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Poet’s Corner
Downtown
Follow me downtown
to see the lights
take in the smells
of restaurants
cooking
Follow me downtown
to feel the crush
of people moving
and living
Follow me downtown
it is still there
Art News
Come see us at the Craig
Mitchell Gallery in the Meridian
Mall. We hold down the fort on
Wednesdays and Thursdays
from 6p to 9p.
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Just Thoughts
I was talking with a friend (Michael
Doherty at www.defye.com) the
other day about police officers.
Seems as if he's had a few
opportunities to talk to them about
their interpretative powers. I have
also had the same kinds of
opportunities (typically just routine
traffic stops), and we came to the
conclusion that those enforcing the
laws do not like to be asked to
interpret judicial codes.
This is especially true when you
see a college student get arrested
and charged with a felony for
streaking across a football field
(happened in the UCLA-Arizona
game). The charge was unlawful
impersonation. Of a ref? Our
judicial system has to have better
things to keep itself busy. Now, if
someone wanted to bring charges
against the guy for streaking to get
a shot on the game show Wipeout,
now you might have my sympathies.
If someone goes to college and all
they're hoping for is a shot at a
game show, good luck paying off
your student loans.
To be truly just, one must be able
to understand contexts in such
situations.
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Social Tendencies
Much of the world is celebrating
the demise of Moammar
Gadhafi, which comes on the
heels of the death of Osama bin
Laden and other Al-Qaeda
leaders, and the fall of various
other Middle Eastern leaders.
The hope is that the area will
become democratic and
peaceful.
Unfortunately, there are many,
many hurdles that must be
overcome before getting there.
After the fall of the USSR, many
Russians waited for someone to
tell them what to do, offering an
opportunity for some to take
advantage of the situation.
While people in the US have
heard little from the
former-Soviet Union in terms of
military concerns, the country is
not out of the woods by any
stretch of the imagination.
According to social theorists, for
a country to move to a
democracy, a number of
building blocks must be in
place, including a strong
elementary school program for
all children, employment
opportunities, enough natural
resources to stave off
dependency on other countries,
and religious practices (or other
social rituals) that do not usurp
democratic political processes.
Many people like to point to
religion as THE problem in this
part of the world. Religion is
not the problem, but one of
many. In addition, it is not
religion per se, but the fact that
religion becomes the law for so
many people. It is true in the
US as well, as so many people
say it is "In God We Trust,"
since we seem not to be able to
trust ourselves.
As long as we celebrate deaths,
I'm guessing it's going to be
awhile until the world gets to a
truly democratic state.
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