Support Public Radio October 20, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Media, New York State, Politics, Utica.1 comment so far
WRVO, one of Central New York’s Public Radio station is having its bi-annual fund drive this week. I am an avid listener and have been a member for the past several years. Like many public radio listeners I have the radio on almost all the time; it’s always on in the car, and most of the time at home. I listen to keep me company and for the excellent news.
If you listen to public radio you know how refreshingly different it is. The news is real news; it’s not about murders and car crashes. I have a healthy scepticism for anything I hear in the mainstream media, which NPR may or many not be a part of, but I find that NPR news has little bias and digs into stories that few other organizations will look into. The news does have a populist leaning, the stories are often about real people and issues that matter to the general public, instead of focusing on the stories corporations and the government are trying to push. For this reason NPR is labeled “left leaning.” To me, it just seems more realistic and useful.
Here’s my pitch: If you are a listener, please be a supporter as well. I find public radio invaluable as a source of information not influenced or censored by corporate interests. It is a news outlet owned and operated by the people, a true manifestation of what public airwaves are all about. All of use of like mind must help to keep it going strong.
Al Wins: Mixed Feelings October 14, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in 2008 Election, Environment, Global Warming, Peace, Politics.2 comments
As I am certain you have heard by now, Al Gore won this year’s Nobel Prize for Peace for his work in promoting the issue of climate change. I am a big fan of his work in this area and was luck enough to see him give his lecture at Hamilton College. The discussion about Global Warming has changed a great deal since An Inconvenient Truth arrived on the scene.
At the same time, I have mixed feelings about this prize. Gore spent eight years as Vice President under Bill Clinton and did little to influence the Global Warming debate, or Environmentalism as a whole. I found a nice early criticism of the Clinton/Gore environmental record for The Tech, MIT’s newspaper. The paper complains that Clinton/Gore ran on an environmental platform and did little to strengthen environmental laws. While I am glad to see Gore making up for lost time, I am disappointed that he didn’t use his previous position to push for greater changes.
Many people are hoping to see Gore run for President. With his new-found success, now seems as good a time as any. What kind of President would Gore be in 2009? Would he become a champion of the environment on his second time through the executive branch? He was, after all, an environmentalist before he became Vice President.
The environmental movement received a big push this year and the prospects are looking much better. As always we need to be realistic about our hero’s.
Peace Rally in Syracuse October 5, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in New York State, Peace, Politics.3 comments
I was lucky enough to go to last weekends rally in Syracuse. It was a really great experience. I have publicly protested many times but always with small groups of people. The feeling of being surrounded by thousands of like-minded activists is truly empowering; it makes you feel like we just might get somewhere.
The rally began at the Everson Museum which led to a march to the SU Campus. The march was great, I was right in front of a student group that never stopped chanting. A few or my favorites:
“What do we want? Troops out! When do we want it? Now!”
“Hey, Hey, President Bush, how many kids did you kill today?”
and maybe the most creative
“This war is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S”
I know this rally and march was pretty small by national standards, but it was a powerful experience none the less. If you ever get the chance to participate in something like this, do it!
Fiasco in Cazenovia September 22, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Iraq, New York State, Politics.3 comments
Thomas Ricks spoke in Cazenovia last night as part of the Cazenovia Forum lecture series. A reporter for the Washington Post, he may be best know for his books Making the Corp and Fiasco. His lecture was related to Fiasco, our disastrous invasion of Iraq.
Ricks made the case that in the runup to the war the American system broke down in several ways: The Executive branch isolated itself from dissenting opinions, the Military failed to adiquatetly plan and ask questions, Congress did not provide oversite, the Media failed to question the push to war, and the public failed to question their elected officials. He holds that we went to war in a way this country had never seen before; without discussion, consultation or dissent. The lack of questioning of our strategy led to our current disaster.
As I was listening to this lecture it all made a great deal of sense. I knew all these systems had failed but I don’t think anyone had outlined their failures in such clear language. During the Civil War the President appointed adversaries to his cabinet, before World War I there was a lively debate about whether we should enter the war, and lots of discussion about which side we should take. Our entrance into World War II took more than two years and an attack on Hawaii as the final straw. The war in Iraq began without a serious national dialog, and that was a great failure of the American system.
International Day of Peace September 21, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Peace, Politics.add a comment
Today is the International Day of Peace. The school in which I work is celebrating by taking part in Pinwheels for Peace by creating and displaying pinwheels around the schools. This is a great way to get kids thinking about the meaning of International Peace.
Do something today to promote peace; I’m going to mention it to my class today. Tell someone, put a pinwheel in your yard, write to your congresspeople. Peace should be our national agenda.
Replace the National Anthem September 13, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Peace, Politics.4 comments
The last segment on NPR’s Talk of the Nation today featured a discussion about how the National Anthem should be replaced. The guest was mainly recounting many terrible performances of this song which is very difficult to sing. The discussion was light and often tongue-in-cheek but it made me think about the Anthem.
I agree, the National Anthem should be replaced. Why? Look at what it says about our country and what it teaches the children who learn it. It was written during the War of 1812 and glorifies our victories during the bombardment of Fort McHenry and over the British forces. It is inherently militaristic and violent, “rockets’ red glare, bombs bursting in air.” This all sounds very appealing because the “flag was still there.” Messages like this have a profound effect on people and can have real consequences for our country.
National symbols like the National Anthem encourage a macho, militaristic, shoot-first society. The great seal of the United States shows an eagle holding arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. Is war really worthy of equal representation with peace?
Since our country has been engaged in aggressive, unnecessary wars for the last 50 years it might be time to step back and look at the underlying reasons we are so ready to fight and so unwilling to talk. What we teach our children and reinforce to our adult citizens really does shape public policy. Let’s find an anthem that teaches peace not war.
Bias in Utica Observer Dispatch August 31, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Media, New York State, Politics, Utica.add a comment
As I was writing my last post on License Plate Readers I felt I had to point out a particular bias in the story as reported in the OD. The article reports:
It [License Plate Reader] not only is beneficial for daily routine patrols, but also was used in a local murder case last November.
When Scott Herman had just brutally murdered his 82-year-old grandmother in Rome, state police pondered whether the known reclusive suspect may attempt to flee the area in a stolen car.
“When people are desperate, they do desperate things, and stealing a car is definitely a desperate thing,” state police Capt. Frank Coots said.
While the device did not lead police to Herman, Coots said such an example highlights the potential this technology offers local law enforcement agencies.
The article clearly implies that this technology is necessary to capture murderers. As the License Plate Reader was not used in any way to capture Scott Herman there is no reason to mention him in this article other than to create a feeling of fear and a feeling we must accept this technology as absolutely necessary. I understand that the last sentence makes it clear that the License Plate Reader did not help capture Herman, but that does not change the implication of the first three sentences.
The use of this technology is controversial and opposed by the ACLU as an invasion of privacy. As such an issue, the OD should avoid slanting it’s coverage.
License Plate Reader August 31, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in New York State, Politics, Utica.1 comment so far
The OD reported on the State Police using a Mobile License Plate Reader in Utica and the Mohawk Valley. This is a vehicle-mounted camera and computer that scans every license plate it can see and checks them against a database to find violations. The article cites the system can scan 150 plates in 15 minutes.
This technology is certainly fascinating, but also strikes me as scary. I do not like the idea of police checking every vehicle that is being driven or parked on the road. This method seems to have passed legal challenges for the time being, police liken it to a roadblock, but it seems the potential for abuse is great.
Barrie Gewanter of the ACLU complains that ever captured plate image is stored in a database making it possible for police to track the movements of a particular vehicle. It is not hard to see the potential for abuse there. Just because we have developed this technology doesn’t mean we should use it.
Peace Rally in Utica August 29, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Iraq, New York State, Peace, Politics, Utica.add a comment
I attended a Peace Rally last night in Utica sponsored by MoveOn.org. The theme was “Iraq War, Wrong Way.” We had an excellent turnout of between 40 and 50 people, from senior citizens to little children. The rally took place at a very busy interstection; Genesee St. and Memorial Parkway and we got lots of attention. People were very receptive, lots of drivers beeped their horns and waved in support; we had hardly any negative comments. At dark we lit candles for a very nice effect.
News10Now covered the protest and I am quoted on their website, I don’t know if it made the TV news.
As always, it felt good to show my disapproval for the war in public. I feel it is important to stand up and be counted for what you believe, no matter how popular or unpopular that belief may be. Write letters, email your friends, call your Senator, start a blog. Don’t simply wait in silence for things to change.
Arlington North is Open in Utica August 28, 2007
Posted by Greg Jerome in Iraq, New York State, Peace, Politics, Utica.1 comment so far
Arlington North was erected this past Saturday and is open to the public all this week. The visual effect of 4000 white crosses in perfect rows is truly breathtaking. An opening ceremony on Sunday drew a very nice crowd and lots of press coverage. We made the front page of the OD and News 10 Now. I was lucky enough to get my picture in the OD playing “Taps” and you can hear the first three notes on the News 10 video.
I am really excited about the attention this is bringing to the death tolls in Iraq and Afghanistan.
