Saturday, October 30, 2010

America's Plan To Vote Republican: Anger or Foolishness?

Election night is coming up in under one week and the airwaves are awash with predictions of doom for the Democratic Party. From the Senate races to the House of Representatives races, it's all gloomy news for the Democrats and the prognostication is that of a total clean sweep by the Republican Party. Chief among the reasons given for this impending annihilation of the Democratic Party in this election cycle is usually that the people are angry about the direction of the country. Other reasons include the state of the economy and the fact that this is a mid term election, and no incumbent party has ever survived a mid term election.

Among these reasons given, I find the anger reason, as why the Democrats are going to be swept out of office, the most intriguing. This is because I ask myself what this supposed anger is all about and I think that if the anger is about the state of this country, then the Democratic Party is the wrong target for it. I say this because, as an American, myself, I understand why people would be angry with the way things are right now. I understand that Americans are suffering in no small measures, and I understand that people are worried about the deficit.

I fully understand that the economy is nothing to write home about, what with the jobless rate that appears to be intractably hanging at very high percentages. I understand that people are hurting everywhere in the country because their are no jobs to be had. I get it that even when jobless people are willing to take a lower paying job than the ones they left, they can't even find such jobs. Yes, I don't question the people's right to be angry at this very difficult times in our country's existence, but what I do question is the rationale for the chosen direction of that anger. The reason for my decision is simple and clear for all to see who want to be rational and fair. Those reasons are what I'm about to state in this article.

That the economy is in the doldrums is an agreed upon fact but who is responsible for it being there? Who put in place the policies that brought the economy to this place where it almost completely collapsed and had to be resuscitated? Who deregulated Wall Street so much that they had the freedom to gamble with the economy with reckless abandon? The answer to that is the Bush administration which means the same Republican Party that the people are on the verge of putting back in power.

And if the fact that they put the economy in this shape is not enough for you, let's talk about efforts to try and get the economy back on track. Who has been working tirelessly to sabotage every effort that has been made by the Democratic government to bring the economy back? Who voted a hundred percent against the Wall Street reform bill? A bill that is made to bring Wall Street under control and prevent the same irresponsibility that everyone agrees brought about the economic crash? The same Republican Party who almost killed the country when they were in power.

The Republican Party tried all they could to kill the economic recovery bill without which this economy would have descended into complete depression. The Republican president that presided over the making of this economic debacle was the one who initiated the recovery bill when, even he was overwhelmed by the mess he and his party had made. He realized, rightly so, that for the economy to stand a chance of surviving, it needed a huge injection of money which is why he initiated the recovery bill.

Even when the bill passed, after they had cut it down to a level that greatly reduced its potency, they have gone out and lied about the effectiveness of the bill. This despite the fact that they all had requested and got money for their states and constituencies from the same bill they demonize. Despite their lies about the bill, independent economists have said that that bill was the difference between a recession and an outright depression. Evidence abound, everywhere around the country, of the success of the economic recovery bill in the form of jobs saved, jobs created and lives touched.

The people are also angry at the Democratic Party for raising their taxes which is a manufactured lie of the Republican Party, because about three hundred billion dollars from the economic recovery bill was dedicated to giving tax breaks to about ninety five percent of Americans. This tax break was incorporated into people's pay checks and was given, in little bits, every pay day. This was done in order to get people to actually spend the money to stimulate the economy. The tax break amounts to up to four hundred dollars per annum for single people and up to eight hundred dollars for families. If you have not noticed this tax break - and I know many people have not - just find a pay check from last year and compare it with your current pay checks.

The rationale behind giving the money in little amounts was that when people got that little extra with their pay checks, they are more likely to spend the money thereby stimulating the economy. Most of the time when people get bulk money, they would either save it or use it to pay down debt and that does not help to stimulate the economy. That was the problem when the Bush administration gave their tax breaks by sending people checks with the bulk amount.

The people are also angry because the financial deficit has ballooned out of all proportions and keeps growing in leaps and bounds. This is understandable but who is really to blame for this ballooning deficit? Is it the Republican government under Bush who dragged the country into two unpaid for wars whose costs, when eventually they are calculated, could be up to three trillion dollars? Is it the Republican Party under Bush who gave unpaid for tax breaks to the tune of $1.8 trillion dollars?

Unpaid means borrowed money therefore, this means that most of the deficit that Obama and the Democrats are being blamed for were brought on by the Republican Party. Even much of the money that Obama has added to that deficit was money that he had to spend as a necessity in order to keep our economy from tanking completely -for example the bailout bill. Added to this is the fact that the Republican Party which claims to be fighting against deficit are insisting that the Bush tax cuts be extended indefinitely for the richest two percent to the tune of over $700 billion in borrowed money.

The Republicans also point at the health care bill as an example of Obama running up the deficit but they forget to tell you that the total cost of the health care bill, that has been a life saver for many Americans, over the next decade is less than the money they borrowed and spent on the Bush tax cuts that could not stop the economy from going into a recession. Meanwhile the health care bill is completely paid for by savings made from streamlining the system and cutting out wastes.

So, what is the rationale for directing this anger at the Obama administration and the Democratic Party when it's clear that all they have done is try to find ways to remedy a really bad situation that was brought about by the Republican Party? Obviously, it cannot be because the Democrats are the cause of this suffering as that will be a lie, because they are not. So is it because this is a mid term election and incumbent parties usually get pummelled in mid terms? I want to believe that that is the reason which is why I want to also say that that will be a foolish decision for Americans to make.

Given what Americans are faced with, it will be extremely foolish of them to just base their voting decisions on tradition.  This is because there's too much at stake in this election to just go with the usual mid term flow. There has never been a mid term election that is this important to Americans' welfare because this is basically a choice between keeping the America we know and getting an America where the one percent rich will all be walled off in their castles, and up in their skyscrapers looking down on the wretched other inhabitants of America. In other words, this is about fighting for the very existence of the middle class in America.

No, this election is too important and it will not be anger but the worst kind of foolishness if we don't recognize that and give it the attention it deserves. It will be foolishness that Americans will regret if they go with the emotional tradition of mid term elections over physical evidence, this time.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Rand Paul Supporters / KY Tea Partiers Attack A Female Protester.



I watched this video clip with the utmost horror and it got me wondering what kind of country America is becoming in this twenty first century. It's absolutely shocking that something like this can be happening and nobody is showing commensurate outrage. From all the news media and cable television clips I've seen of reactions to this, it appears everybody has accepted this as normal and that's what makes it even more appalling.

The brutality of this brazen and unprovoked attack on this harmless young woman should be of huge concern to every American, no matter your political persuasion. It never portends well for a society when its citizens can take the laws into their own hands attacking other citizens for doing things that are legal, even if you don't agree with it. In civilized societies, citizens don't attack other citizens even when such other citizens break the law, they let the custodians of the law take care of it, which makes this attack even more heinous.

For people like Rush Limbaugh who defend acts like this, it's easy to do that when you are living in walled off mansions you acquired by corrupting the system through the lies and hate you spew everyday. If you have any decency -and I know that's like hoping for snow during summer - you would consider what you are doing to the poor people who listen to you because they believe you love them and are representing their interests.

Of course, we, you and I, know that you are not. We know that the only thing you love is the millions of dollars you are making. We also know that you are unscrupulous enough not to care how much damage and death you cause to others while making your millions. That, after all, is the stock in trade of "things" like you.

But, this article is not about you and your type. It will never be about you and your type because it's a waste of time to talk about you and your type. No, this article is about the hundreds of millions of decent Americans who are doing things like this in the misguided belief that they love their country and want to make it a better place for themselves, their neighbors, their children and children's children. This is about those among us who have been so wickedly deceived  into abandoning the core value of being our brother's keepers which made this country great.

This is about the hundreds of millions who seem to have imbibed this new, and potentially very destructive value of me, myself and I. This is about the beliefs that have brought us to this place where a FEMALE citizen of the United States of America can be assaulted in this dastardly manner, with impunity and with cameras rolling. This is about citizens having enough disdain for the laws of the land to not care about the implications of committing an act like this in front of cameras. This is about an act that effectively says, " we can do whatever we want and there's nothing anybody can do about it" This is about citizens saying, in concrete terms, "the laws of the land be damned".

Makes me ask, whatever happened to the "you don't hit women" creed? This is not saying that it would have been alright if this victim was a man, but.. Obviously the "you don't hit a woman" creed does not apply to "conservatives" because, left to them, women should be objects to be owned with whom you can do whatever you want - like force to bear your children after you have raped them, or committed incest with them. How else can you read this very public beat down of a defenseless woman by adult males?

Now to what should be done about this issue, many pundits seem either confused or oblivious as to what should be done to the culprits and I find that very baffling. In every news coverage of this issue that I've seen, the consensus verdict seems to be "I don't know what can happen". Well, let me bring everybody back down to the basics which is to state the simple fact that America has laws to deal with situations like this, unless what they're trying to say is that the law does not affect certain people.

While I know that Rand Paul cannot not be held legally responsible for acts like this from his followers, I also know that nothing stops the perpetrators from facing the full wrath of the law for their actions. This is assault and battery on an individual and we have a distinct law that deals with that, therefore that's a good place to start. Other charges can be added later, according to the physical and mental state of the victim after an attack like this. I have seen kids sentenced to jail terms for doing much less than this adult committed crime and you want to tell me nothing can be done?

For Rand Paul, it's left for the electorate in Kentucky to decide what his fate will be. It's left for them to decide whether the America of beat up, and possibly kill, anyone who opposes your ideas which he obviously proposes is where they want to be or not. He cannot be held accountable by the law but he can certainly be held accountable by the people of Kentucky at the ballots. Will that happen? We will find out, shortly..

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Republican Swindle About 'Obamacare and Stimulus'

Why try to mask it? That's the problem we have in this country. Nobody wants to say the truth and because of that, people walk right into burning fire thinking they're right. Call people idiots when they're being idiots and be done with it. Most of the time the shock of that will jolt them right out of their idiocy. You only need to watch most of the campaign ads to know that Americans are fools because it's only fools that can be deceived by such nonsense and people are being deceived.



If you vote Republican this November and you're not a rich and selfish person, then you're an idiot, period. There, Bob Cesca, that's how it should be said. F political correctness.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

The Tea Party's Wildest Dreams Come True -- in Britain. The Result? Disaster

Things used to be good when government was in the hands of the people. Now the rich are taking over and they all want to run the government as if it's an arm of their corporations, making decisions like they would in their companies. When you have never had to worry about anything in your life from birth, you have absolutely no understanding of what real life is all about. All you know are fantastic theories that you probably read in books and that's where you base your decisions. Take W for example and juxtapose him with Obama who had a humble beginning and you can see the difference in their attitudes towards the masses.



Like I always say, every country in the democratic world deserve the leaders they get and whatever those leaders do to them. Maybe Americans will learn or, not.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Friday, October 15, 2010

Cell Phones And Your Health: What Do You Know?

Are cell phones good for you? I got around to asking myself that question after I saw a news show on television that asked the same question but did nothing significant about providing an answer. Well, maybe not did nothing, rather didn't do enough about providing an answer. That got me thinking about why there is no conclusive answer on that question of the cell phone's safety or harmfulness.

So, why don't we know anything definite about whether a gadget that has been in such wide spread use by hundreds of millions of people around the world, for more than twenty years is harmful to us? Is there a particular reason why there haven't been any studies commissioned to find out this very pertinent fact? Or have such studies been done and if yes why haven't the results been made public?

Do we really have anything to fear about using these gadgets like many rumors have suggested? Rumors have suggested that the rays utilized in the signals that come and go from the cellphones can, and have in some cases of long use, caused brain tumors. There have also been rumors of these same rays being deadly to sperm production in males.

In fact, tests have been carried out that proved the sperm killing effects of cellphones. Sperm taken from volunteers was exposed to cell phone radiation over a period and it was discovered that about half of the sperm was killed while the sperms in the control experiment remained alright. Over the years, there have been lawsuits from people who claim to have gotten brain tumors and cancer from exposure to cell phone radiation. Even though these suits have not yet been successful, to date, many independent scientists and researchers have been speaking out about the possibility because of the radiation capabilities of the cell phone.

In the midst of all the argument, the regulatory bodies from around the world have been, at best,  non committal, rather giving out tepid, all is fine, answers to questions. The cell phone companies, on the other hand, have also presented the all is fine answer when asked publicly about it. But they have also resorted to small prints warnings on their products - I guess as a defensive measure against the lawsuits they know will come. In the fine prints they warn about the harmful effects of the same radiations they claim is harmless in real time.

Of course, few people bother reading the fine prints on anything, least of all, cell phone packages and, therefore, these warnings largely go un-heeded. But, if you ever get around to reading it, it tells you, in a non-committal manner, to keep the handset a certain distance from your body at all times, even when talking on your phone.

There are, probably, millions of detailed articles about the harmful effects of cell phones out there which you can access with a click of the mouse so, this one will not go into that. My article  will simply ask questions on why there is not a stronger regulatory input in the making and marketing of these devices, given the many evidence that abound, on its harmful effects on people? Given that even the manufacturing companies recognize these harmful effects and warn about them, albeit discreetly, on the packaging. And why would these companies be allowed to hide their warnings in very tiny prints that people hardly bother to read?

Why this sort of grey area fuzziness on something as potentially harmful to many as the cell phone when arguably less harmful things are forced to advertise with much more caveat? Remember cigarettes and how it's manufacturers are made to literally put a picture of damaged lungs the packaging. You are probably wondering how I can insinuate that cigarettes are less harmful than cell phones and this is why. The average age at which people start smoking is fourteen and it's not everybody who decides to smoke. The cell phone is a different proposition as it is a habit which everybody who can afford, forms.

And what is the average age at which people begin to use cell phones? Five years, and that is a very conservative quote because I have seen kids as young as three with cell phones. So, imagine being exposed to that radiation, on a regular basis, from that young, until adulthood. Remember that this is not the kind of habit you can quit, unlike smoking. Clearly, this is potentially, twice as deadly as cigarettes by sheer numbers if the rumors are true, and most evidence point to that being the case.

So, why is something like this still not a main stream issue, why is it still left in the back waters of the web where it is conveniently buried in the chatter? Is it by design that the regulatory bodies who should be protecting consumers are not saying anything worthwhile about this issue? Might it be because big money for big business is more important than our lives? Just asking questions and while we wait for answers, it will pay you to get a carrying case and head set for your cell phone. Also, do turn your cell phone off sometimes when you don't absolutely need it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Chilean Miners Rescued.

Today, the twelfth day of the month of October, 2010, at approximately 11:17pm Eastern Time (U.S.&Canada), the first of thirty-three Chilean miners who had been trapped underground in a collapsed mine for over two months was rescued. That was a great moment in that country's history marked by a gamut of emotions by  its people, the chief emotion being that of pride, and they had a lot to be proud of.

This moment shows what can be achieved when human beings pull together and act the brother's keeper instead of the new instinct of me, myself and I. The Chilean people rallied around the trapped miners and their families staying steadfastly with them throughout the ordeal making sure that no efforts were spared in the quest to rescue the men.

They made sure that the nation and the world never got any opportunity to move on and turn their back on the trapped men and their ordeal. And the result is that, thankfully, these men, all thirty-three of them, will be re-united with their families and have the opportunity to continues with their lives.

This moment is, indeed, a triumph of the indomitability of the human spirit given that the rescue that occured had to be planned and carried out from the scratch as there had never been a rescue from such a depth before now. The extreme depth of 2,040 feet presented novel challenges that were bravely tackled and surmounted by the Chileans with the help of NASA.

Well done to all the men and women who worked tirelessly, day and night from the first day that the miners were discovered to this last day of the rescue. The whole world salutes your courage, effort and ingenuity in planning and executing this wonderful and first of its kind rescue. And to all peoples around the world, let's all learn a thing or two from this moment of great achievement that everything is possible that we put our mind and effort to doing. Bravo Chile!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

That Google Robo Car That Drives Itself.

Google just recently released what has been touted, by some, as the future of the automotive world, the self driving vehicles aptly termed robo cars. According to google, this wonder on wheels will solve all our traffic problems as it will be, unlike human driven vehicles, infallible. It will not have all the problems associated with human driven vehicles, like accidents and road rage to name a few.  As the world celebrates this, obviously, great achievement, I want to advise that we look at take the achievement with the pinch of salt that it deserves.

Clearly, this is another attack on the masses by the super rich who, it seems, are hell bent on eradicating the middle and lower class from the face of the earth. While people might be swept into the fake euphoria of "scientific breakthrough" generated by the well paid press, the targets of this "breakthrough" are already quaking in their boots because they know, quite well, what has happened to other targets of "scientific breakthroughs"

These current targets, taxi cab drivers, know that they are about to lose their means of livelihood like millions of other people lost theirs to other "scientific breakthroughs". Most are already looking for alternative employment they know will be next to impossible to find, even as they put a brave face to a bad situation by declaring publicly that they have no fear of the robo cars.

They know, very well, what they are up against and they are not deceived, one bit. They know that was what bank tellers did before they were pushed into extinction by their own era's "scientific breakthrough" the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). Does anybody still remember bank tellers? The same thing too was what mall cashiers did right before most of them were replaced by the self check out machines. Ditto, toll booth operators and factory workers and librarian assistants and many more too numerous to put down here as that is not the main theme of this write up.

The point is, when and, more importantly, where will it end? When we have all lost our jobs to machines? Will it end when the rich, who keep getting richer by taking away our paychecks and pushing us into joblessness, get tired of making more money? I'm asking these questions because we are all culpable in this.

We are all culpable because it is our selfishness and laziness that has made most of these machine takeovers possible. Nobody seems to have the extra minute it will take to stand in line to be attended to by the cashier at the grocery store. Or, we are so in a hurry to get to our destination that the human toll collector is too slow and will waste all our time. Therefore, we prefer to zoom through the automatic toll booth and be on our way.

Clearly, the library assistants doing the check out at the library are too slow for our liking and it's more convenient for us to just do our own check out at the self checkout machine. Yes, we're all culpable due to our selfishness because if we didn't use, and enjoy, these machines' services so much,  there wouldn't be such a race, by the rich, to put more and more of them out there. This they do all in the guise of providing convenience, while hoping we fail to realize that they're also taking our paychecks and adding to their already bursting at the seams pockets.

You may think that you're educated with a degree or many degrees and, therefore, your job is safe but that is not the point. The point is that while your job may be safe now, there is no guarantee that it will be safe tomorrow. In fact, your job is only as safe as how long it takes before a "whiz kid" comes along and figures out what program it will take to make a machine do whatever it is that you do. I'm sure people who lived, even, ten years before the ATM never thought they'd see a machine like that.

Now it is the turn of taxi cab drivers to lose their livelihood to the already very rich, through machines. Do they have a recourse? No. They will go home, cry alone with their families, come out and try to put a happy face to their "fate" and life will go on. But, for how long shall we fold our hands and watch our world gradually heading toward disaster, even though we could stop it if we want?

Yes, we can if we are willing to change our attitudes from being selfish and all about self to caring about what happens to our neighbors. Whatever happened to love for neighbor that is preached by all the religions of the world. We, as human beings, are supposed to be a religious lot. Aside religion, we are supposed to be social animals which means that we can't live in isolation. That also means that what happens to one of us has an effect on the rest of us. It also means that the effects of these job losses will, in the long run, come round to hurt all of us.

I can think of a million and one ways it can affect us and I'm sure you can, too, if you put your mind to it. But, like I said earlier, we can stop this descent to unsustainable economic imbalance if we really want to. We can start now by making a pledge never to enter any taxis which don't have a human driver. If we don't use it, they will have no incentives to make it. It's that simple.    

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Citizens United Ruling: America's Path To Plutocracy.

The recent rash of negative advertisements against the Democratic Party's candidates around the country, by shadowy groups that are being variously funded by the American Chamber of Commerce, has shone a search light on the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court on the Citizens United case which gave corporations the same right as individuals when it came to campaign funding.

The Citizens United judgement which was decided 5 to 4 by the justices of the United States Supreme Court, gave corporations first Amendment Rights and allows them to spend as much money as they want to elect candidates for congress and the presidency. This being the first election after that landmark ruling, it has become an eye opener as to the effects that ruling can, and will, have on American politics going forward.

So far, this campaign season, the American Chamber of Commerce, which represents the corporations, has gone on a spending spree exercising this newly acquired right. According to official sources, the chamber has mapped out about seventy-five million to be spent electing Republican Party candidates. The Republican Party, says the Chamber, has "business friendly" policies which is why it's favored by them over the Democratic Party.

Recently, there has been an uproar about the sources of the funds that are being funneled into these campaigns by the Chamber. Rumors have been rife that monies from foreign entities, in the form of foreign corporations, have been among that being spent in the campaigns. Even President Obama has made his concern over this rumor known when he said, during a campaign stop last Thursday, "just last week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations" Mr Obama continues, "so groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections"

Mr. Obama's concern has been echoed over and over by other Americans, from cable news pundits to other concerned citizens about the possibility of foreign governments helping decide America's elections. This concern is real given that the Chamber has not been able to prove that the money it receives from its foreign affiliates, who are really corporations that are sometimes state controlled, is kept separately from the money it spends on election campaigns.

This is really very difficult to prove because while you might say those particular monies are lodged in a different account from the one you are spending from, you can't deny the fact that those monies are part of what makes you rich enough to be able to spend the large amount you are spending. Assuming you had $50million dollars, then took in another $50 million from these foreign  affiliates and spend your original funds on these campaigns, it's easy to see that you are able to spend your $50 million because you have a replacement for it. It's safe to say you wouldn't have spent your $50 million if you had not got the replacement, or at least, you wouldn't have spent it all at once.

The above argument makes the Chamber's defence, as was articulated by its chief lobbyist Mr. Bruce Josten, that the group has safeguards to segregate the monies from overseas affiliates from their other accounts, untenable. Mr. Josten said that they do the segregation in order to comply with federal law and avoid the foreign funds bleeding into political spending. Continued Mr. Josten, "We don't raise money from foreign corporations for our public affairs activities, I'm absolutely sure that we are in full compliance with all federal campaign laws"

That, of course, is true due to the Citizens United ruling that has paved the way for full blown plutocracy to be instituted in America. This is because the rich will find it very simple to take over government by outspending the other citizens through these corporations they own, and electing only those candidates who will do their bidding. And such candidates they have found, in large quantities, in the Republican Party which is why that party has benefited one hundred percent from the spending spree.

The fact that the Republican Party is the Chamber's chosen is also proved by the alacrity with which that  Party has come to the defence of both the Citizens United ruling and the American Chamber of Commerce spending. After celebrating the Citizens United ruling, they have come out in stout defence of the Chamber of Commerce spending, repeating the chamber's argument and accusing the Democrats and other concerned Americans of basically crying wolf.

The reality in all of this is that the rich with the help of the Republican Party, are in the last processes of turning America's democracy into plutocracy, a government by the rich. This plan that is about coming to fruition has been in the making over decades starting from the government of Ronald Reagan. It continued under George Bush senior with the Clinton set back in between him and the grand pubah, George W, who finally killed democracy in America. That Supreme Court ruling on the Citizens United case was just the icing on the cake which the party of the rich is going to take advantage of to reach utopia.

But, it's not too late for Americans to fight back. I've heard variously, and have even written about, how this upcoming election will be a referendum on President Obama and his achievements. And I say that Americans can really make it that referendum but in the form of a choice between what the Republican Party represents against what President Obama and the Democratic Party represent. It's not a difficult choice to make, all we need do is juxtapose the two ideologies and our choice will be clearer than the northern star.






http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/10/08/us/politics/08donate-g.html?ref=politics

Friday, October 8, 2010

Random Musings 1

Have you ever watched Black, White or Hispanic kids crossing the road? Have you noticed how they have no regard for the traffic light and just swagger onto the road, most times, causing drivers to screech their vehicles to a halt? Have you noticed how they step onto the road even when the light is on green for vehicles to have right of way? How  they take their time walking slowly and looking straight in the eyes of the vehicle driver, almost daring the driver to hit them?

Have you noticed how they step onto a busy road without as much as a glance either way to see whether a vehicle was coming or how close the vehicle might be? How they get on the road and it takes them anywhere five minutes to ages to cross? How they walk almost lackadaisically, swaying from side to side, all the while staring insolently at the vehicle driver for having the audacity to look annoyed.

That's actually what I find most annoying, the insolence with which they look at you as if to say, " why are you so mad because I'm doing such a mundane thing as crossing the road"? Or, why are you so mad that I'm an American youth exercising my rights and freedoms. Makes me wanna ask, what right, what freedom? Do you mean the right and freedom to be a fool?

Have you, on the other hand, seen Asian kids crossing the road? Have you noticed how they are model citizens during road crossing, and mostly everything else? How they dutifully look left, right and left again before venturing forward, almost timidly. And have you ever witnessed how they are immediately apologetic on the few occassions when they make the mistake of stepping onto the road without looking.

Very different from the other kids who would stare at you, almost malevolently, like you had no right to be on that road at that moment they chose to cross. Isn't it a relief to, every once in a while, run into well behaved kids in America? Kids who would actually say "excuse me sir, or ma'am" before they ask you a question or a favor? Instead of the ones who would demand, in a gruff voice, that same question or favor from you? Almost like it's their right to have that answer or favor and your job to provide it?

Isn't it a relief to know kids who would, actually, say "thank you" when you answer their question, or grant their favor instead of the ones who would simply walk away without, as much as, a nod of appreciation when you answer their demand? How about the kids who would say hi and be curteous when they meet someone? Isn't that a breath of fresh air given the norm with many American kids? Like I said, these are just some random musings of mine. What do you think?

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

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