Values verses Candidates

By Cody Lyon
(OPINION)


In what was probably the most important speech of his political career thus far, Barack Obama used his acceptance speech at the Democratic party convention to light up the election season stratosphere in ways that both inspired and challenged voters to consider the stark choices being offered this fall.

In one of the speeches' more powerful moments, Obama said "America, we are better than these last eight years," and "we are a better country than this."

For anyone that calls themselves middle class, lower middle class, poor or whatever wonkish and impersonal term that gets applied by countless experts, politicians or pundit, the tea leaves seem to indicate a resounding... he's correct.

Basically, over the past eight years, we've witnessed actions by our executive branch that have further tested much of the nation's mantle of trust in government. We find ourselves in a what might be called a nationwide psychological malaise, an unfortunate sense of collective frustration, even depression. The litany of almost incomprehensible events administrated by the current White House, from misleading tactics that led to the invasion of Iraq to allegations of abuses of power in our Justice System to a tax code that rewards the country's most wealthy while cold shoulders are turned to struggling homeowners, those without healthcare and the longrunning continued fostering of cruel cultures of poverty, inequity and damaged ladders of opportunity.

In short, the sense of gloom in America is tangible.

An April 3 "CBS News" poll found that 81 percent of Americans believe the United States is headed in the wrong direction.

Still, during the Democratic party primaries, many Americans became more engrossed by the petty, but typical political drama's of those days instead of debates and analysis of policy specifics.

At times, it seemed that many Democrats were more engaged by personalities, baggage and images.

As the convention approached, many pundits and others with platforms still appeared to be more focused on the drama's between the Hillary's and the Barack's rather than the real drama of reality on the ground that is America, a drama that was continuing its pronounced assent onto the stage of the nation's sad collective reality.

At the stadium acceptance speech, Senator Obama did his best at clearing up the mess by reaching out to those Democrats, who have expressed leeriness over his relative inexperience in foreign policy, his un-tested mettle in dealing with powerful big business lobbies or, more simply, what they see as a starry eyed idealist, who like many humans upon entering the shark infested political waters of Washington, often succumb to the molding of powers that be, forces that in the end, shape policy, policies that in the end, are the nuts and bolts of our economy, defense, education system, health care and in the end, how this has impacted our collective national psyche.

Most Democrats hope and feel he succeeded in alleviating those fears for now.

But there was something else that took place that night. If nothing else, Obama, if only for a moment, lifted the nation's psyche and in some ways succeeded in inspiring all Americans to believe that the dream is still alive in this land of freedom, where the bells of democracy occasionally ring with messages of hope, not the fear and gloom that has crippled the very essence of who and what we as a people stand for and strive to be.

Obama's uplifting moment followed an by his former opponent when she did her best to further bridge the divide between those Democrats who express leeriness about Obama.

Just two nights before the Obama moment, Senator Hillary Clinton stood before her supporters on the floor along with millions of viewers and voters who had long held to the belief that it was she, not Obama, who should have been chosen to lead the party to a November victory against the Republican party.

Television reports showed delegates in tears, but, even still, Clinton directed a laser eye at her supporters and made it clear, she is not their therapist or for that fact, their Mother.


Clinton was clear, a vote for either her, or for Senator Obama, was so much more than a vote for an individual candidate's image, personality, for that matter, race, gender or origin or rhetoric.


No matter what a delegate or voter's preferences between the two candidates, a more simple question of fundamental political party values is at stake.

In these modern times when a campaign song like "Happy Days are here again" seems silly, in these days of Presidential administrations filled with countless advisors, policy shapers and other insiders who pontificate from above to the 'chosen ones' occupying the oval office, it is imperative that voters take into account what are clearly package deals, they are the packages that each party embodies, and each is filled with stark differences and competing ideologies.

For anyone on the political fence, it might be especially important to remember some simple basics.

Both candidates Obama and Clinton embody the values of the party they love, the Democratic. At the heart of their political souls, they embody the political values of Ted Kennedy, for that matter his late brother, former President John Kennedy. They are the political offspring a a party who produced a President that saw the nation through the horrors of the second world war, the same President who created the "New Deal" and social programs that elevated America into a more humane existence.

The political policy values that Senator Obama embodies are the values of another President, ironically from a Southern State, a President who was the leader of a party that when the poisons of racism dripped from the lips of many of his former allies in the 1960's, chose morality over politics and signed the Voting rights Act into law. This is the party that subscribes to the values of a President who more recently, in the 1990's brilliantly reached across party lines and oversaw one of the greatest economic expansions this nation has ever witnessed, a President who bravely brought seemingly controversial issues and concerns to the political table, opening the door to a more tolerant and accepting society for LGBT Americans among others.

Democratic Party values are seen in the work of a Peanut Farmer from Plains Georgia, a former President in dire time who is now an international statesman and peacemaker who travels the world mediating disputes, risking his own legacy in the face of controversy and stands and speaks to what is right and fair and who still teaches a Sunday School class at least once a month back in Plains.

Barack Obama and his candidacy embody the values of what some conservatives like to call liberal, but are in truth, values based in compassion, values that encourage the hopes of the less fortunate, the rescue of a sadly disappearing middle class, the fair and decent rewards for hard work and life played by the rules . They are also the values of those who demand a solid ladder of economic and educational opportunity in every town, county and state in the country, ladders available for every American willing to climb.

They are the values of a political party that will hopefully seek out tangible solutions that perhaps must start with self examination and acceptance of the humbling reality that we as a nation have allowed our own arrogance threaten our true greatness.

That said, millions pray, that this chosen Democratic candidate, if he indeed wins, will embody the values and good sense that recognizes and respects the responsibilities of perhaps his most crucial role, commander in chief. They pray for a President who will not play upon the fears of a traumatized nation and will only call upon our military when it is essential to the preservation of our nation's security.

Never again should we as a people allow a military excursion into a land that has led our great military men and women, as well as their families, into what has become one of our longest running nightmares. And, never again should every member of the nation not be called upon in some way to share the pain and offer some form of sacrifice, like those military families either through some sort of mandatory public service or higher taxes for our most wealthy citizens and corporations.

Perhaps, at its very deepest core, the Democratic party embodies the values of a great nation.

Now, there are those who may say that this young, relatively inexperienced candidate is not ready, or they may secretly hold reservations over his ethnicity, his upbringing perhaps even his name. They may see a candidate that they could never possibly relate to on a more personal level. Perhaps they see a candidate who they feel they simply don't know enough about. But despite such tragic misgivings among the electorate, there is and are greater, quiet frankly, less selfish reasons to carefully consider jumping off the fence of indecision in November.

In the end, voters must make their decision based on what is clearly a choice of packages. And, they must remember, beneath the wrapping paper of campaign ads, rhetoric, assorted controversies and infighting, there are solid differences between these two Party ideologies. Whichever ideology succeeds in selling itself best, could determine the outcome of the election. Whichever candidate that voters ultimately choose, will place in power a party ideology that will perhaps shape the future of our nation, perhaps too, our world.

(REUTERS) Suicide Bomber Targets Banquet in Iraq

Iraq bomber targets banquet (REUTERS)
(01:03) Report
Aug 25 - A suicide bomber detonates a vest packed with explosives at a celebration feast in western Baghdad.

Police say 25 people have been killed in the blast at the home of a local sheikh who was holding the feast to celebrate the release of his son from U.S. detention.

Paul Chapman reports.

Is America's Judicial System Antagonistic?

From my story at OMNI

The Central Park Jogger crime occurred in a time before the seeds of DNA evidence had taken root as tools of evidence in the United States judicial system. And some say New York Law Enforcement authorities needed a suspect to appease the public's outrage over the brutality of the incident that night in the park.

In the case of the Central Park Jogger, the original group of suspects easily fit the psyche of local tabloids and what was clearly a traumatized and apparently divided city.

But as history has shown, in the thirst to obtain a shut and close case, justice was in fact denied on three fronts.



LINK TO FULL STORY

Alabama Rumor? An emerging story where money trails may lead to answers

FROM BIRMINGHAM BLUES (Kathy) (including reporting from "The Birmingham News")

The Birmingham News ran an article yesterday (the online version of which is in serious need of an editor's mouse) detailing the inflated salaries of some of AG Troy King's aides. King's chief of staff and spokesman, Chris Bence, apparently managed to keep a straight face while explaining how King had designated Bence a paralegal this spring -- despite his complete lack of legal education or experience -- in order to increase his salary from $94,000 to $104,400. He says Troy did it to make up for the three years he didn't get a raise. And, according to him, the AG has the authority to appoint five paralegals without regard to their qualifications.
Link at:

BIRMINGHAM BLUES

(REUTERS)Russia takes fight into Georgia

(02:23) Reuters Report

Aug 11 - The conflict in the Caucasus escalates as Russia moves to bolster the separtist region of South Ossetia which lies within Georgia's borders.


Andrew Potter reports.

From Whence I come

PHOTO CREDIT-JAY KIRKPATRICK-(*-Click on Photos for large size image*)
by Cody Lyon

Just south of Birmingham, Alabama situated on Hiway 25 lying on the banks of the Coosa River sits the one stop-light town Wilsonville. This pretty little hamlet is just down the road from another small town, a spitting image of television's Mayberry, a place that happens to be crowned by a stately southern court house, hence it is the County seat, Columbiana. A portion of the farm land area between Wilsonville, Columbiana and the area just north, the fast growing Hiway 280 suburban corridor leading to Birmingham, is called Four Mile. My parents, now retired from normal shift work, live there now, as they have existed in close proximity for most of their lives. Currently, they operate a small, casually run blueberry picking farm.

Here, one can come with family in tow, and you and your's pick a gallon bucket of berries for $7.

The berry bushes were planted on a whim years ago by my parents and sister, in neat rows, on a slope that catches the Alabama sunlight from all angles of the sky daily. A natural irrigation system keeps the plants moist, even in the face of drought conditions that nearly destroyed the crop just one year ago. The bushes have since grown into large tree like plants, filled with bountiful berries with deep hues of blue hidden inside their branches.

His business is brisk, in part due to the fact that blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidant phytonutrients of the fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the USDA.

Next year, he's hoping his new blackberry bushes will be ready for picking, as will his new fig trees, that is, if he can keep the birds from eating them.

Along with the berries, fresh tomatoes burst from vines in another patch, alongside fresh okra, turnip greens and what reportedly seems to be a favorite among many newcomers to his small operation, watermelons.

One day, during a phone conversation as I sat by the Hudson River in New York City's Manhattan, my Dad told me he's certain some of the people that visit him are first timers to a farm like his. He said that more than one visitor had told him they had never actually picked berries, watermelons or a tomato from a vine or bush.

He said he liked to share the story of his now deceased basset hound, who when the tomato's were ripe, could be seen strolling in the garden, stopping occasionally to inspect, then eat a couple off the vine. To this day, he finds his tomato loving basset hound a bit, unusual.

As cyclists and joggers passed me as I sat on a bench in the manicured Hudson River Park, from Alabama, my Dad spoke of guests who speak with accents unlike his, people originally from beyond these United State borders, who now made their way down to his blueberry patch in Shelby County.

My Dad has found joy in showing the first time visitors how to gently roll their fingers over the berries so the ripe ones fall into the bucket. He also loved taking them to the watermelon patch, a place where these giant pod like pieces of fruit grew from tiny seeds, where they'd tap and thump the melon to 'hear' if it was ripe. The watermelon patch was always almost magical, mysterious, a place to find those creations where he, like many a southerner, discovered the satisfaction of salt on the sweet juicy creation from the ground.

When the guests found find one they like, he tells them to "go on and get it" and they go and cut the curly pigtail lifeline that connects to the ground and hoisting the melon, load it into their car, maybe for a trip back to suburbia, another town, city, perhaps too, with a vivid memory tucked away, to be recalled at another place and time.

He said it just tickled him to death to see the fascination in these folks faces, the beauty of introducing something he'd always known as a simple part of seasonal and daily life.

Maybe too, they find him interesting, a relic of sorts, one who worked shift work at a power plant for years, but now finds peace and joy with the land, one who shares, albeit sells the fruits of that love with the world around him.

This past Spring, my Dad was thrilled when he went outside and found that one of his humming birds had made it back to Alabama for the summer season. During another phone conversation between my adopted home and Alabama, my Mother described an older man behaving like a small child on Christmas morning. One day, he rushed into the house and announced with smiles from ear to ear, "they come back, they're back!"

They, being tiny creatures with wings, who humm, devour nectar then build nests no larger than a walnut to raise there young.

He has five humming bird feeders and the customers who come to the farm reportedly marvel at the tiny creatures as they feed, dance and dart at lightning speed, often dodging each other in a sort of bird combat, sometimes in the quest for a mate. He had done research and found that the tiny birds spend part of their lives in this part of Central Bama but as Fall and Winter approach, they come together and flap their tiny wings and fly thousands of miles across the Gulf to Mexico. By the next spring and summer, the birds somehow find their way back to this newly established sanctuary of humming just south of Birmingham, near the Coosa River.

Of course it's not just the feeders , the birds love the berries as they will the new crop of figs, blackberries and pears too.

It goes without saying, that in this world where we are constantly bombarded with the pains of life's challenges and the news of world events that seem so far beyond our control, that all around us are unreported and under discussed simplicities that are in fact, capsules of the beauty, communication and the exchange of experiences that we as living beings truly are capable of. There is less than obvious beauty in this world, often times, right under our noses, perhaps far away from the banks of the Hudson, or yet again, right along those banks but lost in the shuffle of daily life. As our world grows smaller, we can be sure, that places like my Dad's blueberry farm, are helping in some small way to bring us all a little closer together, face to face, human to human, as people, as living beings of this earth we all share. And, as the bustle continues all around here in the Big Apple, there is comfort in knowing that this place from whence I come, it is the root of who I am.
Note: No one in this story is affiliated in any way with, or subscribes to in any way, the political opinions pontificated by this author in other parts of this blog-that being because I often speak my mind)

Up LATE?

Clips from Politico's Collection of Late night antics

RWANDA ACCUSES FRENCH OFFICIALS OF GENOCIDE (REUTERS)

(01:34) REUTERS-Report
Aug. 6 - Rwanda has formally accused senior French officials of involvement in its 1994 genocide and called for them to be put on trial.

Among those named in a report by a Rwandan investigation commission were former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and late President Francois Mitterrand.

France denies any wrongdoing, and says its forces helped protect people during a U.N.-sanctioned mission in Rwanda at the time.
Andrew Potter reports.

(REUTERS) Obama Shifts position on Energy

Aug 4 - Barack Obama proposed tapping the strategic oil reserves to help lower gas prices, a reversal of a stance he made just weeks ago.
The emergency reserve created in the 1970s holds about 700 million barrels of crude stored in Texas and Louisiana.
Jon Decker reports. (REUTERS)

(From Reuters) Dozens die in Iraq bombings

July 28 (FROM REUTERS)- Many more have been wounded in the wave of attacks in Baghdad and another explosion in Kirkuk.

At least 28 people have been killed and more than 90 wounded in Baghdad as three female suicide bombers targeted Shi'ite pilgrims in the city for a major religious event.

Another explosion in the northern city of Kirkuk has claimed the lives of at least ten people and wounded over 50 more as demonstrators gathered for a protest march.

Paul Chapman reports.

We Must Figure out How to Make Peace

BY CODY LYON

The afternoon sun had begun to fade, but the Bryant park trees twinkled, offering a sense of shelter, comfort, peace, away from the bustle of sidewalks, the glaring of glass high in the sky towering over the beating nucleus ,Midtown Manhattan.

A conversation carries on by phone, the New Yorker, questions, listens and learns about a friend's trip up north to a city many miles away.

"It went well," said the friend, on assignment in New England, where he'd given a speech, seeking to explain a campaign of tolerance to a younger generation.

"Great" came the response from Midtown from under the trees that twinkled, as he propped his feet on his bicycle, after a job interview, before beginning the journey down 5th Avenue to his soon to be former home in New York's east village.

After saying goodbye, he walked his bike to 42nd street, hopped on, thinking about the chat, passed the public library, then pedaled down the hill on 5th avenue.

Up ahead, a man with no legs, his back muscles pronounced, triceps bulging, pioneered ahead of the cyclist in a wheelchair.

The cyclists wondered, how or where the man's legs went missing, what had happened. At the same time, he felt worry, a ping of sad, but still, admiring the man's athletic defiance, his resilience, a wonder to behold, whizzing past cars, faster than the cyclist, much like the city where he now rode, a place where despite constant obstacles, the strong survive, endure and persevere, here too, the strong may shine.

But, after losing sight of the legless man, after passing the tourists with their sensible shorts and striped shirts making their way to the architectural majesty that is the Empire State Building, the cyclist came upon a familiar site, a church he'd passed many times.

In fact, it was at this spot, on the last Sunday in June, members of the Congregation, passed out cups of water, to participants in a parade, that some would rather avoid.


But on this day, there was no parade, no congregants with water, and for whatever reason, he noticed the ribbons.

They hang on the iron gating surrounding the old church, the Church of the collegiate, a building erected in 1854, a congregation chartered in 1696 by William III, king of England as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, now called the Marble Collegiate Church.

The ribbons, golds, blues, and greens represented something, unclear at first, perhaps a memorial, perhaps another symbol of war a testament of death, perhaps renewal, perhaps all, but it turned out, they represented prayers.

Gold, the more common color, represents prayers for the families and friends of the thousands of Americans lost in the Iraq war.

Blue for those Iraqis scores killed in the violence that devastated a nation.

Green, were for prayers of peace.

While observing, a family of three, what appeared to be tourists, all wearing baseball caps, the father nokia around his kneck, the mom with a digital, both took photos of the site, as the New Yorkers glided by. On the sidewalks, some glanced, others pausing briefly, all the while, cars, cabs and cyclists whizzed by, perhaps on their way to dinner, drinks, maybe even coming from a job interview, perhaps in a conversation about tolerance, love, joy, sadness or perhaps too, tragedy.

Among the family of three, a small boy, no more than ten, touched, held and appeared to read some of the ribbons.

Captain Mark Pane, age 32.

Lance Corporal Bradely L Parker, age 19.

Sgt Pamela G. Osborne, age 38 and hundreds perhaps thousands more.

In addition to a green baseball cap, the small boy wore a bright orange T-Shirt with the dove's foot peace symbol occupying the shirt's face, a simple request, never a simple answer.

From afar, the child tourist's face at least appeared in this moment, to offer pause, maybe hope, hope that someday, ribbons will only be used for things good, like apple pies, rose competitions, or a giant pumpkin.

It brings tears when ribbons hanging from an old iron fence just blocks from the Empire State building represent prayers for precious souls, souls taken so unfairly, so early. It's not fair that they can no longer participate in conversations about tolerance while sitting under trees amidst buildings that touch the sky. Those ribbons remind everyone that there are millions of broken hearts across the world thanks to the horror that the un-necessary human behavior war is.

On a small, plaque, in front of the increasingly weathered blues, golds and greens, a message from Marble Collegiate's Senior Minister, Arthur Calandro.

In it, he recalled attending a Quaker meeting after the first Gulf War in Iraq.

He said that of all the comments he heard that day, the one he remembered came from a man around his own age.

"I know how to protest war, but I don't know how to make peace," the Quaker said.

The message says that it seems that man at the Quaker meeting speaks for most of the world. The message went on to say we "continue to pray daily- we pray for the wounded-we pray for the day war is no longer an option.

Later, as observations of this fading New York afternoon on Fifth Avenue continued, a gentleman approached, and offered, "you know they (the church) have a website."

It turned out, the man was a New York City teacher, a man probably in his late 30's, soft spoken, kind, his knowledge of New York history obviously grand.

He shared an interesting fact, that this, the Marble Collegiate Church, is in fact, oldest place of worship of the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York

"That explains the New Netherland enshrined on the stone," noted the cyclist.

"Yes," he confirmed.

He then shared that on Staten Island, there was a place called Richmond Town, a place that was full of history, a time capsule dating back to the 1600's where on some buildings one could still see holes from the bullets from the days of its founding, holes from the Revolutionary war.

But, perhaps, here on Fifth Avenue, as passers by, protected from the outside not by trees but by IPODS, Blackberries, the shelters of cabs, the indiscriminate bustling to and fro on our ways to places, drinks, dinners, new jobs, new lives, on our collective way to a new era in our nation's journey through time, despite those holes on Staten Island, despite the painful hole inside our own impressive skyline, there are holes even greater, and there are reminders everywhere, no matter where we are, that those are the holes in the hearts of those who lost someone, a Mother, A Father, daughter, son, lover and those are the holes that are all the more greater than anything history has to offer.

It is our pain and we are sharing it.

We human beings must someday figure out how to make peace.

CBS NEWS: Lining Up for free Dental Care (The Other America series)

Comment-Cody Lyon: Once again, CBS News holds up a mirror to the often cruel injustices that result from the way our nation's health care system operates. Albeit a dreadful experience for most, for millions, a trip to the dentist is out of reach, thanks to the fact that around one hundred million have no Dental insurance at all. Many have not seen a tooth doctor in years, among them, millions of children.

But, at the same time, CBS shows us as they did with the REMOTE AREA MEDICAL report, that America is also home to angels, like Bruce Bergstrom of AMERICA'S DENTISTS CARE. As reporter Seth Doane reveals, America's Dentists Care sets up free dental clinics across the nation for those lacking dental insurance. In the CBS report, we see a line of families already wrapped around a building at 5 a.m.

. Here is a link to CBS Evening News July 23 report, part of the network's "The Other America" series:
LINK TO CBS

Remembering the Super Bug of 2005

by CODY LYON
On February 5, 2005, the New York City Department of Health in conjunction with the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Center called a press conference and issued an urgent health alert to the public. The event was especially targeted towards men who have sex with men. According to health officials, one individual had been infected with what appeared to be a never before seen particularly potent and apparently mutated strain of HIV that had rapidly progressed to full blown AIDS.

Doctors treating the patient said the man was resistant to three out of four classes of drugs available used to treat HIV/AIDS, a condition clinically called 3-DCR-HIV.

At the press conference, New York City Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden, warned “virtually no one is immune” saying the new super strain virus could quickly progress into full-blown AIDS, perhaps in as little as two to twenty months, a process that normally takes up to ten years.

Health officials described the patient as a man in his mid-forties, who had binged on the drug crystal methamphetamine and had un-protected sex with numerous partners, a number the Department said was 'possibly hundreds.'

The DOHMH said the encounters had occurred at sex parties or individually, arranged through “hook-up” sites on the Internet.

A firestorm of controversy, debate and media sensationalism followed the press conference.

Fault lines erupted both inside and outside the gay community as fingers were pointed at recreational drugs and "reckless" lifestyles. Fear laced with words of caution competed with skepticism over the accuracy of the reported science from Aaron Diamond Institute and the Health Department.

But many condemned the New York City Health Department for issuing a health alert that some called hasty and shrill.


Central to the skepticism were questions and worries about how gay men would react if the science proved false or inconclusive. Further, were worries that the public's perception of gay men would be tainted by reports of reckless behaviors in the age of AIDS. And, if the diagnosis of a new "super-bug" proved false, would the understanding and attitudes surrounding what HIV/AIDS is, a disease littered with a history of misinformation, rumors, prejudice and conspiracy theories become even more misunderstood and misinformed?

Overall immediate public reaction to the press conference and subsequent news reports was grim and flavored with what some saw as patronizing condemnation of the affected community, gay men.

Newspaper headlines were announcing that a new “super virus” had made an appearance in New York. The New York "Daily News" screamed “Super Bug Scary: World’s First Case of Drug Resistant Strain Found Here,” while another Daily News headline read “Super HIV Man Had Sex Binge with 100.” Meanwhile, the “New York Post” warned of a “Super Bug Nightmare Strain” and the “The "New York Times"” said Gays had “Grown Complacent” about HIV, which contributed to reckless behavior.

Within the Gay Community some began to directly link crystal meth use to the “new strain” issuing wholesale condemnations of the highly addictive drug. In the mainstream press, a number of columnists and editorial writers began to scold the reportedly promiscuous behavior and its alleged impacts.

For example, Former “"Newsday"” reporter Laurie Garret wrote “Those who use methamphetamine and prowl for sex need the wake-up call” and "Washington Post" columnist Richard Cohen wrote that when gays “are victims of discrimination they need to be defended, but when they are victims of their own behavior, they need to be condemned.”

But, in the background of the ensuing coverage, doctors and experts began raising skeptical concerns about the timing and tone of the alert.

“In its haste to issue a health alert, the Department of Health and Aaron Diamond failed to consider the impact of such frantic media coverage” said Dr. Michael Saag, Director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

“The average reader will focus on the behavior of gay men” said Dr. Saag.

He noted that news of the New York Department of Health press conference was the lead story in the next day’s "Birmingham News".

“It is not a helpful message in an era when we are trying to communicate that HIV is a sexually transmitted disease that effects anyone who is sexually active, not just gay men” said Dr. Saag from Birmingham, Ala.

Amid the shrill headlines, controversy and fear, questions were raised about a more probable theory regarding the patient's condition, a theory that appeared to contradict the Health Department's conclusion in the health alert.

“The intersection of the patient’s drug resistance and rapid progression made this man’s condition unique” said Jessica Frickey, a spokesperson at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HIV is a highly variable disease. It is usually the 'host virus interaction' that determines the characteristics of a case, not the virus itself. In fact, there are individuals who may be more genetically susceptible to a quicker progression to full-blown AIDS. That condition has been called rapid progression.

Was this patient’s condition an unfortunate intersection of two deadly factors, rapid progression and anti-viral drug resistence?

Apparently, that would have indicated that the individual who played host to the virus was genetically pre-disposed to a rapid-fire progression to full blown AIDS.

Futher, could the man’s drug resistance have been a result of being infected by an individual who was infected with a mutated version of the HIV virus, a disturbing but potential cause of his anti-viral reisistence? Doctors say that HIV drug resistance can develop in a patient after taking drugs over an extended period.

Like other viruses or bacteria, HIV strains begin to mutate and show resistance over time, in essence, outsmarting some drugs or drug combinations, similar to anti-biotic resistance. When this happens, doctors usually manipulate, switch or re-evaluate the patient's cocktail of medicine until an effective anti-viral regimen is found.

But the reporting in the "super-virus" case implied that the patient had been infected a new “strain” as if the bug itself had mutated into a newly emerged form of the virus meaning that AIDS, already deadly, had grown into an even more dire threat.

Some supporters of the initial health alert press conference to say that the use of the term new "strain" was incorrect.

“There would need to be evidence of significant biological difference to warrant the designation of a new strain” admitted Dr. Jay Dobkin, Director of the AIDS Center at Columbia University.

Some advocates of full and forthcoming medical information, as well as a few medical experts began to openly and loudly question whether the health alert had indeed been based on inconclusive science. There were rumblings that that the alert was being used as an overly cautious and condescending tactic to try and change what some argue were increasing risky behaviors within the Gay male community?

Martin Delaney, co-founder of the San Francisco based organization “Project Inform” argued that the health alert was meant to scare people into changing behavior.

Delaney also questioned whether the science behind the alert was solid.

“None of the science was sound” and “no matter what Aaron Diamond and The Department of Health think they knew at the time of the press conference, they could not possibly have had any useful information about how widely this “new strain” had spread, or what its clinical consequences would be.”

Some doctors concurred with Delaney's assertion noting that in fact, the reportedly "new" strain was actually nothing new.

“This particular strain has been seen before thus is not new” said University of Alabama Birmingham’s Dr. Michael Saag of the new “super-strain”.

Dr. Harold Jaffe is the former director of the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since leaving CDC, Dr. Jaffe has been a fellow and Professor of Public Health at Oxford University in London.

Jaffe said the Health Department’s alert was probably a well intentioned but overly cautious approach that used fear to try and curb what most experts charge are risky behaviors.

At the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Conference in Boston, two weeks after the Health Alert was issued, Dr. Jaffe argued that fear might motivate behavior changes in the short term, but it ultimately leads people to not trust messages of prevention.

Later, during a phone conversation from London, Jaffee further explained his reluctance to support the decision to issue a health alert.

Still, he cautioned that far to many gay men have become more careless, in part because of the false sense of security provided by new HIV drugs.


“A number of factors are probably contributing to increasingly risky behavior among men who have sex with men (or msm), and “lack of fear is probably a factor, but I personally don’t believe the New York case should be used to scare gay men into safer behavior” said Dr. Jaffe.

Still, one of the world's groundbreaking pioneers in HIV/AIDS research defended his institution’s decision to issue the alert.

“We felt it was appropriate to bring such an extreme case to the attention of public health authorities” said Dr. David Ho, Executive Director of The Aaron Diamond Institute.

“ADRAC stands by its decisions involving this case,” said Dr. Ho.

Columbia University's Dr. Jay Dobkin suggested that the decision to issue the alert and the ensuing media coverage linking Crystal Meth use to increasing risk of HIV infection, may have in fact, been constructive by helping to discourage what many see as reckless behaviors.

Still, some question Dr. Dobkin and Ho’s seemingly clinical rhetoric.

Martin Delaney argues that many health officials see the world through academic lenses that is out of touch with the reality “on the ground.”

“People do not engage in unsafe behaviors because they have considered issues of treatment” noting that drug use and unsafe behavior are not “reasoned choices,” said Delaney.

Reasoned or not, according to a one survey by The Center for HIV/AIDS Education Studies or CHEST at New York University, men who used Crystal, were three times more likely to contract HIV through receptive anal intercourse than those who did not use meth. Among gay men who admit to recreational drug use, 62 percent admit to at least having tried crystal.

Debate over how best to affect sexual practices or change behaviors range from harm reduction tactics to zero tolerance approaches. Harm reduction encourages those who do use recreational drugs, to do so responsibly, and be armed with knowledge on how best to protect oneself from increased risk of HIV infection.

Some worry that zero tolerance approaches about certain behaviors, or fear tactics, simply encourage denial and drive behaviors further underground often leading to destructive collective side effects such as increasing rates of HIV.

Over the past 5 years, HIV infection rates have risen among gay men under the age of 30 in New York City according to the City's Department of Health. At the same time, HIV infection rates have fallen by around 22 percent among older gay men.

While some say the complacency over un-safe sexual activity among many gay men may have been temporarily shaken by the super-bug reports, some express worries that collective distrust of medical officials and authorities was the end result.

“If it turns out the ‘super-bug” is really an isolated case, the gay community may feel they were being manipulated” said Dr. Harold Jaffe.

As of 2008, the 2005 “super-strain” was an isolated case.

REUTERS-ul 18 -Drug bust in Mexico submarine

Jul 18 - The Mexican military, working with information from U.S. intelligence services, recovered nearly six tons of cocaine in a makeshift submarine seized this week off the Pacific coast.

It was one of Mexico's largest maritime drug seizures and the first time the country has seen drug smugglers using a submarine, the navy said.

Pavithra George REUTERS reports.

"The New Yorker" Cartoon: The Jokes on the People

by CODY LYON

It looks as if some Americans have finally found a cartoon they can get really upset about.

Last week's "New Yorker" cover cartoon featuring presumed Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama and wife Michelle, both in outrageous garb that included the Senator in a turbin, sandals and robe, with Michelle sporting an Angela `Davisesque' 70's afro, a gun, both fist-bumping all the while an American flag burned, has drawn condemnation and charges of "offensive and tasteless" from campaign spokespeople and supporters.

Tuesday evening, Senator Obama told CNN's Larry King that the cartoon "probably fueled misconceptions about me."

Really?

Was the cartoon offensive?

Of course it was.

Did it fuel misconceptions about the Senator and his wife?

Probably not......that's already been done.

In fact, the increasingly famous "New Yorker" cover held up a mirror to the campaign, the media and more importantly to America itself. The cartoon revealed some offensive truths about how this campaign has been conducted and covered, but also, about America in general and how out of touch with reality so many of us truly are.

First and foremost, this was the "New Yorker" being ironic, not some tabloid or sensationalistic media spook machine that was seeking to raise questions about the Senator of his wife's commitment to the nation's well being. The "New Yorker" is in fact, one the few bastions of intelligent and measured writing where analysis and good story telling pair up with meticulous investigative journalism. It is one of the few places that those with the patience, to actually read an article longer than four or five pages long,find articles that reveal facts, figures and truths about our Democracy, better yet, our world.

What might be considered offensive is the fact that so many Americans don't take the time to actually pick up the magazine and read those stories beyond that offensive cover.

But, even more offensive is the deeper truth pointed out by the cover and the seemingly insecure and condescending reaction that some Obama supporters and even some Republicans have claimed to have.

The "New Yorker" cover page makes fun of the sad fact that vast swaths of voters actually believe that the Obama's depicted in the cartoon are real. But, it also shines a light on the units of the media machine that have inadvertently helped perpetuate the rumors and innuendo that have led to misperceptions about the Obama's patriotism.

Now that's offensive.

The inability of Obama supporters to appreciate that sort of irony is offensive as well, since they know all to well, the cartoon, in its outrageousness and non-PC style, does exactly that.

But, by raising such a fuss about a cartoon in the "New Yorker", by going public with worries that it will affect voter's perception, those supporters, spokespersons, even the candidate are in essence participating in the wildfire of paranoia and condescension so common in American politics today?

If anything, "The New Yorker" that bastion of elitism was pointing out that America, despite being a place of instant information gratification is a place where vast portions of the public are ill informed, a public that shows increasing signs of collective ADD, always looking for the next shrill topic, the next scandal and not real truths that might inform them to make wise decisions in voting booths that might truly impact their communities, their nation their lives, truths often found in magazines like "The New Yorker".

It's really a shame that so many are up in arms about this cartoon. The only positive might be that more people may actually buy the magazine and read it.

This was clever satire and the jokes on `the people', not the Obamas.

(New York Times) Bank Stocks Are Battered as Unease Grows

Bank Stocks Are Battered as Unease Grows
By LOUISE STORY and ERIC DASH "New York Times"
Published: July 15, 2008
Investors continued to beat down bank stocks on Monday, fearing that the government’s aid to help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would not hold back the rising tide of bad loans.
Link to full story at NYT

From "The Raw Story"; Alabama US Attorney denies any involvement in university editor's termination

The abrupt dismissal of a veteran University of Alabama employee who blogged about the firing of seven US Attorneys has added a bizarre new twist to allegations that the state's US Attorneys targeted political opponents for prosecution.
"Raw Story's' Lindsay Beyerstein has a closer look at the firing of Roger Shuler from UAB
LINK TO FULL STORY AT "RAW STORY"

From "New York Times":A New Fashion Catches On in Paris: Cheap Bicycle Rentals

A New Fashion Catches On in Paris: Cheap Bicycle Rentals
By STEVEN ERLANGER (New York Times)
Published: July 13, 2008
A year after the introduction of the sturdy gray bicycles known as Vélib’s, other major cities, including American ones, are exploring similar projects.
Link to full Story at NYT

(REUTERS VIDEO) Hebron settlers accused of beating

Jul 8 - An Israeli -Palestinian rights group has released video of a Palestinian man tied to a phone pole claiming it shows the man being beaten up by Jewish settlers.

FROM REUTERS-The video was recorded by activists belonging to Ta'ayush, an Israeli-Palestinian human rights group.

The group claims it shows a bound Palestinian man being kicked by Jewish settlers while Israeli soldiers stand by. The man, a 30-year-old Palestinian teacher, was eventually freed and taken to hospital.

He later told Reuters the settlers had falsely accused him of setting fire to one of their fields before beating him. Israeli police say two settlers were arrested on suspicion of assault.

A settler leader in Hebron says the video wrongly portrays the settlers as aggressors when, in reality, they're defending themselves.

Susan Flory (REUTERS) reports.

Downtown Gotham Laments Closure of a Meatpacking District Eatery

LINK TO MY FULL STORY AT EDGE

excerpt

The paint on the window told the whole story.

"Serving 24 hours until the bitter "sweet" end on June 29," it read.

After 23 years of serving countless steak frites, muscles and Boudin Noire in an area more known for beef racks, leather daddy’s, transgender prostitutes, club kids and Hogs and Heffers, the modern landmark 24 hour French diner that served the fashionable alongside the "freaky" has closed its doors. News reports account Morellet signed a lease for $6,000 in 1995. The landlord reportedly sought to increase the rent to around $700,000 per year-or $58,000 per month-this past year. And Morellet was left with little choice but to close shop after a period of unsuccessful negotiation.

Alabama Accents (St Petersburg Times-Guest Column)

From "St Petersburg Times" guest columnist Jack Bray:
It got me to thinking. Why do we speak the same language differently? The shades of drawl even in this town are distinct. After living 15 years in Dunedin, listening to a lot of familiar New Yorkese, I found these accents to be colorful and charmin', darlins'.
LINK TO FULL COLUMN at TAMPABAY.Com (note the column cites my story on the origin of Southern Accents)

UN: fair Zimbabwe poll 'impossible' (REUTERS)

(REUTERS)Jun 24 - The United Nations Security Council condemns violence against Zimbabwe's opposition.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed to take its first formal action on Zimbabwe by condemning violence against the country's opposition and ruling that a free and fair presidential run-off was impossible.

Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports. (REUTERS)

Pennies for Votes

by CODY LYON (OPINION)
For many, many years, in elementary and middle schools across the south and perhaps other regions in the nation as well, at a certain time each year, the student body would perhaps `nominate' several young boys and girls to be Mr and Miss `small town' (or whatever the name) of that particular school may be.

But, this contest would not be based purely on popularity, being a good citizen or high academic achievement per se, but instead, by the number of pennies that each student was able to raise since each penny counted as one vote.

After the votes, no, actually, the pennies were tallied the winners would be crowned, perhaps photographed for the yearbook, maybe even ride on a float in a local parade and then carry the largely insignificant title throughout the rest of the year.

After execution of this widely accepted practice by which these schools would raise much needed funds for things like chalk, art paper, kick balls or other necessities utilized for richer educational experiences in the classroom there was an unfortunate fact that remained embedded in the minds of the millions who witnessed or lived through it.

The children who took the title Mr and Miss local school, was in fact the student who in the end, turned in the fattest check to the powers that be at that school, a check that was often written by a wealthy parent.

In the end, the contest was not about merit or popularity but wealth although perhaps in rare cases, childlike money raising prowess. Still, for millions of children, it instilled or perhaps at least reinforced the bitter pill that money equals title, perhaps too power.

What often got lost in the drama of those contests that appears to have rewarded those children who had wealthier parents, was the cold hard fact that the schools who conducted them, often operated under umbrella school systems that under-funded them, a greater system that in many states bore the stench of inequity from district to district that left individual schools in desperate need of cash to operate fully.

It was a greater reality that was complained about, but many parents and others felt powerless to change.

Interestingly, many of our most treasured rights, the very fundament(s) of what we cherish as a free democracy are tainted by similar flaws.

While there is no doubt that Barack Obama did in fact go back on his word when he announced that he would opt-out of the public financing system, irking many, both Republican and Democrat along with those who would like to extinguish the flames of influence that large moneyed private donations, be it corporate donors who bundle, be it lobbying interests who disguise donations through other methods, be it even individuals who accept the fact that in order to win an election in these free and open United States they must contribute dollars to help their choice win votes, the facts in today's electioneering process are what they are.

The United States electoral system is broken.

It truly does not matter who is nominated or who chooses to enter a campaign for any office in this country because, in the end, that candidate must go out and raise vast amounts of dollars because in this nation, in the end, a dollar can be likened to a bullhorn by which to broadcast a message more effectively and thus win a vote.

Until we as a nation begin to aggressively address the fundamental flaws that money in politics has grown into over the past few years, we are only going to continue to witness the political pollution that money buys on an increasingly grand scale.

Yes, presumed Democratic nominee appears to many to have gone back on his word. But, the nominee from Chicago is only operating under an umbrella, a system that has relegated him to this unfortunate choice. It is his political reality and more importantly, it is ours. We as a nation have yet to raise our collective voices and demand change in the way we pick our leaders.

It's really not fair for critics to bombard the Barack Obama campaign machine with criticism or to express profound disappointment in the candidate for choosing to opt out of public financing. It is more appropriate that we express our displeasure with our system of electing our leaders.

What makes this all similar to the analogy of students who go out and raise pennies for the tile of Mr or Miss School?

Well, that's fairly obvious.

But, this is not just a `title' that Senator Obama and Senator Mc Cain are raising their coins for. It is in fact, the most powerful title in the world.

The Marriage Race Analysis (EDGE)

LINK TO PART TWO OF MY STORY AT EDGE

EXCERPT:

A virtual who’s who of familiar right wing social conservative organizations have also converged on California and are making the overturning of the California court decision a priority. "There are a number of national religious right groups that are lending their resources to this effort," said Peter Montgomery, spokesperson at the People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group based in Washington DC.

CBSNEWS' Katie Couric Weighs In on Sexist Media Coverage during Dem Campaign

"It's all the people who cross the line, and all the women and all the men who let them get away with it," said Couric......

LINK TO FULL VIDEO AT CBSNEWS

The Disturbing Impact of Higher Fuel Prices

Alabama freelance writer Sandy Williams owns a general store with gas pumps in the town of Crossville. Her observations in this piece published in the "Birmingham News" are powerful and moving.
LINK TO B,HAM NEWS ARTICLE

excerpt:
To the folks in this rural community, getting a paycheck on Friday afternoon means they have to drive at least 10 to 15 miles, each way, to work every day for a grueling eight-hour shift in a poultry processing plant or a sock mill. With blue-collar wages here still floating between $5 and $6 an hour, that puts them bringing home, after taxes, a mere $150 to $200 a week.

High Gas Prices Hit Rural Areas Worst (New York Times)

Business
Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS (NEW YORK TIMES)
Published: June 9, 2008
Across the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, low incomes and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets.

People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.
LINK TO FULL STORY at "The New York Times"

Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Report (NYT)

from "The New York Times"
International / Middle East
Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Report
By MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE
Published: June 6, 2008
The 170-page report accuses President Bush and other top officials of repeatedly overstating the Iraqi threat in the emotional aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

LINK TO FULL STORY at New York Times

In retrospect....FROM ANOTHER TIME.....letter to the editor;

Al Qaeda and Iraq: The Panel and the President
Published: June 18, 2004

To the Editor: While it is upsetting that President Bush and his administration used fear, anger and manipulation to intimidate the American people into believing that Iraq played a role in Sept. 11, it is even more disturbing that many Americans accepted his word as fact.
LINK To full text at "New York Times"

The race to Marriage Equality (Analysis at EDGE)

excerpt from Part one of my piece at EDGE
Whither California, the nation? That’s the question LGBT activists and just-plain folks across the country are asking. Will legalizing marriage in the California Republic set off a wave of such actions across the country? Judging from what happened in New York, it may already have. EDGE analyzes the move toward (and away from) gay marriage state by state and handicaps the race to be next in line to the altar.

The Divided Democrats of Today

by CODY LYON
Perhaps a half baked play on words taken from that beloved former first lady from a far away land and time might seem inappropriate in this situation. But for some, at least some who happen to be Democrats and happen to also be just a tad bit outspoken while taking what could be politely called 'issues' with our own former first lady, not crying over the way this current Democratic campaign match up has played out, is truly an understatement.

Before moving along, it's important to note, by staying in this race until the increasingly bitter end, it is not, and never really has been, Hillary Clinton's fault, that many of her supporters now say they would not support Barack Obama in the fall. That could be blamed on any number of factors.

Still, it's become increasingly curious and offensive to some Hillary supporters and even those watching from afar, that the tone from much of what has turned into Obama-land, appears to still be immersed in arrogance and self righteous certitude, so much so, they've basically alienated a tremendous number of crucial voters that the Democratic party desperately needs come November when the new White House occupants are picked.

But, facts are facts, and one truth happens to be that there are thousands, make that millions of alienated' Clinton supporters that have been completely turned off by what they see as the sheer nastiness of media coverage and campaign tactics directed towards their candidate. They are turned off by what they see as a dismissive tone in the Obama message, turned off by what they see as the cult like dominance projected by many of his fans, turned off by the way some voices in new and the old mainstream media outlets practically played Pravda in the reporting styles and analysis of each candidate while ignoring the difficult challenge of exploring and explaining exactly how each candidate's potential policy might impact the day to day lives of people in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, Mississippi or Florida.

Instead, they dutifully watched as the hip young "it" girls and boys sporting those Pepsi looking Obama pins would anticipate the next Obama rally as if it were a rock concert, where, when they happened, the reporters on TV would convey to viewers that the "energy here is infectious" while the pundits took turns gushing and blushing over this new message of hope, all building momentum among a new cross section of voters, built on a dynamism that might rescue the nation from its long nightmare that had been brought to the citizens courtesy the current White House of horrors.

They watched one joke of a debate after another as questions over Preachers and verification of statements became fodder for the web as the shrill and sillier took the punch lines to higher planes of nonsense, all feeding the growing divides among the voters.

Meanwhile, Clinton was actually holding her own in votes, albeit not as loudly, in the end, now we know, she takes around the same number, if not more of the popular vote from the overall screwball of a primary process.

Despite that, the calls for her to leave the race started months ago and the pundits, newspapers, blogs and others, all began to chime in louder and meaner that Clinton was dividing the Democratic party and with that, the nastiness grew thicker and the putrid tones taken by some of the punditocracy along with the simplistic labeling of voters as `less educated' verses "more educated" latte liberals all coupled with sexist and racist vitriol growing nastier and nastier until it all began what today may be called a sad climax.

Yes, there are a lot of upset Democrats in America today. They aren't as outspoken or loud with their politics as others in their party, they are not the types to go and play hardball at a caucus, they probably wouldn't show up at an Obama rally and chant "yes we can," in fact, they probably wouldn't go to far out of their way to see Hillary either, but, they've been skeptical and they have been paying very close attention to this pathetic affair we call an exercise in Democracy and in the end, they find themselves un-enthused and in many cases, resigned to defeat in the fall.

There is no need for voters in Puerto Rico to cry over Hillary Clinton, but, there are plenty of reasons for all Americans to cry over the way we pick our Presidential candidates.

McClellan defends tell-all book (REUTERS)

May 29 - Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan says that was he was too trusting of President Bush in the build-up to the Iraq war.

The book represents a dramatic break from the close-knit Bush inner circle by McClellan and it drew instant condemnations on from former White House colleagues and even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice-- who -- while in Sweden-- defended the Bush administration's decision to go to war in Iraq.

Jon Decker reports. (REUTERS)

(ABCNEWS) Camp for Kids Coping With Parents at War

This piece from ABC NEWS CHRISTINE ROMO and MEENA HARTENSTEIN and reported on WORLD NEWS by Bob Woodruff is one of the more moving pieces to emerge from broadcast television news.

More than 1.5 million troops have deployed in the last five years, meaning that as many as 700,000 children in this country have at least one parent deployed. And, according to the Department of Defense, there are at least 12,000 children with an injured parent. While their parents have been recognized for their service, these children are also veterans -- they each bear the wounds of war.(ABCNEWS)

LINK TO FULL STORY AND VIDEO REPORT AT ABCNEWS

Notes On a Thursday Before Memorial Day (Repost)

REPOST FROM MAY 24, 2007
By Cody Lyon
The weather goes from cool to warm and the sun is bright this particular Thursday in New York’s East Village. At a Mexican takeout shop, beef tacos are purchased, then eaten sitting on a bench in Tompkins Square Park, under a tree that appears very lush, and filled with chirping birds.

The park is crowded, the playground full of kids, the grass covered with sun bathers, the dog run is noisy, chaotic.

At the dog run, people gather, watching the dogs, apparently a fight has broken out, first between dogs then it spreads among humans. One man pushes another, barks and shouts are traded, as all the dog owners yell at an older man, because of what they say is an aggressive dog.

But the cell phone rings, it’s a friend in Alabama, she says hello and the conversation lasts for a while.

She’s been dating a new guy, she thinks she really likes him and he’s taking her on a trip to Las Vegas.

Near the end, she asks the price of gas and says that it's over $3 a gallon down there. Fortunately, she drives a compact car.

Meanwhile, the older man in the dog run is not leaving, voices are even louder, the others appear mad, they keep shouting at him to leave, the dogs keep barking.

The phone rings again, it’s another really good friend, it goes to voicemail.

“Hey, I’ve had a problem and I need some advice” the message he left said.

Later, after doing some work, a bike ride is taken across the village on 9th Street to the Westside. The bike crosses Fifth Avenue, Washington Square Park’s arch is to the south, the sidewalks still crowded even for 8 pm, couples holding hands, more men with dogs, shopping bags are everywhere, summer fashions are here.

The bike makes it to Christopher Street the river is in sight, headed towards the pier, there’s music everywhere, smiles cross many faces, but up ahead there is congestion.

Two women in a car are blocking traffic, apparently one took another home, the street is narrow, they’re in an SUV, cars begin backing up, horns are being honked. Finally one of the women gets out, she’s young, very pretty and she appears oblivious to the anger behind her.

In one of the cars behind the two’s, a man who is driving and listening to disco music hollers at her, she doesn’t appear to hear it.

“I’d like to go home too b*tch ” he screams in a slightly southern accent, while she climbs onto the sidewalk with her IPOD head-phones on.

Once the biker makes it to the river, the sun is gone and the sky is filled with pinks, orange and streaks of red. The river glistens, almost metallic, as the rays of light glimmer from the west that is New Jersey, the mainland.

To the south, is New York’s financial district, the skyline still misses it towers but a new one has filled in at least part of the gap.

A man walks by, he smiles, a smile is returned, here appears the peace and that moment of reflection only sharable by writing it down.

A couple walks by, they are laughing, holding hands, one of them just told a story about his Mother and the fact that her voice cracks when she's angry.

A large number of joggers are out, all shapes, all sizes, some run fast, as if they're catching up on training for a marathon. They compete with bikers for space. Sometimes, the shoot each other nasty looks.

In the grass, two women on a blanket appear to have brought in some wine, they better be careful, the park police will give them a ticket.

The view to the south offers New York harbor, the statue of Liberty but then, the geographic direction of Tennessee comes to mind.

The night before, PBS “Newshour” was watched, part of a report was aired, it was called “The Costs of War in Iraq” and was reported by Economics correspondent Paul Solman. That report gave pause to this beautiful and busy day in New York City that was now saying goodbye.

Part of the story showed returning Army reservist Brad Heun of Tennessee.

The “Newshour” report showed Huen as he struggled to get up out of a chair, obviously in great pain. It also offered a photograph of Heun, at an earlier date, a well built, athletic looking young man, who’d probably have fit in with the fit and fast joggers this day in New York.

Heun’s vertebrae was crushed in a 2003 truck accident in Iraq.

He now has fused discs, a steel bar in his back and constant excruciating pain in his hip and leg according to Solman’s report.

“Literally, it feels as if somebody just took a baseball bat and blindsided you across your back” Heun told the “Newshour”.

In the report, viewers learn that the army discharged him with only 20 percent disability, which means no benefits. Heun does get medical care from the VA plus $2,500 a month to support a family of five, but no insurance for his wife or children. He’s trying to afford a COBRA policy, but that is too expensive. His 2 year old daughter now needs surgery, but the family has had to put it off, because they simply can not afford it.

Heuen’s wife Beverly tells correspondent Solman, that they don’t want to do the daughter’s surgery at the expense of her not having a home to live in.

“I think it’s a disgrace to this country for me to even be sitting here trying to tell you this” she told “Newshour”.

Earlier in the report, Brad Heun described his constant physical pain in graphic detail.

“At its worst, I have been on an emergency room gurney, curled up, and not even be able to concentrate on simple questions” he told “Newshour”.

Concentrating on simple questions, during a sunset along the Hudson in New York City overcame earlier observations of urban life. Questions about the fate of the around 25 thousand seriously injured military members coming home from Iraq begin to puncture the relative calm of an evening by the river. How many limbs have been lost, how many bones crushed, how many skulls shattered, how many bills not paid, how many minds damaged? Why?

Suddenly, some questions appeared to have answers.

Memorial Day was just a few days away.


Posted by Cody Lyon at 8:03 PM
6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the thought not just of me but of all Soldiers who have sacrificed for this Country. I spent 1 1/2 years in surgery, recovery, and rehabilitation. That time was spent with hundreds of other Soldiers, many worse than me. We had to start fighting for a new life at that time different than anything we were used to. The Newshour barely scratched the surface of what happens to Soldiers when they become "of no use" to the military anymore. Thank you again for the thought and more importantly remembering all Soldiers and the new battles we return to.
Brad Heun
4:49 AM
Dayngr said...

Excellent post!
10:30 PM
Anonymous said...

Cody,
Thank you for finding a way to weave a tapestry of our currently American external reality (war and injustice experienced by soldiers who are/have fighting/fought in the Iraq war) with the commonplace conception and action of recognizing Memorial Day as nothing more than a 3day weekend here in NYC. My support goes out to all soldiers, their efforts and challenges faced as a result of the conflict in Iraq. I am disgusted by The Newshour sharings and even moreso by the struggles soldiers like Brad Heun are left to endure.

Keep vigil and look forward to more posts.

John Grauwiler
6:58 PM
erik said...

Cody, your simple observations of the mircocosmos of Manhattan floating along on the stream of ideals, hope, and sacrifice of our brethen is breath taking.

Thank you for sharing Brad Heun's story with a raw blind truth.
6:37 PM
Charles Sheehan-Miles said...

A friend forwarded this on to me. Thanks for posting -- you really captured some of the tragedy of war.
8:28 PM
cb said...

Thank you for bringing your compassion, and doing your part to bring awareness to an issue, and the true meaning of a day, Memorial Day, that has escaped the consciousness of so many for so long. The deplorable tragedy, and the “reasoning” behind it, that has become Brad Huen’s life, his family’s life, and the life’s of thousands more is unforgivable, but should never remove the honor he, and men and women like him have earned and deserve.

May you continue to have the fortitude and insight to enlighten those who listen, and may you continue to be steadfast in your mission.
9:30 PM

What F.B.I. Agents Saw (Editorial from "The New York Times")

Editorial-(NEW YORK TIMES)
What the F.B.I. Agents Saw
Published: May 22, 2008
In light of a report by the Justice Department, the Democrats in charge of Congress should press for full disclosure of President Bush’s inhuman policy on prisoners.
LINK TO FULL TEXT AT NYT

China Begins Three Days of Mourning (ITN)

Remarkable footage and reporting from ITN Television News:

Their Greatest Worry

by Cody Lyon
The rain was coming down on this chilly May night in New York City faster than Hillary's chances for winning the nomination. Inside the cavernous Crunch Gym on Lafayette, the crowd was `thinner' than usual, no pun intended, but the political chatter was louder than the 90's dance tunes blaring from the speakers on this particularly dreary East Village night.

As Campbell kept the CNN pundits under control on the TV screens above the high tech cardio machines, local gym pundits engaged in some soul searching while engaging in discussion over what they saw as increasing polarization within the Democratic party electorate and perhaps the nation itself.

In the past, the pundits had all been Pro Hillary, but this go-round, the instigator of the chatter heard the voice of a new pundit who hadn't been a part of the discussions in the past.

"Never underestimate the Clintons," said a Pro Hillary Dem to the instigator of the conversations as Clinton supporter continued his arm curls in a rush before he headed off to dinner.

Noting the tremendous numbers in Hillary Clinton's win over Barack Obama in West Virginia, this particular pundit pointed out the danger that spells for the fall, recycling worries that Obama has yet to win over large portions of the traditional Democratic loyalists.

"A lot of people just don't think he's for real or relates to them, for some reason, they don't trust him" he argued adding that the Republicans will have fun with those doubts, in unfortunate, sad and divisive ways that will probably be very ugly in the end.

The Pro Hillary gym pundit recalled the unfortunate history of disappointment of what he called, Starbucks Democrats like McGovern, Dukakis and Kerry.

"The last time a Starbucks Democrat won the Presidency," he paused, then sighed that "the closet thing to liberal who would fit that description, was JFK," he said

But, in 1960, when Senator John F. Kennedy faced Hubert Humphrey and Wayne Morris in the Democratic Presidential campaign, Kennedy did in fact go to West Virginia, and made attempts to address the prejudice and "suspicion" over his Catholicism.

In the end, Kennedy did win the primary in West Virginia.

"Barack didn't even really campaign in West Virginia," said the Pro Hillary pundit.

"When he did, he put on one of those stupid flag lapel pins" grunting as he curled his arm "they (the West Virginians) saw through that crap."

Later, the instigator of this increasingly tired chit and chat made his was over to another Crunch "pumper" and posed a general assessment question about the election, gently prodding to see who's team he was on, and quickly found himself an Obama supporter who proceeded to unleash less than kind words for Hillary and for that matter, a number of her supporters.

"Barack Obama would sail to victory if they don't keep riding him with the Wright thing," said the Obama supporter who noted how the undercurrents of racism are still alive in America.

On Clinton, he said "she morphs herself into "whatever" it takes to win a vote," calling her immoral in her tactics.

"They (the Clintons) have always done that, it's not like they really care about anyone other than themselves, she's only concerned about her power," he argued going on to say that "she's staying in the race because she wants something out of all of this."

But, the instigator felt that Clinton had perhaps learned a lesson in humility, since she'd long been held up as a shoe in, only to realize that much of the nation was not in the mood for a coronation of those individuals deemed next in line. The instigator worried that Clinton's image had been so diminished and that in the end, that image had destroyed the truly populist progressive hidden agenda lying beneath all the political baggage.

So, when seeking to challenge his Obama friend, he asked him about the lopsided Clinton victory in West Virginia along with the other wins in Pennsylvania and places like Ohio, "places" in America that progressives have work to do and trust to win, where aggressive attempts to prove to the economically disenfranchised or higher education denied and affordable universal health care starved people that government can indeed do good things for people, but then, the Obama supporter cut deep.

"In the first place, those people who support her tend to be less educated and reactionary, they always respond to that right wing thinking," and then he said "I think he (Obama) and this new movement needs to marginalize them."

At which point the Obama supporter pointed to one of the more unethical moments in American political history.

"It's still amazing to me, that the Republicans were able to use that Swift Boat shit to derail a man like John Kerry" he said noting the sleazy character assassination attempts made by the infamous Swift Boat ads in 2004.

True enough, but the political anger towards those voters outside places like the island we at Crunch gym call home, Manhattan, caught the instigator off guard.

What exactly did he mean by marginalize them?

Unable, for whatever reason to admit his offense at such a comment, since hypocrisy would be the self describing term, because he too, had expressed similar sentiments back when he participated in simplistic Red State Blue State thinking, when us verses them became a source of his own political and regional rage during the early days of the Iraqi invasion, when people and relatives in his home state of Alabama reacted to 9/11 and its horrific outcomes with what appeared to be different emotions, when he honestly believed that he and others in his adopted city saw the world through completely different lenses, so the instigator just nodded his head, listening.

In truth, the instigator had long wondered, why he had not hopped on the Obama bandwagon of spoken idealism and hope, especially since he too, had at times viewed Hillary Clinton as an opportunistic leader who spoke to the direction of the wind.

Here he was, at the height of his own educational and sometimes tortured intellectual attainment that was in a constant state of analytical stimulus, living daily in this metropolis of New York surrounded by exotic, smart, multinational, fashion forward well educated types who he'd assumed shared mostly similar values.

Perhaps at the core, they still did, yet, New York, was no longer politically unified in how to attain those values, at least it no longer seemed to be so united thanks in great part to this campaign.

. Maybe, it was his connection to his life's past, better yet, his where with all coupled with what he felt was a realistic dose of political pragmatism that led him to the other candidate although, knowing himself, at first glance, he'd have thought a bright new light like Barack Obama would have won him enthusiastically over.

He made his way back across the gym to the Hillary supporter.

"I just had a conversation with a friend who is an Obama supporter who basically just made the entire diary community of "Daily Kos" come to life" he said.

"The tone in his voice, the very dismissive nature," and before he could go on, the Hillary supporter said to the instigator " wait one minute because there are plenty of Hillary supporters who take the same tone."

He then argued that somehow, somewhere, perhaps in a smoke filled back room, a conversation or a meeting must take place. Those two, Hillary and Barack have to come together.

"Absolutely," said the instigator but there was something deeper in the Obama supporters comment and for that matter, the aggressive tones taken by other Obama friends and that drumbeat blasting from the professional pundits, other media outlets and yes, Daily Kos diarists that had let the most blood from the instigator's political being and spirit.

Do some Obama supporters believe that voters like those in West Virginia and other states, cities, towns and homes that are labeled as being absent of the widely used but equally simplistic term 'latte liberals' believe those voters could be simply dismissed?

"When you talk about those people who are less educated or those who don't fit the mold of latte' drinking liberals, you're talking about my people," said the instigator.

"Mine too," said the friend, a Florida native who is a Hillary supporter.

Despite that, a clear and deep connection to their New York lives had gained increasing strength in recent years, thanks in part, to outrage over a Republican party pattern of politicking that had successfully planted seeds of doubt in the national electorate by capitalizing on the fear, pain and tragedy the New Yorker's experienced first hand?

As the chances of Clinton's victory diminished, it was perhaps now their greatest worry about Obama as nominee, that being, that those same Republican players would use the same, misleading and fear mongering tactics yet again.

Bin Laden's battle cry for Palestine (REUTERS)

May 16 - In a new and as yet unauthenticated audio tape, Osama Bin Laden vows to continue fighting for the Palestinian cause.

The tape's release coincides with Israel's 60th anniversary this month as a nation.

Bin Laden said the Jewish state was at the heart of the Muslim battle with the West and an inspiration to the 19 bombers who carried out the attacks on U.S. cities on Sept. 11, 2001.

Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports. (REUTERS)

New York's AIDS Walk 2008 Expected to Draw Thousands

LINK TO FULL STORY AT EDGE

Cigarette Bill Treats Menthol With Leniency (New York Times)

Cigarette Bill Treats Menthol With Leniency
By STEPHANIE SAUL (NEW YORK TIMES)
Published: May 13, 2008

A ban of most flavored cigarettes would exempt menthol cigarettes, popular among African-Americans.

The legislation, which would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to oversee tobacco products, would try to reduce smoking’s allure to young people by banning most flavored cigarettes, including clove and cinnamon.

Link to full story at "New York Times"

Rove tells House panel he'll answer questions in writing

(From: AL.COM)-Mary Orndorff -- Birmingham News Washington correspondent May 12, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Former White House political adviser Karl Rove has declined a request to testify before Congress about the criminal case against former Gov. Don Siegelman and instead made a counteroffer to answer questions in writing, Rove's attorney said Monday.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee had given Rove until Monday to agree to appear voluntarily, and said they would issue a subpoena if he declined. Siegelman, a Democrat, has alleged that Rove influenced the federal investigation that led to his conviction in 2006 on corruption charges. Rove has denied he interfered in the case.
LINK TO FULL STORY AT AL.COM-"Birmingham News"

Hezbollah Seize parts of Beirut (Reuters)

May 9 - Hezbollah fighters take control of large areas of the Lebanese capital.

Security sources say at least 10 people have been killed in three days of fighting that erupted after Lebanon's government said that Hezbollah's military communications network was illegal, a move the pro-Iranian group said was a declaration of war.

Paul Chapman reports. (REUTERS)

The most Diverse Accent In the United States (might surprise you)

excerpt:
In a 1999 study by Michigan State University professor Dennis Preston, 150 southeastern Michigan residents were asked to rank the "correctness" of English spoken in all 50 states. The South as a whole ranked the lowest, with Alabama at the bottom of the list.

Many Southerners have chosen to reclaim their "r's" and shun the drawl for more standardized English pronunciations worthy of a network anchor. But despite those who work to erase their twang, others are embracing it.

In fact, Preston says Southern accents are more pronounced now than they were at the time of the Civil War.
Link to my full 2006 story at the "Wilmington Star News"

Lebanon is sliding into conflict as violence increases (report from REUTERS)

May 8 - Explosions and gunfire erupt in Beirut shortly after Hezbollah leader Nasrallah accuses government of waging war.

Gunmen loyal to Hezbollah battled pro-government supporters in the Lebanese capital, security sources said. They said fierce clashes were underway in at least two Beirut districts. Violence was also seen in Tripoli and in Jieh near Sidon.

Penny Tweedie reports.

Summer is on its way: So is Your Body n Soul in NYC

repost from 07/2006
by Cody Lyon

Although many New Yorkers grudgingly swear that more than half the
city’s residents are part of some loosely organized mass exodus to
a beach house on summer holiday weekends, those are actually the
weekends that the “left behind” can find the most memorable of New
York treats.

In fact, the non-jet ski set can sometimes find a dose of urban
spiritual nourishment that benefits the soul for months to come.

Not a religious experience, per se, but instead, a gathering of like
minded spirits, all very much alive, enjoying the fellowship of each
other, coming together for one reason, the music, at least that’s
what happened this past July 4th weekend.

The Body and Soul reunion party shook a collective booty to its core
at the PS-1 space in Queens, bringing together a cocktail of
cultures, families and sexual orientations that surely reminded
more than one participant that New York truly is a magnificent
mosaic as former Mayor David Dinkins once proclaimed.

Although Sunday afternoons at the Tribeca club Vinyl (later named
ARC) was the spot to meet the music on a weekly basis for many
years, the weekly Body and Soul party disbanded after facing
difficulty with the club space and other issues among the Djs and
organizers. But for one holiday weekend afternoon, Saturday from 3
til 9 was the time for church, as many of the party faithful liked
to call the Body and Soul experience, back in the day.

Djs Danny Krivit, Francois K and Joe Claussell did not disappoint a
crowd of thousands who had paid a ten dollar admission fee, and
another $6 each for ice cold draft beers that flowed far too easily
under a hot Queens sun in the concrete fortress of music at PS-1. The temperature kept getting hotter as a troubled nation moved another day closer to the 30 year anniversary of its highly celebrated bicentennial, a year that at least a third
of this party’s crowd, might actually remember.

A crowd wide chronic music infection was evidenced by smiles on faces
of every color of the human rainbow, every size on the scale, every
age from 3 to 65, all making moves to the beat of a different drum.
No judgment passed on who was cool and who was not, just pure
un-adulterated fun, joy, release and soul.

Occasionally, after a longer re-mix, or extended session people
would erupt into cheers and hollering this or that or whatever, it didn't matter as long as it felt good, real and true.

All the while, pulsing bodies poured in and out of the building at PS-1, moving among dancers on crowded steps that were crowned at the top with the DJ’s canopied booth. The sun gave everyone a glistening tone, some more than others, as sweat
flowed like a fountain, but, at this party, sweat was a badge of
success, a sign that you’d truly felt the light.

Speakers surrounded the main courtyard of the former school and
sound boomed against the old red brick walls rising up like a volcanic
eruption, only the lava was the sound, carried even further by
speakers in the back of the complex where others danced and played
in wading pools with their kids.

In its later years, Body and Soul saw pilgrimages by the curious
who’d heard about this place where the emphasis was on the music,
not the “scene.” Even European tourists began to make Body and
Soul part of the New York itinerary. According to those who’d
been, Sunday nights at Vinyl (ARC) were where one could still find
the real spirit of New York.

Certainly, like every nightclub party, there was rivalry,
differences, and any other number of shady events or normal human
interaction issues, but unlike most other dance club experiences,
Body and Soul was true to its name.

Martha Graham once said “I am absorbed in the magic of movement and
light. Movement never lies”.

Body and Soul did not lie to the participants left in the city this
past July 4th weekend. That day in Queens let everyone at PS-1 know
that movement is alive and well in New York City and New York is
still filled with magic.

Working poor stand in food lines (REUTERS)

May 6. - Skyrocketing food prices have sent people with jobs and homes to soup kitchens and food pantries in New York.

The global food crisis is even gripping the world's richest nation.

Fred Katayama reports.(REUTERS)

Aid agencies appeal to Myanmar junta (REUTERS)

May 7 - Relief groups and governments urge Myanmar's rulers to let humanitarian assistance flow into the country following deadly cyclone.

Cyclone Nargis has killed around 22,500 people and thousands are still missing. Residents in Myanmar's main city of Yangon have been queuing for scarce clean water as disease, hunger and thirst pose a new threat to hundreds of thousands following the deadly storm.

Michelle Carlile-Alkhouri reports. (REUTERS)

Footage of Deadly Cyclone (REUTERS)

May 6 - Video emerges that shows at first hand the full force of the cyclone that hit Myanmar at the weekend.

Latest estimates put the death toll at around 15,000 and rising, with 30,000 more still unaccounted for after what is now emerging as the worst cyclone to hit Asia since 1991.

Paul Chapman reports. (REUTERS)

The First President Bush (from PBS Documentary AMERICAN EXPERIENCE)

Link to full PBS documentary