Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Aaron Alexis Was a Ticking Bomb

This morning NPR is reporting that Aaron Alexis used his own ID to enter the place where he shot all those people. He did NOT have an assault rifle but used a shotgun which was apparently carried in a bag, disassembled, then later put together. The handgun was apparently from one of his victims.

But this is the interesting part -- in August police in Rhode Island sent a report to the Navy that should have set off lights and sirens at that time.
In the Newport, R.I., incident, Alexis told police he got into an argument with someone as he was getting on a flight from Virginia to Rhode Island, where he was working as a naval contractor, and he said the person sent three people to follow and harass him. 
He said he heard voices talking to him through a wall while at one hotel, so he changed hotels twice, but the voices followed him, according to the report. He said he feared they might harm him. 
He also "stated that the individuals are using 'some sort of microwave machine' to send vibrations through the ceiling, penetrating his body so he cannot fall asleep." 
Later that day, Newport police alerted the Rhode Island naval station and sent a copy of the police report, Newport police Lt. William Fitzgerald said Tuesday.
So how long will it be before enough people wake up to the fact that mental health is part of health care? I already figured out there are plenty of mean-spirited people who don't seem to care if someone else either cannot or will not get insurance. It's the same indifferent attitude that sees motorcycle safety helmets and cigarettes as matters of constitutional freedom that have nothing to do with their responsibilities to society. For them the notion of a social safety net is the next worst development on the way to Communism or some other type of tyrannical government.

But when all else fails, surely even the blindest and most stubborn of that crowd (and yes, Second Amendment extremists, I'm looking at you, too) can see that in America the public safety issue is getting serious enough that principled objections are costing innocent lives.

I put this video up yesterday but here it is again.


Nearly everyone reading this post, whether or not you are aware, knows someone with mental health issues serious enough to warrant professional attention and/or medication.  Unfortunately, it's a subject not talked about in polite company, either because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, or in some cases risk a backlash that might come at the price of friendship or personal safety.

Denial is no longer an option. The time for a conversation about mental health is long overdue. 

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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

HCR -- Why Healthcare Costs More In US -- Video

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Aftermath -- September 17

Broadcast media has been filled with a variety of "aftermath" stories for the past several hours.  The Syrian chemical weapons boil has been lanced, another mass shooting in Washington leaves plenty to chatter about and rescue operations continue following record floods in Colorado. I hope no one says anything really important because it will be lost in a pile of forensic reports filled with more questions than facts. Oh, well...
The deal looks like a humiliation for Obama – but what happens if it starts to unravel?
Whichever analogy one chooses, the conventional wisdom is hardening:Vladimir Putin has judo-flipped, checkmated and floored Barack Obama this week with a plan to inspect and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons. For the sceptics, this was the diplomatic equivalent of polonium-210 in Obama’s teacup; Russia has sucked the Americans into a needless distraction, buying time for Assad and leaving Syria’s rebels adrift. 
~~~~~~~~~~ 
In many respects, this deal doesn’t change much. Russia will continue to arm and fund the Syrian regime as it consolidates its rump state. The US will continue its tepid support for rebels, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar their more enthusiastic contributions. If Syria’s most obscene weapons can be taken off the battlefield, good. If not, our powder stays dry.
My take: The core foreign policy message of the Obama presidency is simple. We are not the world's policeman. (That's what everybody says until something happens they don't like, then depending on who's ox is being gored, they are ready to wage war.) Syria is the exclamation point at the end of that sentence.  
So Republican super-patriots, neocon war-mongers and others who want to bully other countries (Tea Party types who don't like treating non-Americans with civility and old-fashioned diplomacy, I'm looking at you) -- put a sock in it.

This is priceless. Don't miss it.  

From the Atlantic Wire, Everything we know and don't know about the lone gunman...

Lots more at the link,  including this...
Update (9/17): According the Associated Press, Alexis was treated by the Veterans Administration for "serious mental illness," including paranoia, sleep disorders, and delusions like 'hearing voices.' He was also reported discharged from the Navy Reserves honorably, but after a "pattern of misconduct."
He was discharged from the military in 2011. Alexis was a full-time military reservist from 2007 until 2011. The Navy released a summary of his military records on Monday, which outlines his time there. Here's more from the Guardian's Spencer Ackerman:

Alexis, whose home of record is listed as New York City, was a Navy aviation electrician's mate 3rd class. From February 1 2008 until his detachment from the Navy on January 31 2011, Alexis was assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 46, in Fort Worth, Texas....According to a Navy document, Alexis is not listed as having served overseas, but is listed as receiving the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
While his last known residence was Fort Worth, Alexis was born in Queens, NY.
Am I the only one who sees a gleaming, sparkling, flashing red lights connection between the absence of a national firearms registry control system, and a breathtaking, literally world-class number of crazy people killing other people with guns????

How long will it take?
That's enough for this morning.
After the tensions of the last few days everything seems anticlimactic.
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Monday, September 16, 2013

Bigotry & Prejudice -- Alive & Well in America

This. Pushes. My. Button.
 A Lot Of People Are Very Upset That An Indian-American Woman Won The Miss America Pageant
“And the Arab wins Miss America, classic.”
Sunday night Nina Davuluri, Miss New York was crowned the winner the 2014 Miss America Pageant. She is the first contestant of Indian descent to be crowned Miss America. 
When her win was announced, Twitter immediately exploded with hateful tweets, with people calling her Arab. 
And shock that an Indian American would win because “this is America.”

Other people were offended that she was crowned Miss America so close to the anniversary of 9/11.

And joked about her having possible ties to a terrorist group like Al Qaeda.

And some who were just outright racist.

One of the most heavily shared pictures of night was a four-panel image of Miss Kansas Theresa Vail. 
With people claiming Theresa Vail is what a “real Miss America looks like.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I didn't watch the Miss America Pageant. I didn't even know it was in progress. That's how much I pay attention to this kind of entertainment. My list of objections to beauty pageants is long and boring. And apparently last night's results, according to the Buzz Feed story above, did nothing to make me change my mind. The lines were skimmed from a string of actual Twitter messages illustrating each point. 

Rather than letting myself get worked into a lather ranting about racism in America, I just want to drive home one point that by now should be as clear as the sun in the sky on a hot summer day:  This level of bigotry on the part of too many white people has been, is and will continue to be the the most durable challenge that Barack Obama faces as our president. Prejudice, like any other human quality, can take many forms. But no matter how it is presented, how many layers there may be in the costume, the toxic impact cannot be covered up. The most encouraging thing I can say to anyone who fails to recognize this reality is that you can look forward to more growth. 

I'm sure others have noticed that the Tea Party was, is and continues to be overwhelmingly white phenomenon. Yes, I realize there are sincere Tea Party members and supporters of color and ethnic minority status. And not all white Tea Party people are guilty of bigotry. But in the same way that white people who are not overtly prejudiced have the luxury of taking their white privileges for granted, those sincere, principled conservatives types who are most comfortable in the ranks of the Tea Party have a similar luxury that a sprinkling of ethnic minorities and people of color validates their politics, which they will be quick to inform you have nothing to do with race or ethnicity. 

My response to this ole "Some of my best friends" argument is simple. I spent my life in the food business and I know what baloney looks like. And that, my friend, is pure baloney. You can argue til the cows come home that you are not prejudiced just because you have black friends. You may even have black members of your family. Hell, you may be the only white person married or adopted into an all black family and community.

I'm telling you that if you are identifiably white, you have a privilege that non-white people in America do not have.  And yes, my friends who feel the Tea Party speaks for them, this goes for you as well. If you happen to be white you have a privilege more important than any other in your life. Being born in America may be a happy accident, but plenty of people not born in America have tasted the fruits of this country's many rewards. But being born white is an accident of birth you can never take for granted, no matter what part of the world you come from. And don't you forget it or take it for granted. (And remember what I just said next time a Tea Party extremist refuses to compromise with the president.)


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Morning Links -- September 16

Miss Kansas Theresa Vail shows ABC News' "20/20" 

her side tattoo, which features the text of 

the "serenity prayer."
Miss Kansas Theresa Vail: Tattooed Soldier, Opera Singer Breaks Miss America Stereotypes
Sept. 12, 2013

Theresa Vail, the 22-year-old senior at Kansas State University representing the Sunflower state at this year's Miss America pageant, is not your typical glamour girl. This week she's making headlines after she took to the stage in a red bikini during Tuesday night's preliminary swimsuit competition in Atlantic City, with her tattooed midriff in full view.

"I love breaking stereotypes. I love doing what society says I shouldn't because of my gender," she told ABC News' "20/20."

"Syria plans a presidential election in 2014, but few in the opposition take the vote seriously or believe it can be held amid the country's civil war."
This is one of the eighteen images at the link.  Wow!


This collection of You Tube and other links will take your breath away. Most outside observers have no idea about the magnitude of the disaster unfolding in Syria.

Juan Cole's essay this morning should be required reading for anyone in the habit of oversimplifying complex global challenges.
So the hawks, whether of the manipulative and vicious sort or of the humanitarian sort, who keep squawking that the US needs to do something are beginning with the premise that the US can do something effective. It can’t. 
That the Syria situation is so like that in Iraq makes the analogy compelling. I am not saying that all interventions are doomed. Kosovo and Bosnia aren’t paradise, but they turned out just all right. But Syria is not like Kosovo, where you had a compact territory being invaded by another ethnic group. Syria is all mixed up. The tanks are inside the cities. The cities are multi-ethnic for the most part. There is nothing you could bomb without killing the civilians you were hoping to protect (Syria differs in this way also from Libya). 
It is human nature to think, when we see an ongoing great slaughter, that something must be done. But because of the ease of availability of high explosives and other weapons and the breakdown of social consensus, there is little the outside world could hope to do. Arming the rebels, as Obama has pledged to do, will not, let us say, reduce the death rate.
It's much longer than this. 
Do take time to read the whole post. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Semi-long read. Highly recommended. Sample here...
That Vladimir Putin has been able to promote himself as the seeming voice of reason and the moral conscience of the world tells us less about the plausibility or moral rightness of the Russian plan than it does about the incoherence and uncertainty of Western policy. Such is that incoherence and uncertainty that Barack Obama has been simultaneously snookered and bailed out by the Russian president. The man who once represented ‘Hope’ and ‘Change’, who came to the White House as the anti-war president, and who promised to bring moral order to America’s foreign policy, now finds himself clinging to the moral coat-tails of a leader who makes George Bush seem like a hippy.


Miss America crowns 1st winner of Indian descent; racist tweets flow
By Leslie Bentz
(CNN) -- No sooner had the tiara been placed atop her head than a barrage of racist tweets flooded the Internet. 
"If you're #Miss America you should have to be American," said one. 
"WHEN WILL A WHITE WOMAN WIN #MISSAMERICA? Ever??!!" screamed another.
Nina Davuluri is American. She just happens to be of Indian descent. In fact, she's the first Indian-American to be crowned Miss America. 
But the tweets that followed the 2014 pageant in Atlantic City on Sunday night didn't focus on how it's the second consecutive year that a Miss New York has taken the crown, or about the judge's questions (including ones about Miley Cyrus and Syria). 
They were about Davuluri's heritage. 
"Well they just picked a Muslim for Miss America. That must've made Obama happy. Maybe he had a vote," vented one person. 
Not that it bears pointing out, but Davuluri's not a Muslim -- and the president didn't have a vote. 
The 24-year-old Davuluri, who's from Syracuse, competed on a platform of "Celebrating Diversity through Cultural Competency." For the talent portion, she performed a classical Indian dance fused with Bollywood moves.
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