Sunday, June 27, 2010
I Want to Build a Human Zoo
Is it possible to create a "zoo" where we can observe humans in their native habitats? After a visit to SeaWorld, I began to wonder about the possibility of putting humans in their "environments"' and thinking they are better off. Yes, I know that animal rights people have been arguing this point for eternity but I am actually envisioning such a place. I think we could put certain classes of people in their respective environments and call it an experiment in science--a study in the habitat of a group of individuals. Think about it. We could put a group of Inuits in a small enclosed "arctic" environment and observe their habits--similar to seeing polar bears in a man-made den made of rock and fake ice for the sake of human entertainment and calling it a "study" on their behavior. Even better, we could throw in food based on what we think they eat as opposed to actually hunting and doing what they do best. The human rights people, in a similar argument to the animal rights folks can justify it as more humane than actually letting them alone in the wild where they are exposed to too many dangerous elements. We must keep in mind that these are "natural" dangers. A better example would be to stick an affluent family in a display of life in a Manhattan penthouse. We could fabricate their home and feed them what we believe they are accustomed to. Imagine walking through this exhibit, taking pictures of the humans in their "natural environment" and thinking, "Wow, I never knew they lived like this." This is actually funny and very entertaining for me to imagine but also serious when I walk through places like SeaWorld and see animals at the mercy of humans thinking they know what is best for them. Ultimately we must decide; what is best for these animals? That, in my opinion, is even paradoxical. Who is anyone to decide anything for any one species? Nevertheless, for you activists that think they are better off in this sort of controlled environment, ask yourselves the following; if you are given the choice between freedom and the ability to choose your destiny or living a life as a pawn or slave to a "master" life form that decides when you eat, when you act and when you can breed, what would you choose? In my opinion, I would choose the former and allow for my instincts to determine my destiny as opposed to allowing a species that thinks they are superior to mine, the ability of determining to whom or what I am entitled. While we love vilifying sharks and what they have come to symbolize, is it acceptable that we limit these creatures to a predetermined amount of space knowing that the majority of them need constant movement to keep the oxygen flowing through their gills? ARE WE NOT ENTERTAINED? I could go on but I hope I have made my point in that no species should be contained in an environment that some other species has determined as suitable for them. Let animals be animals regardless of their species. For those that study animals and insects in their natural environment, I have the utmost respect for you and what you do for the sake of a biological science. For those of you who think that keeping any animal in captivity for the sake of science, I ask you if you would do the same to humans as you do to animals. I could go on but space is limited. As in all of my posts, I welcome any comments, dissension, or any other feedback.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
A Somber Anniversary
Today marks the anniversary of the death of my father. It was this date in 1994 that I received a call from my brother that my dad had suffered a heart attack and did not recover. I have dealt with death in my family many times prior to this instance but have never felt such heartache as I did this day. My dad's brother was killed some years prior and I was saddened and felt a great sense of loss. My mom's father had also died prior to this. However, nothing could have prepared me for the loss that I felt on this date. Two days prior to his death, we celebrated Father's Day. I was living in Houston and my father and the rest of my family, in Shorewood, IL (just outside of Chicago). The Houston Rockets had just won the NBA finals and I arrived home to my apartment (I lived alone at the time) when my brother, who lived 1 1/2 hours away in Beaumont, called me with the news. If you can imagine living alone and hearing that your father had died, you can start to imagine what I began to deal with.
Nevertheless, I made the flight with my brother, his wife who was pregnant with what would have been my dad's first grandchild, to Chicago. Needless to say, it was not a very fun flight. All I remember about the next few days is that when I arrived at the funeral home for my father's wake, I literally needed help to stand and walk toward the casket to see my father lying in death. It was probably the first time I had taken death to such a personal level that I was not sure how I would ever be able to recover. It dawned on me as well, that I had just spent time with my dad and family in Florida only a week before this incident. In the end, I realized that life is too unpredictable to count on anything. While I tried to live day to day and enjoy life while we could, his death left an indelible impact on my psyche that has yet to be explored.
Regardless, I want to tell my dad that I love him with all my hear and even though he in not around, I wish him the best Father's Day possible.
Nevertheless, I made the flight with my brother, his wife who was pregnant with what would have been my dad's first grandchild, to Chicago. Needless to say, it was not a very fun flight. All I remember about the next few days is that when I arrived at the funeral home for my father's wake, I literally needed help to stand and walk toward the casket to see my father lying in death. It was probably the first time I had taken death to such a personal level that I was not sure how I would ever be able to recover. It dawned on me as well, that I had just spent time with my dad and family in Florida only a week before this incident. In the end, I realized that life is too unpredictable to count on anything. While I tried to live day to day and enjoy life while we could, his death left an indelible impact on my psyche that has yet to be explored.
Regardless, I want to tell my dad that I love him with all my hear and even though he in not around, I wish him the best Father's Day possible.
The Continual Devolution of Humanity
As I watched a documentary today that focused on the attraction Hitler had on a society, I began to wonder about the distinction of his extreme views on race and those of others that have been a part of humanity throughout its history. This is not a defense of Hitler and his "Final Solution" but an objective view of life as I see it. Let's be honest with ourselves for a moment. How many societies and their civilizations had anything but tolerance to people from all walks of life? Sure, the genocide of Jews by Hitler's Germany takes headlines but what about the Armenian Massacres of World War I, The Bolsheviks and Lenin's tirad, et. al. We cannot forget such examples of the following:
*Idi Amin's regime forced the expulsion in 1972 of Uganda's entire ethnic Asian population, mostly of Indian descent.[82]
* The communist Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups, including ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and Thais. As a result of Khmer Rouge genocide and emigration, the small Thai minority along the border was almost completely exterminated, only a few thousand managing to reach safety in Thailand.
* Subsequent waves of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Burma and many refugees inundated neighbouring Bangladesh including 250,000 in 1978 as a result of the King Dragon operation in Arakan.
* Aftermath of Indira Gandhi assassination in 1984, the ruling party Indian National Congress supporters formed large mobs and killed around 3000 Sikhs around Delhi, known as the Anti Sikh Riots during the next four days. The mobs using the support of ruling party leaders used the Election voting list to identify Sikhs and kill them.
* In 1987 and 1988 Al-Anfal Campaign, the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al-Majid started Al-Anfal against the Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdish civilian in Northern Iraq massacred 100,000 to 182,000 non-combatant civilians including women and children;, destroyed about 4,000 villages (out of 4,655) in Iraqi Kurdistan. Between April 1987 and August 1988, 250 towns and villages -were exposed to chemical weapons;, destroyed 1,754 schools, 270 hospitals, 2,450 mosques, 27 churches; and wiped out around 90% of Kurdish villages in targeted areas.
* Between 16–17 March 1988, the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein carried out a poison gas attack in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan. Between 3,200 and 5,000 civilians died instantly, and between 7,000 and 10,000 civilians were injured, and thousands more would die in the following years from complications, diseases, and birth defects caused by the attack.
* In 1991, in retribution for supporting Saddam Hussein against Kuwait during the 1990 Invasion of Kuwait, Kuwait carried out the expulsion of 400,000 Palestinians.
* The widespread ethnic cleansing accompanying the Croatian War of Independence that was committed by rebel Serbs and Serb-led JNA on the occupied areas of Croatia. Large number of Croats and non-Serbs were removed, either by murder, deportation or being forced to flee. The majority of Croatia's Serb population left the country by the orders of local Serb leaders which organised retreat of up to 200,000 Serbs Operation Storm.
* The widespread ethnic cleansing committed against Albanians on the Albanian-dominated breakaway Kosovo province (of Serbia) (1999). Large numbers of Albanians were forced to flee their homes and expelled.[101]
* The widespread ethnic cleansing committed against Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo in 1999, ended up with expulsion of over 400 000 people, mostly Serbs and Gypsies. [citation needed]
* The 1994 massacres of nearly 1,000,000 Tutsis by Hutus, known as the Rwandan Genocide.
* An estimated 1,000 Tamil people were killed, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed by the Sinhalese-dominated government of Sri Lanka in what is commonly known as Black July.The murder, looting and general destruction of property was well organized. Mobs armed with petrol were seen stopping passing motorists at critical street junctions and, after ascertaining the ethnic identity of the driver and passengers, setting alight the vehicle with the driver and passengers trapped within it. Mobs were also seen stopping buses to identify Tamil passengers and subsequently these passengers were knifed, clubbed to death or burned alive.
* In October 1990, the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), forcibly expelled the entire ethnic Muslim population (approx 75,000) from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The Muslims were given 48 hours to vacate the premises of their homes while their properties were subsequently looted by LTTE. Those who refused to leave were killed. This act of ethnic cleansing was carried out so the LTTE could facilitate their goal of creating a mono-ethnic Tamil state in Northern Sri Lanka.[citation needed]
* There have been serious outbreaks of inter-ethnic violence on the island of Kalimantan since 1997, involving the indigenous Dayak peoples and immigrants from the island of Madura. In 2001 in the Central Kalimantan town of Sampit, at least 500 Madurese were killed and up to 100,000 Madurese were forced to flee. Some Madurese bodies were decapitated in a ritual reminiscent of the headhunting tradition of the Dayaks of old.
The list is much more comprehensive than what I have provided. Not all "cleansing" involves extermination--many simply involve the expulsion of a particular race from an existing society. Nevertheless, humans have historically felt this sense of entitlement that is based entirely on nothing more than their birth. Starting with the Neanderthals and their suppression by Cro-magnon man (or more recently referred to as EMH or Early Modern Humans), there has always been this sense of entitlement and superiority that one race had over another. We can spend a lifetime comparing the hatred of others to the rise of civilization but I choose now to focus on the present.
We, as humans, are nothing more than hypocrites; egocentric, greedy, and disillusioned people that continue a steady decline into a world where our superiority to others can and are, measured with an accuracy based on status and money. How do we justify our superiority over another human being? How does anyone with a conscience feel they are more significant than any other life on this planet? I, personally, wonder why the fact that I was born in America to a traditional family make me a better person than a Tutsi living in Rwanda? In a simple answer to this question--NOTHING.
In the end, we need to all understand that as a race, we are all EQUAL!!!! I cannot, no matter how I try, to put myself into the position of anyone who feels superior to another human being and I honestly would like to know what makes a person do so. For the sociologists and psychologists out there that deal with oppression and discrimination, I ask and beg you to help me understand. I need to know what makes these people feel so superior to others that extermination, expulsion, and discrimination toward a fellow human being can be justified.
These are my thoughts and if I were any sort of god that people could believe in, I would be sure to instill an understanding of humanity, humility and understanding of differences between all living beings. If, on the other hand, there were no one god that actually existed or to believe in, I can see how such discrimination could exist. In the end, God cannot possibly exist in light of these facts that overwhelm and consume humanity.
Of course, these are my humble opinions and I welcome any and all discussion.
*Idi Amin's regime forced the expulsion in 1972 of Uganda's entire ethnic Asian population, mostly of Indian descent.[82]
* The communist Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups, including ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and Thais. As a result of Khmer Rouge genocide and emigration, the small Thai minority along the border was almost completely exterminated, only a few thousand managing to reach safety in Thailand.
* Subsequent waves of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Burma and many refugees inundated neighbouring Bangladesh including 250,000 in 1978 as a result of the King Dragon operation in Arakan.
* Aftermath of Indira Gandhi assassination in 1984, the ruling party Indian National Congress supporters formed large mobs and killed around 3000 Sikhs around Delhi, known as the Anti Sikh Riots during the next four days. The mobs using the support of ruling party leaders used the Election voting list to identify Sikhs and kill them.
* In 1987 and 1988 Al-Anfal Campaign, the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein and headed by Ali Hassan al-Majid started Al-Anfal against the Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdish civilian in Northern Iraq massacred 100,000 to 182,000 non-combatant civilians including women and children;, destroyed about 4,000 villages (out of 4,655) in Iraqi Kurdistan. Between April 1987 and August 1988, 250 towns and villages -were exposed to chemical weapons;, destroyed 1,754 schools, 270 hospitals, 2,450 mosques, 27 churches; and wiped out around 90% of Kurdish villages in targeted areas.
* Between 16–17 March 1988, the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein carried out a poison gas attack in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan. Between 3,200 and 5,000 civilians died instantly, and between 7,000 and 10,000 civilians were injured, and thousands more would die in the following years from complications, diseases, and birth defects caused by the attack.
* In 1991, in retribution for supporting Saddam Hussein against Kuwait during the 1990 Invasion of Kuwait, Kuwait carried out the expulsion of 400,000 Palestinians.
* The widespread ethnic cleansing accompanying the Croatian War of Independence that was committed by rebel Serbs and Serb-led JNA on the occupied areas of Croatia. Large number of Croats and non-Serbs were removed, either by murder, deportation or being forced to flee. The majority of Croatia's Serb population left the country by the orders of local Serb leaders which organised retreat of up to 200,000 Serbs Operation Storm.
* The widespread ethnic cleansing committed against Albanians on the Albanian-dominated breakaway Kosovo province (of Serbia) (1999). Large numbers of Albanians were forced to flee their homes and expelled.[101]
* The widespread ethnic cleansing committed against Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo in 1999, ended up with expulsion of over 400 000 people, mostly Serbs and Gypsies. [citation needed]
* The 1994 massacres of nearly 1,000,000 Tutsis by Hutus, known as the Rwandan Genocide.
* An estimated 1,000 Tamil people were killed, tens of thousands of houses were destroyed by the Sinhalese-dominated government of Sri Lanka in what is commonly known as Black July.The murder, looting and general destruction of property was well organized. Mobs armed with petrol were seen stopping passing motorists at critical street junctions and, after ascertaining the ethnic identity of the driver and passengers, setting alight the vehicle with the driver and passengers trapped within it. Mobs were also seen stopping buses to identify Tamil passengers and subsequently these passengers were knifed, clubbed to death or burned alive.
* In October 1990, the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), forcibly expelled the entire ethnic Muslim population (approx 75,000) from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The Muslims were given 48 hours to vacate the premises of their homes while their properties were subsequently looted by LTTE. Those who refused to leave were killed. This act of ethnic cleansing was carried out so the LTTE could facilitate their goal of creating a mono-ethnic Tamil state in Northern Sri Lanka.[citation needed]
* There have been serious outbreaks of inter-ethnic violence on the island of Kalimantan since 1997, involving the indigenous Dayak peoples and immigrants from the island of Madura. In 2001 in the Central Kalimantan town of Sampit, at least 500 Madurese were killed and up to 100,000 Madurese were forced to flee. Some Madurese bodies were decapitated in a ritual reminiscent of the headhunting tradition of the Dayaks of old.
The list is much more comprehensive than what I have provided. Not all "cleansing" involves extermination--many simply involve the expulsion of a particular race from an existing society. Nevertheless, humans have historically felt this sense of entitlement that is based entirely on nothing more than their birth. Starting with the Neanderthals and their suppression by Cro-magnon man (or more recently referred to as EMH or Early Modern Humans), there has always been this sense of entitlement and superiority that one race had over another. We can spend a lifetime comparing the hatred of others to the rise of civilization but I choose now to focus on the present.
We, as humans, are nothing more than hypocrites; egocentric, greedy, and disillusioned people that continue a steady decline into a world where our superiority to others can and are, measured with an accuracy based on status and money. How do we justify our superiority over another human being? How does anyone with a conscience feel they are more significant than any other life on this planet? I, personally, wonder why the fact that I was born in America to a traditional family make me a better person than a Tutsi living in Rwanda? In a simple answer to this question--NOTHING.
In the end, we need to all understand that as a race, we are all EQUAL!!!! I cannot, no matter how I try, to put myself into the position of anyone who feels superior to another human being and I honestly would like to know what makes a person do so. For the sociologists and psychologists out there that deal with oppression and discrimination, I ask and beg you to help me understand. I need to know what makes these people feel so superior to others that extermination, expulsion, and discrimination toward a fellow human being can be justified.
These are my thoughts and if I were any sort of god that people could believe in, I would be sure to instill an understanding of humanity, humility and understanding of differences between all living beings. If, on the other hand, there were no one god that actually existed or to believe in, I can see how such discrimination could exist. In the end, God cannot possibly exist in light of these facts that overwhelm and consume humanity.
Of course, these are my humble opinions and I welcome any and all discussion.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Clarification and my words of advice
To all of you that have expressed your opinions on my comments about my status as director at Southwest and my intentions, I think I have started something I never intended. Many of you are asking about my future and where I will be next year. The fact is that I have every intention of returning for another year at Southwest barring any unseen offer that I cannot refuse. I have so many outspoken opinions on the state of things and feel as if I will always be compared to previous standards but the fact is, I do not care what critics, dissenters and students feel about me. I am who I am and nothing will change that. Love me or hate me, I love making great music by great composers. Music is my life and what I do. That may be hard for many to understand but my only passion in life is music; whether I am conducting, writing or even listening, there is nothing more powerful to me than music and its effect on the soul and human condition. I could have any career I choose because of my intellect but nothing was more satisfying than music. I love astronomy and physics and even thought I would have liked to get a degree in astrophysics to pursue a career as a cosmologist, but the call of music was too great to ignore. There was even a time in high school that I thought I would make a great medical examiner/ forensic pathologist but pursuing a passion is for what we should always aim. I have become a product of my desires and whether being a teacher was my ultimate goal or not, I am who I am. Anyone is welcome to have opinions of me but it is irrelevant in what I can do. Nothing anyone can say will change that. As a final life lesson to graduates and anyone withing hearing distance, do what you love. You get a chance at happiness in life; do what you love and makes you happy, not what makes you rich or satisfying to others. You all have one life to live--live it for YOU and for no one else. Pursue your dreams and let nothing stand in the way of what you love. Yes, our world and opinions of others is focused, unfortunately, on what we make and what we consider to be important but these qualities diminish what we all hold dear. We have become a culture of those that have looking down on those that have not and we need to take a stand and determine, as a civilization, what is important to our existence. Is the fact that the "Real Housewives" had a bad day or that Brett Michaels has to have a show to find a date what we have become? According to many, it is important to way too many people. Does Oprah represent the human race? Does Dr. Phil speak for all of us? Are we nothing more than cattle that have to be lead to slaughter? The answer, unfortunately, is yes in too many ways. All I ask of anyone that knows me, is be yourself, forget what the media and popular culture forces upon you, and be what you want to be, strive for what you feel is important in your life and live for yourself. Only you can control your destiny and make your life what it was meant to be.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Stop the oil!
Ok, this may seem like a radical and almost suicidal plan but I am recruiting people to boycott the use of oil products as it relates to our driving habits. I think it is about time that we, as a civilized society, understand the part we play in this ongoing tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. Sure, we can blame BP and hold them accountable, as we should do, but it is a result of our needs that caused this problem. If we were not so dependent on the production of oil and its economic impact on our society, they would never have been drilling the Gulf in the first place. There comes a point where humanity realizes that a problem exists and that changes need to be made. Unfortunately, when it comes to oil and its production--particularly as it relates to economic development--we are subservient to its almighty power. STOP!! Sure, I feel that oil is a natural phenomenon that nature created without any help from us. Is it right, however, that people and countries profit and control our fate on the death of prehistoric plant and animal life? Let's face reality folks. Oil is a byproduct resulting from the death of life. Is it not ironic that this demise of life can result in the death of present life as we know it? Can we look at the marshlands and its animal residents on the coast of Louisiana and be happy with our need for oil? I, for one, am embarrassed by the fact that I rely on the same oil from which the Gulf is being destroyed. Stop kidding yourself into thinking that this does not affect your life. The fact is that the death and destruction of natural habitats and livelihoods is based solely on our need for oil and related products. We are ALL guilty for the destruction of life on the Gulf coast!! The more we accept it, the more likely we are to change it. Join me in the boycott of oil and gas products. Ride a bike!!! Walk instead of drive!!! Anything you can do outside of your car will send a message. Do not let these companies dictate how we live and how we should accept their failings. Stand up for what is right!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Oil and the decline of decency
Ok, this has been a topic that has been a continuous thorn in so many sides that to do it justice in this tiny blog is inadequate to say the least. Nevertheless, I feel it is important for me to comment on the issue of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. As a diver and one who relishes in the preservation of undersea life, I am completely in awe at the lack of concern from the general public, news media, and yes, our government about the impact of a true and incomprehensible disaster. We cannot even call this a natural disaster because in reality, it is a disaster that does not owe itself to Mother nature or anything even remotely related to the effects of natural disaster. This is an abomination and destruction of an environment that is a result of nothing more than profit, greed and our complete dependence on a substance that is, and continues to be, the ultimate source of existence in today's reality. Of course, I am speaking of oil and the businesses associated with the propagation of this substance and its detrimental effect on our environment. As a marine conservationist, I am appalled with the lack of motivation on behalf of not only BP and its subsidiaries but our own Federal government in its lack of concern for a potentially global disaster unlike anything we have ever known. The loss of life and the environmental impact on life in the Gulf has yet to be evaluated and for that we should all be ashamed. Great! BP is willing to spend less than 1% of its quarterly earnings (which exceed 4 billion dollars) on trying to clean up the mess they have caused. We should also be grateful that BP and our government are trying all necessary means to "plug" the hole that was caused by NEGLIGENCE and irresponsible practices. Are you freaking serious??? Is it possible that in the 21st Century we are supposed to believe that shooting "junk" such as tires, rocks, and other debris into the ocean floor an answer to an environmental disaster? Are you (BP and the Government) really such mental midgets (I am sorry if I offend anyone but I cannot think of anything other than that description)? What we need is someone, anyone, with a set of BALLS that can punish BP, and every other driller of oil to the point that we will no longer tolerate the destruction of the earth to satisfy the demand and reliance on oil to survive. This is a wake-up call to all of us. We MUST stop organizations such as OPEC, other oil producing nations and businesses by letting them know that the future of our planet can no longer be left in their hands. Further, we can no longer allow ourselves to become so indebted on businesses and nations that we sacrifice what it means to be human. If this does not make people finally stand up to these oil companies and nations, fight for alternative energies and end the reign of corruption and power, then we will continually be relegated to nothing more than pawns in their conquests of domination. Of course, these are just my opinions and as usual, your comments are appreciated.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
A Religious Question--No Hatred Allowed
For anyone that espouses a religious view of the world, I would like for you to submit to me the reasons for the religious persecution among so many people throughout the world. I understand the sensitivity of this question and I am in no way diminishing your beliefs. My goal, at this time, is to try and understand why such beliefs hold such strong convictions that it become paradoxical to human nature. By this, I mean that all religions seemingly promote peace, love and genuine goodwill toward men yet religions also cause divisiveness, hatred and even cause wars. I was raised as a Catholic but have learned that we all have our beliefs and that tolerance is something we should all learn. Perhaps its my naivete that has me question why so many zealots throughout the world seem to feel that violence against another person's beliefs is acceptable. I am sure that no matter what you believe in, the Supreme Being of your religion is adamantly opposed to any persecution, violence and intolerance against anyone. I want help in understanding why wars begin over someone's beliefs. Is it possible that if there were acceptance of ALL religions there would never be wars? More significantly, if there were no belief in the Supreme Deity would we finally agree on the fact that we are all equal? While I am for the latter, I hope that eventually we all get to the point that we understand that we are all human beings, understand that our futures do not depend on anything other than our actions and that we are in total control of our lives and well-being. I am also a realist and know that this will never be possible until we finally come to our senses and figure out that religion is a set of beliefs that are subjective and open to interpretation. I am not an expert and am just trying to learn how the world works. Help me understand the various positions you all have. Thanks for all your responses.
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