Wednesday, November 22, 2006
AND WHAT ELSE? I have, it appears, been living under a somewhat naive assumption that when people choose to come to the United States of America they were each required - by law - to have in their eager little hand a small booklet form, gussied-up a bit in green material with gold lettering on the cover and a feel of parchment-like paper impressively embossed with names people whom they would never get to see, much less come to know in their new land. In my limited view of the world of travel , I , somehow gathered that without a passport booklet you did not board the plane, ship, bus, canoe or pogo stick on which you expected to travel. Now, here in the tag end of the year 2006, I find a headlined revelation which lets me know rather abruptly: "U. S. to Implement Passport Requirements."Home Secretary Michael Chornoff made the announcement early saying it was a "critical next step" to help[to assure national security. At the present time we have over eighth thousand entities which are printing and distributing millions of birth certificates and local driver's licenses. It is virtually impossible for our Custom Officials to determine which of these document is a counterfeit and which is authentic . The present system accepts such proof of identity for many of those who wish to cross our borders. It would seem that as long as such a child-like provision is our strong point we had best ease off on all such guardianship and use such funds for other purposes. To continue such a farce is negligence. One out of every four Americans now have passport documents. Some complain about them as being too expensive, but most think of them as costly necessities when traveling in foreign lands. Our Congress mandated the start of this "passports only" program for 2004 but the date has been, and still is, considered to be "in question." Eve now when the Commission itself has stated (Sept 11th): "For Terrorists travel documents are as weapons." we are still being told that :" you can expect Homeland Security require all travelers entering the U.S by land or sea, including Americans to show passports or Alternative Security Cards starting as early as January 2008. 2004 - 2008! Does that strike you as being soon enough? Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 11-22-06 [ c402wds]
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
HIND SIGHT We are, it appears, going to have and exceptional number of curious things to "look back upon" in our future. We ordinarily called such subjects remembered incidents and conditions "memories " don't we? And, we also tended to think of them as having been something of a quality which made them be worthy of being retained as a mementos of good times we once knew. How are we going to attend to and cherish some of today's violence, disagreement, hatred and criminal? How can we possibly make memories of such events and occasions as those which seem to be so common to our way-of-life now in our time...war, terrorist plots, actions of deceit and treachery and enslavement - an endless array, it seems of life's negative aspects. Unseen, there is good in such evil! I seems, I know, impossible that we might find ever the slightest Hope in such Horror! We see a complex maze of man's best and worst efforts set at cross-purposes of which we have only such control as must come from within our selves. Rest assured it does so, too! Think back over the prurient fund of Evil Mankind has known; then face thereupon a strange men engrossing growth of goodness in the form of new, inspired, strong, capable leaders - men and women - imbued with concepts, ideas, ambitions, dreams, yes, and workable plans, as well, which rise up -often from strange areas, to confront the self-devouring bulk of conjoined Evil. Evil encouraged by the presence of the new consciousness of goodness unwittingly doth eat of itself and come to know Death. We are even now in that phase during which we will find we can no longer permit growth upon us to appears we are going to have to some exceptional things to plan to find our future. Our future leaders are among. We, each of us, need to seek them out by following our heart's longings. The election is not alone in the political or religious aspects of our life-style but in all and everything you do or have an interest or concern. Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 11-21-06 [c366wds]
Sunday, November 19, 2006
SHEER NUMBERS I find many people who insist that the number of races, castes, groups are the main cause of the disunities and violence we meet with in daily news events. There are some among us who argue that such mutiplicity is, the primary area for change if we are to build. Far too often this comes down to plans to:"throw the rascals out!" We should know, by this time, that such a cure is hopelessly wrong. It still happens, however, and millions of people die or experience severely debased lives because of such a narrow-minded concepts. Spend a few minutes reading the twelve page listing of worldwide "Ethnic Groups" in the "CIA World Factbook" to dispel a lot of such faulty thinking.Their statisics are, I think, you may agree, about as near truth as we are likly to find anywhere today. In those few minutes spent reading such tallies you will find there are far more divisons in some nations than you might have supposed and yet they are considered be among the more peaceable ones. You will find the Africa nation of Chad to be among the most complex. Chad has about two hundered different ethnic . Among the long list the term "Arab" would be familiar to most of us and there are about one thousand Frenchmen living in Chad, as well. Others have a strange assortment of names and many of them sport sub-headings of small family division mainly in the northern and central areas. Afghanistan shows: 42% Pashtun, Tajik 27%. three others at 9% and two more at 4% or less. Iraq: Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, Turkoman , Assyrians and others at 5%. North Korea - racially homogeneous, small Chinese community and a few Japanese. South Korea": homogeneous except for 20,000 Chinese. Lebanon: Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, Others 1%. Nigeria is another nation with a large number of ethnic groups - two hunded an fifty - and it is true that most numerous divisions have voting capabilties which can be critical. Most are said to be politically influential. Hausa and Fulani 29%; Yoruba 21%; Igo (Ibo) 18%; Ijawq 10%; Kanuri 4%; Ibibio 3.5 and Tiv 2.5%. I'm always concerned with affairs there because of a connection I had a mail friendship with a young Nigerian lad who was "pushing camera" at a TV station there while I was writing commecials for one here. He was an "IBO" but he lived and worked in a "Hausa" area. We had an interesting exchange going, but after a time of "political unrest" in Nigeria came along and I never again had any word from O. O. Odunrow. Andew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 11-18-06 [c450wds] \
|
