The rumbling retrospectoscope missed James Worthy in a prearranged meeting with the Lakers in the glory days of the old Forum .He displayed the skill and tact that comes through today with his sports broadcasting.Only the Yale buzz of the anticipated showdown between Schollander and Tanaka(?) the Japanese “flying fish” resonates from the 60s.It’s time to polish the lenses and refocus with help.It’s also time to acknowledge the support by my old friend Herb Wolfson, a classmate from Public School 63’s terrible Terman class in the Bronx N.Y.this goes back a mere 73 years. Thanks Herb and pitcherinthewry.blogpost.com
The world of course will not wait.We have mass executions of Coptic men in Libya,Another Scandinavian episode, another antisemitic outburst in
Europe and in the U.S.,Mississippi and Alabama stumble into the news reaching back to the horrors of the past while (some) grasping for a cogent future. We octogenarians do not all have the same view of the present, past or future. What we do share is a hope(more than a conviction) that reason can prevail in human affairs and that the U.S with the (to me Lincolnesque) leadership of OBAMA can lead the way.women’s right’s commemorations are on the way and underway.This may not mean that we’re ready(as a nation) for Hilary There’s some “splainin” to be done. (Not Benghazi)…Stay Tuned!!!
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Presidential fantasy
On the 1st of Feb, Fareed Zakaria of CNN aired an interview with President Obama who said the following about “radical Islam”:
“But it is absolutely true that I reject a notion that somehow that creates a religious war, because the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject that interpretation of Islam,” he said. “They don’t even recognize it as being Islam. And I think that for us to be successful in fighting this scourge … is very important for us to align ourselves with the 99.9% of Muslims who are looking for the same thing we’re looking for — order, peace, prosperity.”
Maybe someone can tell me, where did the President get his information – information that tells him that among the Muslim communities only one-tenth of one percent desire and will fight for a very different sense of “order” and “peace” than that favored by those of us in the west? Every study that I have seen presents a dramatically different picture of reality than the vision apparently held by the President. It took only a few minutes to locate some PEW research on this issue and it refutes dramatically this important premise used (and perhaps believed) by the President.
An April 30, 2013 a Pew Research summary reports that: “The percentage of Muslims who say they want sharia to be “the official law of the land” varies … from fewer than one-in-ten in Azerbaijan (8%) to near unanimity in Afghanistan (99%). But solid majorities in most of the countries surveyed across the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia favor the establishment of sharia, including 71% of Muslims in Nigeria, 72% in Indonesia, 74% in Egypt and 89% in the Palestinian territories.” In another PEW study it was found that 76% of Muslims in Southeast Asia “favor a penalty of death to those who leave Islam”.
I have difficulty believing that Obama did not have accurate data about the Muslim issue before he became President. Also, a healthy reasoning process would normally be self-adjusting as new information presents itself. Also, if others are feeding him falsehoods, why does he surround himself with such people? His fraudulent selling of the ACA indicates a character that is less than honest.
Are the social dangers we face caused by ignorance, fear and exploitation? These are unavoidable parts of the human condition. It will always take courage, energy, brains, and leadership to diminish their impact. I like the concept of honesty to help educate and guide us with the power of accuracy-based consensus. Whatever the reason, this President misleads and divides us.
It may be true that we cannot “police the world”, but that does not address the possibility that the world needs policing. We could be a better clarifying force helping to guide sufficient collaborations to that end. It is a possibility that Obama believes that the US needs to become a weaker force in the world, given his apparent lack of concern about massive cuts in our military budget (The ease with which he accepted sequestration rather than compromise).
Most important (when we dissolve fantasy); this is not a conflict that we can avoid – multi-millions have already declared war on us (war on western values). Our only option is that of fighting or acquiescing. Time is of the essence. They are getting stronger, and increasingly have the ability to inflict significant damage. The stage is being set for a conflict that potentially exceeds the dimensions of history. We will interfere with their design earlier (suffering painful losses) or later (suffering massively painful losses). Adult (reality-based) leadership would prepare us to do what must be done.
I think that we can all agree that we live in interesting times!
Don Spencer
Reblogged this on The Octogenarians.
We have left out the horror of North Carolina and the implicit ,as yet unproven abuse of gubernatorial power in Oregon.And of course the travesty of Crimea continues.Intelligent,informed discourse may give us time,time may afford opportunity.The gun,the sword,and the bomb cannot kill the alienation that comes from a deadly mixture of inequity and ideology.