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! As soon as the stations were unshackled by the Fairness Doctrine the rise of Rush, of Savage, of O'Reilly and Hannity began. LOOK WHO OWNS THE MEDIA!
It may be fun to "Whack-a-Murdoch" http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=whackamurdoch but the destruction of our Democracy is absolutely terrifying.
Respectfully, Rfd
Imagine that--just a promo for the station, a promo that promises more of the same. The Congressional leaders FINALLY standing up to tell the truth of the long, long overdue and THEY are the ones who are "disgraceful" for doing so.
OUR MEDIA (airwave) IS A MESS! You who are in the media--public media, newsprint, commercial airwaves--how can you not be addressing the following scenario: Sean Hannity, Rush, et al who non-stop, every day, every hour LIE and propagandize for the Republican Party and demonize everybody else. You know it if you've listened for just a few minutes. NO attempt at objectivity, ever. And no requirement for equal time for the opposing political viewpoint--as there was for over 40 years until the death of the Fairness Doctrine.
Since the Republican controlled FCC, under the Reagan Administration, voted 4-0 to trash the Fairness Doctrine, opposing views and opinions have absolutely been squeezed out of the airwaves, particularly radio. Ironically, the Conservative-ran FCC justified ending the Fairness Doctrine by saying, "the intrusion by government into the content of programming occasioned by the enforcement of [the Fairness Doctrine] restricts the journalistic freedom of broadcasters ... [and] actually inhibits the presentation of controversial issues of public importance to the detriment of the public and the degradation of the editorial prerogative of broadcast journalists."
NOTHING IS FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! As soon as the stations were unshackled by the Fairness Doctrine the rise of Rush, of Savage, of O'Reilly and Hannity began. LOOK WHO OWNS THE MEDIA!
It may be fun to "Whack-a-Murdoch" http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=whackamurdoch but the destruction of our Democracy is absolutely terrifying.
Respectfully, Rfd
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Uncompassionate Unconservative
The flaw in President Bush's whole premise for warring in Iraq is now, once again, made obvious. To repeat, his whole rationale for destroying Iraq and its peoples (his STATED rationale), was "to fight the terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them here at home."
The concept was to control Iraq, install democracy and so remove the roots of terrorism. Since the war was to make us safer at home the presumption is that our welfare is all important, that our health, our life, our liberty, our "pursuit of happiness" is so essential that it trumps the welfare of innocents in the lands we destroy in order to preserve that essence. Just last week, in fact, did Bush repeat this justification for the war.
Now, just today, news reports tell of an impending Bush veto of a bi-partisan plan to increase health care insurance for children, adding $35 billion over 5 years to the Child Health Insurance Program so as to cover more of the nation's 8 million uninsured children.
So half a trillion dollars to kill nearly a million Iraqis, displace 4 million more for the illusory fairy tale that it will make us safer is acceptable, but a relatively paltry 35 billion dollars to insure more, not all, just more, of our children is unacceptable.
Further, the war was to preserve our welfare, including that of the uninsured children. But without this eminently affordable health insurance, their welfare--allegedly preserved by a huge expenditure on violence--is endangered by a failure to make a relatively small expenditure on compassion.
No, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with making us safer, as indeed no such act of illegal immorality can ever do. President Bush has always known this.
Worse, it is obvious that his disregard for innocent lives half a world away is matched only by that for those here at home.
The concept was to control Iraq, install democracy and so remove the roots of terrorism. Since the war was to make us safer at home the presumption is that our welfare is all important, that our health, our life, our liberty, our "pursuit of happiness" is so essential that it trumps the welfare of innocents in the lands we destroy in order to preserve that essence. Just last week, in fact, did Bush repeat this justification for the war.
Now, just today, news reports tell of an impending Bush veto of a bi-partisan plan to increase health care insurance for children, adding $35 billion over 5 years to the Child Health Insurance Program so as to cover more of the nation's 8 million uninsured children.
So half a trillion dollars to kill nearly a million Iraqis, displace 4 million more for the illusory fairy tale that it will make us safer is acceptable, but a relatively paltry 35 billion dollars to insure more, not all, just more, of our children is unacceptable.
Further, the war was to preserve our welfare, including that of the uninsured children. But without this eminently affordable health insurance, their welfare--allegedly preserved by a huge expenditure on violence--is endangered by a failure to make a relatively small expenditure on compassion.
No, the war in Iraq has nothing to do with making us safer, as indeed no such act of illegal immorality can ever do. President Bush has always known this.
Worse, it is obvious that his disregard for innocent lives half a world away is matched only by that for those here at home.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
On Junior, John and Jesus
One thing about big families is that there are inevitably, if you stay alive long enough, lots of funerals. Thursday my cousin and I went to Hazard in the hallowed grounds of eastern Kentucky near Jenkins, where my paternal grandparents began their new Kentucky home 100 years ago.
The occasion was the funeral for John Dishner, a prince of a guy, father of young Blake, and husband to Melissa, daughter of our first cousin, Sondra, who is the daughter of my dad’s sister, Mary and her husband, the late Ed Dawhare. John died at age 36 of cancer, which he contracted a year ago. He had lived in Lexington, but as this magical mountain land has done for many of its own it did for John and his family, drawing them back to the wellspring of their youth.
So it was in this small town setting that it seemed the whole community came. All ages, all walks of life, gathered in this spirit-filled setting atop, ironically, a reclaimed coal mine, a by-product of mountaintop removal*.
From Lexington we take I-64 just past Winchester, then that famous veer right onto the Mountain Parkway, the path I’ve traveled hundreds of times since the 60’s on what I always considered the road to Kentucky’s Oz, the wonderland of Whitesburg, where I was raised. (Happy Chandler, who I loved, called it “the road to nowhere.” His assessment actually heartened me as an emerging young adult for it showed me that even great men make major misjudgments).
About halfway down the Parkway is an exit to Natural Bridge, deep in the Daniel Boone forest and one of the nation’s top sights. It is also where the Junior T. Williamson rest stop sits which is not only why we exited, but the inspiration for this writing.
My cousin, Joe, told me the story about Mr. Williamson. Turns out he was from Pikeville, where Joe grew up (his father, the late Warren Harding Dawahare, ran our store there after WWII until his death in 1966). Junior had a game leg and was a very simple, yet giving man. He worked at Pikeville High with the sports teams pretty much as an equipment manager. He washed jock straps and cleaned football cleats. He served.
Later, he went to Frankfort where he tended the legislators. He’d shine shoes and generally took care of them. He served.
In fact Joe said he did about all he was capable of doing—serving, serving literally hand and foot to others his whole life, with a smile, and with joy. His whole life he humbly served those who got the glory. But as Joe said, HE'S the one with the monument.
Then Joe added, “It's like Jesus said, “those last on earth will be first in heaven.”
*Ask the good people of Hazard about this controversy and they will earnestly show you the other side, the incredibly valuable flat land that enables so much new commercial and residential opportunities, such as this burial ground, hospitals, schools, restaurants and homes. There most certainly are two sides to the strip mining issue and we must honestly consider them all in order to fashion optimal policy.
The occasion was the funeral for John Dishner, a prince of a guy, father of young Blake, and husband to Melissa, daughter of our first cousin, Sondra, who is the daughter of my dad’s sister, Mary and her husband, the late Ed Dawhare. John died at age 36 of cancer, which he contracted a year ago. He had lived in Lexington, but as this magical mountain land has done for many of its own it did for John and his family, drawing them back to the wellspring of their youth.
So it was in this small town setting that it seemed the whole community came. All ages, all walks of life, gathered in this spirit-filled setting atop, ironically, a reclaimed coal mine, a by-product of mountaintop removal*.
From Lexington we take I-64 just past Winchester, then that famous veer right onto the Mountain Parkway, the path I’ve traveled hundreds of times since the 60’s on what I always considered the road to Kentucky’s Oz, the wonderland of Whitesburg, where I was raised. (Happy Chandler, who I loved, called it “the road to nowhere.” His assessment actually heartened me as an emerging young adult for it showed me that even great men make major misjudgments).
About halfway down the Parkway is an exit to Natural Bridge, deep in the Daniel Boone forest and one of the nation’s top sights. It is also where the Junior T. Williamson rest stop sits which is not only why we exited, but the inspiration for this writing.
My cousin, Joe, told me the story about Mr. Williamson. Turns out he was from Pikeville, where Joe grew up (his father, the late Warren Harding Dawahare, ran our store there after WWII until his death in 1966). Junior had a game leg and was a very simple, yet giving man. He worked at Pikeville High with the sports teams pretty much as an equipment manager. He washed jock straps and cleaned football cleats. He served.
Later, he went to Frankfort where he tended the legislators. He’d shine shoes and generally took care of them. He served.
In fact Joe said he did about all he was capable of doing—serving, serving literally hand and foot to others his whole life, with a smile, and with joy. His whole life he humbly served those who got the glory. But as Joe said, HE'S the one with the monument.
Then Joe added, “It's like Jesus said, “those last on earth will be first in heaven.”
*Ask the good people of Hazard about this controversy and they will earnestly show you the other side, the incredibly valuable flat land that enables so much new commercial and residential opportunities, such as this burial ground, hospitals, schools, restaurants and homes. There most certainly are two sides to the strip mining issue and we must honestly consider them all in order to fashion optimal policy.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Summer Smorgasbord
Just a few weeks ago the fields and skies were brimming with excitement! Bugs of all colors, shapes and sounds were zipping, darting, circling and meandering everywhere you walked. Some were after AMORE, some were just looking for their next meal, often the smaller, slower more defenseless bug.
Often would the bugs bounce into my chest and flutter away. I can imagine what the intensity of such once-in-a-lifetime lust concentrated in a few short days can do to one's radar, can't you?
And since there were SO MANY BUGS, you could see the birds all aflutter with such a feast at their disposal. One little robin was chasing a butterfly, who frantically sought escape, fluttering up, then left, straight down and curlyque back around, much like a fighter pilot taking evasive action.
Now it's August and it seems the 100 degree heat has slowed all such movements. Only the crickets and occassional cicada can be heard at night, a ritual repeated this time of year as long as I can remember.
Next comes the color, the chill and the Christmas thrill;
as a new feast lies deep within the winter field.
Often would the bugs bounce into my chest and flutter away. I can imagine what the intensity of such once-in-a-lifetime lust concentrated in a few short days can do to one's radar, can't you?
And since there were SO MANY BUGS, you could see the birds all aflutter with such a feast at their disposal. One little robin was chasing a butterfly, who frantically sought escape, fluttering up, then left, straight down and curlyque back around, much like a fighter pilot taking evasive action.
Now it's August and it seems the 100 degree heat has slowed all such movements. Only the crickets and occassional cicada can be heard at night, a ritual repeated this time of year as long as I can remember.
Next comes the color, the chill and the Christmas thrill;
as a new feast lies deep within the winter field.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
A Stitch in Time
The big city lawyer flew into town, the big case 9:00 am the next morning. Unfortunately his flight from New York had a tight connection and he arrived very late without his bags. The problem was obvious: big court case and NO SUIT, SHIRT, TIE OR SHOES (he travels in jeans and loafers).
"Not to worry,” says the local attorney who partnered with him on the case, “My good friend has a clothing store and I’ll call to see if he can open early for you.” “Sure,” the friend said, “Just come over and I’ll have our tailor work with him.”
The tailor worked magic, whipping out a stellar suit, shirt and tie, and tailoring it to perfection within the hour. So good in fact, the other lawyers in court complimented him on his attire, something that just doesn’t happen in the halls of justice.
The lawyer won his big case, the partner called his friend to tell him the great news and thank him. The clothier thanked the tailor, hugged him, shook his hand and told him his role in this true team victory.
But here’s the remarkable thing: this all happened on the day an article appeared in the paper about “the clash of civilizations” warning about the big Islam conspiracy to rule the world and exhorting Western Christianity to violently confront this so called scourge.
Well, on this day in this town where three strangers came together for a common good the lawyer was Jewish, the clothier was Christian, the tailor was Muslim. Of course, none gave each other’s religiosity any thought whatsoever, and I suspect this is the way of the world at large.
Are there fundamentalists of every religion who are so fearful that they seek to bind their insecurity with violence? Sure, but make no mistake. There is no “clash of civilizations” other than the self-fulfilling prophecy manic non-Muslims make of it, displaying a sense of fear and foreboding that need not exist.
99.9% of this world wants what you want—peace, happiness…and sometimes a great suit that fits.
"Not to worry,” says the local attorney who partnered with him on the case, “My good friend has a clothing store and I’ll call to see if he can open early for you.” “Sure,” the friend said, “Just come over and I’ll have our tailor work with him.”
The tailor worked magic, whipping out a stellar suit, shirt and tie, and tailoring it to perfection within the hour. So good in fact, the other lawyers in court complimented him on his attire, something that just doesn’t happen in the halls of justice.
The lawyer won his big case, the partner called his friend to tell him the great news and thank him. The clothier thanked the tailor, hugged him, shook his hand and told him his role in this true team victory.
But here’s the remarkable thing: this all happened on the day an article appeared in the paper about “the clash of civilizations” warning about the big Islam conspiracy to rule the world and exhorting Western Christianity to violently confront this so called scourge.
Well, on this day in this town where three strangers came together for a common good the lawyer was Jewish, the clothier was Christian, the tailor was Muslim. Of course, none gave each other’s religiosity any thought whatsoever, and I suspect this is the way of the world at large.
Are there fundamentalists of every religion who are so fearful that they seek to bind their insecurity with violence? Sure, but make no mistake. There is no “clash of civilizations” other than the self-fulfilling prophecy manic non-Muslims make of it, displaying a sense of fear and foreboding that need not exist.
99.9% of this world wants what you want—peace, happiness…and sometimes a great suit that fits.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Special Session an Outrage
This special session is an outrage. There is absolutely no emergency requiring the legislature to convene. The Peabody coal to liquid gas discussion can and should wait just a few months later, after the election and after much more research into both the viability of such an enterprise and the all important federal role. There remains serious doubt that the plant would be economically feasible as well as environmentally sound.
Most telling is this: Peabody spokeswoman, Beth Sutton, said Kentucky was the only state being considered for this project, according to the Evansville, Ind., Courier & Press (http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/jun/29/peabody-looks-into-plant-site-in-sturgis/). They can maneuver all they want, but there is absolutely no way this is a situation demanding a special session. Every dollar wasted in this enterprise should translate to lost votes to Governor Fletcher for this blatant political ploy.
Most importantly, any decision to give away tax incentives, especially the all-important coal severance tax that is so crucial to the welfare of rural Kentuckians (all Kentuckians really), must be done only after a deliberate and through analysis. Applying high-pressure tactics (falsely based at that) is the polar opposite of the prudent approach required.
On the contrary, Kentucky should not give away any coal-severance tax, none.
Our leaders have for too long had us running scared. Kentucky has all the power and the leverage. It is our coal and our land. When we fully awake to our real strength we will begin to wield it for our maximum benefit.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Revisiting Governor’s Ethics Lapse Within the Four Way Test
Today in Rotary I was confronted once again by the Four Way test, the one dad always preached as the guide to follow about anything I thought, said or did. The test:
1) Is it the TRUTH; 2) Is it FAIR to all concerned; 3) Will it build GOODWILL and better friendships; 4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
I often wonder if Jesus himself was able to follow this test. I know I often fail, especially when making critical observations as I did about Governor Fletcher’s appointment of Ronald Green to the Executive Ethics Commission. I was truthful and it was fair, but did I build goodwill and better friendships and was it beneficial to all concerned?
After struggling with trying to figure out how to advance the cause of truth and justice yet still remain true to the Four Way test, I may have come up with something. Instead of attacking and lamenting the parties’ ethical shortcomings I will simply illuminate the failure, the inherent conflict of interest, the rationale behind the rule about avoiding the mere appearance of impropriety and then end with this:
Please Governor Fletcher, reconsider your appointment, and select another candidate who is thoroughly clean of any potential conflict. To Mr. Green, please refuse this appointment, noting that accepting it would give the appearance of impropriety based on your long financial and judicial support of the one appointing you.
By offering this advice, this truth, I will have helped them do better, be better and be better regarded in the public eye. I will have also furthered a result that is truly beneficial to all concerned and in the process built goodwill and better friendships.
Richard F. Dawahare 7/19/07
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
No Honor, No Ethics on Fletcher's Commission
Does it get any more naked? The hypocrisy, the stench of insider power politics, the very phenomena that has so turned off the public and made them feel useless in the democratic process.
This is outrageous. Just as the Executive Ethics Commission is set to hear six cases involving current or past Fletcher administration employees, (five of whom are accused of merit-hiring violations) governor Fletcher appoints to this Ethics Commission---Ethics—a man, Ronald Green, who he had previously appointed to the Supreme Court just in time to make the deciding vote that effectively ended the merit-hiring investigation. (Ronald Green also gave $2800 to Fletcher’s Congressional campaigns from 1996-99.)
In law school, the one really main thing about ethics and conflicts of interest they taught us, or tried to teach us, was that we must scrupulously avoid even the APPEARANCE of impropriety, in this case a conflict of interest. Think about this, Ronald Green is an attorney, appointed to the state’s HIGHEST court, and he knows, or absolutely should know, that he has a duty to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. He should never have been offered that spot on the Supreme Court, but having been offered he should have refused it.
And he should most definitely refuse this position on the Ethics Commission. It matters not that he said, “If I thought I was biased in that way, I would not take part,” in reference to his past donations and support of governor Fletcher. What matters is that there is a reasonable possibility that he could be compromised, i.e. there is an appearance of impropriety.
No honor. No ethics. And unfortunately, no shame.
This is outrageous. Just as the Executive Ethics Commission is set to hear six cases involving current or past Fletcher administration employees, (five of whom are accused of merit-hiring violations) governor Fletcher appoints to this Ethics Commission---Ethics—a man, Ronald Green, who he had previously appointed to the Supreme Court just in time to make the deciding vote that effectively ended the merit-hiring investigation. (Ronald Green also gave $2800 to Fletcher’s Congressional campaigns from 1996-99.)
In law school, the one really main thing about ethics and conflicts of interest they taught us, or tried to teach us, was that we must scrupulously avoid even the APPEARANCE of impropriety, in this case a conflict of interest. Think about this, Ronald Green is an attorney, appointed to the state’s HIGHEST court, and he knows, or absolutely should know, that he has a duty to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. He should never have been offered that spot on the Supreme Court, but having been offered he should have refused it.
And he should most definitely refuse this position on the Ethics Commission. It matters not that he said, “If I thought I was biased in that way, I would not take part,” in reference to his past donations and support of governor Fletcher. What matters is that there is a reasonable possibility that he could be compromised, i.e. there is an appearance of impropriety.
No honor. No ethics. And unfortunately, no shame.
Baseball
We moved to Lexington from Whitesburg when I was six just as I started first grade. Garden Springs was a new neighborhood, as most of suburbia was in 1961. We kids loved to root around the new houses under construction. I can still smell that earthy mixture of fresh turned dirt, cement, wood and tar as we’d hunt for the silver discs among the rich brown dirt.
But it was really all about the dirt clods! We’d search for that perfect dirt clod, the kind you could throw without it disintegrating in your hand as you released it, and would kind of splat as it reached its intended victim, more likely than not your best friend.
When that first summer came I followed the older boys in the neighborhood to a vacant lot. I felt a part of something when they allowed me to play baseball with them. Wow, this was gonna be fun I thought—BASEBALLLLL!
“Okay kid, you stand over there,” the older boy said pointing to what I was to learn was “the outfield.”
Thing was, I had bad allergies as a kid. The grass was up to my waist, it’s hot and humid, and I’m wheezing, sneezing, scratching and itching, all the while waiting what seemed like an eternity for relief. Nobody ever hit anything, much less to me in the outfield. Nobody got anybody out, nobody did nothing and I thought I would be doomed forever, hands on knees saying “hmm batter, hmm batter, SWING!” for the rest of my young life. I saw Christmas come and go, and the next and the next with me still suffering, sweating stuck in the weeds on the Lane Allen lot.
So that was my initiation to America’s summer pastime. Mom had other younger children so I really didn’t have the opportunity to play on a team even if I wanted to. Yet baseball memories fill my life.
I used to lay on my belly in front of the TV in the “front room” on our small house at 2004 Alexandria. It was black and white, of course (Uncle Frank got the first color TV I had ever seen. We watched Joe Namath and Alabama in the 1962 Orange Bowl. Two things about that game: the COLOR—Wow, it was,,, you could taste the orange. The other was the pity I felt for Joe as he wore that knee brace, and even though he’s moving good and leading his team to victory, that brace just brought out the sympathy).
Anyway, one Saturday as I was watching Saturday afternoon baseball, hands cupping my face on our carpeted floor, I recall clearly the melodious voice of who would later become my all time favorite announcer, Curt Gowdy, as he said “And taking the field is the rookie Pete Rose for Cincinnati.” I recall Rose hustling across the diagonal stripes of the freshly mowed field. I don’t know why this memory stuck with me, maybe just such a burly athletic guy with a name like Rose.
The Redlegs, as my dad and most old timers called them (the Reds officially changed the name in the 50’s because of its association with Communism), were everything. Almost as big as our beloved Wildcats, at least in the summer months. There was literally nothing much else for anybody from the hills and hollers of eastern Kentucky. How many times would we’d be driving either to or from Whitesburg, or Hazard, or Pikeville or Neon and even between those mountain metropolises, when we’d nudge the dial for a better reception of a Redlegs game.
Finally, “Three up and three down, and at the bottom of the third it’s scratch, crackle-LOUD STATICKY SOUND—and the Phillies 2.” When you could hear him clearly, there was none better than Claude Sullivan, who joined then replaced the famed Waite Hoyt. Later in the 60’s the old left hander, Joe Nuxhall joined Claude. WOW! They were literally part of our family—road trips, cookouts, they were there. (Claude Sullivan was also the Voice of the Wildcats” until his untimely death from throat cancer at age 42 in 1967).
All the old Red’s player names come flooding back. There was Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. Pitchers Jim Maloney, Joey Jay and Billy McCool. Infielders Leo Cardenas, Chico Ruiz, Gordy Coleman and Tommy Helms. And of course, Tony Perez and Pete Rose, although those names got much bigger later on. And though I had no desire at that time, but would later become a BIG FAN of it--there were the BEERS! The only ones that mattered then, in the days I was too young to drink it, were HUDEPOHL'S and WIEDEMANN'S, even good ol' Oertel's 92. Hudy's had he 14-K insignia with the golden wheat stalks beckoning forth thirsty drinkers.
I got to visit the old Crosley Field a number of times. Once my parents took me to a game when the baby sitter had us paged because of a younger sibling’s illness. We had to go—DARN! But the most memorable was STAN THE MAN day, when Uncle Martin took me and Joe Montgomery and his dad to see legendary Stan Musial’s last game in Cincinnati. Uncle Martin remembers telling me to count cars on the way home, I guess to keep me from asking so many questions. Two hours later, he recalls me saying “two hundred and forty two, two hundred and forty three…”
Then there was the new Riverfront Stadium. I remember the lights being the big deal—and the Astroturf. Dad took me to the 1970 All-Star game. Nixon threw out the first pitch and the NL won on Rose’s controversial slide at home into Ray Fosse. At the time we cheered wildly, but later upon hearing about Fosse’s injury I felt really sad about it. (Carl Yastrzemski won the MVP for tying the TWO records—4 hits and 3 singles).
Then came the BIG RED MACHINE years! ‘Oh what fun it was to ride with a dominating team!’ The 1975 series with Boston topped them all. I was at the University of Tennessee and watching from the couch in our apartment at the Railery…I can’t remember which game, could’ve been the historic 6th, that Boston won 7-6…I’d say in dramatic fashion, but EVERY one of those games were like Ali-Frazier heavyweight decisions!
The names are legendary: For the Reds, Sparky Anderson, Rose, Bench, Perez, Davy Concepcion, Ken Griffey (at that time no need for suffixes, he was the ONLY Griffey), Joe Morgan, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, Don Gullet, Clay Carroll, Jack Billingham and Will McEnaney. Great role players in Pedro Borbon, Ed Armbrister and Dan Driessen. The Red Sox were similarly great: Yaz of course, Carlton Fisk, Rico Petrocelli, Bernie Carbo, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn and Luis Tiant among them.
The 1976 Reds team made history being the only team to sweep the whole post season. I skipped a day of classes at law school to see the Reds-Phillies game three. The Reds looked like they were going down to a two run loss, when in the bottom of the 9th, BACK TO BACK HOMERS by Johnny Bench and George Foster—he with his big black bat—tied it up and saw the Reds sweep in extry innings!
I did not know that this would be the pinnacle of my love affair with baseball. Not only did career and other interests take precedence, but the vast SIZE of sports, its all encompassing immensity really soured me. The 1994 strike was the final blow—I have not watched a game since. Instead, I truly enjoy little league, with kids playing for the sheer fun of it, and parents—most of them—cheering their own as well as the others.
Passion for the game, for the fun, is hopefully what these young players play for. It was this kind of passion that fueled the instigator of this trip down memory lane, Alan Stein, in his vision to bring Minor League baseball to Lexington. He and his team have done an outstanding job bringing fun entertainment and quality baseball to Lexington with the Legends and its new stadium, Applebee’s Park.
I went to a game there last week, a beautiful almost-cool blue skied evening and ran into Alan, a hands on manager who does it because he LOVES IT! Thank you Alan and team for putting the fun back in baseball!
Richard F. Dawahare 7/17/07
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Government's Duty to Protect, Preserve and Provide for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Yesterday, as has been my custom the past few years, I frolic along the Fourth of July parade in downtown Lexington, and after working up a good sweat in the mid day sun go to McCarthy's bar--the patio so I can smoke a cigar with a cold brew and read the papers. As usual the Lexington Herald-Leader ran the full Declaration of Independence, which I always enjoy reading. It's a little like the bible--I seem to see something new each time!
Well, being continuously confronted with the goverment hating sentiment of so many "conservatives" and by the not so G OP who has been running--I should say MIS-RUNNING our government this second sentence following the lead phrase ("We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness") from the Declaration grabbed me:
"That to secure these rights, GOVERNMENTS ARE INSTITUTED AMONG MEN, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." (emphasis mine).
YES, don't EVER let those who cry that government has no role helping improve society, be it with regulatory diligence, aid with health care, education, housing or food, yes--military protection, too--get by with their rants. IT IS WRITTEN in the Declaration and later adopted in our Constitution ("to provide for the general Welfare...") that whoever would live in THESE United States automatically must accept a government that lives in the spirit and flesh of helping facilitate "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
PS
The full Declaration of Independence can be found here--http/www.constitution.org/usdeclar.htm
Thursday, June 28, 2007
My Personal Political Dilemma
I face a personal political dilemma. I belong to the Democratic Party (as opposed to being a Democrat. I am a human that happens to believe in traditional Democratic principles, but I am NOT "a Democrat") and have nearly always voted for those candidates.
But in this year’s gubernatorial race the Democratic candidate, Steve Beshear, is not merely pro casino gambling, but is making that the central plank of his platform. Now casino/electronic gambling is the pre-eminent issue that will adversely affect not only the future of Kentucky, but also that of the whole nation. Therefore, although Mr. Beshear is an otherwise solid candidate, his promotion of casino gambling disqualifies him and I would not support him or any candidate who supported this losing enterprise.
The Republican candidate, Governor Ernie Fletcher, has now changed his stance on casinos from one of allowing a referendum to being adamantly opposed to them. He has thus made casino gambling the key issue in the race and has positioned himself as the savior to prevent its ugly tentacles from strangling Kentucky’s future.
I predicted this move by Mr. Fletcher. It is shrewd, but it is politically expedient. I would not trust that he would spend all his political capital opposing casinos if re-elected…but he might, I just don’t know. It would have been much, much more convincing had he been so opposed from day one.
That said, my realization of just how very, extremely critical it is for us to keep casinos out of Kentucky is such that I am so-o-o-o tempted to support Mr. Fletcher. For even though his past work in Congress helped degrade our democracy, his ultra-partisan attacks on Clinton and his proposals, and his near 100% support for President Bush and his anti-democracy, pro special interest agenda, his support of the Iraqi war, and his reneging of his promise to clean up the mess in Frankfort by instead making it worse--despite all that the issue now is Kentucky’s future. Should I not support at least the one candidate who now promises to oppose casinos?
But no, I just can’t and won’t support a past facilitator of the corrosion that has so infiltrated Washington, now up to the Supreme Court.
So I won’t support Beshear, nor will I Fletcher. Can I just sit on my hands and not vote this election? I, a proponent of exercising our hard fought democratic rights, chief among them the power of the polling place, can I go through a major election without placing a vote?
No. And the only other person I know who I trust to do the right thing, to surround themselves with good, honest people who with him will focus solely on what is best for the COMMON wealth of Kentucky and its future is…oh gosh, this is going to sound…I don’t know the word, it’s not quite egotistical, but close, it’s not quite delusional, but close…oh drat, forget what it sounds like---the only person I know who believes in the approach and the policies that I believe in is me.
But I am not a candidate. I belong to the party that has a candidate and I did not run, nor did I think I needed to with the field that did run. But then Beshear, late in the primary season, unleashed his pro casino agenda that thoroughly dis-heartened me.
Do I let the fact that I have no chance, that I have no track record, that it would dilute whatever credibility I might have and make me look ridiculous stop me from doing the really unthinkable: change my political affiliation to Independent and enter as a write in candidate, just so I can use my vote on the person I most trust?
Saturday, June 23, 2007
The Answer for Workplace Fairness? It’s Unions, Jack!
Workers and employers of America…UNITE! For that is the most humane and effective way to increase the welfare of all. Unfortunately, the history of labor relations is such that workers too often suffer when employers have surplus power and deficient humanity.
Indeed it was that imbalance that originally led workers to unionize, a process that has lifted workplace standards for everybody. We take for granted such protections as the 40 hour workweek, paid vacations, safe workplaces, minimum wages, health care and pensions that all flow from workers uniting in a common cause.
Today, so well entrenched are those protections that many believe the unions have outlived their usefulness. Popular perception blames unions for gouging employers, forcing them to close or re-locate, or driving up prices and making them uncompetitive.
Yet nothing is further from the truth. In fact Washington is so caught in the corporate clutch that many workers are suffering anew under unscrupulous employers. And when they try to exercise their Constitutional right to organize employers are illegally harassing, threatening and firing them, escaping punishment under toothless pro-business laws and a Republican controlled regulatory apparatus where the wolves guard the henhouse.
But this could soon change when Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act, a long overdue law that would restore balance to the relationships between employer and employee. Specifically it would let the employees determine how to vote for a new union, not the employers. Currently employers choose a process that allows them plenty of time to intimidate, threaten, fire and hold mandatory anti-union meetings.
The Act would also strengthen financial penalties for companies guilty of coercion or intimidation and require mediation and arbitration when management and a newly certified union cannot agree on a contract.
More than half of Americans workers, 60 million, say they would join a union if they could and for good reason. On average union workers earn 30 per cent more and are more than 62 per cent more likely to have health coverage than their non union counterparts, such as those in the ‘right to work for less’ states. By the way, nothing is more anti-American than so called right to work state laws that allow new employees to refuse union membership in a business where a democratic vote established that union.
Teresa Joyce was a union organizer who suffered under hostile management at ATT wireless but enjoyed a complete turnaround when Cingular took over (Cingular respected the workers union vote and freely engages in a collaborative process that benefits everyone).
In her Congressional testimony supporting the new law Mrs. Joyce noted that ‘It is outrageous and shameful that the very freedoms they (her relatives in WWII and Iraq) fight to preserve are the very freedoms that are routinely trampled on here at home. Something is terribly wrong with our laws and our country when workers are systematically harassed, threatened and even fired for the simple act of exercising their right to form a union to improve their lives.”
With the middle class rapidly shrinking, the gap between rich and poor at historic highs and a political system too long in doing the bidding for big business, it is essential to protect basic workplace freedoms for all Americans. Congress must pass the Employee Free Choice Act and, above all, Kentucky must reject ‘right to work (for less)’ legislation.
Richard F. Dawahare
Indeed it was that imbalance that originally led workers to unionize, a process that has lifted workplace standards for everybody. We take for granted such protections as the 40 hour workweek, paid vacations, safe workplaces, minimum wages, health care and pensions that all flow from workers uniting in a common cause.
Today, so well entrenched are those protections that many believe the unions have outlived their usefulness. Popular perception blames unions for gouging employers, forcing them to close or re-locate, or driving up prices and making them uncompetitive.
Yet nothing is further from the truth. In fact Washington is so caught in the corporate clutch that many workers are suffering anew under unscrupulous employers. And when they try to exercise their Constitutional right to organize employers are illegally harassing, threatening and firing them, escaping punishment under toothless pro-business laws and a Republican controlled regulatory apparatus where the wolves guard the henhouse.
But this could soon change when Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act, a long overdue law that would restore balance to the relationships between employer and employee. Specifically it would let the employees determine how to vote for a new union, not the employers. Currently employers choose a process that allows them plenty of time to intimidate, threaten, fire and hold mandatory anti-union meetings.
The Act would also strengthen financial penalties for companies guilty of coercion or intimidation and require mediation and arbitration when management and a newly certified union cannot agree on a contract.
More than half of Americans workers, 60 million, say they would join a union if they could and for good reason. On average union workers earn 30 per cent more and are more than 62 per cent more likely to have health coverage than their non union counterparts, such as those in the ‘right to work for less’ states. By the way, nothing is more anti-American than so called right to work state laws that allow new employees to refuse union membership in a business where a democratic vote established that union.
Teresa Joyce was a union organizer who suffered under hostile management at ATT wireless but enjoyed a complete turnaround when Cingular took over (Cingular respected the workers union vote and freely engages in a collaborative process that benefits everyone).
In her Congressional testimony supporting the new law Mrs. Joyce noted that ‘It is outrageous and shameful that the very freedoms they (her relatives in WWII and Iraq) fight to preserve are the very freedoms that are routinely trampled on here at home. Something is terribly wrong with our laws and our country when workers are systematically harassed, threatened and even fired for the simple act of exercising their right to form a union to improve their lives.”
With the middle class rapidly shrinking, the gap between rich and poor at historic highs and a political system too long in doing the bidding for big business, it is essential to protect basic workplace freedoms for all Americans. Congress must pass the Employee Free Choice Act and, above all, Kentucky must reject ‘right to work (for less)’ legislation.
Richard F. Dawahare
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Blinders
Horse-drawn carriages make a walk through New York's Central Park even more memorable. The sturdy steeds dutifully plod where the drivers direct, aided in their task by distraction-blocking blinders.
Horse blinders are good. The horse goes where the driver wants it to go, and at the end of the trail it gets a bowl of water and bucket of oats. It occurred to me that human blinders act much the same way.Sometimes we put the blinders on ourselves, preferring blissful ignorance to inconvenient truths. But often, those who seek to control us do so by means of our unwitting submission to blinders.
The media, for example, do the bidding of their political benefactors by deftly using fear and hot-button emotional issues to blind us to higher truths. Indeed, truth is the enemy for those who revel in the thralls of righteousness, who believe in self-justification and demonization of enemies above all else. Hard-held traditions and fears trump science and rationality with blinders so securely in place.
Perhaps such control is good. We go placidly along, enjoying summer softball, rounds of golf and cookouts by the pool, merrily oblivious to political leaders acting against our long-term interests, against the very founding principles of our nation.
But how many bribes will we allow the politicians to take, how much public interest will we let them sift off to their special pals, how many innocents over there will we kill to vainly ensure a false sense of security over here before we yank the blinders off?
Fish, like a horse with blinders, can see only their little world directly in front of them. They are oblivious to the magnificent universe beyond the ocean. Yet the job of the fish is to be fish. As humans we are called to more. We are called to use reason, to seek truth and to follow it wherever it goes.
It is time to take the blinders off. It is time to see from sea to shining sea -- and especially beyond.
Horse blinders are good. The horse goes where the driver wants it to go, and at the end of the trail it gets a bowl of water and bucket of oats. It occurred to me that human blinders act much the same way.Sometimes we put the blinders on ourselves, preferring blissful ignorance to inconvenient truths. But often, those who seek to control us do so by means of our unwitting submission to blinders.
The media, for example, do the bidding of their political benefactors by deftly using fear and hot-button emotional issues to blind us to higher truths. Indeed, truth is the enemy for those who revel in the thralls of righteousness, who believe in self-justification and demonization of enemies above all else. Hard-held traditions and fears trump science and rationality with blinders so securely in place.
Perhaps such control is good. We go placidly along, enjoying summer softball, rounds of golf and cookouts by the pool, merrily oblivious to political leaders acting against our long-term interests, against the very founding principles of our nation.
But how many bribes will we allow the politicians to take, how much public interest will we let them sift off to their special pals, how many innocents over there will we kill to vainly ensure a false sense of security over here before we yank the blinders off?
Fish, like a horse with blinders, can see only their little world directly in front of them. They are oblivious to the magnificent universe beyond the ocean. Yet the job of the fish is to be fish. As humans we are called to more. We are called to use reason, to seek truth and to follow it wherever it goes.
It is time to take the blinders off. It is time to see from sea to shining sea -- and especially beyond.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Frank Fahrenkopf Misleads Public on Casino Gambling
Preface: While surfing the net for gambling news Thursday, May 31 I found on the American Gaming Association's site, Frank Fahrenkopf's Letter to the Lexington Herald-Leader attacking my own essay that detailed the long term dangers and false claims of casino gambling. Please check it out:
http://www.americangaming.org/Press/letters/letters_detail.cfv?ID=436
AND NOTE THE DATE---June 4, 2007. BUT IT RAN TODAY, June 11! So I saw it FOUR days before they said it ran in the Lexington Herald-Leader, yet even that date was wrong. This is just indicative of the error and falsehood surrounding that industry and its promoters.
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I appreciate that Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr., President/CEO of the American Gaming Association, would want to attack my exposure of casino gambling as a long-term loser for Kentucky. As a million dollar lobbyist for casino gambling, it is his job to discredit those who would oppose it.
Yet he actually helped make my case. First, he admitted that the states I cited did in fact have economic problems. My point was merely that casino gambling did nothing to help those states’ economies, a fact that directly contradicts the false claims of casino’s proponents who are so quick to grasp the fool’s gold of slots salvation.
He then confirms the validity of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission as he selectively cites some data that is taken out of context in order to spin his desired result. What he fails to mention is the Commission’s bottom line conclusion, which after taking all the evidence into account recommended that:
1) There should be a moratorium on any expansion of casino gambling (“The Commissioners believe it is time to consider a pause in the expansion of gambling.” Overview page 1-7.);
2) Horse tracks should not have slot machines (“The states should refuse to allow the introduction of casino-style gambling into pari-mutuel facilities…” Recommendation 3.12, page 3-18);
3) States “should cease and roll back existing (convenience gambling) operations.” Recommendation 3.6, page 3-18.
Since Mr. Fahrenkopf was so methodical at picking apart my essay, his omission of any reference to my other citations may mean he actually agreed with them. Thus, the warnings of both Warren Buffet and President George Washington stand as a most credible criticism of casino gambling as a damager of the economy and citizens’ welfare.
Finally, he disparaged the academic standards of the University of Illinois and academia as a whole. If such research is as fraudulent as Mr. Fahrenkopf suggests, yank your children out of college, and if you’re a college grad, ask for your money back, for in his view the entire field of collegiate research and education is meaningless.
For the sake of brevity I did not mention other academicians whose work similarly exposes the harm of casino/electronic gambling. I will do so now:
1) Dr. Earl Grinols, who testified under oath in Congress to the soaring social costs of casino gambling as compared with its benefits, then concluded “If the choice is between prohibiting casino gambling or allowing its expansion, the evidence says we’re better off prohibiting it….The most important finding of my research is that gambling fails a simple cost-benefit test…costs outweigh benefits.” Other studies show those costs exceed benefits by a 4 to 1 ratio.
.
2) Dr. David Mustard, who with Dr. Grinols authored the seminal research paper on casinos’ effect on crime that concluded: “Casinos increased all crimes except murder…the impact of casinos on crime increased over time and began about three years after casino introduction.”
3) Professor William Thompson, from Mr. Fahrenkopf’s home state of Nevada, co-authored a report that found “…the annual social cost of problem gambling in Southern Nevada ranging from $273 to $413 per adult per year suggests an important problem.”
4) Professors John Barron, Michael Staten and Stephanie Wilshusen co-authored “The Impact of Casino Gambling on Personal Bankruptcy Filing Rates” and found that “…the volume of casino gambling is directly related to bankruptcy filing rate in areas that have casinos nearby.”
Please be aware that the research Mr. Fahrenkopf uses to refute the findings that casinos drain money away from pre-existing, traditional business was done by none other than Arthur Andersen, the former Big Five accounting firm done in by its fraudulent accounting and auditing practices that contributed to the WorldCom and Enron bankruptcies.
Why on earth would we listen to a lobbyist from Washington about what’s best for Kentucky, especially when he doesn’t even want it in his own town? In an interview last fall he said, “Now if someone were to come along and tell me that they were going to put a casino in McLean, Virginia, where I live, I would probably work very, very hard against it. I just don’t -- what’s the old saying, ‘NIMBY, not in my back yard?’ Now I may be in favor of gaming, but I just don’t want it located in a particular area."
I realize that slots are recreational for many people and I believe it is in no way an immoral activity per se. Grandmothers gamble for goodness sake! But it is really a matter of POLICY and as such, casino style gambling is a proven economic and social loser for the community at large.
Kentucky cannot afford to fall for the false lure of casino gambling. We, the people, have the power to run our state in the right way, for our long-term welfare. As a famous philosopher once said, “Wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
Richard F. Dawahare 6/11/07
http://www.americangaming.org/Press/letters/letters_detail.cfv?ID=436
AND NOTE THE DATE---June 4, 2007. BUT IT RAN TODAY, June 11! So I saw it FOUR days before they said it ran in the Lexington Herald-Leader, yet even that date was wrong. This is just indicative of the error and falsehood surrounding that industry and its promoters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I appreciate that Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr., President/CEO of the American Gaming Association, would want to attack my exposure of casino gambling as a long-term loser for Kentucky. As a million dollar lobbyist for casino gambling, it is his job to discredit those who would oppose it.
Yet he actually helped make my case. First, he admitted that the states I cited did in fact have economic problems. My point was merely that casino gambling did nothing to help those states’ economies, a fact that directly contradicts the false claims of casino’s proponents who are so quick to grasp the fool’s gold of slots salvation.
He then confirms the validity of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission as he selectively cites some data that is taken out of context in order to spin his desired result. What he fails to mention is the Commission’s bottom line conclusion, which after taking all the evidence into account recommended that:
1) There should be a moratorium on any expansion of casino gambling (“The Commissioners believe it is time to consider a pause in the expansion of gambling.” Overview page 1-7.);
2) Horse tracks should not have slot machines (“The states should refuse to allow the introduction of casino-style gambling into pari-mutuel facilities…” Recommendation 3.12, page 3-18);
3) States “should cease and roll back existing (convenience gambling) operations.” Recommendation 3.6, page 3-18.
Since Mr. Fahrenkopf was so methodical at picking apart my essay, his omission of any reference to my other citations may mean he actually agreed with them. Thus, the warnings of both Warren Buffet and President George Washington stand as a most credible criticism of casino gambling as a damager of the economy and citizens’ welfare.
Finally, he disparaged the academic standards of the University of Illinois and academia as a whole. If such research is as fraudulent as Mr. Fahrenkopf suggests, yank your children out of college, and if you’re a college grad, ask for your money back, for in his view the entire field of collegiate research and education is meaningless.
For the sake of brevity I did not mention other academicians whose work similarly exposes the harm of casino/electronic gambling. I will do so now:
1) Dr. Earl Grinols, who testified under oath in Congress to the soaring social costs of casino gambling as compared with its benefits, then concluded “If the choice is between prohibiting casino gambling or allowing its expansion, the evidence says we’re better off prohibiting it….The most important finding of my research is that gambling fails a simple cost-benefit test…costs outweigh benefits.” Other studies show those costs exceed benefits by a 4 to 1 ratio.
.
2) Dr. David Mustard, who with Dr. Grinols authored the seminal research paper on casinos’ effect on crime that concluded: “Casinos increased all crimes except murder…the impact of casinos on crime increased over time and began about three years after casino introduction.”
3) Professor William Thompson, from Mr. Fahrenkopf’s home state of Nevada, co-authored a report that found “…the annual social cost of problem gambling in Southern Nevada ranging from $273 to $413 per adult per year suggests an important problem.”
4) Professors John Barron, Michael Staten and Stephanie Wilshusen co-authored “The Impact of Casino Gambling on Personal Bankruptcy Filing Rates” and found that “…the volume of casino gambling is directly related to bankruptcy filing rate in areas that have casinos nearby.”
Please be aware that the research Mr. Fahrenkopf uses to refute the findings that casinos drain money away from pre-existing, traditional business was done by none other than Arthur Andersen, the former Big Five accounting firm done in by its fraudulent accounting and auditing practices that contributed to the WorldCom and Enron bankruptcies.
Why on earth would we listen to a lobbyist from Washington about what’s best for Kentucky, especially when he doesn’t even want it in his own town? In an interview last fall he said, “Now if someone were to come along and tell me that they were going to put a casino in McLean, Virginia, where I live, I would probably work very, very hard against it. I just don’t -- what’s the old saying, ‘NIMBY, not in my back yard?’ Now I may be in favor of gaming, but I just don’t want it located in a particular area."
I realize that slots are recreational for many people and I believe it is in no way an immoral activity per se. Grandmothers gamble for goodness sake! But it is really a matter of POLICY and as such, casino style gambling is a proven economic and social loser for the community at large.
Kentucky cannot afford to fall for the false lure of casino gambling. We, the people, have the power to run our state in the right way, for our long-term welfare. As a famous philosopher once said, “Wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
Richard F. Dawahare 6/11/07
Sunday, May 27, 2007
What Concerns You?
Dear Friends:
Hello! Somebody asked me the other day what one or two things most concerned me about our world. I thought this would be a great question to ask you and my other friends and other “linked” email acquaintances (those of you listed on other emails).
I will categorize all responses (anonymously, of course) and if you wish share the findings.
PLEASE—think about the one or two issues that you are truly concerned about in terms of how they may affect the future welfare of your world and our world (one and the same really). Could be local, regional, national, international, and even inter-galactic!
After categorizing the responses I will then enlist us all to ADDRESS these concerns. We'll brainstorm and devise solutions that get to the roots of the problems.
I appreciate your input.
Take care, Richard
PS PLEASE share widely, the more responses the better!
Hello! Somebody asked me the other day what one or two things most concerned me about our world. I thought this would be a great question to ask you and my other friends and other “linked” email acquaintances (those of you listed on other emails).
I will categorize all responses (anonymously, of course) and if you wish share the findings.
PLEASE—think about the one or two issues that you are truly concerned about in terms of how they may affect the future welfare of your world and our world (one and the same really). Could be local, regional, national, international, and even inter-galactic!
After categorizing the responses I will then enlist us all to ADDRESS these concerns. We'll brainstorm and devise solutions that get to the roots of the problems.
I appreciate your input.
Take care, Richard
PS PLEASE share widely, the more responses the better!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Gambling’s False Lure
Kentucky is officially in the Twilight Zone. While we are desperately trying to escape the negative image of being a backward state that is perpetually behind the times our would be leaders either actively promote or refuse to ardently oppose an activity that will tighten the noose of false hopes and low expectations.
Casino gambling is a proven economic loser and spirit killing enterprise that delivers precisely the opposite of its falsely claimed benefits. One need only look at the experience of states that have already accepted gambling’s Faustian bargain. Illinois is essentially bankrupt. Nevada’s budget is busted, as is Rhode Island’s. As Donald Carcieri, the governor of Rhode Island, correctly said, "There is no evidence whatsoever that states with large gambling revenue are any better off financially." He noted that both Rhode Island and Connecticut had substantial gambling revenue, yet still suffered huge deficits. Tragically, gambling state after gambling state has also suffered skyrocketing crime, suicide, bankruptcy and foreclosing rates.
Professor John Warren Kindt, a leading researcher has long cited the facts that destroy the myth of slots salvation. He has testified to these facts in Congressional hearings under oath and in the presence of gambling industry lawyers who have not and cannot refute him. In fact every academic study, that is every study NOT funded by the gambling industry, conclusively exposes the fraudulent claims of the gambling industry.
Beyond the financial loss to individuals and traditional pre-existing businesses lie the very real and traumatic human costs. So well documented are these sorry statistics that the federally funded National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended a moratorium on the spread of gambling in 1998. Yet the gambling industry’s dangle of easy money has blinded the short-sighted leadership of many states to ignore the truth and so lead the nation down a futile race to the bottom.
Strong leadership would heed the lessons of history. A similar gambling scourge swept the country in the late 1800’s. It got so bad that states, including Kentucky, changed their constitutions to forbid such gambling. Today’s electronic gambling options are much more lethal. Indeed slots are the “crack cocaine” of gambling as the lickety-split action and manipulated pay-offs are intentionally designed to hook gamblers. Conversely, the pari-mutuel wagers on horse racing pose no such threat and Professor Kindt has said that casinos in Kentucky’s tracks will eventually kill the thoroughbred industry.
If we hope to reach the higher rungs on the ladder of progress Kentucky’s leaders must chart an alternative course. We should instead be the casino gambling-free state that trumpets good citizenship, teamwork, education and industry. Prospective employers absolutely relish the strong foundations built on these time proven traits and deplore the hypocrisy of gambling’s false claims that mock our slogan, “education pays.”
Warren Buffett agrees. America’s premiere business expert railed against casino gambling: “States shouldn’t be in the position of selling the needle. It should not be a sponsor of spreading addiction. For a state to prey upon its citizens to create more of these addictions is wrong. It is cynical for a state to raise money from people who basically can’t afford it by promising a dream that is not going to come true for any but the tiniest, tiniest fraction of people who participate. The 99 percent (who don’t win) lose the ability to take a family to the movie, buy a toy for Christmas or, worse yet, they become and addict and lose everything they have. By promoting gambling, states are trying to get you to do something dumb. States should be doing something for its citizens.”
George Washington, America’s most trusted founding father, likewise warned against gambling: “In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any, being diffused) while thousands are injured."
The only gubernatorial candidate to actively oppose expanded gambling is Republican Billy Harper who correctly said “We simply cannot base out future economy on the quicksand of hypothetical gambling revenues."
Instead of pimping, Kentucky should be promoting its citizens’ highest values. By emphasizing and improving these core values we will improve our economy and create more wealth that will stay in Kentucky. And with such long-term focus we will shed the backward stereotypes we wish to erase.
Casino gambling is a proven economic loser and spirit killing enterprise that delivers precisely the opposite of its falsely claimed benefits. One need only look at the experience of states that have already accepted gambling’s Faustian bargain. Illinois is essentially bankrupt. Nevada’s budget is busted, as is Rhode Island’s. As Donald Carcieri, the governor of Rhode Island, correctly said, "There is no evidence whatsoever that states with large gambling revenue are any better off financially." He noted that both Rhode Island and Connecticut had substantial gambling revenue, yet still suffered huge deficits. Tragically, gambling state after gambling state has also suffered skyrocketing crime, suicide, bankruptcy and foreclosing rates.
Professor John Warren Kindt, a leading researcher has long cited the facts that destroy the myth of slots salvation. He has testified to these facts in Congressional hearings under oath and in the presence of gambling industry lawyers who have not and cannot refute him. In fact every academic study, that is every study NOT funded by the gambling industry, conclusively exposes the fraudulent claims of the gambling industry.
Beyond the financial loss to individuals and traditional pre-existing businesses lie the very real and traumatic human costs. So well documented are these sorry statistics that the federally funded National Gambling Impact Study Commission recommended a moratorium on the spread of gambling in 1998. Yet the gambling industry’s dangle of easy money has blinded the short-sighted leadership of many states to ignore the truth and so lead the nation down a futile race to the bottom.
Strong leadership would heed the lessons of history. A similar gambling scourge swept the country in the late 1800’s. It got so bad that states, including Kentucky, changed their constitutions to forbid such gambling. Today’s electronic gambling options are much more lethal. Indeed slots are the “crack cocaine” of gambling as the lickety-split action and manipulated pay-offs are intentionally designed to hook gamblers. Conversely, the pari-mutuel wagers on horse racing pose no such threat and Professor Kindt has said that casinos in Kentucky’s tracks will eventually kill the thoroughbred industry.
If we hope to reach the higher rungs on the ladder of progress Kentucky’s leaders must chart an alternative course. We should instead be the casino gambling-free state that trumpets good citizenship, teamwork, education and industry. Prospective employers absolutely relish the strong foundations built on these time proven traits and deplore the hypocrisy of gambling’s false claims that mock our slogan, “education pays.”
Warren Buffett agrees. America’s premiere business expert railed against casino gambling: “States shouldn’t be in the position of selling the needle. It should not be a sponsor of spreading addiction. For a state to prey upon its citizens to create more of these addictions is wrong. It is cynical for a state to raise money from people who basically can’t afford it by promising a dream that is not going to come true for any but the tiniest, tiniest fraction of people who participate. The 99 percent (who don’t win) lose the ability to take a family to the movie, buy a toy for Christmas or, worse yet, they become and addict and lose everything they have. By promoting gambling, states are trying to get you to do something dumb. States should be doing something for its citizens.”
George Washington, America’s most trusted founding father, likewise warned against gambling: “In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any, being diffused) while thousands are injured."
The only gubernatorial candidate to actively oppose expanded gambling is Republican Billy Harper who correctly said “We simply cannot base out future economy on the quicksand of hypothetical gambling revenues."
Instead of pimping, Kentucky should be promoting its citizens’ highest values. By emphasizing and improving these core values we will improve our economy and create more wealth that will stay in Kentucky. And with such long-term focus we will shed the backward stereotypes we wish to erase.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
What’s Bad For Kids, Is Bad For Adults
Seems incredible. All over Africa criminal warlords have, over the last decade, forced children to become ruthless killers. With a combination of black magic--whereupon warlords manipulate young boys into believing they have supernatural powers—drugs and unimaginable cruelty (forced execution of family and friends) have they created these young soldiers.
According to the UN and Human Rights Watch the nearly 300,000 kid killers, as young as 8, are not only trained to kill without a second’s hesitation, they are also abused as sex slaves, spies and human shields. [Full CNN story:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/02/12/child.soldiers/index.html].
The real problem, apart from the utter…well there just aren’t words to express how repulsive this is, like trying to describe the unimaginable horror of the holocaust…of this utter abomination is that journalists write and we read about it as if the outrageous part is simply the young age of the soldiers and the forcing of such young children to kill when in reality the brutality which we find so revolting when done by children does not become less so as the age of the perpetrator goes up.
In other words, if it’s bad for kids to do, it is likewise bad for adults.
This truth applies to many activities which society deems acceptable above a certain age. “Adult movies?” Same thing. If it’s not appropriate for kids, while legal and permissible they probably aren’t good for adults. Alcohol? One need only see the toll of abuse to agree with my premise. Sex? Wel-l-l-l, again, one can see that irresponsible sex at any age—and there is probably much more of this by those over 18 than under—can be troublesome.
Obviously, while this is most certainly a call for the curtailment of war and the aggressive use of soldiers at any age, especially in the cause of false pre-emption, this is not a call for abstention from racy movies, fine wine or carnal knowledge. Rather it is a guide for the ideal. If it’s bad for kids, it probably is not so good for adults.
Whew, I’m ready for a beer!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tainted Foods Reflect Tainted Bush/Republican Leadership
Part and parcel of the government-hating wolves gaurding our national henhouse is their penchant for contempt of government regulation in the public interest. The foodborne health crises, from spinach to peanut butter and most recently pet foods, is just one of many ways in which we, the public, suffer from a lack of adequate governmental oversight.
Tonight on PBS, a food industry leader, Tom Nassif of the Western Growers Association, said that they readily accept the need for and presence of federal regulators but that they are largely absent. He said that there simply were not enough inspectors, a dearth which he blamed on insufficient funding at the FDA.
Caroline Smith deWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said the FDA inspects non-meat food production facilities once every 5-10 years, while the USDA inspects meat processors daily.
We put so much of our trust in food processors and they undoubtedly try hard and are for the most part responsible. It's not that when they err, they do so intentionally, there could just be an oversight, or the occassional sloppiness bred by the knowledge that there is sparse oversight.
This intentional de-funding of essential regulatory oversight of the food industry endangers our public health. It is yet another taint on the record of Bush and his fellow Republicans.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
A Post After a Prayer for Direction
God has put in my heart this directive: RIGHT THE WRONG! Thus, again I call for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney and Rice. Again I call for new leadership that apologizes to the world, gets the world--starting especially with the middle eastern nations--involved in a proper approach to building a better solution, that includes all the parties, all sides in the process.
Any less on my part and God will hold me accountable for my silence. You who once or still support this administration, please, re-think it. Step outside your supposed "truth" and at least for just a moment pretend that there may be some merit that we were/are wrong, that perhaps it's not just "God bless America," but "God bless THE WORLD."
Over 600,000 INNOCENT Iraqis have been killed by our wrongful invasion. Little babies--out of the womb babies--as well as children and adults---murdered, torn asunder limb from limb, hundreds thousands more injured. 20% of the Iraqi population have fled, nearly half of those OUT of the country--ALL because of our illegal and immoral war SOLD ON BUSH'S LIES!
You may or may not believe in God or a higher power, but polls show those who most support this most UNGodly war are "Christian." So I implore those that so profess to pray, pray for the highest truth, to see and know God's highest truth, to have God show you the solutions as well as the truth.Maybe you'll feel the same afterwards, maybe not. This post is a result of my own prayers.
WE NEED TO END OUR fearful assault on others, we need to re-build bridges in the world and not be intimidated by the skeptic hawks at home who know only one solution, one path, the path of supercharged force of arms.
One is simply NOT a true follower of Jesus, the namesake of Christianity, if one places their faith more in the force of arms than the teachings of Jesus, prime among them charity, mercy, justice and love.
Make no mistake, our path the last 6 years have not been following the footsteps of Bush's so called favorite philosopher (Jesus).
Any less on my part and God will hold me accountable for my silence. You who once or still support this administration, please, re-think it. Step outside your supposed "truth" and at least for just a moment pretend that there may be some merit that we were/are wrong, that perhaps it's not just "God bless America," but "God bless THE WORLD."
Over 600,000 INNOCENT Iraqis have been killed by our wrongful invasion. Little babies--out of the womb babies--as well as children and adults---murdered, torn asunder limb from limb, hundreds thousands more injured. 20% of the Iraqi population have fled, nearly half of those OUT of the country--ALL because of our illegal and immoral war SOLD ON BUSH'S LIES!
You may or may not believe in God or a higher power, but polls show those who most support this most UNGodly war are "Christian." So I implore those that so profess to pray, pray for the highest truth, to see and know God's highest truth, to have God show you the solutions as well as the truth.Maybe you'll feel the same afterwards, maybe not. This post is a result of my own prayers.
WE NEED TO END OUR fearful assault on others, we need to re-build bridges in the world and not be intimidated by the skeptic hawks at home who know only one solution, one path, the path of supercharged force of arms.
One is simply NOT a true follower of Jesus, the namesake of Christianity, if one places their faith more in the force of arms than the teachings of Jesus, prime among them charity, mercy, justice and love.
Make no mistake, our path the last 6 years have not been following the footsteps of Bush's so called favorite philosopher (Jesus).
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Compassion crafts a safer society
It is easy to be hard. But this heartless path of callous indifference leads inevitably to sorrow and misery, both to the recipient of a snub or slur, and ultimately to its giver. In fact, it is the cold disdain with which we treat our brethren that is the common thread running through the Don Imus hate-speech firing and the Virginia Tech massacre. (There is evidence that, like the killer at Columbine, Cho Seung-hui felt the sting of rejection.)
Yes, we are a good and charitable people. But we are also a society that fosters discord and division, donning our pride and prejudice as the sacred birthrights of a people free to live however we see fit, regardless of the consequences. By our rabid consumption of spiteful radio snipers and demeaning reality shows, we enable our descent to an ever more brutish existence. And it is this numbing of our sensibilities that eventually effects how we treat -- and mistreat -- others.
We have allowed our precious rights of free speech to be exercised without demanding a corresponding use of responsibility. We must therefore insist that discourse over our public airwaves be civil, that political shows are fair and fact-based, and that opposing viewpoints are afforded equal time as our government once ensured. (The Reagan administration eliminated the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, thus giving rise to Rush Limbaugh and his ilk).
Above all, we must make the often-hard effort to be nice, to teach our youth that kindness is the highest virtue and to order our world in a way that is consistent with this truth, instead of allowing the disparities that undercut it.
It is a fitting coincidence that Kurt Vonnegut, who saw simple human kindness as the ultimate meaning of life, died on the day Don Imus was fired. His radiant compassion that enlightens our pathway to peace shines in contrast to the mean streets of pitiless insensitivity that drove Imus down a dead end, and possibly to the slaughter at Blacksburg.
Yes, we are a good and charitable people. But we are also a society that fosters discord and division, donning our pride and prejudice as the sacred birthrights of a people free to live however we see fit, regardless of the consequences. By our rabid consumption of spiteful radio snipers and demeaning reality shows, we enable our descent to an ever more brutish existence. And it is this numbing of our sensibilities that eventually effects how we treat -- and mistreat -- others.
We have allowed our precious rights of free speech to be exercised without demanding a corresponding use of responsibility. We must therefore insist that discourse over our public airwaves be civil, that political shows are fair and fact-based, and that opposing viewpoints are afforded equal time as our government once ensured. (The Reagan administration eliminated the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, thus giving rise to Rush Limbaugh and his ilk).
Above all, we must make the often-hard effort to be nice, to teach our youth that kindness is the highest virtue and to order our world in a way that is consistent with this truth, instead of allowing the disparities that undercut it.
It is a fitting coincidence that Kurt Vonnegut, who saw simple human kindness as the ultimate meaning of life, died on the day Don Imus was fired. His radiant compassion that enlightens our pathway to peace shines in contrast to the mean streets of pitiless insensitivity that drove Imus down a dead end, and possibly to the slaughter at Blacksburg.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
"Islamofascism" -- a Hitlerian Lie
An uncanny coincidence this week bore seeds of truth that will, if planted within the rich soil of an open mind, reap a harvest of clarity that may save us from the Armageddon of inter-cultural world war.
First, a good friend in the garment industry sent me the Rudolf Vrba book "I Escaped From Auschwitz." To say that the life most of us face is pure heaven as compared with just five minutes in the Nazi death camps is a vast understatement. I could only read so much about his experience in one sitting without shaking my head in utter horror and disbelief that this could ever occur; this even though I have read, seen movies and studied this sad reality many times before.
Page after page of sadistic beatings (usually to death), deprivations of food, water and clothes, shootings, gassings and burnings where 90% were killed (ultimately up to three MILLION humans in Auschwitz alone) within days or weeks of their arrival. Yet even through this surreal state of bestial inhumanity Dr. Vrba noted this truth: the Nazi abusers truly believed their prisoners—the Jews, the Poles, Hungarians, Ukrainians and others who did not fit the Aryan mold—were a threat to civilization.
Of course, this was pure nonsense. But to Hitler and his many minions this horribly flawed yet heartfelt belief was an eternal truth; and it is this fact that helps explain how they could see and treat their innocent victims as non-humans, and invest so much in their war machine.
Coincidentally, on the very day I received this book there was yet another Cal Thomas article stressing the real justification for the war in Iraq: that it is but one front on an impending world-wide war against Islam. Thomas and President Bush are the lead trumpeters of the flawed notion that Muslims want to take over the world and annihilate Christians, Jews and essentially any non-Muslim.
They have created a term for this fiction, Islamo-fascism, which they use to rouse public fear. Yet, whether by design or not, they have horribly mis-construed the criminal acts of a tiny sliver of the Muslim world in order to justify our ever-enlarging military might, thus guaranteeing war without end, to the end.
They point to suicide bombings and insurgencies as proof of a vast Islamic plan for conquest where such deeds are in fact a reactionary resistance to: a) the ongoing injustice of Palestinian eviction from their homeland and b) their anger over western meddling in their native lands.[2]
Further underlying their demonization of Islam lays an equally flawed understanding of Christian theology. Mainline Christianity sees Jesus as God and believes that those who do not accept this are out of the fold, that is, beyond the salvation and/or blessings of God. Thus, devout Christians evangelize in order to ‘save’ non-believers. Consciously or not, they view those of different faiths—or of no faith (atheists)— as being something less than believers in the eyes of God.
The problem is that the same people who espouse this belief also believe in the inerrant word of God as it is written in the Bible. Yet somehow they missed Genesis 17:20, wherein God distinctly blessed Ishmael (Abrahams son by his servant, Hagar) and ordained that ‘a great nation’ with innumerable descendants (Gen 17:10) would come through him. Ishmael thus became the father of the future Arab Islamic nation as God expressly divined.[3]
God also repeated his promise to Abraham in Genesis 21:13 saying, “I will make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he also is your son.”[4]
Thus we have this situation: God made two separate and distinct promises with Abraham: one being a covenant of innumerable descendants representing many nations (Gen 17:5,19,21) through his child with Sarah (Isaac), as well as a similar assurance that a great nation will come through Ishmael, his child with Hagar. Most importantly God ordained that although this second line through Ishmael would be totally separate and distinct from the first line, it would be equally blessed, that is, within the ‘fold’ of God. As we know Jesus (and the Jewish nation) descended from the first line, through Isaac, David and Mary. Mohammed is a descendant of Ishmael. From the beginning God decreed that they would be and remain a separate peoples, but equally within His good graces.
Therefore, from either perspective—logic or theology—the truth is far different from those who see war with Islam as a final solution. It is nearly as big a lie as the one proposed, and tragically executed, by Hitler a generation ago.
[1] My friend’s wife was actually a prisoner in a concentration camp as a young girl, narrowly escaping death herself as the Nazis collapsed before she could be sent to the ovens. I met her at an industry convention where she showed me the tattooed identification numbers on her left wrist.
[2] This is no secret. The Iraqi Study Group said as much. Osama bin Laden has given the same as reasons for al Qaedas very existence.
[3] God gave the same assurances to Ishmaels mother, Hagar (Gen 16:10, 21:18). Abraham was old and childless so his wife, Sarah permitted him to have a child with their young servant girl Hagar. Hagar became pregnant and disrespected Sarah who kicked her out. On the wilderness road the angel of the Lord directed her to return and apologize to Sarah and then added, (GEN 16:10) ‘I will give you more descendants than you can count…You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard about your misery. This son of yours will be a wild one—free and untamed as a wild donkey! He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers. Thereafter Hagar referred to the Lord, who had spoken to her, as “the God who sees me, for she said, “I have seen the One who sees me!
[4] Abrahams wife, Sarah, evicted Hagar and Ishmael from the household after Isaac was born. They were lost and out of water, and as Hagar despaired, (Gen 21:17) ‘God heard the boys cries, and the angel of God called to Hagar from the sky, ‘Hagar, what is wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boys cries from the place where you laid him. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.’ Then God opened Hagars eyes, and she saw a well. She immediately filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness of Paran.’
First, a good friend in the garment industry sent me the Rudolf Vrba book "I Escaped From Auschwitz." To say that the life most of us face is pure heaven as compared with just five minutes in the Nazi death camps is a vast understatement. I could only read so much about his experience in one sitting without shaking my head in utter horror and disbelief that this could ever occur; this even though I have read, seen movies and studied this sad reality many times before.
Page after page of sadistic beatings (usually to death), deprivations of food, water and clothes, shootings, gassings and burnings where 90% were killed (ultimately up to three MILLION humans in Auschwitz alone) within days or weeks of their arrival. Yet even through this surreal state of bestial inhumanity Dr. Vrba noted this truth: the Nazi abusers truly believed their prisoners—the Jews, the Poles, Hungarians, Ukrainians and others who did not fit the Aryan mold—were a threat to civilization.
Of course, this was pure nonsense. But to Hitler and his many minions this horribly flawed yet heartfelt belief was an eternal truth; and it is this fact that helps explain how they could see and treat their innocent victims as non-humans, and invest so much in their war machine.
Coincidentally, on the very day I received this book there was yet another Cal Thomas article stressing the real justification for the war in Iraq: that it is but one front on an impending world-wide war against Islam. Thomas and President Bush are the lead trumpeters of the flawed notion that Muslims want to take over the world and annihilate Christians, Jews and essentially any non-Muslim.
They have created a term for this fiction, Islamo-fascism, which they use to rouse public fear. Yet, whether by design or not, they have horribly mis-construed the criminal acts of a tiny sliver of the Muslim world in order to justify our ever-enlarging military might, thus guaranteeing war without end, to the end.
They point to suicide bombings and insurgencies as proof of a vast Islamic plan for conquest where such deeds are in fact a reactionary resistance to: a) the ongoing injustice of Palestinian eviction from their homeland and b) their anger over western meddling in their native lands.[2]
Further underlying their demonization of Islam lays an equally flawed understanding of Christian theology. Mainline Christianity sees Jesus as God and believes that those who do not accept this are out of the fold, that is, beyond the salvation and/or blessings of God. Thus, devout Christians evangelize in order to ‘save’ non-believers. Consciously or not, they view those of different faiths—or of no faith (atheists)— as being something less than believers in the eyes of God.
The problem is that the same people who espouse this belief also believe in the inerrant word of God as it is written in the Bible. Yet somehow they missed Genesis 17:20, wherein God distinctly blessed Ishmael (Abrahams son by his servant, Hagar) and ordained that ‘a great nation’ with innumerable descendants (Gen 17:10) would come through him. Ishmael thus became the father of the future Arab Islamic nation as God expressly divined.[3]
God also repeated his promise to Abraham in Genesis 21:13 saying, “I will make a nation of the descendants of Hagar’s son because he also is your son.”[4]
Thus we have this situation: God made two separate and distinct promises with Abraham: one being a covenant of innumerable descendants representing many nations (Gen 17:5,19,21) through his child with Sarah (Isaac), as well as a similar assurance that a great nation will come through Ishmael, his child with Hagar. Most importantly God ordained that although this second line through Ishmael would be totally separate and distinct from the first line, it would be equally blessed, that is, within the ‘fold’ of God. As we know Jesus (and the Jewish nation) descended from the first line, through Isaac, David and Mary. Mohammed is a descendant of Ishmael. From the beginning God decreed that they would be and remain a separate peoples, but equally within His good graces.
Therefore, from either perspective—logic or theology—the truth is far different from those who see war with Islam as a final solution. It is nearly as big a lie as the one proposed, and tragically executed, by Hitler a generation ago.
[1] My friend’s wife was actually a prisoner in a concentration camp as a young girl, narrowly escaping death herself as the Nazis collapsed before she could be sent to the ovens. I met her at an industry convention where she showed me the tattooed identification numbers on her left wrist.
[2] This is no secret. The Iraqi Study Group said as much. Osama bin Laden has given the same as reasons for al Qaedas very existence.
[3] God gave the same assurances to Ishmaels mother, Hagar (Gen 16:10, 21:18). Abraham was old and childless so his wife, Sarah permitted him to have a child with their young servant girl Hagar. Hagar became pregnant and disrespected Sarah who kicked her out. On the wilderness road the angel of the Lord directed her to return and apologize to Sarah and then added, (GEN 16:10) ‘I will give you more descendants than you can count…You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard about your misery. This son of yours will be a wild one—free and untamed as a wild donkey! He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live at odds with the rest of his brothers. Thereafter Hagar referred to the Lord, who had spoken to her, as “the God who sees me, for she said, “I have seen the One who sees me!
[4] Abrahams wife, Sarah, evicted Hagar and Ishmael from the household after Isaac was born. They were lost and out of water, and as Hagar despaired, (Gen 21:17) ‘God heard the boys cries, and the angel of God called to Hagar from the sky, ‘Hagar, what is wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boys cries from the place where you laid him. Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.’ Then God opened Hagars eyes, and she saw a well. She immediately filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness of Paran.’
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Miracle Machine
Swedish scientists have developed what will immediately be accepted the world over as the most incredible invention in the history of humanity. Dubbed “The Miracle Machine” the device can potentially solve every single problem, conflict and conundrum on planet earth or beyond.
On such global conflicts as religious/cultural strife, resource scarcity, poverty, disease—all of which underlie international hostilities—the EQAO 8888 Harmonizer can bring immediate and lasting results. Likewise, the Harmonizer can resolve interpersonal conflicts and individual troubles.
The Harmonizer requires only one ingredient to enable its miraculous powers to take effect: the mutual agreement of all parties about whom any particular conflict, problem or crises affects. The agreement that is necessary is not over what the solution may eventually be, as the Harmonizer will take care of that with 100% effectiveness. No, the agreement is solely one of mutual will and mutual decision to hand the problem over to the Harmonizer for resolution.
“This is a great day for humanity,” said Kaj Sigridsson who directed the project funded by the Swedish government. The Swedish delegation’s first test was the ongoing slaughter in Darfur. Over 20 different factions had to be convinced to sign the dispute over to the Harmonizer. Rebel leader Joseph Mahhaali was typical: “I laugh and said, ‘why not, we can kill tomorrow’ so I give machine our problem today.”
Little did anyone realize just how successful the Harmonizer would prove to be. Instantly the warring parties dropped their arms. Soldiers were reported standing in confusion right where they stood in their killing field, bewildered about why they were there and what they were doing. Many are undergoing counseling and treatment in the aftermath of the shock of learning what they had done over the last few years. Peace, production and progress have replaced the fear-induced hate.
What was once a land of scarcity became overnight one of abundance as they all discovered the magic of sharing, an occurrence that grabbed the attention of third world leaders. Lesotho Prime Minister Mugambe Makakole echoed third world sentiment; “We are so grateful for the Harmonizer and are ready to use it for our mutual benefit.”
However, not everybody greeted the Good News of the Harmonizer’s capabilities with the solid confidence and optimism its founders had hoped for. British PM Harold Fitzugh spoke for many of the G-8 countries: “This could be great news indeed for conflict resolution, but we’ll have to gauge its effectiveness on smaller affairs to see if it stands the test of time.”
Margaret O’Bannon, spokesman for United States President Vesper Scelero, said that while the Harmonizer looks promising “We will need to see what we’d have to sacrifice vis-Ã -vis other nations in order to determine how it will benefit our long term interests.”
Swedish Prime Minister Nils von Lundeberg was incredulous over the west’s skepticism: “The Miracle Machine WORKS! All that any nation, any person, any entity need do is agree to let it do its job of bringing harmony where there’s discord, peace where war, plenty where need, joy where gloom and it will achieve it. How can they not see this and accept its gift—a gift through the hands of man, but a gift from God who used those hands I am sure.”
The Harmonizer continues to work wonders for the many who have petitioned its use. Unfortunately some of the world’s most rancid lesions fester unabated while doubt and cynicism seemingly paralyze the hearts and minds of its most powerful players.
On such global conflicts as religious/cultural strife, resource scarcity, poverty, disease—all of which underlie international hostilities—the EQAO 8888 Harmonizer can bring immediate and lasting results. Likewise, the Harmonizer can resolve interpersonal conflicts and individual troubles.
The Harmonizer requires only one ingredient to enable its miraculous powers to take effect: the mutual agreement of all parties about whom any particular conflict, problem or crises affects. The agreement that is necessary is not over what the solution may eventually be, as the Harmonizer will take care of that with 100% effectiveness. No, the agreement is solely one of mutual will and mutual decision to hand the problem over to the Harmonizer for resolution.
“This is a great day for humanity,” said Kaj Sigridsson who directed the project funded by the Swedish government. The Swedish delegation’s first test was the ongoing slaughter in Darfur. Over 20 different factions had to be convinced to sign the dispute over to the Harmonizer. Rebel leader Joseph Mahhaali was typical: “I laugh and said, ‘why not, we can kill tomorrow’ so I give machine our problem today.”
Little did anyone realize just how successful the Harmonizer would prove to be. Instantly the warring parties dropped their arms. Soldiers were reported standing in confusion right where they stood in their killing field, bewildered about why they were there and what they were doing. Many are undergoing counseling and treatment in the aftermath of the shock of learning what they had done over the last few years. Peace, production and progress have replaced the fear-induced hate.
What was once a land of scarcity became overnight one of abundance as they all discovered the magic of sharing, an occurrence that grabbed the attention of third world leaders. Lesotho Prime Minister Mugambe Makakole echoed third world sentiment; “We are so grateful for the Harmonizer and are ready to use it for our mutual benefit.”
However, not everybody greeted the Good News of the Harmonizer’s capabilities with the solid confidence and optimism its founders had hoped for. British PM Harold Fitzugh spoke for many of the G-8 countries: “This could be great news indeed for conflict resolution, but we’ll have to gauge its effectiveness on smaller affairs to see if it stands the test of time.”
Margaret O’Bannon, spokesman for United States President Vesper Scelero, said that while the Harmonizer looks promising “We will need to see what we’d have to sacrifice vis-Ã -vis other nations in order to determine how it will benefit our long term interests.”
Swedish Prime Minister Nils von Lundeberg was incredulous over the west’s skepticism: “The Miracle Machine WORKS! All that any nation, any person, any entity need do is agree to let it do its job of bringing harmony where there’s discord, peace where war, plenty where need, joy where gloom and it will achieve it. How can they not see this and accept its gift—a gift through the hands of man, but a gift from God who used those hands I am sure.”
The Harmonizer continues to work wonders for the many who have petitioned its use. Unfortunately some of the world’s most rancid lesions fester unabated while doubt and cynicism seemingly paralyze the hearts and minds of its most powerful players.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
On Tubby
I love Tubby Smith. Never have I known a person of such celebrity with his genuine grace and humanity. I had the privilege of knowing him through our (Dawahare's clothing stores) affiliation with the University as the official clothier of the coaches. We met upon his arrival, and I got to meet with him on a number of occasions. My fondest such meeting was at his office just before the NCAA tournament his storied first year. I took him a gift of SIX ties saying, “here coach, now you’ll need six for this tournament.”
He quizzically smiled and kind of looked at me sideways as he said with a chuckle, “now don’t do that to me.” Little did either of us know that he’d be leading that ’98 team to the National Championship. [And don’t listen to that utter hogwash “but he won with Pitino’s players.” To a man each of those players said they wanted to win it for Tubby. I truly don’t believe Rick Pitino would have won with that team].
Tubby obviously won a lot of hearts and minds that year, and beyond, with very good teams that twice just barely missed the final four. With SEC dominance, TWO number one seeds in 2004 and 2005, a humble personality and bottomless generosity he was a winner both on and off the court
Yet recruiting deficiencies dogged him the last few years. His very first year of recruiting held a foreboding experience: the nation’s top center, John Stewart, died before he was to enter school. Tubby handled that with class, just as he did everything, by having the family come down for a memorial game in his John’s honor—it was very touching.
--------------------------------------------
After the 2005 season, missing yet another Final Four by suffering a heartbreaking double OT loss to Michigan State, it got bumpier. Tubby had only one really good (on paper) recruiting class in four years—this year’s juniors—but they turned out to be a bad fit or plain over-rated. Two of them wanted to go pro (Randolph Morris and Rajon Rondo, a third tried to transfer (Joe Crawford). The two classes ahead of them lacked the kind of Prince or Bogans talent Kentucky needed, and the sophomore class is non-existent, the only player (Jared Carter) injured for the season.
Personally I would like to have asked:
1) "What's happened with recruiting? Not only the problems mentioned above but also the players that stay don't seem to exhibit true love and teamwork like your earlier teams. There was "team turmoil" and other inter-player issues about every year."
2) “Why have the teams been so out of sync on offense the last few years. No screens, no pick-and-rolls or backdoor cuts, errant passes, incessant dribbling. Your earlier teams were masters at great teamwork offense. Is the current failure a function of your coaching or that of your assistants--or is it just a lack of talent? And why don’t we guard the three like we used to?”
It’s academic now, but there remains an unresolved issue: the national media’s inaccurate portrait of the Kentucky fan base. We are painted as the cause for Tubby’s departure, as being ungrateful, impossible-to-please fans with highly mis-placed priorities.
The truth is that there was never more grumbling over Tubby than there was with Pitino—even as he was winning Championships—over his constant overtures to going to the NBA. Yes, there was grumbling over 10-loss seasons and the lack of Final Fours, but there has always been way more support FOR Tubby than against, even after this season ended. Jim Rome really nailed it, absolving the UK fans in the process http://www.jimrome.com/home.html.
---------------------------------------------
Now I read something today in the Louisville Courier-Journal that should have been apparent to all: Tubby’s deal with Minnesota was months in the making. As early as December sources told the Minnesota AD, Joel Maturi, that Tubby might be interested in a change. Maturi then spoke with search firm, Dan Parker Associates, who then got Maturi and Tubby’s agent, Ricky Lefft, together. They apparently hammered out a deal over the last SEVEN weeks, and when it was all but signed Maturi called Kentucky AD, Mitch Barnhart for official permission to speak with Tubby, which he did on Thursday.
Please keep in mind there was NO grumbling back in December. Kentucky had just beaten their fiercest rivals, Louisville and Indiana, and there was hope for a great season. But even then Tubby was apparently looking for a new opportunity.
Who knows what goes on behind closed doors, and what meetings Tubby had with AD Barnhart, but it certainly did not help that Barnhart gave less than solid public assurances that he even wanted Tubby to stay by saying he’d review the situation with Tubby at season’s end, and also that changes would be in order. No coach with any self-respect, especially one as accomplished as Tubby Smith could or should be made to suffer that kind of micro-managed meddling over staffing.
On the other hand Tubby did promise to make changes after the lackluster 2006 season, but none were made. So fans were understandably confused, especially when the product on the court didn’t seem to be improving.
So why did he leave? Perhaps Tubby didn’t care for Barnhart’s apparent lack of support or perhaps he really did listen to the call-in shows, although he says he never did.
Or, perhaps he saw the dismal prospects next season and beyond if his two prized recruits (Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas) spurned his offer. Neither would commit (why??). And word was Morris, the ONLY inside presence, was going pro.
In Minnesota he saw an opportunity to escape from a little-to-win-lot-to-lose situation (where he had just received a $1.5 million bonus for staying ten years) to a place with a great contract, an ELATED fan base and nothing but upside!
No, Kentucky's fans most assuredly did not force Tubby out and he has said as much also adding that he hopes the day comes when Minnesota fans have that kind of expectations.
In the end it works out great for him and I join all Kentucky fans in wishing him Godspeed. We hope that it works out as swimmingly for our wonderful University and fan base as it does for him.
I know it will. We are Kentucky. We’re humans with heartfelt passion, but in the end humans with class as well.
Richard F. Dawahare 3/24/07
He quizzically smiled and kind of looked at me sideways as he said with a chuckle, “now don’t do that to me.” Little did either of us know that he’d be leading that ’98 team to the National Championship. [And don’t listen to that utter hogwash “but he won with Pitino’s players.” To a man each of those players said they wanted to win it for Tubby. I truly don’t believe Rick Pitino would have won with that team].
Tubby obviously won a lot of hearts and minds that year, and beyond, with very good teams that twice just barely missed the final four. With SEC dominance, TWO number one seeds in 2004 and 2005, a humble personality and bottomless generosity he was a winner both on and off the court
Yet recruiting deficiencies dogged him the last few years. His very first year of recruiting held a foreboding experience: the nation’s top center, John Stewart, died before he was to enter school. Tubby handled that with class, just as he did everything, by having the family come down for a memorial game in his John’s honor—it was very touching.
--------------------------------------------
After the 2005 season, missing yet another Final Four by suffering a heartbreaking double OT loss to Michigan State, it got bumpier. Tubby had only one really good (on paper) recruiting class in four years—this year’s juniors—but they turned out to be a bad fit or plain over-rated. Two of them wanted to go pro (Randolph Morris and Rajon Rondo, a third tried to transfer (Joe Crawford). The two classes ahead of them lacked the kind of Prince or Bogans talent Kentucky needed, and the sophomore class is non-existent, the only player (Jared Carter) injured for the season.
Personally I would like to have asked:
1) "What's happened with recruiting? Not only the problems mentioned above but also the players that stay don't seem to exhibit true love and teamwork like your earlier teams. There was "team turmoil" and other inter-player issues about every year."
2) “Why have the teams been so out of sync on offense the last few years. No screens, no pick-and-rolls or backdoor cuts, errant passes, incessant dribbling. Your earlier teams were masters at great teamwork offense. Is the current failure a function of your coaching or that of your assistants--or is it just a lack of talent? And why don’t we guard the three like we used to?”
It’s academic now, but there remains an unresolved issue: the national media’s inaccurate portrait of the Kentucky fan base. We are painted as the cause for Tubby’s departure, as being ungrateful, impossible-to-please fans with highly mis-placed priorities.
The truth is that there was never more grumbling over Tubby than there was with Pitino—even as he was winning Championships—over his constant overtures to going to the NBA. Yes, there was grumbling over 10-loss seasons and the lack of Final Fours, but there has always been way more support FOR Tubby than against, even after this season ended. Jim Rome really nailed it, absolving the UK fans in the process http://www.jimrome.com/home.html.
---------------------------------------------
Now I read something today in the Louisville Courier-Journal that should have been apparent to all: Tubby’s deal with Minnesota was months in the making. As early as December sources told the Minnesota AD, Joel Maturi, that Tubby might be interested in a change. Maturi then spoke with search firm, Dan Parker Associates, who then got Maturi and Tubby’s agent, Ricky Lefft, together. They apparently hammered out a deal over the last SEVEN weeks, and when it was all but signed Maturi called Kentucky AD, Mitch Barnhart for official permission to speak with Tubby, which he did on Thursday.
Please keep in mind there was NO grumbling back in December. Kentucky had just beaten their fiercest rivals, Louisville and Indiana, and there was hope for a great season. But even then Tubby was apparently looking for a new opportunity.
Who knows what goes on behind closed doors, and what meetings Tubby had with AD Barnhart, but it certainly did not help that Barnhart gave less than solid public assurances that he even wanted Tubby to stay by saying he’d review the situation with Tubby at season’s end, and also that changes would be in order. No coach with any self-respect, especially one as accomplished as Tubby Smith could or should be made to suffer that kind of micro-managed meddling over staffing.
On the other hand Tubby did promise to make changes after the lackluster 2006 season, but none were made. So fans were understandably confused, especially when the product on the court didn’t seem to be improving.
So why did he leave? Perhaps Tubby didn’t care for Barnhart’s apparent lack of support or perhaps he really did listen to the call-in shows, although he says he never did.
Or, perhaps he saw the dismal prospects next season and beyond if his two prized recruits (Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas) spurned his offer. Neither would commit (why??). And word was Morris, the ONLY inside presence, was going pro.
In Minnesota he saw an opportunity to escape from a little-to-win-lot-to-lose situation (where he had just received a $1.5 million bonus for staying ten years) to a place with a great contract, an ELATED fan base and nothing but upside!
No, Kentucky's fans most assuredly did not force Tubby out and he has said as much also adding that he hopes the day comes when Minnesota fans have that kind of expectations.
In the end it works out great for him and I join all Kentucky fans in wishing him Godspeed. We hope that it works out as swimmingly for our wonderful University and fan base as it does for him.
I know it will. We are Kentucky. We’re humans with heartfelt passion, but in the end humans with class as well.
Richard F. Dawahare 3/24/07
Saturday, March 17, 2007
The Graceful Generation
Abe Cantees Joe Lane
Cliff Robertson, CIA director to his boss, John Houseman in Three Days of the Condor:
“You served with Colonel Donovan in the OSS didn’t you sir?”
“I sailed the Adriatic with a movie star at the helm. It doesn’t seem like much of a war now but it was. I go even further back than that, 10 years after the Great War as we used to call it before we knew enough to number them.”
“Do you miss that kind of action, sir?”
“No. I miss that kind of clarity.”
That movie dealt with a CIA plot to de-stabilize the Middle East in order to control the oil (sound familiar). Yet Houseman’s observation is an apt description for every war and every CIA covert operation since WWII, all of which are imbued with ambiguity: who’s really the bad guy, what purpose does our involvement serve, etc. etc. Today’s conflicts are certainly not of the black/white variety of yesteryear where the need was urgent and obvious. Further, it is this ambiguity that fuels the divisions we experience over such wars as Vietnam and Iraq, one side viewing them as essential wars of defense, the other as senseless wars of choice.
This all came to mind the other day in the mall as I spoke with my cousin’s father in-law, Abe Cantees, always one of the happiest, nicest people I’ve known, and now a spry 95. Uncle Abe and I spoke about a lot of things but eventually got to his service in WWII. He told me about going to France a few months after the D-Day invasion. One day German tanks were approaching the field when he and his crew took cover in a barn. The Gideons had given bibles to the servicemen on their voyage to England, so he kept that in his breast pocket.
It’s a good thing! The shrapnel from the tank tore through the barn, a piece cutting through his right wrist and another piece piercing the bible, which surely saved his life! Another twist of fate was that he spent 6 months in a hospital and when recovered sufficiently went back to his unit. Problem was there was no unit, just a sergeant who told Uncle Abe they had been shipped off to the Battle of the Bulge and killed in captivity, a fate he surely would have shared had he not been injured. He says there was constant fear and constant prayer.
Overhearing our conversation was yet another WWII veteran who was manning a sunglass kiosk in the mall. Joe Lane was 19 when he signed up January 2, 1942 same as legions of young men in the wake of Pearl Harbor. Mr. Lane became a marine, eventually a staff sergeant, and was sent to the Pacific where he spent four years, from Guadalcanal to Saipan, then Tinian (from whence the Enola Gay flew her historic mission over Hiroshima) and Iwo Jima. He too recalls being scared the whole time, at least during the stretches when they were in the field close to battle.
“You served with Colonel Donovan in the OSS didn’t you sir?”
“I sailed the Adriatic with a movie star at the helm. It doesn’t seem like much of a war now but it was. I go even further back than that, 10 years after the Great War as we used to call it before we knew enough to number them.”
“Do you miss that kind of action, sir?”
“No. I miss that kind of clarity.”
That movie dealt with a CIA plot to de-stabilize the Middle East in order to control the oil (sound familiar). Yet Houseman’s observation is an apt description for every war and every CIA covert operation since WWII, all of which are imbued with ambiguity: who’s really the bad guy, what purpose does our involvement serve, etc. etc. Today’s conflicts are certainly not of the black/white variety of yesteryear where the need was urgent and obvious. Further, it is this ambiguity that fuels the divisions we experience over such wars as Vietnam and Iraq, one side viewing them as essential wars of defense, the other as senseless wars of choice.
This all came to mind the other day in the mall as I spoke with my cousin’s father in-law, Abe Cantees, always one of the happiest, nicest people I’ve known, and now a spry 95. Uncle Abe and I spoke about a lot of things but eventually got to his service in WWII. He told me about going to France a few months after the D-Day invasion. One day German tanks were approaching the field when he and his crew took cover in a barn. The Gideons had given bibles to the servicemen on their voyage to England, so he kept that in his breast pocket.
It’s a good thing! The shrapnel from the tank tore through the barn, a piece cutting through his right wrist and another piece piercing the bible, which surely saved his life! Another twist of fate was that he spent 6 months in a hospital and when recovered sufficiently went back to his unit. Problem was there was no unit, just a sergeant who told Uncle Abe they had been shipped off to the Battle of the Bulge and killed in captivity, a fate he surely would have shared had he not been injured. He says there was constant fear and constant prayer.
Overhearing our conversation was yet another WWII veteran who was manning a sunglass kiosk in the mall. Joe Lane was 19 when he signed up January 2, 1942 same as legions of young men in the wake of Pearl Harbor. Mr. Lane became a marine, eventually a staff sergeant, and was sent to the Pacific where he spent four years, from Guadalcanal to Saipan, then Tinian (from whence the Enola Gay flew her historic mission over Hiroshima) and Iwo Jima. He too recalls being scared the whole time, at least during the stretches when they were in the field close to battle.
To Joe and his colleagues there was no doubt about why they were putting their lives on the line: to protect the rest of the world from Japanese who wanted only to destroy. As he said, they were taught to hate Americans and that it was their right to dominate the rest of the world. They had to be stopped. Black/white good vs. evil and they started it.
February 19, 1945 he recalled in detail. His bunker was being shelled hard so he exhorted his companions to get out. The next morning he went back and found the bloodied body of a fellow soldier who had stayed behind.
There are thousands of stories about this war; yet everyday we lose to the heavens those who were there to tell them. The thing about the veterans of WWII whom I have known, dad and uncles included, is that I have rarely met people of more humanity, more compassion, more inner strength, confidence, gentility, good will and good humor than them. It’s as if having gone through that hell and survived there is nothing in this good ol’ life that could ever shake them, that God and heaven are real, and when their time comes they are so, so ready to go.
I thank them and all veterans of every war, conflict or operation, including and especially those serving today in our armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond. Today’s wars may lack the clarity of yesterday’s, but not the heroic bravery of our soldiers.
There are thousands of stories about this war; yet everyday we lose to the heavens those who were there to tell them. The thing about the veterans of WWII whom I have known, dad and uncles included, is that I have rarely met people of more humanity, more compassion, more inner strength, confidence, gentility, good will and good humor than them. It’s as if having gone through that hell and survived there is nothing in this good ol’ life that could ever shake them, that God and heaven are real, and when their time comes they are so, so ready to go.
I thank them and all veterans of every war, conflict or operation, including and especially those serving today in our armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond. Today’s wars may lack the clarity of yesterday’s, but not the heroic bravery of our soldiers.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
WELCOME HOME, RICK!
Welcome home, Rick! Home to the shining jewel of college basketball.
Of course, it wasn’t always that way. In fact when you arrived it was but a muddy stone buried deep beneath the musty air of our hallowed traditions. Probation had sucked the pride right out leaving us with mere memories of how things once were, and despair that we may never reach those lofty heights again.
But you saw more in us than we did ourselves. You told us to hang on to our tickets, that soon they’d be the hottest in the land. A basketball junkie, you’d lay awake at night listening to Caywood’s cultured cadence in his perfect calls of Kentucky basketball, the signal—alternating from clear to creaky and back as strong as the King James version of the dunk—the same one your kindred spirits all across the Commonwealth were thrilling to.
Perhaps it was this mystical bond that would have your destiny intertwine with ours for Lute turned us down, and others too. But you recognized in this tarnished gem, the essence of our heritage and your coming to lead us re-affirmed our belief in ourselves.
You showed us how to work with all you’ve got—and then some—to attain the peak of perfection. Every little inch of the program bore your fingerprints. From intense conditioning, strategizing, stat keeping and marketing, to confidence building, up tempo Rupp-like run & gun and suffocating defense, you created the most exciting time any fan base anywhere any era could possibly experience.
There were the Bambinos, the Unforgettables, the Untouchables. There were the Armani suits and one very plaid sportcoat. There were big wins, big records, as well as heartbreaking losses, but in the end it was the highest a program could hope to reach, especially following the depths to which we had sunk.
Yet it is easy now, looking down from the summit, to forget the pit from which we’ve climbed, and the man who lifted us out. So please forgive those still bearing the sting of a jilted lover, for it is only wounded pride. Instead listen to the heartfelt thanks of those who appreciate what you’ve done and, in another Kentucky school (which through our taxes we all help support), continue to do for the Commonwealth.
Go Cats, Go Cards, Go EVERYBODY!
Richard F. Dawahare 3/14/07
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Innocence Aborted
College was full of fun and frivolity, the time of my life. Between near-daily parties with fraternity brothers, classes that were interesting, even inspiring, it flew by.
I developed the idea of going to law school my sophomore year, partly to continue my time in school and out of the work force, but mostly for idealistic reasons.[1] I was pretty much an apolitical, happy-go-lucky student; and while I discovered deep within my breast a core concern for social justice I remained blissfully under-aware of controversial issues. Such Constitutional crises of the day happened to “other people,” certainly not me.
So it was in my second year Constitutional law class. We started with Marbury v Madison, (established the right of judicial review)[2], continued with such infamous decisions as Dred Scott v Sandford (a slave is not a citizen but property without social, civil or political rights) and Plessy v Ferguson (allowed separate but equal treatment of blacks), to Brown v. Board of Education (over-ruled Plessy and outlawed racial segregation in public education), Miranda v Arizona (right of accused to be informed of rights to counsel and to remain silent) and then an oddly named case, Roe v Wade.
As I started reading the facts of Roe I kept bumping up against a new term, a word I never heard before, “abortion.” I had no idea what the case was about but as I kept reading—“Jane Roe…alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant; that she wished to terminate her pregnancy by an abortion”—its meaning became apparent.
It stunned me. I recall how revolting this was to me. In all my days of wine and cheese parties, dances, ball games, pub crawls and the like, who had time to consider such gross realities. If nothing else this case—indeed my whole law school experience—helped me realize the Pollyanna naiveté of my relatively carefree world.
But while the abortion issue held no relevance for me, there were others, like Roe (Norma McCorvey), for whom this was critically important, so I had to approach the issue with the proverbial open mind of legal objectivity. In this light the Court’s 7-2 ruling that the Constitution guarantees a woman’s right to privacy (under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment) was correct.
But was it morally correct I wondered. In most cases the fetus would become a living being, so aborting it, while not technically the murder of an out-of-the-womb human being, could nonetheless be seen as one.
However, the Court did not address the moral issue of when life begins: "We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicne, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer."[3]
I didn’t consider the issue again until years later, when the issue once again took center stage during Reagan’s second term. I recall struggling over whether it was an acceptable practice in the eyes of God vs whether we, as a society should condone it, that is, whether we should we accept the Roe ruling or discard it as many were/still are trying to do. I prayed about it and thought about it.
After months of this I met a customer in our Louisville store, an elderly gentleman who I learned was a minister. I don’t recall the denomination but it was one of the mainline churches. I sensed he could offer some direction on the abortion issue for me so I asked him what he thought—was it a sin? Was it acceptable or not?
His answer was not at all what I expected: “Abortion,” he said, “was not a murder for there is no human life until God breathes the breath of life into it. It’s right there in Genesis 2:7. If a woman chooses to do this it is her business. It is not a sin in the eyes of God.”
I can’t say that he answered the issue once and for all for me, as I still am searching for the ultimate truth. But I did feel a sense of heavenly sent direction that brought this gentleman to me for the purpose of giving me more clarity on an issue with which I was struggling to come to terms.
Today, I continue to seek the ultimate truth. By putting myself in the mind of those who believe that life begins at conception and who really, truly believe that a fertilized egg is a human, I can understand why they are so fervent to prevent any more abortions. Conversely, I see that those who believe in a woman’s right to choose do not equate the embryo with an out-of-the-womb human who has had the “breath of life” breathed into it.
Perhaps if we all put ourselves in the other’s shoes and saw life from that opposing viewpoint we would have a tad more compassion. And while this may not change our opinion, it just may save us from going to war about it.
Richard F. Dawahare 3/6/07
[1] Though I had not yet heard of him, I suppose Atticus Finch would be the gold standard for such urgings, and indeed he became that ideal upon my seeing Gregory Peck portray him in To Kill A Mockingbird at the student center theater during a break from studying for my last set of law finals.
[2] Were I ever to consider a political office at the federal level one objective I might have would be the radical amendment of mandatory ARBITRATION, especially in such boiler plate contracts as those with brokerage houses, money managers and the like. Congress has wrongly denied consumers access to the courts by allowing these mandated arbitrations in lieu of rightful access to the courts. Consumers have no real choice but to sign away their Constitutionally guaranteed rights. This must end.
[3] The Court only addressed the question of when one’s right to have an abortion begins. The decision established a system of trimesters that attempted to balance the state's legitimate interests against the abortion right. The Court ruled that the state cannot restrict a woman's right to an abortion during the first trimester, the state can regulate the abortion procedure during the second trimester "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health", and the state can choose to restrict or proscribe abortion as it sees fit during the third trimester when the fetus is viable ("except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother").
I developed the idea of going to law school my sophomore year, partly to continue my time in school and out of the work force, but mostly for idealistic reasons.[1] I was pretty much an apolitical, happy-go-lucky student; and while I discovered deep within my breast a core concern for social justice I remained blissfully under-aware of controversial issues. Such Constitutional crises of the day happened to “other people,” certainly not me.
So it was in my second year Constitutional law class. We started with Marbury v Madison, (established the right of judicial review)[2], continued with such infamous decisions as Dred Scott v Sandford (a slave is not a citizen but property without social, civil or political rights) and Plessy v Ferguson (allowed separate but equal treatment of blacks), to Brown v. Board of Education (over-ruled Plessy and outlawed racial segregation in public education), Miranda v Arizona (right of accused to be informed of rights to counsel and to remain silent) and then an oddly named case, Roe v Wade.
As I started reading the facts of Roe I kept bumping up against a new term, a word I never heard before, “abortion.” I had no idea what the case was about but as I kept reading—“Jane Roe…alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant; that she wished to terminate her pregnancy by an abortion”—its meaning became apparent.
It stunned me. I recall how revolting this was to me. In all my days of wine and cheese parties, dances, ball games, pub crawls and the like, who had time to consider such gross realities. If nothing else this case—indeed my whole law school experience—helped me realize the Pollyanna naiveté of my relatively carefree world.
But while the abortion issue held no relevance for me, there were others, like Roe (Norma McCorvey), for whom this was critically important, so I had to approach the issue with the proverbial open mind of legal objectivity. In this light the Court’s 7-2 ruling that the Constitution guarantees a woman’s right to privacy (under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment) was correct.
But was it morally correct I wondered. In most cases the fetus would become a living being, so aborting it, while not technically the murder of an out-of-the-womb human being, could nonetheless be seen as one.
However, the Court did not address the moral issue of when life begins: "We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicne, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer."[3]
I didn’t consider the issue again until years later, when the issue once again took center stage during Reagan’s second term. I recall struggling over whether it was an acceptable practice in the eyes of God vs whether we, as a society should condone it, that is, whether we should we accept the Roe ruling or discard it as many were/still are trying to do. I prayed about it and thought about it.
After months of this I met a customer in our Louisville store, an elderly gentleman who I learned was a minister. I don’t recall the denomination but it was one of the mainline churches. I sensed he could offer some direction on the abortion issue for me so I asked him what he thought—was it a sin? Was it acceptable or not?
His answer was not at all what I expected: “Abortion,” he said, “was not a murder for there is no human life until God breathes the breath of life into it. It’s right there in Genesis 2:7. If a woman chooses to do this it is her business. It is not a sin in the eyes of God.”
I can’t say that he answered the issue once and for all for me, as I still am searching for the ultimate truth. But I did feel a sense of heavenly sent direction that brought this gentleman to me for the purpose of giving me more clarity on an issue with which I was struggling to come to terms.
Today, I continue to seek the ultimate truth. By putting myself in the mind of those who believe that life begins at conception and who really, truly believe that a fertilized egg is a human, I can understand why they are so fervent to prevent any more abortions. Conversely, I see that those who believe in a woman’s right to choose do not equate the embryo with an out-of-the-womb human who has had the “breath of life” breathed into it.
Perhaps if we all put ourselves in the other’s shoes and saw life from that opposing viewpoint we would have a tad more compassion. And while this may not change our opinion, it just may save us from going to war about it.
Richard F. Dawahare 3/6/07
[1] Though I had not yet heard of him, I suppose Atticus Finch would be the gold standard for such urgings, and indeed he became that ideal upon my seeing Gregory Peck portray him in To Kill A Mockingbird at the student center theater during a break from studying for my last set of law finals.
[2] Were I ever to consider a political office at the federal level one objective I might have would be the radical amendment of mandatory ARBITRATION, especially in such boiler plate contracts as those with brokerage houses, money managers and the like. Congress has wrongly denied consumers access to the courts by allowing these mandated arbitrations in lieu of rightful access to the courts. Consumers have no real choice but to sign away their Constitutionally guaranteed rights. This must end.
[3] The Court only addressed the question of when one’s right to have an abortion begins. The decision established a system of trimesters that attempted to balance the state's legitimate interests against the abortion right. The Court ruled that the state cannot restrict a woman's right to an abortion during the first trimester, the state can regulate the abortion procedure during the second trimester "in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health", and the state can choose to restrict or proscribe abortion as it sees fit during the third trimester when the fetus is viable ("except where it is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health of the mother").
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