'Scuse Me: Is That a Bomb You're Wearing

Or Just a Prayer Box?

Oh dear. Just when you thought it was safe to get back on the plane...

Let's not delude ourselves into thinking that common sense will ever hold sway over any religion or religious belief. Christians have Pat Robertson and his deals with the devil, Muslims have fanatics who are hijacking the religion itself, and now the Jews have prayer boxes that look like little bombs strapped to their heads and arms. Jesus!

And to think we are debating whether to profile passengers in the never ending quest for airline safety during this "war on terror".

I refer to the story today about a 17 year old Jewish passenger who was reported to have "inadvertently" created a bomb scare on board a US Airways flight from New York to Louisville on Thursday, January 21, 2010. An alarmed passenger alerted the crew and the plane was diverted to Philadelphia. If you're interested read the story on Yahoo's The Buzz Log, January 21, 2010. (link: http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93331?fp=1).

In short, the young Orthodox Jew was wearing said prayer boxes (pictured above) called a "tefillin" in Hebrew, or a "phylactery" in Greek. And no, "phylactery" isn't the name of a dinosaur, although in my not so humble opinion, some religious beliefs in ALL religions are dinosaurs.

Now one should assume that airport security in New York would have diligently inspected the strapped-on contraption and determined, as was determined in Philly after inconveniencing a few hundred passengers and airline/airport staff members, that the tefillin was not a bomb.

However, we shouldn't be too hasty. If there are bombs that look like shoes, and airport security can't identify them as bombs, then what makes us think that airport security could determine that a prayer box that looks like a bomb, isn't a bomb? Maybe security simply thought that NO ONE would be bold enough to actually wear a bomb in plain sight, so they just let the young man go through without inspection.

Or maybe they DID inspect the tefillin and let the youth go through without, you know, informing the airline crew that the bomb-looking thingy strapped to a young Hebrew man wasn't actually a bomb.

But that would have required common sense on the part of airport security.

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, assistant professor of Talmud At Yeshiva University in New York told the Associated Press that the incident was a "...wake-up call for religious sensitivity." Here we go again with the drunken diversity and sensitivity nonsense I wrote about November 30, 2009 in my essay "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Mosque."

"We should," he stated, "be aware of ignorance just as much as we should be aware of terrorism."

NO. We should be much more aware of terrorism than we are of terrorism! By his logic of religious "sensitivity", we should be sensitive to shoe and underwear bombers for their religious beliefs. Sensitivity is a two way street, Rabbi.

Will this mental feast of diversity and sensitivity never stop?

Come on everyone! Let's just use some common sense from now on, religious beliefs notwithstanding. Is it too much to ask that if you can't tell bomb jokes at an airport ("Hi, Jack!!!") then you should refrain for an hour and a half flight from wearing anything that resembles a bomb?

Next time you fly, SAY your prayers: Don't strap them in black boxes on your head and arms!

Rick B. Baker

January 21, 2010

Rochester, NY

© 2010 by R. Burnett Baker

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

What A Crotch...Err, Crock

Let's set this part of the record straight right off the bat:  I was not a supporter of Barack Hussein Obama, nor am I currently a supporter of the Obama administration. 

But let's be fair where fair is due.  I suppose this photo has been circulating by email and on blogs and websites since early November, but it just crossed my tiny little space of internet lala land.  It has popularly been titled "The Crotch Salute".  I've seen a couple of different captions attached to this photo, but the upshot is that the captions state that President Obama was not saluting or placing his hand over his heart while the national anthem played on November 11, 2009 during a memorial for those killed in the Ft. Hood terrorist shooting. 

That is a lie. 

This photo was taken during the Memorial Day service on May 25, 2009, in Washington, DC. President Obama had just walked onto the stage during the playing of "Hail To The Chief", and stepped into line as the song finished.  It's that simple. 

Here is a link for the C-Span video of the event:  

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ID/206561&start=0&end=2520

Or go to C-Span and search the video link tab: 

http://c-span.org/

I don't care two craps for Republicans OR Democrats.  I think they're all a bunch of scoundrels, liars, egomaniacs, and some are outright criminals.  But if any individual, group, organization, or political party wants to stop the rapid socialization of this country, as well as the stripping of our constitutional rights, then actions, words, and images MUST be based in fact and on truth. 

Republicans:  You will not win elections by wallowing in lies and then circulating them through all forms of media. 

Democrats:  You will not maintain your control over the Executive and Legislative branches of government by wallowing in lies and then circulating them through all forms of media.  

Citizens and voters:  You will not regain control of our Constitution and Bill of Rights if you fall for every P.T. Barnum side show no matter how convincing the carnival barker may be.

Those of us who read all of this stuff online must carefully exercise due diligence before we hit the delete buttons of credibility.  We should all develop better habits of researching what we read, before we absolutely believe. 

If we don't at least attempt to find credibility in these stories, then we will all be left standing around scratching our crotches.  

Rick B. Baker

January 13, 2010

Rochester, NY 

© 2010 by R. Burnett Baker 

 

The Art Of Health Care

Sometimes when and where you least expect it, answers to our most complicated questions are revealed and we are left to wonder why we didn't think of them sooner.

For the Obama administration and all of our "elected" legislators, the plan for our so-called national health care issue has been found in Italy.  

The Italians, (who have not been able to maintain a stable government in decades, if ever) just might be able to provide the United States, (where a stable government can't seem to find and maintain answers to fairly direct issues), guidance for dealing with our national health care dilemma.  

Sicilian professor of pathological anatomy, Vito Franco of the University of Palermo, is a medical expert in the "study of famous subjects of Renaissance artworks", according to a story by Jeff Israely on TIME.com, January 9, 2010.  Professor Franco studies the characters in famous master paintings and presented his conclusions of their illnesses at a congress on human pathology last fall in Florence, Italy.  

Professor Franco has concluded that Mona Lisa suffered from xanthelasma, which is the accumulation of cholesterol under the skin. Who knew?  From the painting he determined that she had a fatty tissue tumor called lipoma on her right hand.  And that diagnosis without x-ray! 

Think of all the money the health care industry could save with more "medical experts" like the good Professor Franco.  Imagine the savings workers could enjoy with lower insurance costs. Corporations could save millions (billions?) of dollars each year on 

coverage for workers. All it would require is a canvas, a brush, oil paints, a trained eye and good glasses! 

Now if Professor Franco could only tell us how to diagnose a bloated bureaucracy.

Rick B. Baker 

January 10, 2010

Rochester, NY 

© 2010 by R. Burnett Baker

Bottom painting:  "Mona Lisa at 12" by Fernando Botero, 1978

Can You Remember Me Now??

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any real scientists left, or any real scientific studies being conducted in the world today.  I think back on studies I've heard about over the past 20 years or so that were reported in the press then never heard about again:  A Scandinavian study suggesting that human breast milk was killing cancer cells in lab rats.  Chili pepper juice made into a cream that was supposedly killing skin cancer cells.  Bee venom therapy for MS sufferers. All reported, yet never heard about again.  

And today the latest "unusual" scientific story was reported by Stephen Nohlgren in the St. Petersburg Times about a new study conducted by Professor Gary Arendash at the University of South Florida suggesting that cell phone radiation appeared to "cure" or at least mitigate dementia in "Alzheimer's mice".  Something to do with these little radiated rodents having fewer of the sticky protein lumps in their brains associated with Alzheimer's disease. 

Now I'm all for anything that will cure cancer, MS, Alzheimer's and any other horrible disease. But sometimes I have to wonder.  I mean isn't the scientific world and the general cell phone using public still studying, debating, and generally fretting over cell phone radiation causing brain cancer?  One group says it does, another says it doesn't.

I suppose it all depends on who is lobbying and paying for what. Basically, we're all left to wonder who to believe about anything and everything we read, whether it's health care, politics, global warming, or any other subject.  

Ultimately, all these issues are about politics.  But let's not get into that now.  I'm just somewhat amused today about rats, Alzheimer's, and cell phones.  Even more amusing, good 'ol fair and balanced Fox News had a pretty blond bimbette interviewing Professor Arendash about his findings which were published Wednesday in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.  Near the end of her interview she asked Professor Arendash, with a nearly straight face if we should all think about strapping cell phones to our heads!  Yep!  She sounded almost serious!  Of course he gave a stifled laugh and said "no".  But still.  She did ask.  

So, I just can't help but shake my head in wonderment and amusement. Science:  Global warming scientists (politicians) are measuring temperatures and sea levels in tenths of degrees and inches and forecasting the climate 50 years into the future, but the National Weather Service has complained recently to the government that they are underfunded, and  cannot acquire the updated equipment needed to hopefully give an accurate 3-day forecast.

  

And now one group of scientists think that cell phone radiation could cure Alzheimer's disease, while others believe it will cause brain cancer.  

I'd strap a phone to my head, but think it might be safer to hold it further away from my ear. But imagine, if you will, further research finally determining that cell phone radiation actually does  prevent or cure Alzheimer's.  I can almost hear the advertising from Verizon:  "Can you remember me now??" 

Rick B. Baker 

Rochester, NY

January 7, 2010 

© 2010 by R. Burnett Baker 

Rat with cell phone sculpture by graffiti artist Bansky.

Xray photo borrowed from listverse.files.wordpress.com

Hands free cell phone photo from onepennysheet.com

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Mosque

The Western "free" world is absolutely drunk on diversity.

In fact most of the Western "free" world, in its sanctimonious quest to please every country, religion, man, woman, child, ethnic group, race, lifestyle, economic class, disability, plant and animal, may soon drown in diversity. And we will have blindly and stupidly jumped into this raging sea of diversity without a lifejacket on.

This past week witnessed just one "small" example of this drunken stupor. The potential dangers from this example will, no doubt, whiz right past most of our heads. In particular, the diversity-drinking, liberal-minded mush heads in Europe and the United States will be wailing about racism, inequality, and unfairness. These are the folks in the drunken stupor. More on this later.

Here's what I would consider to be but one lifejacket: This past week Swiss voters overwhelmingly voted to approve a constitutional ban on the further construction of new minarets (Islamic mosque towers) in the country. According to an Associated Press release filed this past week by Alexander G. Higgins, this initiative and vote was a backlash against what many citizens see as a serious rise of Islamic influence and power in Switzerland in particular, and Europe in general. The referendum was supported and presented by the Swiss People's Party. This might seem like a petty, egocentric concern. But many Swiss citizens view the minarets as a symbol of rising Islamic political influence, and fear that Muslims will soon attempt to turn Switzerland into an Islamic nation, according to the AP report.

As pointed out by the AP, sponsors of the referendum said "...Muslims don't just practice religion. The minaret is a sign of political power and demand, comparable with whole-body covering by the burqa, tolerance of forced marriage and genital mutilation of girls..."

These fears have been voiced throughout several countries in Europe in recent years. There are real concerns that the increasing immigrant populations, and decreasing native populations in France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands, for example, will lead to the creation of Islamic states in these countries. Birth rates are increasing for the former, and decreasing for the latter. Immigration policies in these countries continue to bring in rich, poor, educated, and uneducated former colonists. (There must be some kind of guilt complex among the British, French, Germans, and Dutch: They seem to simply let anyone come set up house just to atone for being former white devil slave masters).

Some watchers expect France to become an Islamic state by 2040, and the Netherlands by 2015! Whether or not these predictions are accurate, it does give one pause. After all, the West IS fighting a "war on terror". The number one leaders of the enemy are Muslim fanatics. And these fanatics have been, and continue to be very clear about two things: They want to kill all infidels, and rule the world.

Now a bit more on diversity and the mush-heads I mentioned above. It's not my intention here to delve into the details of immigration policies and demographics of Europe. But these starry eyed bleeding hearts will agree with Omar Al-Rawi, a representative of the Islamic Denomination in Austria who was quoted by the above mentioned AP report as saying "The Swiss have failed to give a clear signal for diversity, freedom of religion and human rights."

Indeed, Mr. Al-Rawi.

Additionally, Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the British youth organization Ramadhan foundation, was quoted as saying "It's a sad day for freedom of religion. A constitutional amendment that's targeted towards one religious community is discriminatory and abhorrent." (my emphasis).

Indeed, again, Mr Shafiq.

Ok. Now listen up all you diversity loving, equality promoting, peace-love-dove-Hari Krishna-power-t0-the-people freaks! I want you to all buy plane tickets, fly to the heartland of Islam, (Saudi Arabia) and help Mohammed Shafiq spread his feelings about freedom of religion and how constitutional amendments to any one religious community are discriminatory and abhorrent!

DO IT! DO IT NOW! Stand up for what you believe to be true and good and right! Go there and walk towards the first minaret you see, and shout out your beliefs for all the world to hear. And see what happens!

Oh wait...that's right: You can't just go to Saudi Arabia. They won't let you in without an invitation and proper visa. And wait! This thing about religious freedom and discrimination, and human rights, and such: That's just not going to fly in the Kingdom. No sir! Here's a little reality check for you all:

-All citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia must be Muslims.

-The public practice of any other religion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is prohibited.

-Separation of religion and state in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not exist.

-The legal system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on Shari'a (Islamic law).

-Foreign imams are barred from preaching during Friday congregational prayers.

-Foreign non-Muslim clergy are not allowed to enter the country and conduct services.

-Distribution of non-Muslim items such as Bibles and crosses is illegal.

-Customs officials open mail to search for contraband and non-Muslim materials. (During three years of living in Saudi Arabia, I experienced this first-hand)

This is the tip of the ice-berg, but I think you get the picture. The home of Islam doesn't encourage, promote, or support non discrimination, diversity, or tolerance. How can anyone miss the hypocrisy in all the posturing about diversity and tolerance?

Trust me, no amount of bowing or foot kissing by President Obama will help this little situation either!

So next time you read a small paragraph about Islam in the West, Muslim honor killings (Ref: Story in USA Today, November 30,2009), the newest mosque, the Islamic school in your neighborhood, or efforts to enact Shari'a law in Europe, Canada, and the United States, stop and think. Ask questions. Research and read. And be cautious.

And be well aware: The home of Islam won't be backing you up when you shout out to the minarets about equality, discrimination, or diversity. The loudspeaker calls to prayer from those towers may drown you out faster than your drunken feast of diversity ever could.

©2009 by R. Burnett Baker

Graphic © 1980 by National Geographic Society, Washington, DC.

Black Friday

Single File, Please, Or You WILL Be Shot

That's my little Black Friday fantasy. That nasty little day is less than two weeks away, but in my perfect world, there would be no Black Friday. Thanksgiving would be a four day holiday with blue laws in effect. Gas stations and grocery stores would be allowed to open. That's it. No Target. No Sears. No Best Buy. And especially NO WAL-MART.

And come Monday morning, stores would be allowed to open their REGULAR hours. Period.

I'm here to remind you all of Mr. Jdimytai Damour, the part time Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death as he opened the doors on Black Friday last year in Long Island, New York. I wrote about that last November in my essay titled "Black Friday, Blood Red."

This week I heard about a website called blackfriday.com. Oh yeah! They give you all the latest about door busters (aptly named) in various retailers, and these mercenary businesses are helping sponsor this site. God only knows how many websites and blogs there are out there to fire up a little excitement among the throngs of recession-weary consumers. No doubt they'll be lining up at 2am to purchase the latest iWad.

As for Wal-Mart, I suggested last year that they should have been held accountable for the death of Mr. Damour, as well as the serious injuries sustained by a pregnant woman whose fate I never heard any more about.

Well, Wal-Mart got a slap on the wrist. Had to set up a $400,000 "victim's compensation" fund, and give $1.5million to social services programs and nonprofit groups! Are you kidding me? Social services programs? Let me go out on a politically incorrect limb here and suggest that some of those programs may be offering financial benefits to the very "customers" who trampled Mr. Damour to death!

Additionally, Wal-Mart was required to create crowd management plans for all of its New York stores. You know: How to enter the store. (Single file, please, or you WILL be shot!) Where to place the 50 cent plasma TV's. Check out line control. Store exit procedures and so on. Supposedly the company consulted with safety experts who have experience with the Super Bowl, Olympics, and concerts. I'm sure Mr. Damour's family takes great comfort in all that.

So, I'm here to request that NONE of you participate in Black Friday. If you do: Shame on you!

And if you know anyone who does participate in this travesty of commerce, do all you can to convince them to STOP IT NOW.

Enjoy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the three days following by sharing them quietly with friends, family, or alone if that be the case. And do it with peace and love in your hearts!

Rick B. Baker

November 14, 2009

Rochester, NY

© 2009 by R. Burnett Baker

Don't Let'em Score A Hundred!

With recent stories about bad behavior and the so-called "decline" of civility in our country today, out comes a story from Florida about a high school football team that beat an opponent by a score of 83-0.   The tone of the story was that it was shameful a coach would allow his team to run up such a high score, thus humiliating the opposing team.  Boo hoo hoo.

During my junior year in high school in Spring, Texas I was the starting center of the varsity team.  I weighed about 135 pounds, we had a 122 pound featherweight quarterback, our coach had a revolutionary ONE PLAY strategy that we were going to run for the entire 1969 season, and our team produced the longest consecutive losing streak in the state of Texas! 

That year we never scored a touchdown.  Not one.  

We lost our first game 7-0 if I remember correctly. After that we had losses of 49-0, 64-0, 56-0, and the mother of all our losses that year:  79-0.  I don't remember the other scores, but it doesn't matter.   I'll never forget half-time in the locker room during that 79-0 game.  Coming in from a driving, steady rain, our coach was literally foaming at the mouth, and the only words he could muster was, "Just DON'T let'em score a hundred!"  Those words came out through his foaming, clinched teeth!  All these years later I can't help but laugh. 

We were so bad, that the number one radio station in Houston at the time (KILT) would talk about us Spring Lions every Friday morning.  "How bad will they get beat this week?!?"  We were so bad that the then losing  Houston Oilers came to one of our Friday pep rallies!  We were (in)famous! We were considered losers.  Thinking back now, I don't believe we were losers:  We were just failures! 

But now 40 years later, some whinny mommies and daddies, and mollycoddling school administrators in Florida are all questioning whether it was sportsman-like for a coach to allow his team to continue scoring.  Boo hoo hoo again.  

At the beginning of our next season in 1970, Coach One Play had been fired, we began the year in a brand new high school with a new stadium and coaching staff, and our first game saw us score the first touchdown in nearly three years!  

We lost 7-6.  

We went on to score more and more touchdowns, we had some very close games, but we still didn't win a game that year, thus increasing the losing streak.  

But from those years of being beaten, and during our last year of rebuilding we learned life lessons.  We were taught by our parents that they could and did support us no matter had badly we played or what the score was.  They still cheered and yelled "Go Green!"  even when the score was 79-0.  We learned to have a sense of humor about our plight, even though we felt humiliated.  We witnessed the profound lack of leadership that fostered our losses, but were uplifted by the inspired humility of our new coach who never chastised us with clinched teeth, but encouraged us to pick up the slack, work harder, concentrate, and strive to work as a team.

 

He also taught us to appreciate any and every improvement and success even during moments of defeat.  

We learned that even failure has dignity if we did the best we could do with what we had to work with.  We were taught to never give up!  All that ultimately instilled in us a sense of decency and respect for self and others.  

That's what isn't being taught anymore.  A couple of generations of kids have been told that winning is bad and hurts the feelings of those who might not be as accomplished as you.  As a result, those who aren't as accomplished, don't get an opportunity to look at their failures "subjectively" and make objective decisions that facilitate success (winning).  

All the whining about how winners make others look bad will never inspire effort, learning, critical thinking skills, strategy, or creativity.  The mollycoddling that punctuates how we interact with each other these days will continue to stifle and squelch innovation and productivity, for both individuals and society.  It will encourage, at best, mediocrity, and even worse, an overall lack of civility because no one will have a real measure or benchmark of success and how to achieve it.  

The writer of the Florida story, Dallas Jackson of Rivals.com, posits this question:  "...when is enough, enough?"  The answer is this:  When they score 50.  Or 79.  Or 83.  Or 100.  To nothing!

Let'em score 200 hundred if they can, and let the losers (failures) learn as many lessons about hard work, persistence, teamwork, leadership, a sense of humor,  and humility as the score can teach. 

Rick B. Baker 

Rochester, NY 

 

©2009 by R. Burnett Baker