They are burying Joe Paterno today.

Many many people will stand up and talk about all the good things he did, while others will stand outside and try to remind people that it is the responsibility of good men and women everywhere to fight evil where they see it.

Throughout the past century there have been many countless cases of people who were not necessarily evil, but who stood by while evil happened.

There was the murder of Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese.
The actions of everyday people to German concentration and extermination camps.
The rounding up and internment of American citizens during WWII.

Such evil occurs every day because people who are not bad–who are not evil–ignore it. Because people think “someone else will do something about that.” Because people believe that if someone in power has allowed it, it cannot be wrong.

But it IS wrong.

A story appeared on Daily KOS about child molestation. I warn you, it is upsetting and distressing, not just the descriptions, but the realization that what is described happened to a ten year old child.

It should be read by all those who think that Joe Paterno is a hero to be worshiped.

He isn’t.

I am not saying he was a bad man.

I am not saying he did not attempt and achieve good things when given the opportunity that came his way.

But when push came to shove, when he was confronted with true evil, he did what most people do: He passed the buck and hoped that someone else would take care of the problem.

He had the power to stop evil, but he didn’t use it.

He did not make a stand when his legendary prowess and strength were most needed.

He allowed evil to occur, thinking–hoping most likely–that someone else was dealing with it. Hoping someone else would take care of it.

That failure? It doesn’t make him evil, it just makes him a coward.

To be honest, most of us are cowards. Few people in the world are willing to stand up against wrongdoing. To speak out against injustice.

Because it’s hard.

Standing up means that you will face ridicule. Disdain. Threats. Maybe even death.

Most people don’t have the heart or the balls to see what is right in front of them and take action. After all, it’s not their loved one in harm’s way. They have to look out for themselves, to protect those they love, first. Right?

Standing up against evil, against what is wrong is so very hard. It’s something that most people can’t do.

Does that make those people evil? I don’t know, but I don’t think so.

But it does mean they most certainly are not heroes. They are not deserving of worship and adulation by strangers.

So on this day when tributes are being made to Joe Paterno, I believe we are better served considering individuals and organizations that are in truth heroic. That have stood up and said: NO. This will not happen. I will not allow such evil to pass unnoticed and unremarked.

Erika Heymann
Paul Rusesabagina
Gyöngyi Mago

Simon Wiesenthal Center
National Sexual Assault Online Hotline
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

And maybe–just maybe–next time you see a wrong, you’ll stand up and say something. You’ll do what is right instead of what is expedient. You’ll take the hard road, strewn with ridicule and danger, and think not of yourself, but of the weak and the powerless who cannot stand up for themselves.

December 11, 1964

…A second evil which plagues the modern world is that of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, it projects its nagging, prehensile tentacles in lands and villages all over the world. Almost two-thirds of the peoples of the world go to bed hungry at night. They are undernourished, ill-housed, and shabbily clad. Many of them have no houses or beds to sleep in. Their only beds are the sidewalks of the cities and the dusty roads of the villages. Most of these poverty-stricken children of God have never seen a physician or a dentist. This problem of poverty is not only seen in the class division between the highly developed industrial nations and the so-called underdeveloped nations; it is seen in the great economic gaps within the rich nations themselves. Take my own country for example. We have developed the greatest system of production that history has ever known. We have become the richest nation in the world. Our national gross product this year will reach the astounding figure of almost 650 billion dollars. Yet, at least one-fifth of our fellow citizens – some ten million families, comprising about forty million individuals – are bound to a miserable culture of poverty. In a sense the poverty of the poor in America is more frustrating than the poverty of Africa and Asia. The misery of the poor in Africa and Asia is shared misery, a fact of life for the vast majority; they are all poor together as a result of years of exploitation and underdevelopment. In sad contrast, the poor in America know that they live in the richest nation in the world, and that even though they are perishing on a lonely island of poverty they are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. Glistening towers of glass and steel easily seen from their slum dwellings spring up almost overnight. Jet liners speed over their ghettoes at 600 miles an hour; satellites streak through outer space and reveal details of the moon. President Johnson, in his State of the Union Message12, emphasized this contradiction when he heralded the United States’ “highest standard of living in the world”, and deplored that it was accompanied by “dislocation; loss of jobs, and the specter of poverty in the midst of plenty”.

So it is obvious that if man is to redeem his spiritual and moral “lag”, he must go all out to bridge the social and economic gulf between the “haves” and the “have nots” of the world. Poverty is one of the most urgent items on the agenda of modern life…

…The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for “the least of these”. Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between the rich minority and the poor majority.

In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny. All life is interrelated, and all men are interdependent. The agony of the poor diminishes the rich, and the salvation of the poor enlarges the rich. We are inevitably our brothers’ keeper because of the interrelated structure of reality…/blockquote>

At the beginning of November I received one of those phone calls you dread–a friend was dead. She hadn’t shown up for work, and a co-worker went to her apartment where they discovered she had died over the weekend.

As we called other friends to tell them of the loss, we heard the same question again and again, “what happened?”

We didn’t know.

Over the course of the day we learned various details. She’d not been feeling well that week, and her coworkers and family had been worried about her. The thought was maybe she had pneumonia or an asthma attack, but those were all guesses. We wouldn’t know anything until the medical examiner’s report.

We talked a lot about her in the following weeks. She’d been unemployed and underemployed for the past several years, and at one point thought she was going to lose her apartment. But in the nick of time, as she was boxing up her belongings, unsure where she was going to go, she got a job offer. It wasn’t full time with benefits, but it was enough to allow her to catch up on her rent and not have to move.

She liked her job, and was delighted after so much struggle to be working again. We’d been so happy for her. Happy because it finally looked like things were turning around for her.

Then suddenly, she’s dead, without warning.

Any death is hard, but somehow it seems so much harder when it’s unexpected.

It reminds you that life is short, and you should embrace what you have while you have it, for you never know what tomorrow will bring.

It also reminded us that if we never know what will happen tomorrow, it’s a good idea to make sure your passwords and bank accounts are available for whomever comes after you and has to put away the pieces of your life.

Somehow, two months have passed, though it hardly seems like it has been that long. But it has, and the family finally received word from the medical examiner.

It wasn’t asthma.

It wasn’t pneumonia.

It was metastatic cancer.

See, when you’re unemployed and underemployed, you don’t have health insurance. And when you don’t have health insurance, you just suck it up when you get sick.

Unfortunately, there are some things that won’t go away with time. Things that only get worse if they remain undiscovered and untreated.

Metastatic cancer.

If you’re not clear on the term, that means the untreated cancer–wherever it may have started–spread throughout her body.

Spread until it finally killed her.

We cannot know whether a diagnosis and treatment would have prolonged her life. Chances are they would have given her at least a few months if not years.

But I do know one thing for certain: If she had been diagnosed, she almost certainly would not have died alone, without the chance say goodbye to those she loved.

So when politicians and talking heads claim that health care isn’t a right, when they claim that we have no moral and ethical responsibility to provide for the medical needs of every citizen, this is what happens.

People die alone.

And those who love them never get the chance to say goodbye.

“If I saw (Lawrence Russell Brewer) face to face, I’d tell him I forgive him for what he did. Otherwise, I’d be like him. My mom forgave all three of them. My mom didn’t want violence anywhere.”
–Betty Boatner, sister of James Byrd Junior

“What a travesty it would be if they don’t uphold the death sentence. … It’s time for justice today. My family needs justice.”
–Joan MacPhail-Harris, widow of Mark Allen MacPhail

As I was half listening to the news this evening, a piece came up that stopped me in my tracks.

The Fukishima nuclear problems have convinced a noted environmentalist that nuclear power is, in fact, a viable alternative.

It was very strange to hear a man delineating all the things I wrote last week about why I was undisturbed by the nuclear reactor problems.

Because as bad as things get, the amount of damage is nowhere near the amount of damage that occurs on a daily basis with coal mining.

As the world stares in abject fascination at the news coming out of Japan, no one outside of WV has heard about Massey Energy being sited for more than eighty (80) safety violations while they still claim that they were not to blame for the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, meanwhile they won a lawsuit over Marsh Fork Elementary. Did you know that a single coal slurry damn breaking has killed twice as many people as all the nuclear reactor disasters ever?

Yet we’re all in a tizzy over Fukishima, while ignoring the numerous deaths due to coal mining. Which is why I was pleased to hear that someone else had sat down and considered the actual dangers and was willing to speak out about where deaths and danger and destruction truly lie.

The following 146 people lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Leone, Kate, 14
Maltese, Rosaria, 14
Brodsky, Ida, 15
Mehl, Rose, 15
Viviano, Bessie, 15
Altman, Anna, 16
Billota, Vincenza, 16
Cooper, Sarah, 16
Franco, Jenne, 16
Grasso, Rosie, 16
Koppelman, Beckie, 16
Kupferschmidt, Tillie, 16
L’Abbate, Annie, 16
Midolo, Gaetana, 16
Miller, Annie, 16
Pasqualicchio, Antonietta, 16
Stellino, Jennie, 16
Brenman, Sarah, 17
Brunetti, Laura, 17
Cammarata, Josephine, 17
Caputo, Francesca, 17
Eisenberg, Celia, 17
Gerstein, Molly, 17
Gitlin, Celia, 17
Rosen, Israel, 17
Sabasowitz, Sarah, 17
Shapiro, Rosie, 17
Tortorelli, Isabella, 17
Weintraub, Sarah, 17
Wisotsky, Sonia, 17
Berger, Yetta, 18
Brooks, Ada, 18
Cirrito, Rosina, 18
Evans, Dora, 18
Fichtenholtz, Yetta, 18
Friedman, Rose, 18
Gerjuoy, Diana, 18
Goldstein, Mary, 18
Grossman, Rachel, 18
Hollander, Fannie, 18
Kanowitz, Ida, 18
Kaplan, Tessie, 18
Lehrer, Max, 18
Maiale, Bettina, 18
Nicholas, Annie, 18
Nussbaum, Sadie, 18
Pack, Annie, 18
Pildescu, Jennie, 18
Reines, Beckie, 18
Schiffman, Gussie, 18
Sorkin, Rose, 18
Stein, Jennie, 18
Wendorff, Bertha, 18
Bernstein, Essie, 19
Bernstein, Morris, 19
Dockman, Clara, 19
Horowitz, Pauline, 19
Jukofsky, Ida, 19
Kessler, Beckie, 19
Kula, Bertha, 19
Kurtz, Benjamin, 19
Lehrer, Sam, 19
Levin, Jennie, 19
Levine, Pauline, 19
Liermark, Rose, 19
Meyers, Yetta, 19
Neubauer, Beckie, 19
Oberstein, Julia, 19
Oringer, Rose, 19
Schpunt, Golda, 19
Caruso, Albina, 20
Feibisch, Rebecca, 20
Goldstein, Esther, 20
Goldstein, Yetta, 20
Maltese, Lucia, 20
Ostrovsky , Beckie, 20
Pearl, Ida, 20
Saracino, Teresina, 20
Schneider, Ethel, 20
Taback, Sam, 20
Velakofsky, Frieda, 20
Weiner, Rosie, 20
Brodsky, Sarah, 21
Del Castillo, Josie, 21
Hochfeld, Esther, 21
Lansner, Fannie, 21
Lederman, Jennie, 21
Maiale, Frances, 21
Nicolosi, Michelina, 21
Prato, Emilia, 21
Rosen, Fannie, 21
Rosenberg, Jennie, 21
Rosenthal, Nettie, 21
Schochet, Violet, 21
Weisner, Tessie, 21
Welfowitz, Dora, 21
Benanti, Vincenza, 22
Bierman, Gussie, 22
Giannattasio, Catherine, 22
Goldstein, Lena, 22
Leventhal, Mary, 22
Mankofsky, Rose, 22
Prestifilippo, Concetta, 22
Rosenbaum, Yetta, 22
Rosenfeld, Gussie, 22
Rothstein, Emma, 22
Rotner, Theodore, 22
Stiglitz, Jennie, 22
Terranova, Clotilde, 22
Uzzo, Catherine, 22
Wilson, Joseph, 22
Brenman, Rosie, 23
Florin, Max, 23
Klein, Jacob, 23
Liebowitz, Nettie, 23
Utal, Meyer, 23
Adler, Lizzie, 24
Donick, Kalman, 24
Salemi, Santina, 24
Schwartz, Margaret, 24
Ardito, Annina, 25
Cohen, Anna, 25
Cordiano , Michelina, 25
Dashefsky, Bessie, 25
Greb, Bertha, 25
Saracino, Sarafina, 25
Sklover, Ben, 25
Fitze, Daisy Lopez, 26
Floresta, Mary, 26
Manaria, Maria, 27
Binowitz, Abraham, 30
Colletti, Annie, 30
Pinelli, Vincenza, 30
Starr, Annie, 30
Bassino, Rose, 31
Carlisi, Josephine, 31
Schmidt, Theresa, 32
Lauletti, Maria Giuseppa, 33
Rosen (Loeb), Louis, 33
Seltzer, Jacob, 33
Rosen, Julia, 35
Ciminello, Annie, 36
Bernstein, Jacob, 38
Maltese, Catherine, 39
Herman, Mary, 40
Panno, Provindenza, 43

Photos from the Cornell memorial site.

Photos from the NY Times.

I’ve been mulling over this for awhile, as I’ve been listening to everyone and their monkey freak out over the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident. I am simply not the slightest bit stressed out about this, or, to be honest, very upset.

I’m not saying this isn’t a serious problem, because it is. What I’m saying is that what we’ve got going otherwise for power is a whole lot more deadly.

Total deaths from nuclear power reactor accidents, all time: 56

Deaths from mine accidents in the US only, last year: 31

Deaths from mine accidents in West Virginia since 2000: 46

Reported deaths from mine accidents in China in 2009: 2,631

That’s 56 deaths, ever, from nuclear reactor disasters, compared to 46 deaths, just in West Virginia, just in the past decade.

But wait! You cry, that doesn’t count deaths from cancer that happened later! Nope. It doesn’t. But it also doesn’t count deaths from black lung, and I’m pretty sure that number is a whole lot higher, just for WV.

But what about the environmental concerns and problems from radiation? Don’t make me laugh.

So like I said, I’m having a hard time getting worked up over and accident whose ramifications pale in comparison to what my state has gone through for more than a century.

See this site for some further comparisons of the human costs of different forms of energy.

Thanks Jim!

Here are some numbers:

Number of American children living in poverty (2009) 14,657,000 / 20.7%
Number of children in the US without health insurance (2008) 8,411,000
Number of children in the US who were food insecure (2007) 13,912,000
Infant mortality (2007) 29,138
Child deaths (2007) 10,850
Number of abortions in the US (2005) 1.2 million

Here are some comparisons:
Infant mortality < number of abortions
Child mortality < number of abortions
Children without health insurance > number of abortions
Children living in poverty > number of abortions
Children without adequate food > number of abortions

I often wonder about political priorities in light of what is really happening.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling

Here’s my story, two days ago, I was in San Antonio, Texas, and my mother had a large tumor removed from her head. They wheeled her away at 7:20 in the morning, and by noon, I was talking to her along with the rest of our family. It proved benign, thanks to a lot of prayers and good doctors at the Methodist hospital in San Antonio. My mother’s fine….No disrespect to our President, but when it comes to the health of my mother, I don’t want this President or any President or his bureaucrat or commissions making decisions for my loved ones.

Translation 1: “I’ve got what I need, to hell with the rest of you.”

Translation 2: “The peasants don’t have health insurance? Then let them use HSAs!”

(March 23, 2010; Sarah Palin’s website Facebook page)

”

We have had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months. Our office corner has really become an area where the tea party movement congregates. And the rhetoric is incredibly heated. … This is a situation where people don’t–I mean, they really do need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up and, you know, even things–for example, we’re on Sarah Palin’s targeted list–but the thing is that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. And when people do that, they’ve got to realize there’s consequences to that action.
–Rep. Gabrielle Giffords March 25, 2010

ADDENDUM the First:

ADDENDUM the Second:
Note that the date of the “Don’t Retreat–RELOAD” tweet is the same date the “Take Back the 20″ image went up on Palin’s Facebook page. (See also http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40965541/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/)

ADDENDUM the Third:

(T)hose were appalling things … said …, and to have … listened to that — with, I don’t know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn’t get up and leave — to me, that does say something about character. –Sarah Palin, on the importance of words and their meaning

Is anyone else boggled by the amazing irony of this?

Laid out at last weekend’s NATO summit in Portugal, the partnership would involve a greater role for Russia in the U.S.-NATO war in Afghanistan.

1) The children of illegal immigrants and illegal immigrants who are young children: what should happen to them?

2) Think back: It’s 2000. What did you believe should have happened to Elián González?

Just a check for internal consistency.

This is hard to watch, but it’s also brave and wonderful and everyone should watch it.

Just heard an interview with John Raese, Republican candidate to replace Byrd in the US Senate.

In an almost astounding case of, “Fuck you, I’ve got mine!” Rease said he wants to get rid of the minimum wage. “Asked if the federally mandated minimum wage should be abolished, Raese answered, ‘absolutely.’”

A couple of notes here, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. If an employee worked 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (which never happens mind you) they would have an income of $15,080.00 a year. The median income in WV in 2008 was $37,528. For the US as a whole it was $52,029, and in that same year, 17% of West Virginians had income below the poverty level.

Raese believes that West Virginians should be at the mercy of their employers in determine what is a “living wage” (Let me tell you, the minimum wage ain’t it)

He also doesn’t like regulation of industry, so not only does he believe that businesses can pay you as little as they want, he also seems to believe that industry can do whatever they want to the environment, their employees, their customers–that they answer only to their investors.

Yeah, we saw how well that‘s worked out.

And Raese’s record on safety speaks for itself as does his record on government spending.

Labor Day in the United States exists to celebrate the rights that workers in the United States have achieved in the past century, and to give us time to allow those who keep the power on and the trains running and all those other jobs that require you to get your hands dirty, a day to be recognized for their work.

We must remember the past, and some of the incidents that made labor unions so critical, and continue to make them important today.

Health and safety have improved vastly across the board in the past century. We hope never to have another incident like The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, where 146 men, women and girls died when the exits were barred and a fire broke out.

However, some industries seem hardly to have changed in the past century. Farmworkers struggle to live on less money than most Americans make in a year.

The median personal income from farm work and other work sources combined was between $5,000 and $7,500.

And the modern meatpacking industry seems in some ways hardly to have moved beyond conditions described by Upton Sinclair in “The Jungle.”

…the reported injury and illness rate for meatpacking was a staggering 20 per hundred full-time workers in 2001…

…OSHA administrators and independent researchers have found a common corporate practice [in the meatpacking industry] of underreporting injuries of all kinds. One recent estimate puts the undercount of nonfatal occupational injuries across industrial sectors as high as 69 percent.“

And then there is the industry of my home state, the coal industry. From the Mine Wars in the US of over a century ago, to modern mine disasters, such as the Upper Big Branch Mine and the Sago Mine men die while trying to make a living digging coal.

[Massey Energy] amassed more than 1,100 violations in the past three years, many of them serious. Federal regulators even ordered parts of the mine closed 60 times over the past year.

…two Massey Energy Co. officials who spent four unsupervised hours underground immediately after the deadly April 5 explosion.

[Coal companies including ICG and Massey Energy] …hope to use newly loosened campaign-finance laws to pool their money and defeat Democratic congressional candidates they consider “anti-coal,” …” they want to “”create a politically active nonprofit under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so they won’t have to publicly disclose their activities — such as advertising — until they file a tax return next year…

Today is the day to remember those who have lost their lives and their health doing nothing more than trying to make living.

Happy 90th anniversary of women having the right to vote! Go us!

Dear Teabaggers who are all up in arms about the Obama administration “destroying the constitution”, where the hell were you during the previous administration when Bush and his cronies were, you know, actually acting unconstitutionally?

Have you even READ the document you are so loudly and ignorantly defending?

Let’s start with one of the most egregious things the Bush administration did.

Here’s a section of the Constitution that delineates the powers of Congress (that’s Section 8 by the way):

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

Funny how Bush managed to skip that bit when it came to Iraq, isn’t it.

Then there was the issue of signing statements. Odd how nothing in Article 2 gives the president the right to say, “well, I know Congress passed the laws, but I’m telling you to ignore the law, just because I said so.”

Then let’s look at the Amendments, shall we?

Amendment 1 – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression (this is the one that comes BEFORE the gun amendment.)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

See that first part? You know what that means? Let me emphasize: no law respecting an establishment of religion. It means the United States is NOT a Christian nation, and attempts to make it one are unconstitutional.

Next part: abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. This one’s a little less clear. They wanted the only reporters to be “embedded” reporters. The goal was to stop independent press coverage of the war. That was walking a very fine line IMO.

Moving on: Amendment 4 – Search and Seizure

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Two words for you here, warrant-less wiretaps.

Next up: Amendment 5 – Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

No one may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Let me add to that: Amendment 6 – Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

So, the above amendments are referring to citizens, and in theory, non-citizens do not have such rights. However, lets go back to the rights of the administrative branch. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties.

What this means is we have treaties that govern how we can treat non-citizens, prisoners of war, etc. The Geneva Convention is one of the most famous, but there are other laws and treaties that govern how non-citizens should be treated.

Then we have the fools who believe that the Constitution is NOT a living malleable document and should never have been modified by succeeding generations (Despite Article 5 of the Constitution which clearly delineates the process for creating and ratifying Amendments). Fools like Sarah Palin would would not be able to vote if we followed the Constitution as it was originally written.

I rather like the right to vote and not be a second class citizen. I’m funny like that.

So what are these conservatives up in arms about? They’re enraged that liberals such as myself believe that all Americans–not just the rich–deserve access to health care.

Funny how those conservatives who claim that the United States is a Christian nation seem to be missing some important points of Christianity.*

Perhaps they need to read their bibles instead of just thumping them. But since they clearly can’t read the constitution, I have little hope for them.

* See: Deut. 26:5-9, Luke 4:16-21, Ps. 140:12, Is. 25:4, Ps. 10:14, Is 41:17, Luke 6:20-21, James 2:5, Deut. 15:7, Deut. 26:12, Lev. 19:19, Prov. 31:8, Is. 58:66, Jer. 22:3, Luke 12:33, Luke 3:11, Mt. 5:42 etc

As I mentioned to my friend Erin on twitter, I think it is fitting that the death of Senator Byrd has created an extra long Independence Day weekend to West Virginians.

Most who have never lived here do not understand precisely what Senator Robert C. Byrd meant to the state and its residents. They know he was was a member of Congress longer than anyone else ever. They know he was called the King of Pork. They may even know he had been majority leader, minority leader, and President Pro Tem of the Senate. What they don’t understand–can’t understand really–is what all this meant to those of us who lived here.

Senator Byrd had a checkered past in some ways. He was born in a time when racism was accepted and spent the first part of his life believing in those principles. However, he came to discover that outside differences mean nothing, and he came to profoundly regret his earlier beliefs and apologized for his earlier beliefs and actions.

Senator Byrd was the first person in his family to go to school past the second grade. While he was in Washington D.C. representing West Virginia, he got his law degree by taking night classes. But his education was far greater than that. He was a musician, a lover of poetry and verse, and he revered the Constitution and this country.

He went to Washington DC with one objective–to represent his state and to do everything in his power to improve the lives of its citizens. The “King of Pork” wasn’t an insult to him, or to those of us who lived here. He didn’t want to build a bridge to nowhere, he wanted to bring in money to improve the state and its population. He helped us build roads. He helped us build infrastructure. He helped drive government agencies and projects to the state. And he helped build the educational system in the state.

The building in which I work is officially called the Robert C Byrd Health Sciences Center, and within that complex of structures we have one of the top Rural Health programs in the country. The money he brought in did far more than provide jobs–it helped to create an educational system dedicated not just to educating future health professionals but to improve the health of all the citizens of the state by sending its students throughout the state to help provide health care in isolated and impoverished areas.

This is the legacy he left us.

He helped create systems that do more than create a handful of jobs, these systems support and improve the entire state and all its citizens. These systems attempt to reach out to those in isolation and poverty and provide them with the things that most people take for granted: Roads. Education. Health care.

He was a great man, and his like will not be seen again.

I’ve been watching the uproar over Facebook with a fair amount of bemusement.

Yes, I am on Facebook and have been there for awhile, however, from the beginning I have been careful what information I placed there. If you could find it by doing a public search of my name, I was OK placing on Facebook, otherwise, for get it. So my address and phone number have never been on listed, and the only e-mail addresses are my work address (which you can find it you search my name) and my address I give out to businesses and such. And neither of those was ever public. (Go ahead. Search for me on Facebook. See what you find.)

Yes, I probably do know a bit more about online privacy than most people, but it seems to me that not placing your phone number and address on a free website is a reasonable thing to do. If someone needs that information, they can e-mail me (or search for my work number–that’s out in the wild as well.)

But that’s where we get to the part I don’t quite get.

Facebook is a FREE service. It provides you with e-mail and a place to post pictures and an easy way to stay in contact with family and friends–all at absolutely NO COST TO THE USER!

Why on earth are people offended when a free service does things to make money? It’s not like there is a legal requirement that you use Facebook, it’s not like you are required to post your address or phone number, or give them anything more than a throw away e-mail address (OK, yes it was different in the beginning, when you need to have an edu account, but that’s essentially a public address.)

TANSTAAFL people!

Believe it or not, the internet costs money! Facebook (and Google and Yahoo and everyone else) has to pay money for the hardware upon which their content sits. And the busier your site, and the more content you have, the more expensive the underlying architecture.

For example, it costs me about $100 a year for hosting for this site. That’s about what I’ve been paying since Michael bought me my domain for Christmas a really long time ago (and I’ve used a variety of hosting services over time.)

Because I pay for this site, I expect certain things in return, such as prompt customer service, privacy, and the ability to do as I please (within reason) with my site.

I do not have the same expectations about Facebook. They are providing something for free, so I expect that they will want something in return, in this case, advertising.

You get what you pay for, and if the dollar amount you pay is free, then you’re going to have to expect to pay the price in some other way.

Would I pay if Facebook changed to a pay service? It depends upon how much they charged and whether those I keep in touch with remained on Facebook.

In many ways, I really like Facebook–I like a semi-secure place where I can keep track of a variety of friends and control to some degree what information is available to those who are not my friends. I love regaining contact with people I haven’t seen in years–yes, there are people who I don’t care as much about, but I can hide their status updates if they post things that annoy me, so it all comes out in the wash.

So yes, I would be willing to pay a small amount for Facebook; less than I pay to host my own site though–I don’t love it that much.

And that is what I think people need to keep in mind when they get all up in arms about the way Facebook or any other free service treats their information: You have recognize you’re going to pay the price in one way or another. Realize this, and privacy concerns really shouldn’t be an issue.

Go here. Really. I mean it.

Thanks Eric/Evan!

Last night on Twitter, Janiece made the following comment:

The thing I don’t like about FB: Finding out the RETARDED political opinions of people I otherwise like or care for. TMI, baby, TMI. LALALA.

This gave me the idea of creating Facebook groups and fan clubs for ridiculous politics. I enjoyed it so much, I thought I’d invite y’all to play along.

Here’s what amused me last night (you can see my thought process progress):

…I have joined the Millard Fillmore fan club

Teapot Dome: HARDING WAS FRAMED!

Michelle is now a fan of Aaron “Hamilton Shot First” Burr

Michelle has joined the group Did Washington Really Cross the Delaware: Dry Boots Say NO!

Michelle has joined the group Strange Women Lying in Ponds Distributing Swords Is A GOOD Basis for a System of Government

Michelle is now a fan of Watery Tarts Throwing Swords

Michelle has joined the group Standing Tall for Napoleon.

Michelle is now a fan of Justice for Olympus! No parole for Prometheus!

Michelle has joined the group Was Balder Really Shot by Holder? Loki’s Part in the Conspiracy.

Michelle has joined the group Justice for Finnegas! Make Fionn mac Cumhail Return the Salmon!

This is what I woke up to this morning:

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) issued a statement late Saturday saying that he was spit upon while walking to the Capitol to cast a vote, leading the Capitol Police to usher him into the building out of concern for his safety. Police detained the individual, who was then released because Cleaver declined to press charges.

“They were shouting, sort of harassing,” Lewis said. “But, it’s OK, I’ve faced this before. It reminded me of the ’60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean.”

Lewis said he was leaving the Cannon office building across from the Capitol when protesters shouted “Kill the bill, kill the bill,” Lewis said.

“I said ‘I’m for the bill, I support the bill, I’m voting for the bill,’ ” Lewis said.

A colleague who was accompanying Lewis said people in the crowd responded by saying “Kill the bill, then the n-word.”

Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., told a reporter that as he left the Cannon House Office Building with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a leader of the civil rights era, some among the crowd chanted “the N-word, the N-word, 15 times.” Both Carson and Lewis are black, and Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones also said that it occurred.

“It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis,” said Carson, a large former police officer who said he wasn’t frightened but worried about the 70-year-old Lewis, who is twice his age. “He said it reminded him of another time.”

That’s right. If you support health care for all Americans, you deserve to be belittled, insulted, and spat upon.

Republicans, I ask you to consider what “your side” is doing and how “your side” is acting.

When you allow these extremists to speak unchallenged, you allow them to speak for you.

YOU hurled homophobic insults at a member of Congress. YOU yelled racial slurs at a 70 year old veteran of the Civil Rights Protests. YOU spit in the face of a Congressman.

When you allow extremists to go unchallenged, when you accept their version of events without consideration, without evaluation, then you are no better than those cursing and spitting.

I’ll note that the Republican party is the party that has claimed the mantle of the party of God, and the party supporting religion.

Funny how Conservatives are willing to bring out the bible to support prayer in schools and to support forcing evangelical Christianity upon all Americans. Yet the actual messages of faith seem missing when it comes to their politics.

To be without health insurance in this country means to be without access to medical care. But health is not a luxury, nor should it be the sole possession of a privileged few. We are all created b’tzelem elohim — in the image of God — and this makes each human life as precious as the next. By ‘pricing out’ a portion of this country’s population from health care coverage, we mock the image of God and destroy the vessels of God’s work.
— Rabbi Alexander Schindler, Past President, Union of American Hebrew Congregations [1992]

The health of a society is truly measured by the quality of its concern and care for the health of its members… The right of every individual to adequate health care flows from the sanctity of human life and that dignity belongs to all human beings… We believe that health is a fundamental human right which has as its prerequisites social justice and equality and that it should be equally available and accessible to all.
— Imam Sa’dullah Khan, The Islamic Center of Southern California

Every person has the right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all persons, who are made in the image of God… Our call for health care reform is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve ‘the least of these,’ the priorities of justice and the principle of the common good. The existing patterns of health care in the United Sates do no meet the minimal standard of social justice and the common good.
— Resolution on Health Care Reform, U.S. Catholic Bishops [1993]

Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.
— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Now because the Spirit of Christ is implanted within Christians, we are to show great, transforming, sacrificial and unmerited love both to other Christians and to the world.”
–John 13:35

Addendum the First:
I was thinking about this a little more while I was baking, and what I was thinking addresses Jim’s point.

Yes, the Teabaggers are not necessarily Republicans, however, the Republican party has been more than willing to use their momentum and their outrage to push their own agenda. When the ideas of this fringe group mesh with their own ideas, Republicans are more that willing to give them support, either implicit or explicit. (See: Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman etc)

The Republican party is more than willing to accept Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck as mouth pieces to fire the party up and get Conservatives behind the conservative agenda. They allow Americans to believe that these individuals speak for the Republican party. They’ve enjoyed the momentum given them by the “Tea Party” activists, and do nothing to counter the outright lies. They do nothing to distance themselves from the vitriol and hatred, but instead point to it as “the anger of the American public.”

Bullshit.

That is not the anger of the “American public” but instead the anger of a handful of extremists who know how to gain the attention of the media, and have the money to spread their lies.

What I’m saying, is that if Republicans want to use these extremists to rally their base, then they need to accept that these individuals are going to represent them, unless they speak up and condemn those individuals.

91 years ago today The Great War, the War to End All Wars, official ended.

Twenty one years later, the second World War started, and horrors even greater were seen and experienced by soldiers and civilians alike.

On May 26, 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed Armistice Day–a day to honor those who fought in WWI–to Veterans Day, to honor all veterans.

Five years later, the Vietnam War would begin, and the American view of military service would change profoundly.

Of all the war memorials in the US (not including Arlington Memorial Cemetery) I believe that the Vietnam War Memorial is the most profoundly affecting.

The men and women who served during Vietnam were, for the most part, not the brave volunteers of the Greatest Generation, going off to defend our country from an unprovoked attack. Instead, many were drafted, often against their will, and sent to fight a war that was not supported by the American people.

Those who returned home were treated shamefully. Although I was only five when the war ended, I do not remember a time when I was unaware of this embarrassment (lest you think me a prodigal, wise beyond my years, my mother comes from a military family, and her father, who joined to fight in WWII, retired towards the end of the Vietnam War.)

It is because the war was so controversial, and because so many veterans were treated shamefully upon their return home, that I find The Wall so affecting.

It is if, as a country, we suddenly woke up to the wrongness of our actions. To me, the Wall, and the listing of the names of those who died, is in part an apology to each soldier listed there, it makes them individuals remembered for their service that was so unappreciated at the time.

Of course for the current wars, we have digital memorials that are updated daily, remembering those who have died with more than just names. And these memorials are deeply affecting. But nothing compares to standing at the wall and seeing name after name listed. The sheer magnitude of the loss is almost overwhelming.

So on Veterans’ Day, we should remember the individuals who have served, but in remembering the individual losses, we should not lose sight of the vast number who have given their lives in their service. We should remember not just those individuals who served and the sacrifices they made, but also the loss to the country of so many of our sons and daughters.

American Military Service from the Civil War to the First Gulf War
U.S. Military Service During War 41,891,368
Battle Deaths 651,030
Other Deaths (In Theater) 308,800
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 230,279
Non-mortal Woundings 1,431,290

To those who serve, past and present, thank you for your sacrifices so that we may remain free.

Inter Arma Silent Leges
-Cicero

If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war.
- Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

It is well that war is so terrible; else we would grow too fond of it
– Robert E. Lee

A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle.
– George William Curtis

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
- Thomas Jefferson

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
-Abraham Lincoln

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
- Benjamin Franklin

We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.
- William Faulkner