So Libya's on the world hot seat again, this time descending into civil war as revolts throughout the whole Middle East continue. The UN has imposed a No-Fly Zone and the US is providing limited military support with other nations leading.
In response, Gaddafi declared that "arms depots are now open and the masses are being equipped with all sorts of weapons in defence of Libya's independence, unity and honour." (BBC News Online)
*cue record scratch*
I wonder if he realizes that most Libyans may want independence from HIM??? Well that's Gaddafi for you. How ironic if those weapons are turned against him.
Oh, yes. Loyalist forces attacked a Rebel stronghold in the midst of a supposed ceasefire. Nice...
I've been wondering for some time what it would take to change the political and social landscape of the Middle East.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Egypt.
These protests against Mubarak's regime came as a domino effect of the protests in Tunisia and Yemen. Lisa asked me; "I thought Egypt was one of the Middle East's success stories since it was stable." My reply; "Define stable?" OK, maybe it's stable compared to the rest of the Middle East. However, it's far from a democracy.
Consider that Mubarak has been in power for almost 30 years since October 1981 when he succeeded acting President Sufi Abu Taleb eight days after Taleb's appointment following the assassination of Anwar El Sadat. Now his administration's corrupt rule has been threatened by the revolts of neigboring Tunisia which can be seen and presented in real time thanks to modern communications like Twitter and cell phones. As people in Egypt see what is happening many thought; "Hey! Our governement is corrupt too. We're sick of it!"
And so the protests began.Mubarak's response: Dissolve Egypt's Parliament and essentially declare martial law.
We were having lunch at Smokey Bones and one of the TVs had CNN "covering" the Egyptian protests. Lisa was astonished at Mubarak's heavy-handed response saying; "This is not the 80s! You cannot suppress people without consequences. They're not afraid anymore." I think it's only a matter of time before Egypt and perhaps more of the Middle East will have change occur from within. And so it will be the will of the people, not out-of-touch Pan-Arab nationalists that will decide this.
So one may ask; “Why say that in public and what does this have to do with history?”
Well after the story broke of Capt. Honors losing his command over lewd videos he showed the crew while Enterprise’s executive officer, it got the brain working. The video showed that some officers and service members still have that decades-long fraternal attitude that I found distasteful while I was in the Army. Maybe the videos were meant to boost morale, but for whom? The military frat boys?
The fact that the news came so soon after Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed and how quickly Capt. Honors was relieved was rather surprising and agreeable. Despite this, there are still a good number of people in the military and society that fears what they do not understand about gays and women serving equally. Even in these seemingly progressive times, much remains to be done to fully embrace gender and sexual equality especially in the military.
"OK, Steve. Now why mention that...that V-word???" Oh VAGINA! (As Jasmine would say; "Sorry, I'm not sorry.") Yes, what does that have to do with the Capt Honors incident?
Well I admit the connection may be tenuous, but really it's another side of the same coin: shame and embarrassment perpetuated by a male-dominated culture ridiculing or shaming those who are different, meaning gays and women.
This thought simmered as Lisa told me she was sewing a velvet pussy (I'm serious, folks!) to submit for a gallery show. It was a way for her to express her evolving artistic talents while going back to her graduate school days, where she was dealing with women's issues including making charcoal drawings of vaginas. I can imagine some people looking at it with their cheeks tinged with shame, seeing it as inappropriate. Well, let's look at modern television. These days, there are plenty of commercials about erectile dysfunction. It seems more acceptable to say penis in public, yet no one can say vagina without being censored.
Lisa told me of Dr. Lissa Rankin, an OBGYN who wrote a book about the vagina but could not mention the word in her book title. Here she is talking about that very subject.
Until society as a whole can talk about gays and the vagina in polite conversation, we still have a ways to go to achieve social enlightenment.
Made me think of this classic cartoon as the last time I heard vagina on TV...
I ran across this BBC article yesterday and was telling Lisa about how British intelligence devised one of the most brilliant and risky deceptions of World War II. The ploy, conceived by Ian Fleming (yes, that Ian Fleming), was to get Hitler and his generals to think there would be an invasion of Greece and divert troops from the vicinity of the true target: Sicily. A homeless man in Britain named Glyndwr Michael who died in the winter of 1943 would change the course of the war by becoming Royal Marines Major William Martin. Charles Cholmondeley and Ewen Montagu, the intelligence officers responsible for Operation Mincemeat, spent months creating the officer out of thin air complete with false papers, mementos, and a letter marked "Personal and Most Secret" concerning bogus plans for an Allied invasion of Greece.
Now to get the "Major" into the field...
The body was sent into the sea and was later discovered near the Spanish port of Huelva. There was a network of Nazi spies in Spain, all known to British intelligence thanks to the breaking of the Enigma codes. In fact, there was one spy in the area they had in mind to help carry the plan through: Adolf Clauss, described as "meticulous, well-connected, yet unimaginative." Believing he struck gold in finding a British courier thought to have been killed in a plane crash, he reported his findings. The Nazis took the bait and moved an entire Panzer division to Greece. Sicily was later taken with fewer casualties than anticipated. This gave the Allies a foothold to invade Italy, beginning a process that would end with the destruction of the Nazi regime.
The article later mentioned the feasibility of such an operation today, especially in light of the WikiLeaks disclosure of classified documents. I had another question come to mind: Can intelligence officers these days conduct such an elaborate ruse? I say no.
The men responsible for Mincemeat were left to their own devices because Churchill had faith in their abilities to get the job done. Today so many stories come out concerning intelligence agencies stepping on each other’s toes. They seem to keep all their information inside their own turf and do not want their perceived rival agencies to get even part of the credit.
It makes one wonder why we don't seem to have such creative minds working in intelligence these days…
Lisa was telling me of an NPR story (and later a Salon article) about an appearance by Steve Martin at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The audience apparently was bored with Steve Martin's discussion about art and his new novel about the artworld, An Object Of Beauty. Partway through, the interviewer was handed a note from a Y staffer asking to discuss with Mr. Martin his career i.e. The Jerk and The Three Amigos. They wanted to hear less about art.
"But art is his career now!" Lisa chimed in as I typed this. He's also a musician, a novelist, and a playwright. What gets me is that people didn't see Martin as a person with a wealth of experience and talent, but as he was thirty to forty-odd years ago. Had I been there, I'd have been quite disappointed if he did talk about his film and stand-up career. What got me really burned up was the 'Y' refunded the admission fee because the audience seemed bored.
OK, why did you go in the first place? Did you not read the description of the show? I can imagine a brief conversion going like this:
-Hey! Steve Martin's at the 'Y'! Let's go see!
-Sure! I loved him in The Jerk!
So yes I am disappointed in these people and maybe with most people in general. Many don't realize that people grow and change over time and cultivate new interests, not to mention share their experiences, views and other talents. Take Vincent Price. The iconic horror film actor also collected art, wrote numerous books, and was a gourmet chef. What happened to Steve Martin would be like the audience asking Mr. Price about his horror film days in a seminar about French cuisine.
Hang your heads in shame folks. Intellectual curiosity is still dying...
Now that President Obama has formally backed India's bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, it's no surprise the region has been placed under an even more powerful microscope. This brings the need to discuss a couple of obvious topics.
First and foremost is Pakistan, the regional wildcard. Relations with India have always been strained at best especially after the attacks in Mumbai (Bombay) nevermind the wars that occurred since the late 1940s. Pakistan reacted to the President's speech as a complication in the spirit of cooperation or something like that. While favorable overall to the region in the short term, this would no doubt have serious complications in U.S./Pakistani relations such as they are. On the other hand, this could spur Pakistan to fight its own corruption in order to achieve better standings in the UN, along with their own seat, but presently I find that highly doubtful.
Another more far reaching result is within the UN itself. If India gained a permanent seat, then more prominent non-permanent members, namely Brazil, Germany and Japan would want their own active role in the Security Council. This would no doubt make China and Russia a bit testy as the balance of power changes, albeit more symbolic than practical. On the plus side, this would change the political structure of the UN many thought long overdue.
This warrants more detailed posts as events develop...
(Note: Apologies for the somewhat lame commercials. The embedding function doesn't seem to work on the Comedy Central site) OK, back to the blog...
Followed by Stephen Colbert's poem read by Sam Waterston. "Dun Dun!"
Jon and Stephen's "differences" came out when Jon brought Yusuf to sing "Peace Train." Stephen brought Ozzy to sing "Crazy Train."
Mr. Stewart began to give the Keynote address, only to be interrupted by Mr. Colbert. Turned into a debate, with special guests Kareem Abdul Jabbar and R2 D2
or the Jon Stewart Rally to restore sanity to America or something like that...
In a city...umm....
Ahhh forget it, turn off the music guys...(record scratch)
The video link off? Ok good...
So Lisa and I went to Stewart/Colbert Rally yesterday. Was indeed great fun, the most we had together in a while since maybe Disneyworld. This picture tells it all:
We got there about 8:30 local time and the set-ups were already done. And people were quickly starting to come. First in a trickle then a tidal wave. We decided just to find a spot with a view of one of the video screens. We could see the stage but were to far to see them clearly. We were entertained with clips of Daily Show/Colbert Report leading to the Rally. Then I got a sign confirming my allegiance:
Already the signs. "Signs signs everywhere were signs..."
This one was my favorite by far:
Right at noon, The Roots began playing then John Legend took vocals. After that, the Mythbusters came on.
