Pamela Geller, strip clubs and the "hallowed ground" in Lower Manhatten

It has been almost 9 years since 9/11 but people are still processing the trauma of event. Some choose to "wave the bloody flag" of 9/11 by piggy backing a personal political agenda to the event. Some view the truther movement people and anyone who challenges the “official” story of 9/11 as conspiracy theory nuts.   Building 7 is still an explained mystery to me and the official story sounds very implausible and time will tell about the rest of their version of that days events The most newsworthy group embracing 9/11 and stirring up controversy happened in lower Manhattan started, so I will reserve any judgement on them until more facts are in.  The fanatical groups with an agenda about 9/11 are those who are stirring up hatred towards Muslims, like these people in NYC who took a local issue in late July of this year and have escalated into the anti "ground zero masque" lynch mob.  The voices of discontent started as a local, a lunatic fringe of tea party types, libertarians and super Patriots of the right, the others are an easily mobilized group of angry inspired sheeple who are piling on the latest emotional charge issue? No doubt though that those who read the NY Post, as it spun the juicy volatile mix of the “hallowed ground” of the WTC site, stirring up fear of the non Jesus believing Muslims and the alleged desecration on an area that has been thus deemed by the certain media elements and kindred spirits on the right. Local NYC or NY state municipal authority who rules stringently for historical landmarks has approved the mosque to be built, being that no “hollowed ground clauses presently exist. It seems as if some people are selective when to enforce issues of some group First amendment rights.

Facebook has a link for supports a link named NO "MOSQUES" next to 9/11 Memorial Site - NO Cordoba House (mosque).  I don’t have a problem with those haters who also have first amendment rights. Just don’t look to Facebook if you want to advertise your Freedom of speech on their site, which is their right, being that it won’t allow the “Just say now” organization advertise on to join its group because it has a pot leaf logo on it (although it had gained 6,000 followers and the publicity from their censorship will help the cause in a huge way). Apparently a pot leaf is more dangerous on Facebook than spreading and encouraging messages of fear, hate and intolerance.

The manufactured issue of the “ground zero masque” has become the litmus test of where people stand politically, from the alleged Democrat Harry Reid and the Long Island Loony, Pamela Geller on the right and usual voices from the left, NYTs, Keith Olbermann and everyone else that Sara Palin defines as the “lame stream media”. I had wrongly assumed that the political millage out of 9/11 had exhausted itself with Rudy Giuliani and the 2008 Presidential election but the geniuses at Fox News has blown on the embers of hate, fear and religious ignorance to and has created the hottest manufactured news story on the month. A blogger who lives near ground zero summed it up very well with his observation, At this point the only argument against this project is fear, specifically fear of Muslims, and that’s a bigoted, cowardly and completely indefensible position. The blog entry also points out that the his neighbors are not obsessed with 9/11 and there are all kind of hard working people living and working with a variety of businesses a that is just one of many places in NYC.

The existing masque and a couple of strip clubs which have been around for 8 ½ years without an issues but have been gotten some attention lately. The demonetization of strip clubs in general by a right wing politician threaten to build a strip club next to the, well, take your pick, the Cordoba House, Park 51 project or the future ground zero masque. The issue of what is an acceptable compromise has been debated as far what is an acceptable masque free zone, but there have been mosques in that part of Lower Manhattan for many years, one 12 blocks from the trade center, another a mere 4 blocks away. No one got in lather over those places. Might, then, a four-block gap instead of a two-block gap be acceptable? Mayor Bloomberg has address this issue directly, he hasn’t wavered on his stand that the Masque ought to go up and has even address the hallowed ground zone saying, How big should the ‘no-mosque zone’ around the World Trade Center be?’” He added: “There is already a mosque four blocks away. Should it, too, be moved? This is a test of our commitment to American values. We must have the courage of our convictions. We must do what is right, not what is easy.” The mayor has been the voice of reason through all of this, I hope that lucid wing of the media, the residences of a very tolerant NYC and people who are don’t attach their fears and racism to the issue/no issue of the moment emerge as the winners of the outcome of where Park 51 ends up.

Although I have stressed the non issue of the relevancy of this news story getting this kind of attention, an academic, Eliza Griswold made a good point on public radio today that Islamic leaders may view the controversy in New York City over plans for an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero unfavorably. She believes that "I think it's sending a message that the West is at war with Islam". The extremist on all sides of these situations spin the negative to achieve their own agendas. Hopefully all people who are quick to judge and get upset over this issue will eventually understand it for what it is, a segue for other emotionally charged issues like religion and 9/11. Mayor Bloomberg put it best by saying this, I know that many in this room are disturbed and dispirited by the debate. But it is worth keeping some perspective on the matter. The first colonial settlers came to these shores seeking religious liberty and the founding fathers wrote a constitution that guaranteed it. They made sure that in this country the government would not be permitted to choose between religions or favor one over another.

Update 10OCT2010

I watched the History Channel on the anniversary of 9/11, where they had a documentary called 102 Minutes That Changed America.  I have watched hours of the World Trade Towers footage and after 9 years of it, I had almost become numb to the same clips of them getting hit by the planes, burning and falling to ground.  The footage has always been filled with narration and commentary, most of it with various agendas, from the right, left, conspiracy theories of how and why they were attached, you name it.  This documentary was totally different though, it was 9 point of view cameras, filming the event from start to finish and the only narration was from that of those who were filming the event (for the most part).  To say that it was disturbing is a huge understatement.  Yet it was compelling in that it gave me a totally different feel to witnessing the event and on more layer of accepting and closure to an day in history that put a whole country and many people through out world a collective post traumatic stress because of the non stop coverage and horrible consequences from that horrible day. 

I will continue to dwell on the that day in this blog, the implications of it because time and distance changes one's perceptive, epically when the official version of how and what happened seems as far fetched and the conspiracy theories attached to 9/11.  Today, 9 years later, I do recall how I felt when I was at an active duty post at a military school, holding a Stars and Stripes magazine with that iconic picture of the firefighters raising a flag on top of the smoldering ruble.  I felt numb, shocked and very sad about New York City loss of these building which was a physical and symbolic loss for the nation.  I felt allot of that all over last Saturday but the impact was less intense.  Some day the a more focused version of the truth of that days events will emerge and if the truth is difficult to accept because of the implications of it; I will experience those emotions all over again if my worst fears about the events of that day are confirmed.

When the NYT did an article on this horrible woman, Pamela Geller, many people who wrote into the paper had never heard of her.  Thankfully, until this article came out, her fame was only known to wonks would follow this type of thing very closely.  The very first letter to the editor, aptly named Sad America, had this to say about her and I find it perfect to be the last word on this matter.

It's hard not to get angry about people like Pamela Geller. It's hard not to offer counter-arguments and get swept up in the sensationalism.

But I think the best thing is to just let her be. I think the best way to combat hatred and ignorance is to be loving and informed. And I hope to teach my daughter that hatred is NOT strength, and tolerance is NOT weakness.

MEDIA COMMODITY Pamela Geller inspires, infuriates and influences with hyperbole as well as bikini shots.
Top row from left: RT America; Atlas Shrugs; ABC News; Atlas Shrugs. Second row: Fox News; Canadian Broadcasting Company; Atlas Shrugs; MSNBC. Third row: CNN; Atlas Shrugs (Three photos). Bottom Row: CBS NEWS; CNN; Atlas Shrugs (2 photos)

Bill Maher and his good buddy Hef

Bill Maher always has a lot to say. I never looked at his HBO site to see his on line presence, which is pretty impressive. Here is his Twitter account and his Myspace account. I guess both are key ingredients as a player and an entertainer but more about the player side and his buddy Hef later.

When there are gays in the military, legal weed in California and a fully implemented reasonable health care plan; I hope that I can blog something as brilliant as Bill Maher said last Friday on his HBO show.  Actually, I will be writting on the California situation and health care soon. I watched Bill's show and saw this in the Huffington Post and it was to good not to copy and put into the blog.
Tiger Woods' text messages to his mistress that were made public last week, where he said, and I quote, "I want to treat you rough, throw you around, spank and slap you and make you sore. I want to hold you down and choke you while I fuck that ass that I own. Then I'm going to tell you to shut the fuck up while I slap your face and pull your hair for making noise." Unquote.
And this, I believe, perfectly represents the attitude Democrats should now have in their dealings with the Republican Party: "Shut the fuck up while I slap your face for making noise -- now pass a cap-and-trade law, you stupid bitch, and repeat after me: 'global warming is real!'"
The Democrats need to push the rest of their agenda while their boot is on the neck of the greedy, poisonous old reptile. Who cares if a cap-and-trade bill isn't popular, neither was health care. Your poll numbers may have descended a bit, but so did your testicles.
So don't stop: we need to regulate the banks, we need to overhaul immigration, we need to end corporate welfare including at the Pentagon, we need to bring troops home from... everywhere, we need to end the drug war, and we need to put terrorists and other human rights violators on trial in civilian courts, starting with Dick Cheney.
Democrats in America were put on earth to do one thing: drag the ignorant hillbilly half of this country into the next century, which in their case is the 19th -- and by passing health care, the Democrats saved their brand. A few months ago, Sarah Palin mockingly asked them, "How's that hopey-changey thing working out for ya?" Great, actually. Thanks for asking. And how's that whole Hooked on Phonics thing working out for you?

I like Hugh Hefner and what red blooded American male doesn’t. When Bill Maher made a reference on his show to hanging out at the Playboy mansion and talking to girls half his age. Not unlike Joe Rogan, a fellow comedian who makes fun of marriage in his stand up act and living a very single, hedonist lifestyle. Joe has a great stand up on Hugh, which is a little harsh but it is honest and if you give it any thought, true!

Bill isn’t about to get married or even be an advocate for it. The recently divorced friend and fellow playa, Hugh Hefner, is an interesting case of contradictions. Not unlike Howard Stern, it seems like Hef is a guy who loves the idea of marriage but lives in a world of being an entertainer and personality whose persona is that of a man who loves wild, uninhibited woman. Stern leaves his on air persona at work though while Hugh lives a conflicted life of living in his mansion and the “idea” of the playboy bachelor. I am not a hater and I am happy for him but he has paid the price of wanting constant female companionship until it bores him.
This former girlfriend in the picture above, Carrie Leigh, who filed a 35 million dollar palamony suit against Hef after living with him and draining a fortune from him while playing him.  Ironically, Hef was about the age that Bill Maher is now when this was going on.  This was the 80’s and it was a rough decade for Hef. His empire was collapsing (which it is to a lesser degree presently, he is trying to sell the magazine but he isn’t having much luck). The death of Dorothy Stratten, in 1980, probley to much coke and a stroke at 59 in 1985. The right wing religious zealots; cut into his market share but banning the magazine from stores throughout the country and the Reagon era only encouraged this. The decade ended with an ill fated marriage to Kimberly Conrad in 1989 and the birth of his twin boys in 1990. The boys are grown up and maybe the lesson of their Father will be passed on, often players play, players pay.

Case in point...

Kimberly filed a $5 million lawsuit against Hef last August after Hef sold the house and didn't give her profits. He claims he's paid her nearly $12 million since they separated. The couple married in 1989 and have two adult sons.

UPDATE: In the docs, Hugh is asking the judge to set spousal support at $20,000 per month -- justifying such a small amount by saying he's already given Kimberly close to $12 million since their 1998 separation.

This just came about this year!  Maher watching his buddy go through this maybe why he comes out with comments like this...

He hates the concept of marriage, too. "I always compare marriage to communism," he says. "They're both institutions that don't conform to human nature, so you're going to end up with lying and hypocrisy."

Hef may sell the mag or just take it back for himself. With the ego variable a factor, I am guessing that he buys back shares of the business and passes it down to his daughter and his boys.

100 year battle won by the liberal Democrats agianst the party of no

It is to bad that Teddy Kennedy isn't around to see last Sunday, the day that the haters, the Republicans, who tried to bully, scare and manpulate a victory.  The fear mongering feel flat and they were defeated last Sunday. 

Here is his son Patrick's summary of the event which was e-mailed to me on Monday, the day after the victory.

Dear Fellow Rhode Islander:
Last night marked a victory that has been a long time coming. Longer than the last year, since the White House Forum on Health Care Reform, that health care reform has dominated the public discourse. Farther back than the efforts during the ‘90s, the failure of which resulted in record numbers of uninsured and premiums doubling over the last decade. It even predates my own father’s lifetime commitment to extend the opportunities he was afforded in life to each of his fellow citizens. It is since Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, that the people of this country have fought to provide quality, affordable health care for all Americans. We have finally reached that day.
Last night was a victory for the many tireless champions of health care reform. My father, of course, was but one of them, committed to fighting for those whose voices would not be heard. It is a victory for people like Martin Luther King, Jr., who stood up to remind us, “Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
But most importantly, last night was a victory for each and every American who will now be treated with the dignity and respect that comes with the equality of opportunity that affordable access to quality health care provides. It is a victory for the estimated 32 million of our friends and neighbors who will now have access to health care because of this legislation. It is a victory for the millions of Americans who have been discriminated against in the past, denied coverage by an insurance company because they have a pre-existing condition. It is a victory for the millions who have been dropped from their policy when they got sick. It is a victory for the millions who face bankruptcy and financial turmoil even though they have health insurance, because they reach an annual or lifetime cap. It is a victory for the small business owners who have been unable to provide their workers with health insurance or remain competitive, and who will now receive tax credits to help them afford to provide coverage for their employees.
I have been proud to serve the people of Rhode Island the last 16 years, helping to lead the effort in the House of Representatives to take control of our nation’s health care system away from insurance companies and put it back the hands of patients and their doctors. Though I wish my father could been here in body as well as spirit, I could not be more pleased that this effort, to reform our nation’s health care system, was accomplished during my tenure here. There will be many more fights down the road that we must win, starting with the necessity for the United States Senate to adopt the improvements to the health care reform legislation included in the Reconciliation Act. I have every faith that the Senate will act swiftly to accept these changes so that at long last we can better provide quality, affordable health care to all Americans.
Thank you,
Patrick J. Kennedy
Member of Congress

The list below are the cowards who voted with their fellow losers...

Democrats who voted against the health care bill included the following Congressmen and Congresswomen:
Rep. John Adler (N.J.)
Rep. Jason Altmire (Pa.)
Rep. Michael Arcuri (N.Y.)
Rep. John Barrow (Ga.)
Rep. Marion Berry (Ark.)
Rep. Dan Boren (Okla.)
Rep. Rick Boucher (Va.)
Rep. Bobby Bright (Ala.)
Rep. Ben Chandler (Ky.)
Rep. Travis Childers (Miss.)
Rep. Artur Davis (Ala.)
Rep. Lincoln Davis (Tenn.)
Rep. Chet Edwards (Texas)
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.)
Rep. Tim Holden (Pa.)
Rep. Larry Kissell (N.C.)
Rep. Frank Kratovil (Md.)
Rep. Dan Lipinski (Ill.)
Rep. Stephen Lynch (Mass.)
Rep. Jim Marshall (Ga.)
Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (N.C.)
Rep. Mike McMahon (N.Y.)
Rep. Charlie Melancon (La.)
Rep. Walt Minnick (Idaho)
Rep. Glenn Nye (Va.)
Rep. Collin Peterson (Minn.)
Rep. Mike Ross (Ark.)
Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.)
Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.)
Rep. Zack Space (Ohio)
Rep. John Tanner (Tenn.)
Rep. Gene Taylor (Miss.)
Rep. Harry Teague (N.M.)

I am watching FOX News right now and the conservative gang is freaking out about the bill which is in its final stages and how the fall will be payback for the Republicans. In political terms, Republicans face strong crosscurrents. Polls suggest that a sizable part of the nation is unenthusiastic about the bill or opposed to it. Conservatives see it as a strike at the heart of their small-government principles, helping to explain why Republicans are optimistic that they will make gains in the midterm elections in November.   It is only fitting that the Republicans find themselves again being portrayed as the party of no, associated with being on the losing side of an often acrid debate and failing to offer a persuasive alternative agenda.  On a certain level, I do have to take a wait and see appoarch on this bill but in lack of an alterniative, this is great.  The Democrats have to be given credit for coming up with a solution, attempting a bi partasin solution and coming up with and creating a law.  The Republican's have only complained, contributed nothing but hard feelings and disontent and inspite of their boasts of victory for available polictical positions, I doubt it.

The Prophet

I drove down to New York City a couple of weeks ago to donate 7 boxes of books and one box of movie DVDs and music CDs. I could have just cashed in or traded my books but the cause that I gave to was Housing Works, which provide support to those with AIDS who are having issues with a place to stay while they are dying or dealing with life with HIV.  Having lived in Manhattan and taken much of time while living there for granted when living there.  When I visit it now, I attempt to do something which is eventful enough worthy of trip, the city and the energy and money that it takes to make the road trip from New England. I had meant to see a some Asian movies but it wasn't meant to be but I did show up on the Upper West Side in time to see The Prophet. I had read some good reviews about the movie but since my glasses were broke at the time. Out of 104 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, it had 100 good reviews out of 104 , so I knew that I would see it at some point.

To see a movie with subtitles was ruled out to meet a friend in Chinatown for some Dim Sum. It was a good move, the company was good, the food was excellent and I had no regrets. It was just a movie, granted this movie was only playing in New York and LA (that kind of exclusitivity has always appealed to me), so I knew that I would be able to watch it at some point and I chose to wait.

That wait ended last night when I watched The Prophet was playing in Providence at the Avon Cinema but I only had a number of days until it went somewhere else. Being Irish, it was a strange choice of something to do for St Patrick's Day but I was very curious about this movie.
The movie is about an Arab who goes is in jail in France, young, bi lingual (in French and Arabic) but iliterate in the skills of reading or writing the languages which he speaks. While in jail, he is given an ulitmative from a Corsican crime boss to kill a fellow Muslim passing through or get killed by the crime boss or kill a rat passing through their jail. Once he "makes his bones", he starts climbing through the ranks of the prison, playing event opportunity and groups against each other until he is released from jail; master of his own criminal universe.
Actually, I like this summary of the plot better...
In plot the film appears to be nothing more than middle-of-the-road. A young man from an immigrant background, Malik, is thrown in prison for 6 years. Almost immediately he’s preyed upon by thieves and sexual predators. But worst of all, an entrepreneurial Corsican gangster known as Cesar sees the potential in using Malik to get access to the “Arab” section of the jail. And so Malik must decide to kill the enemy of the Corsican or face being killed for disobeying. But Malik turns the table himself, and begins to develop a drug business through his multiple connections.  This movie has won many awards and they are well deserved. I found it very enjoyable and worth the second effort to go and see.

Not so Happy New Year

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Qing Hong Wo was 15 years old and did some very bad things as a youth and has paid his price, spending some of his youth at reform school. The judge, who remembered the pitfalls of Little Italy in the 1950s, urged him to use his sentence — three to nine years in a reformatory — as a chance to turn his life around. Mr. Wo has done this and made good use of his time. The judge is attempting to help out but even he is somewhat powerless to do anything of the behalf of this young man. Qing is brilliant in math and has a fiancée who he would like to marry. He isn’t able to because he is presently incarcerated, as he has been since 2007 when he turned himself in. The guy has been here since he was 5, his mom; a janitor who used to count on help for money from her son is now legal. His fiancée makes good money but lawyers are eating away at any savings that they may have to get a place for themselves and other family members. An Asian-American civil rights group is meeting with Peter Kiernan, counsel to the governor, to discuss the petition for a pardon, which Mr. Kiernan said was “being seriously considered.”  The governor of New York ought to pardon this young man who exemplifies the American Dream!  He can be saved from being deported and he should. It would be a great way to start of the Year of the Tiger and a positive message to the Asian Community that America a place for dreams to come true and justice to take place.

More of the same but different...

Save Polaroid!!!

Photo licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy of flickr user jimifoxxTM

Over the weekend I was able to catch up on reading the NYTs, take in some art on Federal Hill while shoping and see a work in progress being done by an artist friend of mine.  I am thankful that it is a three day weekend and that I don't have to work tomorrow.  The image above are some of the stories that caught my attention as I read news items on the internet.  The Olympics are always a great story so the United States first gold medal by Hanna, the teenage world title holder who choked the last Olympics only to turn around

and kick but in this one to take a Gold medal on the first day of the games is a great story.  A darker story of the Olymic runner, Dave Laut got shot and as with most murders, you don't have to look further than the people the vic knows well and things aren't  looking good for his wife Jane.  I baught a couple of graphic novels this weekend and saw a place that I would like to move to. some day.  I have vistied almost every mill and factory converstion in the state of RI, all of which are in Northern RI, outside of Providence for the most part.  Every place that I have looked at had some flaw but this one had everything that I would like to have as a space to live in. 

I even got to get outside and take in some of the sites in were I presently live.  It was a nice and relaxing weekend as it always is when I get some exercise, got to cook and  relax.  Just a couple of more months and it will be spring and the weather will be nice enough not to have to dress for the cold and I'll be able to spend more time out doors.

The best thing about this month is that I don't have Army this weekend or any other weekend this month.

Evolution of a C list blogger and his growth as a visual artist

Anyone reading this blog, please note, I do not refer to myself in the third person often, I never liked it when Bob Dole did it or any other famous person (well, maybe Hulk Hogan but that is it!). The picture above does tell a story. All the pictures are layed out on the image that I used to order my best book to date to be published (there are a number of website that allow you to create and then print your own book). The model in the lower left hand corner is Jaye Santi and I used one of her quotes from her Myspace page to motivate me in creating my book and I titled the book Embrace your dreams, to recognized that fact. A young woman whose beautiful spirit matches her physical attractiveness. I just started using a website called Picnik which allows me to play with images. The iconic Chi was the first image that I created yesterday. The two images between Elvis and Chi are techniques that I am trying to master, taking a black and while image and coloring it in and tinting images in tones for an artistic, uconveniental look. The picture of the President and the helicopter in Iraq represent the themes of the book, Iraq from 2007 to 2010, reflecting the concurring Presidential elections of 2008, my last tour in Iraq consisted of most of 2008. The Elvis image is a screen saver on my computer at the moment and the Tarot card is the Tower, a card one gets during a period of ones life when changes are taking place. The lighting represents the truth being exposed due to the light of the lightening.

There is this conversation that takes place mostly offline mostly among self-identified B and C list bloggers, and for years there has been this tension between them and who they see as the A list bloggers, and why can't the traffic or notoriety be spread around a little more?

After reading this, I have considered myself a C list blogger, I do not have the aforementioned conversation with fellow bloggers (I only know one, an Internet friend on Facebook who doesn’t blog anymore!), nor do I crave “traffic” to my blog or even notoriety. I do this as a hobby, I like to write and manipulate images. I just created a book capturing images since about 2007 to present, most of them having to do with family photos and images from Iraq and the election of 2009. This is part of what I wrote to everyone how I sent the book to…

The beauty of a creative project like this, a book in a certain time structured chronologically, that captures a certain period of time, records it and brings a degree of closure to it. It is very similar to a traditional journal that I did in the eighties with glue, scissors and a bookbinding class to keep it from falling apart. Modern technology and the computer software of Picaboo has allowed me to create a book that is something I did foresee in the eighties with the introduction of the Mac. I really enjoyed making this book as it is an out pouring of my artistic expression. For me, making books and blogging is a natural evolution of keeping my journals.

The journal that I mentioned from the eighties was strictly pictures like the book that I just made on my computer. It took a long time to make but I was real happy with it when I was finished. That is when I hit my next level. With the help of the emerging technologies like my I phone has helped me find music that I really enjoy, new technology that is cutting edge and has become a gateway into things on the web that I didn't even know existed. I am coming into my own as I have always known that I would: I am embracing my dream!