The Legitimacy of the Obama Presidency...

It is funny in that perverse kind of a way to watch Republicans dodge, but not really, questions of Obama's citizenship and subsequent legitimacy with respect to being president. The latest Republican to play the double talk game is none other than House Speaker John Boehner. It is equally funny in that perverse kind of a way that Republicans still imagine that this is an issue that is going to be a major vote getter for them in the 2012 presidential elections.

Nah, Boehner hedged his bets as he is often seen doing on tobacco. Boehner's argument is in essence that he believes Obama is a citizen and a Christian. Now, according to Boehner, if the good ol' state of Hawaii says that Obama was born there then that is good enough for him. On the is Obama a Christian or a Muslim front Boehner is much more non-committal and merely says that he takes the president on his word. After all, in Boehner's mind President Obama has stated he is Christian so that will have to do for now.

The real funny here is that rather than being unequivocal in stating that the question of Obama's citizenship and religion is a non-issue, a dead issue, Boehner goes on to say that the American public is entitled to believe whatever they want. This is indeed true, Mr. Speaker. If Americans want to believe that no US man ever landed on the moon and that it was all a big hoax constructed in a studio in Hollywood somewhere as an elaborate ruse to fool the Russians that they had lost the space race, then they are entitled to believe that too. Similarly, if Americans want to believe that there are a couple of aliens on ice at Roswell or in Area 51, then they can do that too.

The fact that democrats lost so much ground at the mid-terms was not because they did, or continue to do, a woeful job in government. Rather it is a reflection of the inability of democrats to remobilise the 2008 base that swept Democrats into power and Obama into the White House. There is no guarantee that the Democrats will make the same mistake twice. The balancing factor here is that the current state of the economy and Obama's difficulties in following through on some of his election campaign rhetoric means that it must be easier for Republicans to mobilise their base, including the fringe represented by the Tea Party.

But, as the Speaker of the House, the responsible move would have been to be unequivocal that Obama is a citizen, this is no longer an issue and Republicans will not be using it to question the legitimacy of the President. One would have thought that Republicans would have believed that Obama's domestic and international track record since 2008 provides more than enough problems for the Democrats that there is no need to resort to fear-mongering about citizenship and Obama's supposed Muslim faith.

All that said, I remain an interested observer.

Texting and Walking and Falling and Suing...

This is the video that started off a trend. It had plenty of people rolling around on the floor laughing or in abbreviated speak ROFLMAO.



And, this is the response of the woman (albeit a beat-up of the interview she gave to Good Morning America on ABC), Cathy Cruz Marrero. Marrero is the unfortunate soul who was caught on the mall CCTV falling into a water fountain in the Berkshire Mall in Pennsylvania while she was texting her friend.



Now, it seems that Marrero has decided that it is probably worth trying to sue the mall where she fell into the fountain. It appears that Marrero and her lawyer, James Polyak, believe that they have a case to pursue because Marrero could have been seriously hurt and because the security guard did not organise for someone to come to her aid. The security guard was clearly too busy laughing to organise a call for someone to help, or was he. It is yet to be proven when the tape that appears on YouTube was actually made.

The YouTube version, at least to my technologically challenged brain, to be a mobile phone video of the CCTV footage. This could have been made 5, 20, 50 minutes after the Marrero fall. It could have also been made 2 or 3 days later. However, more research is required on that front. Nevertheless, watching the footage suggests that Marrero was not badly hurt as she gets out of the fountain and then high-tails it out of there. There is good reason why Marrero does this. She is an employee in a store that operates in the Mall. In any event, she did not hang around and wait for any assistance to be rendered.

The security guard that was on duty when the fall occurred has been fired.

The truth of the matter is that the footage should never have become public. But, that is the nature of the world we live in now. Technology ensures that much of the stupidity we get caught out doing or being a part of will one day makes its way online. Yet, how much should the mall management be expected to stump up for the footage making it into the public domain?

Unfortunately, for Marrero, and by her own admission, texting and walking at the same time can be dangerous as she has found out the fountain fall way. The reason she fell into the fountain was because she was not paying attention. For the mall to be liable for the fall means that the courts would have to accept that they have a responsibility to fence of fountains and place warning signs throughout the mall that it is dangerous to text and walk at the same time because you might walk into a fountain, or a glass door, or fall down an escalator.

Perhaps the answer is that malls ban mobile / cell phones. That is, when you come to the mall you have to check your phone at the "phone counter". You get a ticket and can reclaim your mobile phone on the way out of the mall.

There has to be a point where people start assuming more responsibility for their own actions, doesn't there?

Sometimes, though, your fifteen minutes of fame ensure that the spotlight shines on all of your past. Although the interview would suggest that Marrero's unfortunate spill occurred while texting a friend from church, it would seem that Marrero's past is not all angelic. As it turns out, Marrero is also involved in a court case where she has been charged and indicted for theft by deception. Marrero used a co-worker's credit cards to buy more than USD 6000 worth of goods from Target and Zales. Apparently, if found guilty, Marrero is to be sentenced to six months house arrest and required to wear an electronic monitoring device. I wonder if the electronic monitoring device is waterproof?

Kirk Cameron: Growing Pains and America as a Sinking Ship...

It is funny how you lose track of time and people from one's past and then all of a sudden they reappear seemingly out of nowhere. That is sort of how I feel about Kirk Cameron. I had not heard Kirk Cameron's name uttered in years. To be honest, I had not really followed his career since "Growing Pains" vacated our televisions screens way back when. Although, I do recall watching him in a film that I quite enjoyed at the time with Jami Gertz, Listen to Me. I guess, my interest in Cameron's career sort of waned as his interest increased in God and he became a born again Christian.

I have nothing against God, but his evangelism meant that he was not doing the film and TV work that I was likely to be watching.

Anyways, Kirk Cameron is back in the news. He has recently made a film, Monumental, which details America's descent into financial, moral and spiritual decay. The film is a documentary that traces the steps of the Pilgrims as a means of finding the answers that will enable America to right the sinking ship. Cameron also recently appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 to talk about the film. Funnily enough, Cooper took the chance to ask Cameron his thoughts on birds falling out of the sky and whether this was a sign of the end of days. Cameron was not amused and it is supposedly a bit of an incident. I will have to try and pick it up on cable tomorrow.

Well, back to the real world. My moment of reminiscing about my youth has passed. Time to get on with living the moment.

Jesus: Wine-Guzzling Vagrant and Precocious Socialist?

Jesus Christ is a "wine-guzzling vagrant precocious socialist"!

Is this one of those things where your first reaction is to smile and have a little chuckle to yourself while thinking "hmmm, this is certainly going to ruffle a few feathers!"?

Perhaps the more pertinent question is "would this insult on Jesus be enough for you to pull your child out of school?" In the US state of New Hampshire, it is and was. Aimee Taylor pulled her son, Jordan Henderson, out of school because he was assigned 'Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America' by his teacher at Bedford High School.

The book was assigned in a class on personal finances. This seems like a pretty good choice considering the book is a first-hand account of how the author, Barbara Ehrenreich, tries to get through life working on the minimum wage. The book is one that seems appropriate for the American context. It would not work in the Australian context nearly as well seeing the concept of minimum wage in Australia is one where an award is set and this is generally significantly higher in comparison to that of the US.

The story seems "tailor-made for Fox News Channel", no pun intended. Fox enjoys the opportunity to "bang on" and bash anything that does not fall within the strict parameters of conservative politics. A school assigning this book to a 16-year-old student is sure to be indicative of a declining America. Ho hum...

To be sure, this is not a book review. I have not read the book. I might look for it next time I am at the book store. This post is merely commentary on the value of "banning" books. There are reasons for reading books that we might find to be "junk" or even offensive. There is nothing stopping this young man writing critically about the content and exploring how the author got it so wrong or how the use of the "offensive" does not add to the tome in any substantial or significant manner.

For all I know, the book may be total crap. Yet, the point was one of critical literacy and to encourage students to explore points of view, even offensive ones, as a means of increasing there awareness of issues and allow them to cast a critical eye over the views of others. This is not a bad thing. I encourage my students to be critical, and critically aware as this allows them to bring their own prior knowledge and experiences into the overall learning experience. Once again, this is not a bad thing.

Admittedly, I am a little green to the world of organised education where there are departmental policies to be considered and followed. That said, it would seem that the relevant school authorities were clued in on this book choice.

In the end, criticism of the American Dream is not something that is out of bounds, is it?

If you are interested, then Amazon has a copy or two.

Drinking and STDs...

The owner of this wine and liquor store must surely have a sense of humour, right?

I guess this means that the link between excessive drinking and STDs is no longer anecdotal, is it?

The photo came courtesy of The Huffington Post this time (I have seen it before as it has done the rounds of the internet and email inboxes).

George "Dubya' Bush and "That" Hurricane Katrina Photo...

Is this photo going to define the George W. Bush presidency? More to the point, should it?

With the Bush memoirs, Decision Points, soon to hit book stands, it is likely that there will be some serious discussion about what the Bush "The Younger" legacy is going to be. This is particularly so in light of the debacle that unfolded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that devastated the Louisiana coast and New Orleans.

The reality is that Air Force One probably is not the best place to allow yourself to be photographed in doing a flyover of an area that had just been devastated in the manner that New Orleans had.

For some reason, I am thinking that history might be kinder and gentler in hindsight, particularly as the US moves on and away from those years between 2000 ad 2008. It would seem unlikely that the Bush II presidency will ever be considered a great presidency or that Bush "The Younger" will find himself in a list of great US presidents. But, time will smooth over some of the harshest criticisms in much the same way the passage of time has done for President Truman and a few other less than awe-inspiring men who have held the post of "the most powerful man in the world".

Not that any of this really matters on a personal level to me...I am a historian, so it matters to me on a professional level :)

Metallica Tribute to Rhoma Irama...

Nuf said!

Whiteness Theory & Post-Racialism...

This post is probably worthy of a PhD thesis, and perhaps I will write it one day (a PhD thesis is something that is definitely on my bucket list). I might have to decide whether I write it from an education perspective or a legal / justice perspective (then again, I might just combine both and be much less focused).

I have always been interested in these ideas, but strangely enough had not really named them and related them back to theories in the field. In that regard, I have a recently completed subject on diversity for setting readings that 'forced' me to read in more detail about these ideas. The reason I had been thinking about these ideas previously related to both Australian and Indonesian contexts.

In the Australian context it really related to criminal justice and the over-representation of my indigenous brothers and sisters in the court and jail systems (and whether education had a role to play in redressing this sad imbalance).

In the Indonesian context it was really about whiteness theory co-opted into an idea of Indonesian-ness theory. Simply, the idea of honorary Indonesian-ness or Indonesian-ness being the norm to some degree. This one is a much more complex one than whiteness theory because of the way that Indonesian-ness is constructed in the first place. Indonesian is a melting pot of diversity and this is recognised in the notion of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika or Unity in Diversity (although it might be argued that the concept might be better understood from a literal reading of the Javanese that it comes from as being unity from diversity). To be honest, I had also been thinking about the idea of Indonesia-ness with respect to Barack Obama, the US President, and the reverence ordinary Indonesians have for the man and expectations of him from three or so years of living in Indonesia as a child.

This is intended to be a short post. But, hopefully it might inspire a few comments instead of just the usual page views that my posts get.

So, here is the basic idea. Whiteness Theory really is about "whiteness" being the norm. The kicker is that you do not have to be white, but merely accepted as being white. Hence, whiteness is not about race, it is about cultural values and the perceived power and opportunities that being 'white' brings. Yet, it is arguable whether whiteness is an overt or covert theory. The idea that it is covert rests in the manner in which race is talked about, this is in spite of the idea that whiteness theory is not about race, because more often than not it is race which premises the discussion.

I guess what I have been thinking about is the convergence, or lack thereof, between whiteness theory and this idea of post-racialism. This came more to the fore with the election of Obama to the White House, as people started falling over themselves, like Oprah Winfrey for example, in order to claim that this was the start of something big; a post-racial America. Personally, I would need to do a lot more research, but first impressions are that these people are kidding themselves in a reality sense. I understand conceptually what post-racialism entails but I wonder whether the election of a person of mixed race to the presidency of the US is in fact a sign that post-racial America has arrived.

If whiteness theory is about power and privilege then could it be argued that Obama's rise to the presidency fits within the parameters of whiteness theory where arguments of power and privilege prevail?

I do wonder whether the election of an Indonesian of Chinese or Indian or Arab descent would signify a post-racial Indonesia? But, I think before I can wonder that, I tend to wonder whether Indonesia can reach a place of tolerance of, and for, minorities, and really live up to the idea of unity in diversity.

As you can see, there is real potential for me to add to the abundant literature already out there on this topic. Oh, and no apologies for the disjointedness of this rambling post, it remains an unedited ramble of ideas, thoughts, and concepts that are bouncing round in my head.

Ho hum...one more university assessment task to go.

Adoption, Facebook, and Incest...

Not the usual cheery topic like the topics of late. However, I was doing my daily rounds of the news and came across this story. It was disturbing, it was sad, and it was plain scary. It is also one of those stories that I read and find myself shaking my head and saying to myself, "What were you thinking?" There was probably some expletives in there as adjectives to enhance my disbelief.

The story is one of a young pregnant mother. The mother gives birth to a healthy baby boy who she then gives up for adoption. Now, if the story ended there then there would not be anything particularly interesting about that. However, the story gets a little disturbing from here on in. Some 14 years later the mother, Aimee L Sword decides to track down her biological son. Her method of choice the internet and, in particular, Facebook. Sword makes contact with her biological son and then grooms him for sex. She then has sex with the boy.

Now, I need to get a hold of the facts of the case. However, I am going to take a stab in the dark here and guess that she did not tell the boy that she was in fact his biological mother. The boy testified that they had sex on a number of occasions when he was just 14 years old.

The Detroit Free Press has reported that Sword's lawyer, Mitchell Ribitwer, stated the following about his client "When she saw this boy, something just touched off in her — and it wasn't a mother-son relationship, it was a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship".He then went on to say, "Aimee's searching for a reason why this happened. She can't understand it. She's going to get some counseling."

Not only is she going to get some counselling, she has been given plenty of time to think her actions over with a sentence of at least 9 years to be served.

The other interesting point is that she used Facebook to track this boy down. Facebook is an incredible networking tool that can be used for good and evil. This highlights the negative power of social networking.

As I said, what was she thinking? I really cannot fathom what would have triggered such a desire to track down your own biological child and then groom them for sex. I am still shaking my head!

The Jakarta Bombings and Democracy...

The death of Noordin M Top provided the Indonesian National Police with a wealth of information and data apparently. During the shootout which saw Top finally topped, the police managed to recover a laptop that supposedly belonged to Top.

The police have today said that the laptop contained a number of videos. One of these videos was supposedly shot on 21 June 2009, about three weeks prior to the bombing, and shows the bombers, Dwi Permana and Nana Ikhwan Maulana, having a meeting that is being described as a picnic by some, in the vacant lot opposite the JW Marriott hotel and not far from the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The video is allegedly shot by Saifuddin Jaelani. The video zooms in on Nana pointing to the hotels and saying, "this is our target". It is being reported that Jaelani's voice can be heard saying, "destroy America, destroy Australia, destroy Indonesia".

The video then cuts to Dani saying, "this is not suicide, this is what our enemies fear!" Dani then goes on to say, "this is an obligation for all, those who do not execute this obligation are sinners." Remember, Dani is just a youngster at 18 years of age. If Top and his jihadis could convince an 18-year-old to become a suicide bomber, then it is fair to say that they are a sophisticated and dedicated organization.

If anyone thinks that the death of Top puts an end to the scourge of terrorism in Indonesia they just do not understand the nature of the beast, or the mindset of those, who will go to any lengths to create a world in their own warped version of what they think God intended it to be. There might be a lull, but this is likely to be a lull before the storm. The laptop, according to police, also indicates that Top's band of jihadist warriors were well-organized, well-equipped, well-supported, and had recently re-established links with other terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda.

Apparently, the laptop also includes a letter that Jaelani wrote to his family accusing Americans and Australians of "slaughtering his brothers". This explains the earlier comment, but may also go to show why the James Castle Breakfast gathering was targeted in the JW Marriott. It would seem a pretty good target for a terrorist trying to make a statement about American and Australian involvement in activities that a terrorist considers to be an insult to Islam and an affront to his Muslim brothers.

But, perhaps most terrifying for Indonesia and Indonesians is that Top and his band have decided to target Indonesia and Indonesian interests and the Indonesian government because of its efforts to promote democracy. This begs the question, when one considers, and in spite of the teething problems, the majority of Indonesians would consider more open government and greater democracy a step in the right direction.

It would seem that the more fundamental interpretation of Islam adopted by Top and Jaelani runs counter to what the great majority of Indonesian Muslims believe with respect to democracy.

Perhaps, the drive to democracy will be the trigger that invigorates moderate Muslims to oppose the radical or fundamental elements that seek to destroy rather than build on Indonesia's potential for greatness.

Viva Indonesia and Viva Democracy!

Jews and Pornography in America

I was making my regular visit to Aangirfan's blog and came across this story on Kinsey and the Jews. Aangirfan is always a good read irrespective of whether you believe what is written there or not. It has the appearance of being thoroughly researched and there are always links to the points being made. And, I have recently watched the Liam Neeson film where he stars as Alfred Kinsey.

So, having read the post, and having learned a few things that I did not know (or probably, and more likely, they were things that I did know but that had just not registered in my over-loaded 2% or so of my brain that I use), like Ron Jeremy is not only prolific in the porn industry having starred in more than 1600 films and directing 100 more, but that he is a Jew.

One of the links in the Aangirfan piece is to the Jewish Quarterly (Winter 2004), and in particular an article by Nathan Abrams about the triple exthnics.

My good mate, Treespotter, thinks that he is a bit of a smut peddler, but I have got to say that even his exploits seem to pale in comparison to the role that Jews have played in developing the porn industry in America into the behemoth that it has become.

These are just some of the quotes that piqued my interest from the article:

"Jewish involvement in pornography has a long history in the United States, as Jews have helped to transform a fringe subculture into what has become a primary constituent of Americana. These are the ‘true blue Jews’,"

and

"Jews accounted for most of the leading male performers as well as a sizeable number of female stars in porn movies of the 1970s and ‘80s. The doyen of the Hebrew studs is Ron Jeremy. Known in the trade as ‘the Hedgehog’, Jeremy is one of America’s biggest porn stars,"

and a little more on Jeremy,

"Jeremy has achieved iconic status in America, a hero to males of all ages, Jewish and gentile alike - he’s the nebbischy, fat, hairy, ugly guy who gets to bed dozens of beautiful women. He presents an image of a modern-day King David, a Jewish superstud who supersedes the traditional heroes of Jewish lore. No sallow Talmud scholar he. His stature was recently cemented with the release of a pornomentary about his life, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy,"

and

"‘Porn is just one expression of [the] rebellion against standards, against the disciplined life of obedience to Torah that marks a Jew living Judaism.’ It is also a revolt against (often middle-class) parents who wish their children to be lawyers, doctors and accountants. As performer Bobby Astyr put it on the same website, ‘It’s an “up yours” to the uncles with the pinky rings who got down on me as a kid for wanting to be musician,’"

and finally

"It is a case of the traditional revolutionary/radical drive of immigrant Jews in America being channelled into sexual rather than leftist politics. Just as Jews have been disproportionately represented in radical movements over the years, so they are also disproportionately represented in the porn industry. Jews in America have been sexual revolutionaries. A large amount of the material on sexual liberation was written by Jews. Those at the forefront of the movement which forced America to adopt a more liberal view of sex were Jewish. Jews were also at the vanguard of the sexual revolution of the 1960s."

And to think that Kinsey's interest in the sexual habits of Americans was driven by the fact that he once was caught masturbating.

It is important to learn new things everyday. Today, I learned something new :D

Have a nice and education-filled day!

Don McLean and American Pie

This is an interesting video interpretation of the meaning of American Pie.

Enjoy!

4 July -- Rare Songs

Good luck happens to thrifty shoppers more often than one might think. Yet, it is always a good story when it does. Considering today is the Fourth of July and the US is celebrating its independence from those pesky British Colonizers it is interesting to find a story that seems to combine all of the essential elements.

A rare and original manuscript of one of America's most patriotic songs, America (My Country 'tis of Thee), has been bought for 10 dollars. Well, the person buying this rare and original manuscript thought they were buying a picture of a framed flower, but when they opened the frame they found something considerably more valuable than 10 bucks.

The manuscript was written early in 1831 by Samuel Francis Smith and it was first performed in public on 4 July 1831. It was performed in the First Baptist Church in Newtown, Massachusetts. What is funny is that the song was written to the tune of "God Save the Queen" which is the national anthem of the UK.

A patriotic song written to the national anthem of the UK. Smith obviously had a good sense of humour or a sense for the ironic.