Okay, I thought I had heard everything during my lifetime, but this blows me away: the man who attempted to extort $2 million from Dave Letterman in exchange for not publishing the sordid story of his office affairs says it was merely a business transaction. His lawyer insists that because Halderman repeatedly stated that Letterman did not have to pay and/or accept the offer, it’s not extortion or blackmail.
Really? I thought all these years that blackmail/extortion is when one person, who has something criminal or embarrassing about another person, says, “Pay me x amount of money and it all goes away. Don’t pay me and I expose the dirt I have on you and you deal with the consequences.” That is what happened in this instance: Halderman said to Letterman, “Pay me the money and it goes away; don’t pay and I publish the story and you deal with the consequences.”
No, the lawyer says, it was simply a business offer: pay me and you own the story; don’t pay me and I publish it and you deal with the consequences. Halderman would have made a hell of a lot more money had he published his expose, so why would he offer it to Letterman in exchange for a mere $2 million? That's why it's called extortion/blackmail.
I will never condone what Letterman did, nor how he made his conduct a joke on national TV, instead of signing off the air and going home to his wife, but it’s how he makes his living. Letterman was smart to get ahead of the story and diffuse the situation that could have been much worse as a result of refusing to pay the extortion. I'm sure Letterman's public exposure of the blackmail attempt blew Halderman's plans to make a buck off the comedian all to hell, as well as making him look like an idiot for thinking he could get away with the scheme. If he's convicted of the crime, he cannot publish the manuscript because law prevents a criminal from benefiting financially from a crime, so I guess hiring a lawyer is just an attempt to keep the publication doors open. He'll need the money to pay his legal fees!
No matter how you dress up the “business” transaction, it was an extortion attempt, plain and simple. Man up, dude.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
This Little Light of Mine
Literature is the means by which we shine a flashlight onto society to illuminate what is so we can validate what needs to be. Historically, there are pieces of literature that paint an ugly picture, while others point to a path that benefits all of mankind. In the effort to be politically correct, a fine screen play has been renamed by a local high school theatre class, changing Twelve Angry Men to Twelve Angry Jurors. Pivotal to the story is the fact that the jurors are all men, historically accurate in its portrayal of the group dynamics that characterized the men’s club that was our society for far too long. The message, if we don’t learn from our history we are condemned to repeat it, is lost in the translation from what was to what someone has decided should be by not just changing the title of the play, but its focus and, therefore, its message.
The message is lost in the changes that today’s society deems politically correct, as if denying the history changes it to something more palatable. While teaching To Kill a Mockingbird, I insisted that the students say the word nigger as that is what was common during the 1930s, the setting for the story, as well as an appellation one black person uses to greet another today. After reading that word for an entire novel, students develop both an understanding of and appreciation for racial epithets that, on the surface, seem benign, but which stigmatize an entire race of people. People with black skin were historically referred to as negra, which is the Spanish word for black, but when the word was bastardized into nigger and used in a derogatory manner against all people with black skin, it became a racial epithet. We can add to the list the words wop, spic, beaner, slant eyes – and so many more derogatory names for people we fear solely because they are different.
Atticus Finch, the protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird, addresses an all-male jury in the defense of Tom Robinson, a black man guilty of nothing more than being black. Atticus is one man, speaking man-to-man to an all-white, all-male jury, imploring them to do the right thing, for God's sake. To change the dynamics between the characters would be another novel, not the novel Harper Lee wrote about growing up in the deep South during a troubling time in our nation's history, echoing the fate of the Scarsboro incident wherein a group of young black men were railroaded into guilty verdicts because they were black. Tom Robinson gave up his life to racism, but, thankfully, sanity finally prevailed with the Scarsboro Seven as the facts became the truth, rather than the people's fears and prejudice.
Arthur Miller wrote a play about the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, The Crucible, using the inciting incident from the Salem witch trials to portray a government gone mad. It was all about the men, the power, the abuse of the system by a megalomaniac whose personal agenda became the national agenda. Changing McCarthy’s character to a female lead would destroy the impact, as well as the historical accuracy of the piece. A clever editor could change John Hersey’s capture of Hiroshima, deleting the words of the Japanese civilian that “it was war, we had to expect it,” and sanitizing the Japanese to look better to a world audience – but that’s not the history. Anne Frank's diary could be edited to share more of her personal experiences and less of the victimization of Jews by the Nazis in Germany during World War II, but that's not the history.
It’s much easier to create a version of reality that everyone can live with, but there’s ancient wisdom in the belief that if each of us don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything. People who are consistently told the truth are more likely to accept the truth than those who are first deceived and discover the truth for themselves. That includes high school students who should not just know the title of the play, but the reason behind the title – the backstory that is the foundation of all writing. Not trusting our youth with the truth condemns them to live a lie, and that is far more wrong than explaining why the title of the play is Twelve Angry Men and will remain so.
The message is lost in the changes that today’s society deems politically correct, as if denying the history changes it to something more palatable. While teaching To Kill a Mockingbird, I insisted that the students say the word nigger as that is what was common during the 1930s, the setting for the story, as well as an appellation one black person uses to greet another today. After reading that word for an entire novel, students develop both an understanding of and appreciation for racial epithets that, on the surface, seem benign, but which stigmatize an entire race of people. People with black skin were historically referred to as negra, which is the Spanish word for black, but when the word was bastardized into nigger and used in a derogatory manner against all people with black skin, it became a racial epithet. We can add to the list the words wop, spic, beaner, slant eyes – and so many more derogatory names for people we fear solely because they are different.
Atticus Finch, the protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird, addresses an all-male jury in the defense of Tom Robinson, a black man guilty of nothing more than being black. Atticus is one man, speaking man-to-man to an all-white, all-male jury, imploring them to do the right thing, for God's sake. To change the dynamics between the characters would be another novel, not the novel Harper Lee wrote about growing up in the deep South during a troubling time in our nation's history, echoing the fate of the Scarsboro incident wherein a group of young black men were railroaded into guilty verdicts because they were black. Tom Robinson gave up his life to racism, but, thankfully, sanity finally prevailed with the Scarsboro Seven as the facts became the truth, rather than the people's fears and prejudice.
Arthur Miller wrote a play about the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, The Crucible, using the inciting incident from the Salem witch trials to portray a government gone mad. It was all about the men, the power, the abuse of the system by a megalomaniac whose personal agenda became the national agenda. Changing McCarthy’s character to a female lead would destroy the impact, as well as the historical accuracy of the piece. A clever editor could change John Hersey’s capture of Hiroshima, deleting the words of the Japanese civilian that “it was war, we had to expect it,” and sanitizing the Japanese to look better to a world audience – but that’s not the history. Anne Frank's diary could be edited to share more of her personal experiences and less of the victimization of Jews by the Nazis in Germany during World War II, but that's not the history.
It’s much easier to create a version of reality that everyone can live with, but there’s ancient wisdom in the belief that if each of us don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything. People who are consistently told the truth are more likely to accept the truth than those who are first deceived and discover the truth for themselves. That includes high school students who should not just know the title of the play, but the reason behind the title – the backstory that is the foundation of all writing. Not trusting our youth with the truth condemns them to live a lie, and that is far more wrong than explaining why the title of the play is Twelve Angry Men and will remain so.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Excuse Me?
Update Caveat: to the National News Network publicity release readers, let me clarify that I am offended that anyone would work so hard to find excuses for the actions of an American Muslim military officer who committed an act of terrorism not just on American soil, but on an American Army base. Working so hard to avoid the "Muslim" aspect of this man's heinous crime is disrespectful to all peaceful Muslims living both in this country and in other nations, but most especially to all the military personnel who adhere to the Muslim faith and do not commit acts of terror. Tap dancing around the facts of any news reporting gives the appearance of dishonesty, not faith in your journalistic integrity.
____________________________
The murderer enlisted in the military voluntarily, took advantage of the educational programs offered to him, accepted the advancements in rank and pay grade, but froze when it came time to stand up to his obligation to do as every active duty military personnel must do: deploy. He was a Muslim when he entered the service, he was a Muslim when he completed his doctoral degree, he was a Muslim when he worked at Walter Reed, but his religion became his tool for finding a way out of putting himself potentially in harm’s way. His family stressed to the media yesterday that this solider is an American, born in the USA, raised in the USA, educated in the USA, his religion never an issue to his active duty service until the war came into his personal space. Suddenly, he could not deploy to a foreign country because the people who live there share his religious belief. He’s a Muslim; they are Muslims; therefore, he cannot serve as a psychiatrist in the war zone.
Horse pucky.
Back in the 60’s, it was “hell no, I won’t go,” which is what the soldier said as he performed poorly first at Walter Reed and then at Ft. Hood, perhaps in an attempt to disqualify himself from deployment by ending his military service. If he quit, he’d owe the government for his education; however, if he continued to accrue poor service evals, the service would end his career for him. He would walk away with a discharge, perhaps less than honorable, but nothing to keep him from transitioning to a civilian medical career. The flaw in the plan, however, is that he embraces the Muslim religion which, since 9-11, is a get out of jail free card in the US. It is illegal to discriminate against anyone in this nation for any reason at any time, but most especially to show any discriminatory treatment of anyone who could remotely be associated with the Arabian cultures and/or religions because no matter the cause, the effect is racial profiling, a career-ender in today's PC culture.
Thus, the military protected the Muslim soldier’s job, rather than confront him about his failure to perform his military duties in a professional manner: suck it up, soldier, and do your job. He complained about harassment, even as he was harassing wounded military personnel suffering from PTSD, a condition he was supposed to treat, not exacerbate. The military relocated him, rather than kick his ass out of the Army, as he confronted returning soldiers about killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan while stationed at Walter Reed. When he continued to fail to do his job after relocation to Ft. Hood, his name came up to rotate to the combat theatre, an order he refused to accept. He begged, he pleaded, he sought assistance from the legal system, but the bottom line was that as a soldier, it was time to suit up and get in the game. Instead, he bought weapons, cleaned out his apartment, gave away his personal belongings, and did what many other Muslim fanatics do: he embarked on a suicide mission, intending to kill as many soldiers as he could before being killed himself.
He could have bought a plane ticket and flown away from his fear or religious conflict, living as an AWOL fugitive among those who share his religious preferences, but his choice was suicide by MP, screaming the inflammatory Allahu Akbar prior to opening fire. This was no PTSD issue: this was fanatical Muslim martyrdom, the same as the suicide bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their goal is to become martyrs of their faith: too bad that he survived his cowardly decision to kill 13 innocent victims and wound dozens of others so he didn’t have to deploy, but it’s time to take the attention off this piece of human detritus and focus on the victims of this mass murderer.
In the US, we say that what goes around comes around – but I don’t know how to say that in Arab. Perhaps it’s pronounced “suicide bomber” and we can try it on this individual? Rather than looking for excuses why he opened fire at Ft. Hood, strap the explosives to his chest, put him in the middle of the parade deck, and dial the cell phone detonator.
Allahu Akbar back atcha, Hasan!
____________________________
The murderer enlisted in the military voluntarily, took advantage of the educational programs offered to him, accepted the advancements in rank and pay grade, but froze when it came time to stand up to his obligation to do as every active duty military personnel must do: deploy. He was a Muslim when he entered the service, he was a Muslim when he completed his doctoral degree, he was a Muslim when he worked at Walter Reed, but his religion became his tool for finding a way out of putting himself potentially in harm’s way. His family stressed to the media yesterday that this solider is an American, born in the USA, raised in the USA, educated in the USA, his religion never an issue to his active duty service until the war came into his personal space. Suddenly, he could not deploy to a foreign country because the people who live there share his religious belief. He’s a Muslim; they are Muslims; therefore, he cannot serve as a psychiatrist in the war zone.
Horse pucky.
Back in the 60’s, it was “hell no, I won’t go,” which is what the soldier said as he performed poorly first at Walter Reed and then at Ft. Hood, perhaps in an attempt to disqualify himself from deployment by ending his military service. If he quit, he’d owe the government for his education; however, if he continued to accrue poor service evals, the service would end his career for him. He would walk away with a discharge, perhaps less than honorable, but nothing to keep him from transitioning to a civilian medical career. The flaw in the plan, however, is that he embraces the Muslim religion which, since 9-11, is a get out of jail free card in the US. It is illegal to discriminate against anyone in this nation for any reason at any time, but most especially to show any discriminatory treatment of anyone who could remotely be associated with the Arabian cultures and/or religions because no matter the cause, the effect is racial profiling, a career-ender in today's PC culture.
Thus, the military protected the Muslim soldier’s job, rather than confront him about his failure to perform his military duties in a professional manner: suck it up, soldier, and do your job. He complained about harassment, even as he was harassing wounded military personnel suffering from PTSD, a condition he was supposed to treat, not exacerbate. The military relocated him, rather than kick his ass out of the Army, as he confronted returning soldiers about killing Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan while stationed at Walter Reed. When he continued to fail to do his job after relocation to Ft. Hood, his name came up to rotate to the combat theatre, an order he refused to accept. He begged, he pleaded, he sought assistance from the legal system, but the bottom line was that as a soldier, it was time to suit up and get in the game. Instead, he bought weapons, cleaned out his apartment, gave away his personal belongings, and did what many other Muslim fanatics do: he embarked on a suicide mission, intending to kill as many soldiers as he could before being killed himself.
He could have bought a plane ticket and flown away from his fear or religious conflict, living as an AWOL fugitive among those who share his religious preferences, but his choice was suicide by MP, screaming the inflammatory Allahu Akbar prior to opening fire. This was no PTSD issue: this was fanatical Muslim martyrdom, the same as the suicide bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their goal is to become martyrs of their faith: too bad that he survived his cowardly decision to kill 13 innocent victims and wound dozens of others so he didn’t have to deploy, but it’s time to take the attention off this piece of human detritus and focus on the victims of this mass murderer.
In the US, we say that what goes around comes around – but I don’t know how to say that in Arab. Perhaps it’s pronounced “suicide bomber” and we can try it on this individual? Rather than looking for excuses why he opened fire at Ft. Hood, strap the explosives to his chest, put him in the middle of the parade deck, and dial the cell phone detonator.
Allahu Akbar back atcha, Hasan!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Fan Club
The overhead fan in my room stopped being reversible; the fan in the office only had one speed, the highest; and the fan over the dining table quit altogether. I went fan shopping to replace the mismatched fans throughout the house with fans that were less obvious and more styled to complement one another. I found fans on sale as it's the end of the season, and bought five, one for each room in the house. All of the fans were in the $75 range, but when the guys arrived for the installation party last night, we discovered that three of them did not have light kits, a necessity in a home built without a single overhead fixture anywhere except the kitchen.
I had prepped, removing what parts were not connected to the actual electrical wiring, so while one guy and I began installing fans, the other one made a quick run to Lowe's to buy three light kits. Of course with every installation there was a glitch, but most of them were minor, so the process just kept moving from room to room. It took a full two hours, two huge pizzas from the Papa John's a few blocks away, and a pretty good chunk of change out of my household budget, but voila! I have a functioning fan in every room again.
They are much less obtrusive because the entire fan is off-white, cowl and blades, which blends into the popcorn style ceiling that is about 20 years old. It's really hard to clean that stuff, although I do try at least once a year, but there is no way that I'm going to ever afford to have it removed throughout the house and another ceiling finish done. No longer is the first thing anyone sees when entering the front door the huge gold cowled fan with the long, sweeping brown blades: the off-white almost disappears into the ceiling.
The fans all require a candelabra light bulb, which, of course, was not included, so I have some bulb-buying to do, but overall, I'm totally happy with the change.
I had prepped, removing what parts were not connected to the actual electrical wiring, so while one guy and I began installing fans, the other one made a quick run to Lowe's to buy three light kits. Of course with every installation there was a glitch, but most of them were minor, so the process just kept moving from room to room. It took a full two hours, two huge pizzas from the Papa John's a few blocks away, and a pretty good chunk of change out of my household budget, but voila! I have a functioning fan in every room again.
They are much less obtrusive because the entire fan is off-white, cowl and blades, which blends into the popcorn style ceiling that is about 20 years old. It's really hard to clean that stuff, although I do try at least once a year, but there is no way that I'm going to ever afford to have it removed throughout the house and another ceiling finish done. No longer is the first thing anyone sees when entering the front door the huge gold cowled fan with the long, sweeping brown blades: the off-white almost disappears into the ceiling.
The fans all require a candelabra light bulb, which, of course, was not included, so I have some bulb-buying to do, but overall, I'm totally happy with the change.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
One Man's Treasure is Another Man's Trash
A PS family has been decorating their property extensively for 20 consecutive holiday years; this year, however, there have been complaints about the holiday display, so it is being discontinued. Granted, the man's sister and co-sponsor recently died, which has hampered his efforts to complete the display and pay the cost of lighting it, but more importantly, his neighbors complained about the lights, the increased vehicle traffic, and the fact that his displays are mostly made from recycled trash, not at all what "they" want representing their neighborhood.
Huh. The guy is a Muslim celebrating a Christian holiday; he's a responsible recycler in this age of green; and he's been doing this display for 20 years, far longer than most of his neighbors have owned their homes. Seems like there is a new neighbor, one who has a different perspective on what the neighborhood is and what best represents it to the community. It's sad to me that the new neighbor gets his way, while the rest of the community is denied their long-standing tradition.
Lots of bloggers at the on-line site, most of whom lament the loss of this cultural tradition. Addressing the issue of the constant stream of vehicles coming by to see the display, one blogger said it's been a family tradition for him for all 20 years. He will miss the display himself, but also sharing it with his children, who enjoy it the same way he did when he was a child. As he so succinctly put it, "Get over yourself" and let other people enjoy this special annual holiday celebration that is as diverse as the neighborhood in which it resides.
I guess it's not mean-spirited, just ... practical ... to let some traditions fade into a memory, but I'm not sure what kind of annoyance an annual holiday display was causing that results in its being shut down. Sometimes, we don't know what we have until we no longer have it. I hope the neighbor enjoys his peace and quiet this year.
Huh. The guy is a Muslim celebrating a Christian holiday; he's a responsible recycler in this age of green; and he's been doing this display for 20 years, far longer than most of his neighbors have owned their homes. Seems like there is a new neighbor, one who has a different perspective on what the neighborhood is and what best represents it to the community. It's sad to me that the new neighbor gets his way, while the rest of the community is denied their long-standing tradition.
Lots of bloggers at the on-line site, most of whom lament the loss of this cultural tradition. Addressing the issue of the constant stream of vehicles coming by to see the display, one blogger said it's been a family tradition for him for all 20 years. He will miss the display himself, but also sharing it with his children, who enjoy it the same way he did when he was a child. As he so succinctly put it, "Get over yourself" and let other people enjoy this special annual holiday celebration that is as diverse as the neighborhood in which it resides.
I guess it's not mean-spirited, just ... practical ... to let some traditions fade into a memory, but I'm not sure what kind of annoyance an annual holiday display was causing that results in its being shut down. Sometimes, we don't know what we have until we no longer have it. I hope the neighbor enjoys his peace and quiet this year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)