Friday, September 29, 2006
THE DISAPPEARED
Now that torture is legal and the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus has been revoked, we might want to take a short walk down memory lane and remember the "Dirty War" of the Argentinians and how those who disagreed with the government were "disappeared".
Please visit this site, Project Disappeared and familiarize yourself with the stories if you are unaware of what happened.
I can't believe this could possibly happen here, but it could. The laws are in place for it to happen.
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Now that torture is legal and the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus has been revoked, we might want to take a short walk down memory lane and remember the "Dirty War" of the Argentinians and how those who disagreed with the government were "disappeared".
Please visit this site, Project Disappeared and familiarize yourself with the stories if you are unaware of what happened.
I can't believe this could possibly happen here, but it could. The laws are in place for it to happen.
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Friday, September 15, 2006
THE WELCOME FALL
Okay, so I've been away for awhile (what's new about that, Merc?). But here's the deal. If you go down my page a few posts, you'll be reminded that left the friendly confines of L.A. to move out here to Phoenix because, well, because it seemed like a reasonable thing to do financially and for my wife to be closer to her parents. So move we did and we bought the new house and fixed it up some and moved in and I got a job teaching theatre arts at a local high school which, aside from making a living as a professional writer, has always been a job I've always rather thought I was well suited to do. And, quite frankly, I really do enjoy it most of the time. It is difficult because I am taking over a department from another teacher who had a teaching style that was far different from mine own and some of the students who have been around for awhile have been slow to accept that there is more to their Drama class than acting and playing games and hanging out. I am somewhat more academic and technical and I emphasize the importance of writing and reflecting. Some students enjoy the new challenges while others are decidedly negative. Ahh, well. You can't make everybody happy, now can you? I'm having fun directing a production of The Mousetrap and the students, if anything, have been trained decently by their former instructor. Credit where credit is due.
Other than teaching and directing and wondering how anyone can really stand all this heat...really, I haven't been up to too much other than reading the occasional blog, seeing the occasional film and, well, mostly watching my son grow up day by day. At 13 months, he's mastered so called 24 month skills. He's ever so much smarter than me and he's left handed and throws a wicked fastball. He and my wife make me forget it has been over a hundred degrees almost all the time (so long as we're indoors!).
But now it is fall and, aside from going into an MA program for a degree in Education, I'm watching my students strugle with fewer and fewer opportunities, I'm living in a congressional district designed by a madman and represented by a lizard-like being (not a lizard...an insult to lizards. More like one of the aliens from V who would pop a gerbil in his mouth when you weren't looking). I'm wondering where I fit in all of this or if I fit in in all of this. My neighbors are nice people, but do they vote for alien lizardmen like Trent Franks or the increasingly strange and awful Bush? The people I tach with are good hardworking people, but when I set up nice lights for the JROTC, am I somehow supporting the early recruitment of my students for the endless war against Eurasia (or is it Eastasia?)? Will my son someday be faced with the decision as to what to do about fighting in a misbegotten war? Will he tell them 2+2=5 because he knows that is what he must say to avoid a long stay at Gitmo?
I often tell my wife I'd like to move to New Zealand. It's a beautiful place so very far away from everything and the Maoris have taken care of all of the dangerous animals, so it's really quite safe. If faced with having my child fight for filthy foul alien lizardmen and their putrid view of humanity as a means of delivering profit to their hutt-esque overlords, I don't see a lot of alternative to packing up the family, putting the animals in quarantine for a month, and jumping ship.
Some people ask if Americans are willing to give up freedom for safety and I wonder if you have to do so. Maybe you can just go be free and safe somewhere else.
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Okay, so I've been away for awhile (what's new about that, Merc?). But here's the deal. If you go down my page a few posts, you'll be reminded that left the friendly confines of L.A. to move out here to Phoenix because, well, because it seemed like a reasonable thing to do financially and for my wife to be closer to her parents. So move we did and we bought the new house and fixed it up some and moved in and I got a job teaching theatre arts at a local high school which, aside from making a living as a professional writer, has always been a job I've always rather thought I was well suited to do. And, quite frankly, I really do enjoy it most of the time. It is difficult because I am taking over a department from another teacher who had a teaching style that was far different from mine own and some of the students who have been around for awhile have been slow to accept that there is more to their Drama class than acting and playing games and hanging out. I am somewhat more academic and technical and I emphasize the importance of writing and reflecting. Some students enjoy the new challenges while others are decidedly negative. Ahh, well. You can't make everybody happy, now can you? I'm having fun directing a production of The Mousetrap and the students, if anything, have been trained decently by their former instructor. Credit where credit is due.
Other than teaching and directing and wondering how anyone can really stand all this heat...really, I haven't been up to too much other than reading the occasional blog, seeing the occasional film and, well, mostly watching my son grow up day by day. At 13 months, he's mastered so called 24 month skills. He's ever so much smarter than me and he's left handed and throws a wicked fastball. He and my wife make me forget it has been over a hundred degrees almost all the time (so long as we're indoors!).
But now it is fall and, aside from going into an MA program for a degree in Education, I'm watching my students strugle with fewer and fewer opportunities, I'm living in a congressional district designed by a madman and represented by a lizard-like being (not a lizard...an insult to lizards. More like one of the aliens from V who would pop a gerbil in his mouth when you weren't looking). I'm wondering where I fit in all of this or if I fit in in all of this. My neighbors are nice people, but do they vote for alien lizardmen like Trent Franks or the increasingly strange and awful Bush? The people I tach with are good hardworking people, but when I set up nice lights for the JROTC, am I somehow supporting the early recruitment of my students for the endless war against Eurasia (or is it Eastasia?)? Will my son someday be faced with the decision as to what to do about fighting in a misbegotten war? Will he tell them 2+2=5 because he knows that is what he must say to avoid a long stay at Gitmo?
I often tell my wife I'd like to move to New Zealand. It's a beautiful place so very far away from everything and the Maoris have taken care of all of the dangerous animals, so it's really quite safe. If faced with having my child fight for filthy foul alien lizardmen and their putrid view of humanity as a means of delivering profit to their hutt-esque overlords, I don't see a lot of alternative to packing up the family, putting the animals in quarantine for a month, and jumping ship.
Some people ask if Americans are willing to give up freedom for safety and I wonder if you have to do so. Maybe you can just go be free and safe somewhere else.
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Wednesday, September 06, 2006
I WRITE LETTERS
I sent the following letter to the programming department at KNXV, Phoenix's ABC affiliate:
To whom it may concern:
It is my understanding that you plan to air a fictional program regarding the events leading up to the 9-11 attacks. This program has been reviewed by experts on the subject and they have found numerous fallacies and misrepresentations contained in the film. As this is the case, do you plan to give a reasonable opportunity for a factual rebuttal by experts of the errors and misrepresentations in this fictional product?
Thank you for your time.
Let's see if and how they respond.
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I sent the following letter to the programming department at KNXV, Phoenix's ABC affiliate:
To whom it may concern:
It is my understanding that you plan to air a fictional program regarding the events leading up to the 9-11 attacks. This program has been reviewed by experts on the subject and they have found numerous fallacies and misrepresentations contained in the film. As this is the case, do you plan to give a reasonable opportunity for a factual rebuttal by experts of the errors and misrepresentations in this fictional product?
Thank you for your time.
Let's see if and how they respond.
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