I'm pleased with the Supreme Court's decision on Habeas Corpus. For one, we haven't declared war and we aren't fighting against a nation. The reality of this situation we're in is that it may never end - certainly other nations, such as Spain (ETA), Great Brittan (IRA), and Israel, have all had intractable terrorism for decades on end; we've had home-grown terrorism here in the form of lynching/KKK, burning of black churches and synagogues, and abortion-clinic bombing and shootings, that have ebbed and flowed, but have not fully ever left.
My point is, putting an enemy combatant in prison for the few years of a conflict is one thing; the people we have detained in Guantanamo and elsewhere may remain there their entire lives if we don't treat them as criminals with basic human rights rather than enemy soldiers with, arguably, fewer human rights. Then what if there is even one innocent detainee in that mix - though statistically I'd imagine there must be more than one. Part of the very fabric of our nation's legal system is that we would rather let ten guilty men free than incarcerate one innocent man. That is the America I am proud of; it's the America that a tyrant will never understand.
I brought up something at the last CFI meeting which I think some on the right, driven by (understandable) fear, fail to acknowledge: that we are a nation that sees itself as moral, as the guys in the white hats, and part of our history (especially in the 20th Century) has been for the rest of the world to see us that way as well. The terrorists killed roughly 3,000 innocent people on September 11, 2001, and that was one of the darkest days of our republic. But what we have done to ourselves since that day has been far more detrimental than anything they could have done: our leaders have traded our white hats for black. They have turned us into bullies on the international scene, and have turned most of the world against us - perhaps not against our people yet (thankfully!) but certainly against our government.
No one is prouder to be an American than I. I am proud because we are Good, not because we are strong - although I argue that our strength comes first and foremost from our moral authority. America does not hold people without right to trial, does not torture, does not commit rendition to skirt our own human-rights laws, does not invade countries based on trumped-up intelligence and without just cause.... These are all things that Evil countries do, immoral countries. If we are indeed evil, then what do we have left worth fighting for?
I firmly believe that we can protect our nation from another 9/11, or even worse attacks, while obeying the laws and morals that have made ours the greatest and strongest nation on Earth. I don't think morality is an indulgence appropriate only when things are going our way.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Oil Woes
On high oil prices:
What concerns me most is a protracted and deep recession that, as a colleague of The Naples Institute so rightly points out, will hurt most those who can weather it least. It's unfair and unnecessary; if our Washington leadership continues to do nothing of meaning to counter this, then we don't really have any leadership in Washington, I'd argue.
What concerns me second-most is that oil prices will come down far and fast (in of itself a very good thing), and that the result will be that the American consumer - all of us - will forget right away that this crisis ever happened. That is exactly what happened after the oil crisis of the 70's; all one need do is look out the window at the size of our homes, vehicles, and urban sprawl to see this.
Houston of all places is leading the country in redistricting to bring people in from the suburbs and also to create mixed-use space, and is vastly increasing its commuter rail system over the next 3 years (now that's fast!). The mayor says that it isn't governmental coercion that is behind this, but consumer choice - the best possible situation, I think liberals and conservatives can agree.
What concerns me most is a protracted and deep recession that, as a colleague of The Naples Institute so rightly points out, will hurt most those who can weather it least. It's unfair and unnecessary; if our Washington leadership continues to do nothing of meaning to counter this, then we don't really have any leadership in Washington, I'd argue.
What concerns me second-most is that oil prices will come down far and fast (in of itself a very good thing), and that the result will be that the American consumer - all of us - will forget right away that this crisis ever happened. That is exactly what happened after the oil crisis of the 70's; all one need do is look out the window at the size of our homes, vehicles, and urban sprawl to see this.
Houston of all places is leading the country in redistricting to bring people in from the suburbs and also to create mixed-use space, and is vastly increasing its commuter rail system over the next 3 years (now that's fast!). The mayor says that it isn't governmental coercion that is behind this, but consumer choice - the best possible situation, I think liberals and conservatives can agree.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Waveplace Pilot in Immokalee
The following is from the Waveplace Foundation e-newsletter. This piece was written by Waveplace's founder and president, Timothy Falconer.
As I write this, I'm flying home from our first Waveplace mentoring workshop, held in Immokalee, Florida. Over the last five long days, I taught our new Squeaky Tales course to a class of eight adults, most of them teachers. The week was enlightening and exhausting!
We also started our third Waveplace pilot with a whopping 42 fourth graders, each of whom received their very own XO laptop. I led the class with a projector and microphone while the eight mentors worked with smaller groups. The kids were absolutely incredible: well-behaved, motivated, engaged. The mentors were equally amazing, working as a cohesive team, guiding each child's discoveries while keeping things fun. We're expecting great things from the next nine weeks. I'm hoping we learn as much as the kids.
Our filmmaker Bill Stelzer recorded the whole week on video, both for our upcoming documentary and for our courseware DVDs. Our own Mary Scotti spent the week as well, learning Etoys for St Vincent. Best of all, Larry Abramson from NPR spent a full day with us, so keep your radio tuned to hear his story on Waveplace in Immokalee.
Special thanks to Tithe and More, who funded half the Immokalee pilot, and the Collier County Migrant Student Summer Program, who funded the other half. Thanks also to One by One Leadership Foundation and Naples Social Action for putting it all together.
Immokalee is a study in contrasts. With almost half of its population living below the poverty line, it ranks as one of the poorest areas in the United States, though nearby Naples ranks as one of the richest. Immokalee's migrant farm workers pick 90% of America's winter harvest, much of which goes to our fast food restaurants, yet many workers stand in line to receive food themselves since they cannot afford to feed their families. Your ketchup packet likely came from an Immokalee worker who was paid $50 to pick two tons of tomatoes.
Our shared hope is for a better future for the children of Immokalee. This week in class, it felt more than possible.
To learn more about Waveplace Foundation, on whose board I serve, visit www.waveplace.org.
As I write this, I'm flying home from our first Waveplace mentoring workshop, held in Immokalee, Florida. Over the last five long days, I taught our new Squeaky Tales course to a class of eight adults, most of them teachers. The week was enlightening and exhausting!
We also started our third Waveplace pilot with a whopping 42 fourth graders, each of whom received their very own XO laptop. I led the class with a projector and microphone while the eight mentors worked with smaller groups. The kids were absolutely incredible: well-behaved, motivated, engaged. The mentors were equally amazing, working as a cohesive team, guiding each child's discoveries while keeping things fun. We're expecting great things from the next nine weeks. I'm hoping we learn as much as the kids.
Our filmmaker Bill Stelzer recorded the whole week on video, both for our upcoming documentary and for our courseware DVDs. Our own Mary Scotti spent the week as well, learning Etoys for St Vincent. Best of all, Larry Abramson from NPR spent a full day with us, so keep your radio tuned to hear his story on Waveplace in Immokalee.
Special thanks to Tithe and More, who funded half the Immokalee pilot, and the Collier County Migrant Student Summer Program, who funded the other half. Thanks also to One by One Leadership Foundation and Naples Social Action for putting it all together.
Immokalee is a study in contrasts. With almost half of its population living below the poverty line, it ranks as one of the poorest areas in the United States, though nearby Naples ranks as one of the richest. Immokalee's migrant farm workers pick 90% of America's winter harvest, much of which goes to our fast food restaurants, yet many workers stand in line to receive food themselves since they cannot afford to feed their families. Your ketchup packet likely came from an Immokalee worker who was paid $50 to pick two tons of tomatoes.
Our shared hope is for a better future for the children of Immokalee. This week in class, it felt more than possible.
To learn more about Waveplace Foundation, on whose board I serve, visit www.waveplace.org.
Welcome Back!
This blog was left in hybernation for quite some time while I wrote on a different blog (http://www.tedcoine.blogspot.com/) that was a combination of my thoughts on charity and on business.
Alas, the two categories have different constituencies. So, I'm back to two blogs.
If you want to know my thoughts on business and leadership, please visit http://www.savvycapitalist.blogspot.com/.
Alas, the two categories have different constituencies. So, I'm back to two blogs.
If you want to know my thoughts on business and leadership, please visit http://www.savvycapitalist.blogspot.com/.
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