Day: June 5, 2016

SUMMER OF 16: VIOLENCE PERVADES THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

Something seems very wrong.. Very very wrong..

Life of late has been filled with horrid headlines–things of a tragic nature. Hardcore drugs.. hardcore murders.. a lack of concern from some in the public and a turning inward of others..

Has the American culture finally come to its knees in fear? Have all the good people given up, locked their doors, and shielded their last remaining vestige of safety somewhere deep in a homemade bunker?

HEADLINE FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: US CITIES SEE UNEXPLAINED RISE IN VIOLENT CRIMES THIS YEAR

The meat of the story written by LISA MARIE PANE AND DON BABWIN..

Violent crimes – from homicides and rapes to robberies – have been on the rise in many major U.S. cities, yet experts can’t point to a single reason why and the jump isn’t enough to suggest there’s a trend.

…

“It’s being reported on at local levels, but in my view, it’s not getting the attention at the national level it deserves,” FBI Director James Comey said recently. “I don’t know what the answer is, but holy cow, do we have a problem.”

The problem is not completely national.. certain cities are not seeing a spike. Others are.. one of those cities: Chicago. The same weekend the world seemed concerned about the gorilla at the Ohio zoo gunned down, so many in Chicago were killed or injured by gunfire, Memorial Day weekend..

More on Chicago:

Perhaps more significant is the number of people who are being shot; well over 1,200 as of Tuesday, which far surpasses the 800 by this time last year.

All of it has left the city on edge.

“Our kids are afraid to go out of the house,” said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest and activist on the city’s South Side. “You have children asking teachers to pray for them before they go home.”

The AP expands more.. the story will surely be on front pages Monday morning in fishwrapper runs..

But what to make of it? A breakdown of society/ a pattern/ a fluke?

Drugs?
Gangs
….rage..

All the rage in a summer heat..

As so often happens, this reality reminds me of fiction, specifically Frank Miller’s BATMAN.. a scene where the Joker is running wild and the entire city of Gotham is ravaged by a crime wave and a heat wave at the same time. The heat wave finally breaks with a mighty crack of thunder before an eventual fight between Batman and Superman. But the cops in Gotham were waiting for that heat wave to break.. waiting for the crime wave to slow down, too..

In real life, we are waiting for something to break.. for the heat, or whatever is at the root of this issue, to calm down.. be fixed.

But who’s fixing it?

No one I can see..

Batman, sadly, does not exist.

June 5, 2016
The dire ring of fire

A fearful headline is gracing my computer screen this Sunday morning.. It was filed a few days back, but its importance has not diminished with days.

Notice all of those stories about volcanoes lately?
The Pacific Ring of fire especially? People leaving their homes, forced out from the land… escaping the fire and gas being thrust into the atmosphere on a regular basis now.

But get this: During the last 10 days close to 40 volcanoes worldwide have been showing signs of activity and great deal of them, 34, are located along the very active Ring Fire.

And even more, the increasing volcanic activity around the the Ring of Fire is not new, the region is home to 452 volcanoes, 75% of all earth’s, and geologists have been warning that this 25,000 mile stretch of active and dormant volcanoes is becoming more unstable in recent year!

A series of images and pieces of information can be viewed here..

June 5, 2016
Allies of Ali

The death of Muhammad Ali has had widespread reverberations through the world..
He was the ‘greatest of all time.’
Even for my area, there were local connections, as he had a training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, just down the road from home base..

His death has also brought an outpouring of emotion from those who knew him, knew of him, or just went back on YouTube and watched some of the most dramatic fights or loudest roars when he was in his prime.

But there may have been another reason he was as popular and meaningful for our time..

He was an political activist. He blended that activism and politics with sports and publicity..

“Part of Muhammad’s greatness was his ability to be different things to different people,” retired basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote on Facebook Saturday.

“To sports fans he was an unparalleled champion of the world, faster and smarter than any heavyweight before. To athletes, he was a model of physical perfection and shrewd business acumen. To the anti-establishment youth of the 1960s, he was a defiant voice against the Vietnam War and the draft. To the Muslim community, he was a pious pioneer testing America’s purported religious tolerance. To the African-American community, he was a black man who faced overwhelming bigotry the way he faced every opponent in the ring: fearlessly.”

Ali’s trash talk turned into action during the Vietnam War. He converted to Islam and abandoned Cassius Clay.. he actively fought during the Civil Rights movement. He shook the world.

In other words, he became the ultimate star before the era of Twitter and Facebook. He did what others could not do. And did it his way.

I think there is something to be said for HOW he did things.. Those who liked him and those who don’t can agree on a point that no one can contend: Authenticity always wins. If you’re right, if you act the way you are meant to, if you are performing your functions the way YOU should without hesitation or remorse for what others will say or think, you will succeed. If you stop paying attention to the things that take you off your life course, you will reach the goal you intended. Even if you are not sure if your goal, you should try to find who you are. Ride the wave with the person you know and don’t pretend to be anyone you’re not.

Ali did just that. He was Muhammad Ali.
And he became the greatest that ever lived…

RIP.

June 5, 2016