O' the day - 8.23.07

Heard a piece today that makes me increasingly eager to adopt an isolationist stance -- the piece (on NPR, of course) was about Liberians who will lose their TPS (temporary protected status) as of next month. Naturally, the U.S. is doing a great disservice to those we've taken in and housed and fed for the last ten years; how dare we actually enforce the "temporary" part of their circumstance? Understandably, the Liberian government may not be quite ready to take back thousands of its nationals, what with a poor infrastructure and all, but does this mean that we as the American people are obligated to care for these people until an undetermined point in time? I'm not quite sure where the U.S. became the protector of and the provider for the rest of the world, but I definitely am sure I'm not pleased with the idea. Have a civil war underway? Send all your citizens to the U.S. -- we'll take care of them. Have an economy on the bust? We'll pay for medical care and provide jobs for your natives. Have a dictator on the loose? We'll throw him out and rebuild your country, all at our expense -- feel free to complain loudly that the money we're giving you so freely isn't enough or being spent in the way you think best. Maybe the U.S. should simply declare itself neutral from now on -- no more wars, no more loans to other countries that have no intention of repayment, no more strife. Let everyone else in the world bomb each other until there's nothing left -- Israel and Lebanon, Iraq and Iraq, and so on. I'm tired of being personally responsible, politically and financially, for every citizen of every country in the entire world. Let them take care of themselves for a change.

O' the day - 8.22.07

Was link-to-a-link-ing this morning and came across the article above -- I know, I know, this is all textbook driving that's in the driver's manual every 15-year old reads prior to receiving their permit. It's a great reminder to the rest of us that might have forgotten a few of the finer points, though: signal your intentions, drive with the flow of traffic, and remember that while driving, the actual operation of your car is your primary responsibility. America has grown so fond of (and intermittently good at) multi-tasking that this reminder, especially the last point, is quite apropos to all of us, myself included. Maybe I'm just in the mindset of safe driving because I'm in the process of teaching my own 15-year old to drive; every other driver on the road has now become an enemy to anticipate, and a danger to beware. Pessimistic or not, I firmly believe that expecting the worst on the road prepares you more adequately for the variety of situations you will encounter, rather than assuming that for the most part, drivers will follow the advice in the above link. Call me cynical, I suppose.

O' the day - 8.17.07

The more I hear about Iraq and its people (albeit the grain of salt from listening to NPR is getting larger every day), the more I'm not quite sure I like them very much. Maybe it's just that the media only reports on the negative -- more truck bombs, more American troops killed, more instability of water and electricity supplies. I rarely hear about anyone thanking the U.S. for the help we've given in such large amounts, monetarily and militarily, but only the complaints that the Iraqi people don't like the way the U.S. is spending its money within the country; they'd like to have more control over that funding so they can decide for themselves what to do with it. Oddly enough, they don't seem to mind playing with someone else's money, but I don't see anyone in the country volunteering to donate some of their own.

O' the day - 8.14.07

An unexpectedly cheery note in NPR this morning (rather rare when that happens) -- the piece was a nice memorial about Brooke Astor, dead at the age of 105. While she married into money and didn't actually have to work for it herself, she made great use of what she had, giving away over $200 million in the last 60 years or so. Her desired epitaph was really inspiring as well: "I had a wonderful life." How many of us could truly say that at this point in our lives? We should be able to stop at any moment and think: if my life ended today, could I honestly say I had had a wonderful life? If not, what could turn my thoughts to where this could be my memorial as well?

O' the day - 8.10.07

Had to leave for work in the middle of quite an interesting story this morning -- the piece was about BET and the recent "thumbs-down" it's been given by the Association of Black Journalists. The primary reasoning for this designation was that the network portrayed blacks in an unflattering light, mainly because the large majority of television time is devoted to rap videos, and that the network failed to carry live coverage of the Coretta Scott King funeral. There were several very good interviews with activists who had fought for the channel in its infancy, and who were appalled at what it has become. I'm torn on this one, though; while I don't watch BET because I have no interest in their programming (most of which leans toward trash and stereotypes), I can't necessarily fault the station for not living up to what the ABJ would like it to be -- an unrealistic expectation that BET will provide thought-provoking, journalistically accurate, and political programming. That's a very large bill for a network with the word "Entertainment" in its name to foot, and one I don't think they should have to. "Black Education Television," maybe, but not a channel dedicated to providing young America with light fodder.

O' the day - 8.7.07

It's very funny listening to the rants against Rupert Murdoch and his purchase of the WSJ -- one would think the world was coming to an end, amidst hellfire and ice and brimstone. Apparently the news has never been reported with any spin prior to this point; Mr. Murdoch is the only owner who influences his transmissions. Heaven help us, but it appears the media according to Rupert will have a right-wing lean; I'm waiting for the WSJ to cosmically balance out NPR, so that I can read one and listen to the other and be assured of a nutritional news diet.

O' the day - 8.2.07

I wasn't blogging back during 9/11; even if I had been, I don't know that I could have transmitted the thoughts in my head coherently onto the page. I feel very much the same now, with the bridge collapses (where's the third shoe?) and the news I heard yesterday. My heart aches, both for the collapse survivors and their new unwanted experiences, and for a friend whose daughter who was killed in a solo wreck on the local interstate. She was only 20; I'm taking my oldest son for his driving permit next week -- the awful irony does not escape me. With age and privilege comes a terrible responsibility, and a mother's fear that her child might not always come home at night is a burden both tremendous and unexpected. With a heavy heart, life must go on.