“Fourteen Americans from the 25^th Infantry Division from Hawaii were killed today when their Blackhawk helicopter crashed in Northern Iraq. U.S. officials blame the crash on mechanical difficulties and not on hostile fire.”

That 7-second blip was all that was said about the 14 dead on NBC Nightly News last night. A similarly brief recap was broadcast on my local CBS affiliate a few hours later. The verbal emphasis was that it was a positive thing that their deaths were not a result of hostile fire.

May I take a moment to state the obvious? If these were Americans who died in an aircraft accident as a result of “mechanical difficulties” in any other part of the world, or more specifically: if the 14 dead were civilians, this story would be the lead story on every major new program and network in the country, and no doubt, discussed ad nauseum for days.

Helicopters are not significantly different from airplanes, American’s fly in helicopters every day, and if one crashed, killing all 14 aboard, due to mechanical difficulties, the press would have a field day: What happened? Why wasn’t this defect or problem identified earlier? Who is in charge? Who is to blame? Are helicopters safe anymore? The manufacturer better answer to us!

But no. Because it happened to U.S. soldiers, there was a 7-second blip about it and little to nothing else. As if dead soldiers are so common, such an everyday occurrence, that as long as they weren’t killed by hostiles…is it still not worth our umbrage? That the cause of their deaths, that being an accident, was merely a broadcast footnote.

I am upset that no one cares. That if these were civilians, that this would be a national story, that because these are soldiers, the story is inconsequential.

It is sad to think that there is such a lack of emphasis (or respect) for education, that even properly educated people feel that they need to “dumbify” themselves when in mixed company as to not standout or create a sense of discomfort in others.

In effect, Education has been about reducing the quality of education to conform to the lowest common denominator…let’s not push kids because if we do, the children who are intellectually slower will have a damaged self-esteem when they get older. Bunk.

Did you know that across the US, major universities are no longer requiring English majors to study Shakespeare? The reason: it’s too hard. That is tantamount to not requiring Philosophy majors to be exposed to the likes of Plato or Socrates. People are stupid because we set the bar low and reinforce stupidity and sub-par performance with praise and reward. Though, the current (and worsening) state of Education is only one manifestation of a diseased way of thinking that has taken over our society; a way of thinking that is breaking this once standard-setting, world-leading nation.

As the dimly lit flame of a once roaring—yet now unattended—bonfire, we have failed to support the systems we put in place in order to sustain and grow our nation.

Yes, a major bridge collapsed, but what about the 70,000 other bridges in this country that have been rated as in-need of significant repairs? The Brooklyn Bridge, for example, has a lower safety rating than the recently-collapsed Minneapolis 35W bridge did, as do tens of thousands of other bridges. And what about the tens of thousands of tunnels, many of whom run hundreds of feet below bodies of water? They have no federally-mandated safety and maintenance inspection standards at all, despite Congress being fully aware of this grievous oversight for over 20 years.

Our roads are in desperate need of revitalization as well. By chance, have you driven around (or over) a pothole recently? The number of cars on the road has more than quadrupled since the early 1960s and people are driving more often and farther than ever before. Nevertheless, we’ve hardly improved roadways with necessary repaving, and paving of new routes, instead relying on a flawed system of patches, pot-fills, and political positioning.

What can be said for our airports; have you been to an airport lately? Let’s forget about the elimination of expected services and amenities (e.g., stale pillows, complimentary horse blankets, hot plastic food served in Hungry Man platters at no additional charge) and discuss the increasing instances of lost baggage and delays. Lost baggage amounts to over 10,000 lost or delayed luggage items per day; Yes, ten-thousand lost or delayed items per day, my friends. Statistically speaking, you are safer swimming with Tiger, Bull, and White sharks than you are putting your medication into a checked luggage item.

Since Congress passed the bill to deregulate the airline industry and took away the authority of the FAA to regulate the number take-offs and landings at airports, more and more flights are being added by airlines every year, with even more regional and private jets taking to the air as well, adding further congestion to the already overwhelming aeronautic gridlock. Don’t be fooled by the statistics: airlines and airports have redefined what it means to be “delayed,” not to mention that nearly all airlines now pad their departure and arrival times to account for the inevitable delays. Despite this subversive statistical trickery, nearly 40% of all domestic flights in the US are delayed, late, or cancelled each and every day, with some routes experiencing delays 100% of the time.

There simply aren’t the systems in place anymore to support the number of people who fly. Business travel has sky-rocketed, per capita personal travel has increased tenfold since the 1960s, and people are flying more often. And yet, airports and the irreprehensibly antiquated Air Traffic Control System cannot keep up and Congress is hardly investing the money they need to and more importantly, when they needed to, to keep ahead of the congestion.

The FAA requested a new $20 billion satellite-based Air Traffic Control System to keep up with demand and traffic, and was expected to take 15 years to fully roll-out. Nearly 10 years later, Congress can’t get off their self-interested asses to do anything about it. The FAA requested it, the airlines need it, and the passengers demand it; nothing was done and now we are starting to really feel the consequences of their self-centered short-sightedness.

So now we look around and watch as our systems continue to break in front of us…though many of us hardly notice the greater disease because the symptoms have become so commonplace that we take them for the norm.

We have a population of over 300 million people; in the 1920s-1960s (when many of our systems were implemented), the population was half that and these systems were not designed or intended to be used for so long and by so many. We have serious problems with prison over-crowding, seven-digit phone numbers are soon to be a thing of the past, power grids are buckling and rolling blackouts in cities are not unheard of, at one-percent, the FDA is effectively no longer inspecting our food supply, and the annulment in the quality of education we provide to our children is sickening.

People are living longer and acting younger, it’s not uncommon to reach the age of 100 and be mobile anymore. What will the effects be of longer life coupled with the increasing birth rates nationally and globally? The population of Earth is on track to increase to 10 billion by 2050 (it was 4 billion when I was born three decades ago) and estimates continue to become more aggressive, with some pundits arguing that the global population will reach 10 billion by 2020. Our infrastructure is not only unprepared for that, but humanity is little better prepared to be thrown into mass-scale scenarios where necessary parts of that infrastructure ultimately break down.

To frame a discussion for addressing these issues, according to the US State Department in a report published in July 2007, the DOD’s average monthly expenditure for contracts and pay for the war in Iraq are running at over $10 billion per month. Forgetting about the nearly half-trillion spent on the war in Iraq so far, and what those tax-payer dollars could have otherwise been spent on (though not likely), just two years of this war on Iraq could have had the following alternate benefits:

The kick-off for the new satellite-based Air Traffic Control System ($20B), every major bridge, tunnel, and overpass in the United States inspected and repaired ($188B), and the distribution of updated scholastic textbooks to every child in the United States ($28B), leaving another $4 billion to support significant improvements and supports to our aging health care, public works, and educational systems.

Because our system is broken and long-term solutions are not being seriously considered, we are all forced to lower our expectations for the long-term quality and safety of our lives. Roadways, health care, air traffic systems…despite commonsense, of all those things, how can we neglect Education as if it was simply a cost, rather than an investment in Humanity? Real change is needed if we are going to repair the damage done to this country, but I wonder if we have what it takes to even do that anymore. Instead, I suspect we will watch Rome being invaded by barbarians all over again.

I read this news brief and it reminded me of my blog entry (Plastics 1 / Humanity 0) where, in the Comment’s section, the suggestion was made that bottled water is as bad for our environment as plastic bags are. I had never even considered that before and as a bottled water consumer since I was in diapers in the 70s, I wanted to learn more.

It seems that a quick Google search will return thousands of articles discussing the petroleum usage associated with the manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and disposal of water bottles. This has been something that I have given very little thought to and have taken for granted…I’ve always considered these bottles to be an innocuous and convenient part of my life: I was wrong. I have been walking around with my brain turned off to this.

With more and more city and local municipalities taking measures to curb the use of bottled water, clearly the environmental impact of this specific refuse warrants action and the case for reducing the consumer-nonchalance toward plastic bottles seems to hold water.

—

Estimates suggest that the manufacturing and transportation per each single bottle of water requires the use of:

• 6-7x the amount of water as is in the bottle;
• 1.0 liter of fossil fuels;
• 1.2 pounds of greenhouse gasses released into our atmosphere.

With 12-18 bottles per case, you do the math.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not messing with people when I tell them to reach for the Bubbly: Champagne is one of those wondrous potable art forms, which in the hands of an artisan, can make for a fabulous (yes, I said fabulous) treat for your senses. It’s just too bad that people so rarely drink it.

I have often told people that Champagne is not just for celebrations, special occasions, and New Year’s Eve. I can’t think of another form of wine that goes better with Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Indian, or eggs-dishes better than Champagne. And why wait for that “special occasion” to open that bottle of Bubbly, when in fact, the opening of that bottle IS the special occasion?

For the uninitiated, Champagne comes only from one province in France named Champagne. If it comes from anywhere else, even other parts of France, it’s a Sparkling Wine. While sparkling wines from France, California, and Italy (think Asti spumante) can be as delicious, none provide the elegance and subtle experience that a true Champagne can deliver. In this case, a name is much more than a name; it’s a badge of quality.

Believe it or not, Champagne is one of those simple food-and-beverage catch-alls. You can serve Champagne with just about anything you would pair a wine with, and have a delightful experience. Try pairing it with cheese, desserts, steaks, fish, sushi, burritos, pasta, chili, hamburgers, potato chips, and ice cream—but please, not all at once. I dare you to try that with a stiff Californian Chard or a tannic Australian Shiraz!

In spite of my exuberance, my early experiences with Champagnes were generally less than gratifying and I didn’t come to appreciate Champagnes until my late-twenties. However, upon reflect, it’s no surprise I didn’t care for it. If you received it for free at a brunch buffet, it’s probably not that good; and with Champagnes/Sparkling Wines—specifically—the range of quality and experience can differ dramatically from one end of the spectrum to the other. However, that is not to say that to enjoy Champagne, you need to spend a lot of money.

True (French) Champagnes start at about $25 for a full bottle (700ml) and $14 for a half-bottle (375ml). I make sure to always have several half-bottles on hand for meals that I make for myself and find that having half-bottles around enables me to enjoy Champagne at whim. For example, last night I made a very spicy, vegetable stir-fried rice and opened a half-bottle of Moet & Chandon White Star ($18) which was a perfect marriage of spiciness and crispness resulting in a balanced flavor structure: the food softening the Champagne and the Champagne cutting through, and abating, the spiciness. Having the half-bottle made all the difference as I would rarely consider opening a full bottle by myself; and splitting a half-bottle between two people can be an unexpected way to enjoy Champagne as an aperitif at home as well.

A brief word to Champagne novices, despite what you’ve seen on television, opening a bottle properly calls for a whisper when the cork is released, not a pop, and most certainly not an explosion. You aren’t in a locker room and you aren’t trying to break a new air-speed record with the cork, nor do we want our golden Bubbly streaming liquid-gold all over the place (that’s fodder for another blog).

So next time you are in a pinch for a good wine experience, but don’t know what to serve: try Champagne. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg and it will likely add to an experience you will remember for a long time.

Recommended Champagnes:
Moet & Chandon White Star
Veuve Cliquot (Yellow Label or Grande Dame)
Taittinger Brut Cuvée Prestige Rosé (A splurge, but if you are looking for something truly special, a Brut Rosé Champagne can add to the visual appeal of your meal without imparting a syrupy-sweet tang)

I am tired of it all and hope the American public backlashes to real information sources…which nowadays is mainly found only on NPR, PBS, and perhaps BBC. How sad.

It’s unfortunate that decisions of war, decisions which are in effect Military, are in the hands of people who make those decisions for purely political reasons; especially when the real cost, is the cost of human life: both Americans and Iraqi.

I never want to hear the term “flip-flopper” again…not from Republicans, not from Democrats, and most certainly not from the Media.

It’s amazing how a politically-spun catchphrase such as flip-flopper can get co-opted by the media and the Politicoratti; given so much of a negative connotation that it can turn an educated, confident person into a long-winded, stammering fool—to the point where few politicians will openly admit to a change of position without justifications rooted in self-righteous and unnecessary half-truths.

There is no doubt that anyone who goes back and forth on an issue too readily is a probable cause for concern; however, the term is misused as a weapon against anyone who has the temerity to verbalize a change of opinion—and frankly, who hasn’t felt one way about something, and then upon learning more, refined their opinion on it?

It’s not just the use of the term flip-floppers that I never want to hear…it’s all the catchphrases which invariably reduce our national debate to a never-ending back-and-forth; appealing to the basest levels of our understanding and used as devices in absence of thoughtful counterpoints.

Politicians and the Media rely on focus group-tested chew-and-spew slogans and buzz-words, which are crafted to be sufficiently catchy and garner enough ratings to guarantee at least as many News-cycles necessary to cement the spin on our public consciousness.

With the kind of exposure an effective catchphrase can get (think: shock and awe, cut and run, stay the course, war on terror), it’s not unexpected that so many people would confuse exposure for merit, popularity for truth. And if you are reluctant believe it, just perform a search on the internet to find out how many Americans still believe that the moon is (at least partially) made of cheese, and see how far this lack of common-sense can penetrate our beliefs if we’ve heard something often enough: it’s disturbing.

It is representative of a symptom which contributes to a greater disease, one that erodes the quality of our information and relies on the general absence of critical thinking. It is as if we have lost our ability to effectively evaluate and discuss issues with open minds. We spend so much time defending pre-conceived beliefs, even on the things we could certainly afford to learn more about, that we don’t hear what the other side has to say, often leaping into conversations with minds so firmly decided, that it is more of a battle of will, than a merited exchange of differing viewpoints.

It’s a fundamental breakdown in communication—in how we interact, evolve, and change. If we are unable to admit that the original position we took was based on an incomplete picture, even in the overwhelming presence of contrasting information, then we can never take measures to correct our path. Without an effective process of “viewing and reviewing” information and allowing reason to influence emotion, we cannot grow—individually or as a group.

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a proud flip-flopper: I have reconsidered many topics (such as affirmative action, illegal immigration, and the merits of polyester) and have better defined my position on these and other issues and, and in some cases, have come to feel that I was misguided in how I addressed them earlier in my life.

I am not always right and nor do I expect others to always be. The bottom line is that we are all human. That growth and change of opinion are part of the human condition and our ability to admit to being wrong and moving on, despite our initial differences, is part of what has defined our success as a species. At some point, we need to remember that admitting to an error doesn’t make us weak, it makes us human; that moving on gives us the opportunity to focus on what’s real, versus on what’s ego.

There is no more destructive force in human affairs—not greed, nor hatred—than the desire to have been right. – Mark Kleiman

I received an email yesterday from the Politics Editor at 411mania.com/politics. They have a guest columnist feature entitled With Special Guest Star… and he wanted to know if I would be interested in posting my most recent entry (Support Our Troops? Less Lip-service Please!) as a guest columnist.

If you are unfamiliar with 411mania.com it is one of the largest independent media sources on the Internet today and receives 23 million views a month, so needless to say, it was very exciting to receive that kind of validation of my writing, in addition to having the opportunity for my words to reach so many people just before Memorial Day. I accepted his offer and my article is now available for viewing on the Politics Front-page:

LINK TO MY 411MANIA.COM/POLITICS ARTICLE

I hope this entry was a pleasant distraction from whatever it was that you were doing.

- Michael

As a nation, we came together in sorrow and anger when 2,979 people tragically lost their lives during the September 11th, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

Yet what about the Americans who have died in Iraq since then —a number which far exceeds the number of casualties sustained on 9/11? These aren’t people who died as a result of a terrorist attack on a civilian target on our homeland, but just as tragically, they are lives which have been lost because they were blithely put on the frontline of danger in a political red herring; a line of danger in front of which they don’t belong. A deadly battlefield that serves no purpose or benefit to our country and one that has only brought unfathomable instability, lawlessness, and pain that didn’t exist before; one which has bred both terrorism and anti-American sentiment, resulting in the world being a much more dangerous place for generations to come.

Why are we not as incensed by the tragic deaths of even more Americans, who continue to die in the shadow of 9/11, yet for reasons having nothing to do with legacy of 9/11?

And for what? It seems each week we are told that it is in support of a different reason, probably because each previous reason was based more on spin, than foundation. Did we attack Iraq because they trained and funded those who attacked us on 9/11? No, that was the Saudi Arabians. Did we attack Iraq because they were building and storing Weapons of Mass Destruction? No, that was North Korea and Iran. Did we do it to be welcomed as liberators in Iraq? How about to bring stability and peace to Iraq? Nope, try again. How about to get oil to pay for the war, to help rebuild Iraq, and provide us with access an inexpensive source of crude oil? No, nope, and negative.

Sadly, the most common reason used for why we are still in Iraq is to “support of our troops,” which is a slap in the face to our troops; and each time it is used, it discounts the risk and responsibility our soldiers are shouldering every day. It’s a statement which takes their sacrifice in vain and twists it to serve any purpose desired by those who condescend to use that as a tool for their agenda. I say this because once anyone says that we are doing it “for the troops,” any rebuttal can be manipulated to suggest an anti-Patriotic position. It has become an easy device of the weak-minded to continue to justify any action that sends even more of our brave young heroes into the ring of fire.

Especially not when they claim that everything they do, they do for the troops…so how about doing something such as giving them proper body armor, or armored Humvees, or pre-deployment training, or humane periods of down-time between tours, or reductions in tour-length, or stress training, or well-maintained VA hospitals, or proper pay and benefits.

Please don’t get me wrong: I support our troops by wanting those still fighting to come home, alive and well—and by not sitting quietly as people try to use them as a “talking point” to push a self-satisfying agenda.

“I think that we do a great disrespect to the history of this country when we lose our ability to apply a balance to the way we think; focusing on our triumphs and ignoring our failures, focusing on our heroics and ignoring our criminality. What’s wrong with America is when Presidential Candidates must separate criticism of our democracy from the discussion of their platforms. What’s wrong with America is the way in which we are being forced more and more to equate criticism as something counter to democracy, when, in fact, it’s the core of it.” – Sean Penn, 5/4/07

I respect our soldiers and I love my country, but that doesn’t mean that I have to support a military offensive that doesn’t help us or help the people in the country we invaded. And it especially doesn’t mean that I have to blindly support a Presidential Administration, which clearly doesn’t support the “will of the people” it was elected to serve and represent. Hell, with the way our Administration “supports our troops,” who needs enemies?

No, I say, I am loyal to my country and I am loyal to the Constitution of the United States of America, not to someone who abuses those two things in spite of his Title.

Now before you go judging me, let me point out that I have learned to live within the controlled-mess that women tend to call their room. And my girlfriend doesn’t stray too far from the norm. She doesn’t really keep all of her shoes in their boxes—there are shoes everywhere. But unlike many men, women don’t let empty boxes go to waste, especially shoe boxes! They put other stuff in them!

So, you see, I am going to miss out on a whole world of unintentional household storage options.

They provide perfect storage options for small- to medium-sized items and various household miscellanies! Not to mention, they also hold papers and documents just as well too. And it’s not like with those other boxes…these, you just have! Most of them are long, slender, totally stackable, and look cool together. And it’s not as if you went out shopping to get boxes, when you got them, they came with…SHOES! Even better! They even store other types of clothing too (yes, they are very versatile).

What about men’s shoes, don’t they come in boxes too, you ask? Sure men’s shoes come in boxes: big, bulky, and awkward boxes. Frankly, I wouldn’t use them to store my shoes in—and I don’t.

So now what? Do I have to go out and buy a bunch of plain boxes? Will it be the same? Will I end this pointless and embarrassing rant? I’m just not sure.

–

This scary piece of my mind brought to you by:
Tongue-in Cheek Express – where all stories are delivered with a twist.

Frankly, I am tired of the morality police telling me what I can and cannot be exposed to; I am an adult and if I hear something that I don’t like, I have the emotional resilience to be exposed to it with intellectual impunity or to simply tune it out: I don’t need the Media or some self-righteous “pillar of morality” to get into a tizzy and squelch someone else’s opinion to prevent me from being exposed to it.

The old adage applies: I may not agree with you, but I will fight for your right to express it.

The underlying impetus of Political Correctness was to alter the way people think, which isn’t always such a bad thing, but Political Correctness in practice doesn’t do that…it only prevents us from knowing who people really are and how they really think or feel.

Political Correctness is a flawed social precept and I can’t subscribe to a social convention that simply means you can’t say or write something you think or feel, because of how people may react to it. At its best, it’s just a form of self-censorship, at its worst, it’s a tool used by the weak-minded to persecute people for saying out-loud something they probably agree with in their head, but wouldn’t dare say out-loud.

“From now on Earth Day really must be a year round thing. And in honor of this Earth Day, starting Monday supermarket clerks must stop putting the big bottle of detergent with a handle on it in a plastic bag. I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job, but you see that handle you just lifted the detergent with? I can use that same handle to carry the detergent to my car.

“And stop putting my liquor in a smaller paper sack before you put it in the big paper sack with my other stuff. What, are you afraid my groceries will think less of me if they see I’ve been drinking? Trust me, the broccoli doesn’t care, and the condoms already know.

“Maybe you don’t’ need a bag when you buy a keychain. Americans throw out 100 billion plastic bags a year, and they all take a thousand years to decompose. Your children’s children’s children’s children will never know you, but they’ll know you once bought batteries at the 99 cent store because the bag will still be caught in the tree.”

(Source: Bill Maher’s Blog on the Huffington Post)

I wanted to share that on my blog, because ever since reading that, I can’t help but consider the irony of bagging large items (or any items) that have handles on them already; and I could barely keep my thoughts to myself today when, standing on line in an apothecary, I saw a checkout clerk lift a large bottle of detergent by its handle and place it into not one, but two ultra-thick plastic bags: it was obscene and I was appalled.

I have recently started refusing all plastic bags, and now bring my own bags with me when I shop. And when I don’t have my shopping bag with me, or my backpack, I take the items in my hand and carry them out the store with me: oh how primitive! Once you take on this “cause,” you may find that nearly everywhere you shop, people are trying to push plastic bags on you.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not implying that all plastics are bad…it’s the fact that plastic bags tend to be “single-use” items and are often not even needed. They are pervasive and frequently to do more harm than good and provide more of a burden than a convenience.

Should you take the time to stop and look around, I assure you that you will start to notice discarded plastic bags in trees, bushes, fences, and alleys—it’s distasteful and all too telling of a society that doesn’t care about the World that sustains them.

When did ridiculously absurd non-sequiturs begin to pass as rational thinking and counter-point debating in this country?

I welcome criticism on my writings, but instead of that, there was no debate other than: Global Warming doesn’t exist (mixed with childish insults and the occasional person tossing in how Glenn Beck is like a tall glass of water in a desert of Liberally-biased media); can we say “let’s parrot more Right-wing talking points?”

When did this country suddenly get invaded by intellectual lemmings? Silly me for thinking that disbelieving in Global Warming was a minority opinion. I posted my little rant on the MySpace forums and a couple other places on the net, and well, the same thing happened in each instance: the simple-minds came out of the woodwork and posted their absurd pre-canned attacks.

People should try to think critically about issues before drawing conclusions. Yes, I will say it: if you come to a conclusion before hearing out the issue from both sides, then you are a fool. If someone asks you what you think about “X,” it’s ok to say: “I don’t know enough about both sides of the issue to have a considered position.” Afterward, you have the option to go out there, get information, and let it stew in your head for a while, before you say something that is foolishly irresponsible or illogical.

An act of Logic and Reason is knowing, and executing, your right to say “I don’t know” without the fear of feeling stupid or unknowledgeable…after all you are not a polymath and nobody expects you to be one.