wordsmithlind

There sure are a lot of things going on in the world now that 2008 is drawing to a close.  Israel continues to pound Gaza in an unbalanced show of power.  Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed someone to Obama’s tainted Senate seat against the wishes of House Democrats.  The problems in the Congo are still going on, global warming is an issue still, corporations are using “being green” as a new selling point, and here is the only good news to come out the end of the year, I continue to write about the Chicago Blackhawks for www.chicagosporting.com!  Yes, in all this madness at least the Hawks are doing well.  So hesitate not, go to www.chicagosporting.com and read my articles.   

Last I checked, Hamas was a relatively small percentage of the population of Gaza City.  Bombing the city proper, killing innocent civilians with F-18 fighter jets is hardly an attack on Hamas, but an attack on an entire population.  I understand that Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel over the course of the last few days, but not a single person was harmed.  Does Israel really think that invasion and slaughter will make the attacks stop?  Violence begets violence, this is nothing new.  Israel needs a new foreign policy, and the United States needs to reevaluate its own.  Neither of these ideas are profound.

I did not realize how much I like to read about Iran until the other day.  There is a tinge of humor to every article I read.  My previous favorite comedian, Hugo Chavez, is just getting fatter and fatter while his people are supposedly well taken care of.  So, not to stray, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has spoken the quote of the year, and maybe one of the best Christmas quotes of all time.  He said Merry Christmas, “bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.”  At least he speaks the truth this Christmas day.  Then he said that if Jesus were alive he would stand against these powers due to their bullying and all other crimes against humanity.  The truth comes from weird places, it all depends on how it is presented.     

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081224/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_iran

Who knew the Iranian government was a fan of irony?  They might want to think about moving their headquarters to Williamsburg, Wicker Park, or the Mission District?  Next thing you know Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be wearing tight black pants and the Shah, Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, is going to ditch the palace and replace it with an overpriced rehab in a gentrified part Tehran.  Hey who’s that on that ten-speed?  Oh, that’s the Army of the Guardian of the Islamic Revolution.  They ditched the tanks and the guns a long time ago in favor of NES Zappers and retro 80s head scarves.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_human_rights

Now this is news, real news, not the type of news that just speculates on world events and Obama appointees.  No, this is the hard-hitting, groundbreaking stuff we’ve come to expect from the fourth estate.  Yes, this it.  Thank you AP for this.  Apparently, leave it to the Texans as well, some wildlife experts at Texas A&M are trying to figure out the sexes of Santa Claus’ reindeer.  The results may shock you.  If there are any small children in the room, you may want to escort them out of the room.  Everything we’ve ever thought may be thrown out, all indoctrinations may be disturbed, the world itself may never be the same again…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081219/ap_on_fe_st/rudolph_s_gender;_ylt=AnEyIfRrod82iR3aRIXLNxpG2ocA

That is the hope.  A recent internal State Department report says that the private contract aka mercenary army currently in Iraq may have to leave.  It is about time.  The idea of private armies is daunting and frightening.  Not only the fact that a corporation can have an army, but the fact that there are private armies for hire, loyal to no nation, willing to work for the highest bidder.  It is the profit driven equivalent of the extremist armies in Iraq, Pakistan and other places.  Where they are fighting for a cause, Blackwater and groups like them are fighting for profit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081217/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_blackwater

In the German news magazine Der Spiegel, there was an interesting article about police brutality in the United States due to the use of electric TASERs.  Since 2001, over 320 people have died at the hands of the police.  In one incident, an epileptic man, a doctor no less, who had just survived a car accident after having a seizure who in coming out of the effects of both traumas, failed to follow police orders and was shocked to death.  The Amnesty International Report also states that the police have been reported to use TASERs on children, senior citizens, and pregnant women. 

Let’s imagine a report like this came out in Greece or some other country, would this injustice stand?  No.  For some reason police brutality is an accepted privilege the police have in this country.  It is in their power and no one can question the police’s activities.

http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/0,1518,596670,00.html

http://www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/taser-abuse/page.do?id=1021202

 So have you ye, I write, right, for www.chicagosporting.com covering the Blackhawks, mostly doing post game stories.  Hopefully in the future I will be doing features and interviews, but for now it is just game stories.  Also, how about those riots in Greece?  Lots of stuff burning, looks like the focus has been lost.  A point was made and then taken too far.  Senseless violence it is now.  I saw a picture of a girl rioting holding up her fingers in the peace sign, I thought that was ironic.  Now solidarity riots in other parts of Europe, seems like the ultra-left just looking for a reason to break stuff.

Five Italian police officers were sentenced to jail for the way they handled (i.e. beat) G-8 summit protesters.  Italy is long known for its corrupt political system so this rare gem of justice is a well-needed sign of hope for protest movements all over the world.  I could not imagine the courts and the government ever siding on the side of a protest movement in the United States even though the police have been more than guilty of illegal behavior at numerous protests, most recently in Minnesota at the Republican National Convention.  Police illegally raided homes, tear gassed and fired rubber bullets into the crowds, and beat individuals.  Not a single police officer was charged.  A large reason for this is the complete lack of media coverage of the event.  And it is not just this protest but every protest in the US.  The reason the movements in the 50s and 60s were so effective was because of their visibility, where everybody had to take responsibility for their actions.  Without visibility these protests go unnoticed, thus the police are free to do what they want.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081211/wl_afp/italyg8violencepolicecourt_081211023911

Good job there, Blago, you make it two Illinois governors to be arrested on corruption charge.  Did you not get to office as the well needed purity and reform Illinois needed to get back on track after all the corrupt years under Republican George Ryan?  Now you are caught on tape trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat?  Come on…  

What’s funny about Blago is that corruption was in the air long before any of this came about.  You would think that he would have been aware of this, as I was and anyone that catches the televised advertisements for the Chicago news on any channel, and steered clear of scandal, especially around something on the Federal level.  Did he not think the government would pay attention to this?  Now the Republicans have the upper hand in 2010, the next Illinois governor election.  I am getting flashbacks of ’94…   

On top of this, the right, and cable news channels, now have an opening to criticize Obama before he has even sworn in.  Though he is not directly involved, his name is attached, and thus he, according to some, can be guilty of association.  McCain tried that in the campaign, remember Bill Ayers…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/ap_on_go_pr_wh/illinois_governor_analysis