Today is the 45th anniversary of Star Trek - The Motion Picture. The better and completed version was re-released in 2022. ST TMP, to this day, remains my favorite of the 13 Star Trek big screen adventures.
Today is the 45th anniversary of Star Trek - The Motion Picture. The better and completed version was re-released in 2022. ST TMP, to this day, remains my favorite of the 13 Star Trek big screen adventures.
Here’s a sad thought: Some people are too poor to work.
Consider this. All too often the jobs available to the poor
pay hideously low wages; usually are part-time employment with no benefits.
Many cannot afford a car or other means of transportation. Many cannot afford
daycare for their young children. Many cannot afford adequate work attire.
Many cannot afford to be ill or miss work if their children
are ill. Many cannot afford adequate health care for themselves and their
families.
Most do not have a cushion or fallback if something
devastating happens to their home, car, or family.
The poor do not bring their condition upon themselves but
have little means to escape their lot in life. The American dream is becoming
more and more elusive.
So please, during this holiday season of giving, the next time you harbor ill thoughts about the poor or turn a blind eye, you might think more kindly, maybe even donate to supporting agencies such as soup kitchens, food pantries, and homeless shelters.
Sometimes there are angels on earth--can you be one?
Afghanistan is an enigma... and a tragedy.
Let me tell you something you may not have known about this
landlocked Asian country.
From the 1950s through the mid-1970s, Afghanistan was a VERY
modern Islamic country. Metropolitan even, and then came the Russian invasion
in 1978. From there, the nation descended into a religious quagmire that
propelled the Afghan people back to the 14th century. With the Russians
defeated and exiled, the Afghans became embroiled in governmental corruption
that led to the Taliban gaining a toehold in the Afghan’s day-to-day life.
The Afghans are a beautiful people.
For those of us servicemembers who served there (I served in
Afghanistan from February 2008 through April 2009), seeing the collapse of the
Afghan government in 2021, brought on by a treaty that former President Donald
Trump negotiated with the Taliban, I mourn the fall. To be fair, President
Biden's order for a hasty exit only served to worsen an already horrible
scenario.
While the coalition's 18-year presence was of missed
successes and failures, perhaps the biggest failure was to the Afghan girls and
women. While we were there, girls were allowed to go to school once again. Women could once more have careers outside their homes once more. Women became women
again, not just slaves to their men.
Today, women are forbidden to speak in public. Young girls
are prohibited from attending school beyond middle school, i.e., no secondary
or post-secondary education. While out in public, women are forced to wear a burka, clothed head to toe. To show their faces could endanger their lives.
Afghan women have no voice nor any rights. Per Wikipedia,
"The Taliban, who took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, have banned
girls and women from attending secondary and higher education, making
Afghanistan the only country in the world to do so. The Taliban claim that this
ban is in line with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, but no
other Muslim country prohibits girls from receiving an education."
It is easy to throw your hands in the air, and please pardon
my French, but fuck religion. It is the bane of our existence. It is all too
often the cause of pain, suffering, strife, violence, and death.
While I served in Kabul, I interviewed a female major in the
Afghan National Army. She was an educated pharmacist. She thanked me for being
there. When I told her I was merely doing my job, she said, "No, not just
you, but your people. Before you, the Taliban required me to stay home, and ignore
my education. Your presence has given my daughters hope for a better
future."
I have wondered where this woman and her daughters are
today. I mourn their present existence.
Take a look at the photographs from the 1960s; they give cause for
tears. I assure you
what you see (then) is not what you will see in Afghnistan today.
There have been at least 15 known
assassination attempts on our American leaders in the past 150 years.
A would-be assassin fired a weapon at Teddy Roosevelt while
he was campaigning in Milwaukee in 1912. Roosevelt was struck but by a stroke
of supreme luck the bullet was slowed by Roosevelt’s eyeglasses case and a copy
of his folded-up speech in his pocket. The bullet was never removed from
Roosevelt’s body.
Two attempts were made on Gerald Ford’s life.
Presidential candidate George Wallace was paralyzed for life
after being hit by an assassin’s bullet.
John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Gabby Gifford,
James Garfield, Warren Harding, Andrew Jackson… should I go on?
Yep. America sure loves its guns. Especially crazies who
have no business having access to a gun. We loves our guns even more than our
leaders, even more than our precious children.
* "I'm just going to the Super Bowl celebration tonight. I'll be safe there."
* "My children are at school. Who doesn't love children? Who would want to harm them?"
* "Honey, I'm going to the grocery store. Be back
soon."
* I am going out for a jog. I won’t be bothering anyone."
* "Hi, Dad. I love it here at college."
* "Postage stamps are up again. At least it's safe
here."
* "I cannot wait to get home from work, but yeesh, the
traffic is at a standstill."
* "This concert in Las Vegas is so great! I'm having a
ball!"
* "Hey Susie! Wanna go to the mall?"
* "The Godzilla movie is coming out tonight. Wanna go
early? It's going to be packed!"
* "Honey, I'll be late tonight. Don't forget tonight is
our men's league baseball game at the park."
* "I love my job at the Capitol Building."
* "I'm minding my own business."
* "We're going to the Black Lives Matter rally."
* "My car broke down. Can I use your phone to call for
a tow truck?"
* "Honey, do you need anything from Walmart?"
* "(knock knock) "I'm lost. Can you tell me where
the nearest (fill in the blank) is?"
* "I just heard gunshots down the street. Thankfully,
we're safe in our home."
* "I'm walking home from my friend's dinner
party." **
* "Man, work has been so intense of late. They just
fired Tom."
* "Church services were great last Sunday. Can't wait to
go back tomorrow."
* "What are you doing in this neighborhood?"
* "My gun is tucked safely away under my bed where no
one can find it. Johnny, you stay out of my room!"
* "Not sure why, but the Proud Boys are protesting at
the library."
* "Can you show me your driver's license?"
Tell me, what has happened to our country, our world?
** My friend Eric's son was killed walking home one summer
night on a "safe" Philadelphia street.
47 years ago this afternoon (even though it seems like
yesterday) I was at work at Pike Lumber Company when my (then) wife Phyllis called me and said, “Now be calm. I’m not sure but I think I’m in labor.” I
asked if she wanted me to come home, and she said, “No, not now, but if I need
you, I’ll call.” I worked with her Dad so I crossed over to his workspace to
let him know.
You have to know her Dad Abe, and also my boss Tony—both
pranksters supreme. For the rest of the afternoon, every time the sawmill phone
rang, I was sure it was Phyllis. Little did I know our plant manager was
sitting in the bunkhouse calling and Tony would not answer the phone. He just
let it ring and ring and… I was going crazy!
When I got home, Phyllis was pretty certain she was in labor
but all we could do was wait. Late that night, around 3 am Phyllis was awake
and had called the hospital to let them know her condition. Somehow I slept
through all of this, but she awoke me, as I recall around 4:30 am. We arrived
at Rochester’s old Woodlawn Hospital, a ten-mile drive from home, just after 5.
She was wheeled into the delivery prep room where we waited for the doctor.
Just around 5:50 we were escorted to the delivery room… our
bundle of joy, our baby boy Wesley Adam, was born at 6:16 am on February 1st,
1977.
During delivery, I almost got thrown out of the room. When
the needles came out (for a local) I covered my eyes. The doc said, “If you’re
going to get squeamish, you should leave.” I was fine, I said… once you put the
needles away. So brave I was (haha).
The nurses told Phyllis afterward that that was one of the
quickest deliveries they had ever seen, and if we planned on having any other
kids we should camp out at the hospital.
Soon, all of our parents arrived (mine, that is). We lived
with Phyllis’ parents at that time so they actually drove us to the hospital.
Anyhow, the most precious moment of our 19-year-old lives
arrived that morning, and our lives were never the same after that.
These are, of course, my recollections. I’m sure Wes’ Mom
Phyllis has even more stories to tell. This is my story of becoming a Daddy; it
is Phyllis’ story of becoming a stupendous Mommy. A story about the happiest
moment of our lives.
Happy birthday, Wes.
Your parents love you!