BEFORE I begin my post, I would like to send out some birthday shout-outs for the month of January (and if I have overlooked you, please accept my "oops"):
1. Jana Moore (4th), my dear friend/sister in Tomball, Tx
2. Marivel, Dora's great-niece from Big Spring, Tx
3. Michelle, Dora's niece (Marivel's mom) from Big Spring, Tx
Have a wonderful, fun-filled birthday! And if you didn't get exactly what you wished for at Xmas, here's your second chance!
KUDOS goes out to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina! Rex Wockner, a news reporter for gay media (12 years running) in, yes, count'em, 38 countries, updated his blog with a posting of the first gay marriage in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage throughout the nation is pending in Argentina's Congress and there seems to be enough votes to pass it, which is phenomenal considering the country is predominately Catholic! Other Latin American countries with similar laws include Uruguay, Mexico City (hey!), the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, and the Mexican state of Coahuila, yes folks, on the Texas border near Del Rio. (Eso! Eso!) And in case you weren't aware, other countries who have progressed (unlike the USA) include: Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden. If these countries can think outside of the box, why does this country refuse to do so?
AND NOW A FEW WORDS ABOUT OUR FANCY, SHMANCY AIRPORT SECURITY. Northwest Flight 253 averted a tragedy on Xmas Day. But, as this event makes painfully clear, the airport security systems put in place after 9/11 have serious flaws...still. And so do the bureaucracies that run them...still. When will we ever learn. The giant seems to constantly want to sleep. How in the hell was Mr. Abdulmutallab permitted to board an airliner with explosives in his underwear?! The worst of this story is that two critical pieces of info appear to have been connected: National Security Agency intercepts of al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen talking about using a Nigerian man for an attack, and a warning from the Nigerian's man father...HIS FATHER!...about his son's radicalization in Yemen. And yet, the U.S. sat on the info. YOU SHOULD WANT TO KNOW WHY! This case has the smell of pre-9/11 events, when the N.S.A., the CIA, and the FBI all had gathered bits of intel about the future hijackers. Did the U.S. act on this intel? Here's a hint: the Twin Towers are gone, as well as 3000+ people on board the hijacked flights. And now, let's fast forward to Xmas Day 2009. Let's be clear on one thing: the system did NOT work. It is disturbing to me that Janet Napolitano, Obama's secretary for homeland security, seemed to suggest, even briefly, that it had. MISS JANET, ARE YOU FUCKIN' KIDDING ME? If we can't catch a Nigerian with an EXPLOSIVE POWDER in his underwear and a syringe full of ACID, whose own FATHER had alerted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, a traveler whose ticket was paid for IN CASH and who DIDN'T CHECK IN BAGS, whose visa renewal had been DENIED by the British, and whose name was on a COUNTERTERRORISM WATCH LIST, who can we catch? On Tuesday, Obama acknowledged what he called a "systemic failure" in the nation's security apparatus and saying he would "insist on accountability at every level." I hope he was including himself because EVERYBODY bears responsibilty: the Bush regime for not connecting the dots before 9/11 and continuously failing to improve homeland security after that; the Congress under both parties for not being insistent on the changes; and the Obama administration (yes, Obama, yes, he gets no free pass from me), which has shown little interest until now in reforming what is clearly an inadequate security system. JFK was new to the Oval Office when he accepted responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco, even though there was more to the story.
MIKE LEACH MADE THE NEW YORK TIMES. It's too bad his termination as Tech's head football coach was the news-making topic. According to the NYT, "Leach said his dismissal stemmed from bitterness on the board of regents that lingered from his contentious contract negotiations last year." The story went on to quote Leach as saying, "Texas Tech's decision to deal in lies and fabricate a story which led to my firing includes, but is not limited by, the animosity remaining from last year's contract negotiations...I will not tolerate such retaliatory action; additionally, we will pursue all available legal remedies." While there are several former and current players and coaches who defend Leach, there are other Tech players who support Adam James. Tramain Swindall told the AP that he supports Adam and "what he's doing because it's the right thing to do." But it is the fan base the university and the James family must contend with. When Leach's attorney, Ted Liggett, read the termination letter from Tech, a chorus of boos was set off and the crowd became emotionally charged. Many of the fans wore black and red tshirts that read "I love Pirates," a reference to Leach's obsession with pirates. I was instant messaging with a friend who lives in Lubbock and she indicated to me that she heard students suggesting Adam hire security detail when he returns to his classes in the spring. She also said that many fans are painting messages on the windows of their vehicles with the words: "Fire Myers!" Interesting....
SINCE we are nearing the end of a decade--the 2000s--I thought it would be fitting to honor those we lost throughout the decade. If their deaths came in the first decade of the 21st century, their lives helped define the 20th.
We lost inanimate objects, but they were significant just the same: the Twin Towers.
We lost actors who ruled the silver screen with grand performances: Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Jason Robards, Glenn Ford, and Marlon Brando.
We lost those faces who we saw on a regular TV basis: Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Julia Child, Bea Arthur, John Ritter, Steve Irwin, Merv Griffin, and Fred Rogers, who always went by Mister.
We lost remnants fo the Kennedy years: Pierre Salinger, Arthur Schlesinger, Patricia Kennedy Lawford, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Edward "Teddy" Moore Kennedy.
We lost remnants of the Civil Rights Movement: Rosa Parks, Lester Maddox, and Coretta Scott King.
We lost a gracious world leader in Benazir Bhutto, who was leading a rally for her Pakistan People's Party in the parliamentary campaign she hoped would restore her to power early in 2008 when she was killed.
We lost literary giants: John Updike and Michael Crichton.
We lost entertainers: James Brown, Johnny Cash, Bo Diddley, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Luciano Pavarotti, George Harrison, and Celia Cruz.
We lost masters of film direction: Robert Altman, Stanley Kramer, Sydney Pollack, and John Hughes.
We lost our comic relief: Bob Hope, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Pryor, Bernie Mac, and George Carlin.
We lost an athlete: Johnny Unitas, taking with him his '60s buzz cut and his precision instrument of an arm.
We lost the man who gave us the Peanuts characters: Charles M. Schulz.
We lost the cartoon men: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
We lost fashionistas: Yves Saint Laurent, Bill Blass, and Liz Claiborne.
We lost an enigma: Anna Nicole Smith.
We lost shining stars: Heath Ledger, Natasha Richardson, Aaliyah, Left Eye of TLC, and more recently Brittany Murphy...deaths that shocked us for their abruptness, prematurity, and theft of promise.
And Finally, we lost a legend in TV: Farrah Fawcett. Though it was expected, Farrah's passing was still a devastating blow to those of us, her admirers, who felt she had been dealt a double blow by dying on a day when heads were turned in another direction; therefore, this direction shall remain nameless and without tribute.
The preceding list of those we lost may be people we never knew, but their deaths can feel personal. Their deaths, in many respects and in a fleeting way, compels us to take measure of what has slipped from our own lives. To be sure, they remind us of our own impermanence. That said, let us begin the new year--the new decade--with optimism. Step into the new decade with a new zeal for righting the wrongs in our lives and never passively accepting fate. Instead, exhaust every last ounce of will and hope in the face of any challenge or adversity. After all, approaching challenges and adversity with a positive attitude at lease gives you a chance for success. And remember, a successful life is not measured by how many people have loved you, but by how many people have been loved by you.
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