Martin Richard’s Image Should Become Worldwide Symbol of Peace

Article first published as Martin Richard’s Image Should Become Worldwide Symbol of Peace on Blogcritics.

Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy who was killed during the Boston Marathon attacks, was laid to rest on April 23, 2013, in a private ceremony. It is incongruous to even think about someone so young dying, but even more so when we realize it was because of such incomprehensible violence perpetrated for reasons beyond rational thought.

In the days since the bombings that killed three and injured hundreds, we have been subjected to seeing the faces of the terrorists responsible for the carnage everywhere in the media. Truthfully, I do not want or need to know about their backstories. Yes, these brothers had their reasons for doing what they did, but they are always the same story (with a particular axe to grind). The face we should be seeing everywhere is Martin Richard, specifically in this picture where he holds his handmade sign that reads “No More Hurting People.” This heartbreaking image should be what we see when we see something about this story because this beautiful boy is what those terrorists callously destroyed.

We have also been subjected to the terrorists’ mother being everywhere in the media exclaiming, “They killed my son!” One of the brothers died in a shootout with police; the other is now incarcerated. As you can see, I am purposely not using their names here. The reason is simple – by giving them more and more publicity we only encourage them and those of their ilk. These people think that by committing some kind of senseless act or acts that they will get their warped version of fame. The press is complicit in this matter because they usually are only more than willing to give these people the coverage they long to get.

Consider the case of David Berkowitz, dubbed the Son of Sam, who killed six people and wounded seven during his reign of terror (1976-77) in New York City. He loved the coverage that the TV and newspapers gave to his attacks, even writing to one paper and taunting law enforcement. Each time he killed or wounded someone, it was guaranteed front page headlines. It was as if he had written his own denouement, for when he finally got caught his picture was on every front page. He had achieved the warped ending that he wanted.

Let us not promote those who cause such pain and suffering and instead utilize the image of Martin Richard holding his sign asking the world for peace. We have to hope that this image can be seen everywhere. If I could I would rent a billboard in every city in the world and have Martin’s face beaming out with the words “Give Peace a Chance” under it. We have to understand that, as John Lennon once noted, war can only be over if we want it. The killing has to be stopped, especially considering the most young and innocent victims that are seemingly always caught in the crossfire.

This means that our own country has to be meaningfully part of the process. I understand that the military has used drones to target terrorists, but there seems to always be children in the same vicinity. That kind of collateral damage can never be acceptable; therefore, the use of drones should be severely curtailed or eliminated. It would be my hope that all governments and even terrorists would reconsider their actions and limit the types of assaults they implement during times of war or for political motivations.

A terrorist blowing up anything that kills innocent people may indeed be creating the “terror” he or she seeks to foment; however, the political message they are trying to convey is always lost in the human suffering that inevitably follows. The same can be said about the governments (the U.S. included) who claim they are targeting the enemy and hurt innocents in the process. There is no way that people who lose sons and daughters during a drone attack are going to understand that the U.S. is fighting its “war on terror” as they bury their dead children.

I am realistic and know we can never stop all these kinds of things from happening. There will always be that guy, like Berkowitz, who snaps and goes off the deep end; however, we can try to eliminate state sponsored violence that causes loss of life and hope that, as many people note, that terrorists only react to violence that is perpetrated by governments. Whether it is state sponsored or not, killing people should be murder in every sense of the word, just as it was in the Boston Marathon attacks.

The other day Martin Richard’s baseball team played its first game of the season. Instead of standing on the field, Martin is lying in the ground. The immensity of this loss was noted in the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, with a solemn march and ceremony. The Savin Hill Little League kept to the tradition of a parade from its headquarters to McConnell Field, but this year the heft of what happen on April 15, and the loss of Martin, weighed heavily on the proceedings. On the field “Boston Strong” was stenciled along with a huge number 8 (Martin’s number). Martin’s memory was honored, but his absence was felt by the many people in attendance, and his teammates and classmates are all grieving and will continue to need support and guidance as they deal with their friend’s loss.

In moments like these we always seek something good to come out of such horror. That is why Martin Richard’s message of peace needs to be broadcast to the world. We Americans need to be meaningfully involved with making true peace happen, and we need the governments of the world to join us as we attempt to make the world a safe place for our children. Nothing else – and I mean truly nothing else – matters more.

Yes, I know how difficult this process will be, but think how arduous it is to bury children who die from such violence. Perhaps the United Nations could declare a Martin Richard World Peace Day. We have to start somewhere, so why not honor a boy who dreamed of a world being at peace? In doing so we could begin taking steps (and they will be baby steps at first) toward making Martin’s dream a reality. Can we truly give peace a chance for our children? It is up to adults everywhere to make it so.

Photo credits: martin Richard – people.com; mcconnel field –espnboston.com

Boston Marathon Bombings Should Not Figure Into Immigration Debate

Article first published as Boston Marathon Bombings Should Not Figure Into Immigration Debate on Blogcritics.

The terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon spawned nefarious plots and ploys in a relatively brief time. Despicable people immediately tried to capitalize on the horror by setting up Internet scams to suck in those grieving and those sympathetic to the victims and their families. This is how things work in our modern oh-so-connected world; unfortunately, people will always chase ambulances and we are not going to change that.

The same thing happened after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Hurricane Sandy, and 9/11. We want to believe in the inherent goodness of humanity, and what Anne Frank wrote that despite all that madness around her that people are really good at heart, but there will always be those who are out to prove us wrong again and again.

Now, as the nationwide debate about immigration continues and Congress considers reform of policies, there are those saying that the Boston bombings are a red flag – we should not consider offering approximately 11 million immigrants already in the United States a chance to become citizens – because citizenship does not necessarily mean loyalty to the United States as in the case of Dzhokar A. Tsarnaev (19) and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev (26), who are suspects in the bombings that killed three people and injured many others.

There is a problem with this kind of thinking because those brothers entered the country as children. It would be nearly impossible to say at that time of entry that they would become homegrown terrorists. The opponents of immigration reform use this as an example of limiting or prohibiting immigration. We could expect as much from these people who have an isolationist mentality and would like to seal off the borders to all newcomers or limit entry to just a select few.

Sadly, they are forgetting about that lady in the harbor south of New York City. The Statue of Liberty has been a beacon to the “huddled masses” yearning for the freedom to be found in America. Everyone who is a citizen has come from someplace else (even Native Americans originally came across a land bridge over the Bering Strait). We are a nation of immigration, born of elsewhere, but we mix into the glorious pot creating a spectacular brew that is unique yet unified.

Make no mistake – Americans are other! We are not the same because we were engineered to be different. Each wave of immigration brought something new to our shores that helped build the country. Yes, there were problems for many of those people, prejudices to overcome, and a language to be learned, but that only made our country stronger. People could practice their religions, speak their own languages, and try to build their own version of the American dream. No, it was not always easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever simply achieved.

Now we have those who want to use the Boston bombings to their advantage. Some will argue that there should be no new immigrants, while others will want to stop the ones already here from gaining citizenship. I guess this should have been expected, but the argument doesn’t make sense. With millions of immigrants already here, we get very rare cases of them ever being involved in a terrorist incident like the one in Boston. In fact, the rarity of such occurrences should stoke the fires of immigration reform. Most of those 11 million immigrants currently just want a piece of American pie, however small, and wish to be citizens because they genuinely want to belong here as did all those who came before them.

In Congress there are those only too ready to jump on the ambulance chasing bandwagon. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who is on the committee for immigration, has come out to say that the bombings should be a factor in the ongoing debate about immigration reform. He and others in Congress will try to move the logic of immigration reform based on the American tradition and history and use the bombings as a way to push for tighter borders and more stringent regulations to get into and stay in the country.

What is worrisome is that this detour should never have been considered, but the bombings give these detractors an opening. They believe they are patriots, but true patriots do not try to stop others from becoming part of the country. They are using the moment to their advantage, and the public (understandably nervous after the Boston attacks) may be susceptible to some of these arguments based on fear. If we allow the bombings to influence the discourse regarding immigration reform, it would be a sad day for America because it may cause people to forget the essence of what built this nation.


Anyone who was watching the Boston Red Sox game on Saturday probably got caught up in the feeling of patriotism and love of country and city. When Neil Diamond stepped onto that field and sang “Sweet Caroline,” even I forgot I was a Mets fan from New York and wished I was a Bosox fan. Similarly, there are millions of people looking in from the outside who envy that kind of fervor, who wish to be a part of the glorious mix that is America. How can we turn them away when we all came from other shores? How can we not live up to the words of Emma Lazarus that appear at the Statue of Liberty, lift up the lamp, and welcome them to come inside the golden door?

Photo credits: Ellis Island-scholastic.com; Statue of Liberty-uscitizenpod.com

Movie Review: Oblivion - The Best Tom Cruise Film Ever

Article first published as Movie Review: Oblivion - The Best Tom Cruise Film Ever on Blogcritics.

Film superstar Tom Cruise has made plenty of movies (37 and counting), but his turn as Jack Harper in Oblivion is probably his best work ever. Yes, he did incredible and serious work in films like A Few Good Men and The Last Samurai, and he has shown remarkable good humor in movies like Rock of Ages and Tropic Thunder, but Oblivion provides him an opportunity to give his most nuanced and mature performance yet, with touches of humor but also deep and affecting moments of emotion and passion.

Jack is a lone tech guy (official name Tech 49) on a ravaged earth in the year 2077. We get a back story told in voiceover by Jack about a war against aliens that left the moon destroyed, the earth barely recognizable, and humans winning by using their nuclear arsenal. Now all humans live on Saturn’s moon Titan, and one lone project called Tet remains, sucking up ocean water for humans to use on Titan. Jack’s job is to repair drones that patrol the skies searching for Scavs (Scavengers), the last remaining aliens who are now the only inhabitants of earth.

Jack lives a relatively idyllic life in a raised and secure platform with Victoria (a stunning Andrea Riseborough), who monitors all of Jack’s actions on the planet on a huge computer board while talking to Sally (Melissa Leo), the seemingly omniscient person in charge on Tet. Jack and Victoria have all the amenities, including a swimming pool, and make love and are obviously very close. They are almost done with their mission, and in two weeks Sally has promised them that they will be able to move on to Titan and join the rest of humanity living there.

One problem is that Jack is haunted by dreams, particularly one involving a beautiful woman (Olga Kurylenko) he keeps seeing on the observation deck of The Empire State Building. Supposedly he and Victoria had their memories erased five years before in order to keep them focused on the mission at hand, but Jack is bothered by these intrusions into what he thinks is his life and career.

Things do change considerably when a spaceship, The Odyssey, crashes with human survivors. Although Jack is ordered by Sally not to go to the crash site, he feels compelled to do so and attempts to save the survivors (who are in suspended animation containers). The drones come and kill all the survivors except one that Jack saves, and this happens to be the woman he sees in his dreams.

To complicate matters even further, Jack returns the woman to the platform for medical attention, and Victoria is not pleased with her presence. Setting up the eternal love triangle, Andrea stares at the woman with looks that could definitely kill. We learn the woman’s name is Julia and that she was on a spaceship in 2017 going to Titan but something disrupted the journey. Having been in animation for 60 years, Julia insists on getting the flight recorder from her ship to find out what happened to it.

On a journey to the crash site Jack and Julia are captured by the Scavs who turn out to be humans, led by Beech (Morgan Freeman) and his second in command Sykes (Nicholas Coster-Waldau). Beech tells Jack that everything he thinks and knows is wrong, and Sykes tries to get him to program a captured drone to take a nuclear device up to destroy the Tet. Jack refuses, and they eventually send Julia and him on their way, urging them to go into the off limits Radiation Zone to find the answers that they need to know.

To go further would reveal major spoilers, but let it suffice to say that Jack and Julia have a touching scene on the observation deck of the now mostly buried Empire State Building, jogging Jack’s memory even more. The sight of the iconic building buried in the sand will remind some viewers of the ending of the original The Planet of the Apes, when Charlton Heston’s Taylor finds the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand, but I think that’s the whole point.


Director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy), making only his second film, has chosen to make it an amalgam of films he has probably admired and loved. There are so many nods to classic movies here including the original Apes and Total Recall, as well as Star Wars (the drones are mean versions of R2-D2 and the Scavs look like Sand People), 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Cruise’s own War of the Worlds and Minority Report; furthermore, it is really great to see Cruise in a cockpit again, with some scenes being reminiscent of Top Gun as Jack talks to his bobble-head and swoops his ship through tight spaces in between mountains while dispatching rogue drones.

Besides Kosinski (who also co-wrote the screenplay), huge accolades should go to cinematographer Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi) and Darren Gilford for production design. They bring this damaged world to life in vivid and distinct ways, with Iceland’s stark landscape also lending a hand in the projection of an earth that seems like a foreign planet. Also, the film is greatly enhanced by the score by M.8.3 (Joseph Trapanese and Anthony Gonzalez co-composers) that is haunting and powerfully appropriate.

Overall, Oblivion has an “epic” feel to it, a huge film that starts the summer season a month before the traditional big movies hit the screen. It also has the depth and scope to be a meaningful and memorable addition to the cinematic canon, and for Cruise this is another great role in his career. You shouldn’t go to see this one because it is another Tom Cruise movie but because it is the best Tom Cruise movie to date.

Photo credits: Universal Pictures

Boston Marathon Attack – A New Vigilance Most Needed

Article first published as Boston Marathon Attack – A New Vigilance Most Needed on Blogcritics.

As you read about the investigation into the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, you know they are going to get the perpetrators. The FBI and state and local authorities are devoting endless hours to the investigation, and though some reports were coming out that a suspect had been arrested (wishful thinking on everyone’s part no doubt), it is inevitable that soon someone will be in custody.

One thing people must think about that they don’t usually do as they go about their busy days – imagine how many of these attacks have been avoided because of the work of the FBI and other intelligence agencies and law enforcement? There are the ones we know about and the ones we will never know, and that is why the “homeland” has been relatively secure since September 11, 2001.

As a New Yorker who rides mass transit, in the days after 9/11 I was in awe of how security came into place and how it effectively locked down my city. Yes, we were all inconvenienced back then: trains were slower, buses and trucks were stopped at the tunnels, and there were troops obvious everywhere, but especially in Penn Station and Grand Central Station with their bomb sniffing dogs. I lost people on 9/11 and never minded this; in fact, I kept thinking too bad this all wasn’t in place before the attacks.

I recall one time riding on the E train and getting off at the last stop (World Trade Center) in lower Manhattan. I was in the car with one other person, and after all the people had gotten off I noticed a backpack under a seat. Now this was about a year after 9/11, and I started getting all sorts of ideas. I also recalled Mayor Guiliani saying that ordinary citizens had to be vigilant. When I got off the train there I told the conductor about the backpack, who got on his walkie-talkie.
Within less than a minute, there were transit cops descending onto the platform and rushing into the car. I was seriously impressed with that response. Late for an appointment, I went upstairs feeling that my city had things covered.

Now all these years later, before the Boston attack, people were falling into complacency and forgetting things. I still walk the streets looking up nervously. You don’t lose a family member and friends in a tall building and not remember. I honestly think about 9/11 every day; I have no choice in the matter. I keep it mostly to myself because, quite honestly, most people say, “Get over it!” and no, they are not being inconsiderate; they are just uncomfortable with the subject and want to move on with their lives. While this is understandable, it could also be extremely dangerous.

The Boston Marathon attack is a slap in the face to a sleepy headed America. We were slipping perhaps, thinking that we were invulnerable again. We can never fall into that complacency again, that isolationist notion that we are safe in the homeland. We should have been more vigilant all along, but time causes people to forget, to willfully ignore the signs, and sometimes let wishful thinking that we’re safe to get the better of them.

New Yorkers were shaken by what happened in Boston. Now our city is locking down more tightly again. Whether or not this bothers you will depend on your thought process. To me I keep thinking about that backpack on the train, and how many more backpacks are being left unattended all over the country. If we choose to ignore them and put our heads in the sand, it’s very likely we are going to regret it.

Across the ocean a madman talks about sending ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads our way. We only have to look at New York’s skyline to be reminded of what can happen when our guard is down. If you need a real jolt awake, look at the pictures of the wounded from the Boston marathon. Each one is a bloody warning that is as clear as possible – we can never leave our guards down because this is not over. I hate to break this to you, but it will never be over. Ever!

In World War II America and its allies defeated an unthinkable evil; however, that was a different kind of war. We defeated countries, signed treaties, and then we moved forward. Here we fight a war against a shadow enemy with no nation’s flag flying that can be lowered in defeat. The warriors here are not wearing uniforms and are not pledging allegiance to anyone or thing but terror. That is why terrorism is the most pernicious and evasive enemy we have ever faced. As long as there are terrorists willing to perpetrate this war, it will never be over.

So now we are vigilant again. As New Yorkers we have been taught a horrific lesson and now we have to relearn it after Boston. We can stand with our sister city in grief, offer it support, and remind people elsewhere that there is no getting over it. This kind of thing is with you forever, so it is best to face it now rather than avoiding things. Yes, we all must move on with our lives, but in doing so we can never be the same again.

Photo credits: FBI - frrole.com; E Train - wkikpedia.com; boston wounded-businessinsider.com

Boston Marathon Attack – The City and Sportsmanship Will Not Be Diminished

Article first published as Boston Marathon Attack – The City and Sportsmanship Will Not Be Diminished on Blogcritics.

Once again some group or someone thinks it can frighten Americans – that is what terrorism is all about. The idea is to scare people into submission or disrupt their daily lives. This has happened before in Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Washington D.C., and New York City. People lose their lives in these attacks, and many more grieve for those lost. There are also those people wounded, either physically or psychologically, and that lasts a lifetime. Despite all this, we Americans always come back and stronger than ever.

The terrorists (or others who perpetrate such dastardly acts) never learn that Americans are stronger than they realize. That is our secret weapon, stronger than planes flown into buildings; stronger than bombs going off at sporting events, and stronger than squadrons of planes sinking our ships. Each time an enemy attempts one of these assaults, it learns that it has only scratched the foot of a sleeping giant, one that cannot and will not let such cowardly actions defeat it.

Now and forevermore 8-year-old Martin Richard (one of three who died in the attack) will be remembered, as will his sister (6) who lost her leg, his mother Denise (hospitalized with serious injuries), and his father William (who was running in the marathon). Richard's name will join a solemn list of dead and wounded that will no doubt be read every year at some memorial that will eventually be erected in Copley Square. This is the kind of notoriety no family wants, no person wants, but it is inevitable and necessary to honor our dead lost in battle; make no mistake, this is a war and this was a battle and the people who lost their lives or suffered injuries are to be honored as we would any military casualties.

Martin Richard joins a grim fraternity of those lost to terrorism. As someone who lost a family member and friends on September 11, 2001, I could only stare at the TV screen and feel revulsion and shake with anger. I know what it is like, as do so many other New Yorkers, and my city will never be the same. No one here in New York can ever be the same. We look at our city’s skyline, permanently and irrevocably altered by madmen in planes, and to this day I feel sickened by it.

There is, however, the other side to this. The sleeping giant does not take these things lying down. Hirohito and his minions found this out after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. We fought a war that truly was “world” wide and defeated evil – there is no other way to describe the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany – and now we face similar foes. They do not fly a nation’s flag and strike like hyenas in the night, but when the giant finds their lair it is safe to say they will regret it.

None of this brings back Martin Richard or any of those lost. All the bombs dropped on Afghanistan will never bring back those lost on 9/11. All the boots that have marched, all the men deployed overseas, all the ships at sea, and planes in the air cannot erect the Twin Towers again. Yet the worst thing to do is capitulate or change the way we live our lives. There has to be a bigger and better Boston Marathon next year as tribute to this year’s victims. Sports and sportsmanship cannot and will not be diminished because of this because the essence of sports is universal.

After 9/11 the Mets played a game at old Shea that I will never forget. The team wore caps of those first responders lost in the towers – NYPD, FDNY, etc. – and then Mike Piazza hit the biggest homerun in Mets history, not only winning the game but bringing the city to its feet in a roar of support for all its citizens. That’s the power of sportsmanship and that will never die, and that’s another reason why whoever did this failed in every way except in hurting people.

All New Yorkers send their thoughts and prayers out to Boston’s people now, to those affected families, and those lost. New York and Boston are now forever linked as sisters in sorrow, but our example can provide something to remember as Boston slowly heals its wounds.

All you have to do is go downtown in Manhattan and see our resilience, our strength as a people as you stare up at the new tower that is scraping the sky where the World Trade Center used to be. All you need to do is see the memorial for those lost, to stand in the mist of the falling water, and feel the rush of souls that now watch over Ground Zero.

It is too soon now in Boston, the heft of the bombings too fresh and the wounds will take a long time to heal, but they will no matter how slowly. New York will stand with Boston, as will all Americans, and April 15, 2013, will (like December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001) be a day that will live in infamy.

Photo credits: boston first responders – aol.com; martin Richard whdh; freedom tower – the blaze.com

School Testing Scandals – Time to Stop the Madness

Article first published as School Testing Scandals – Time to Stop the Madness on Blogcritics.


It has happened again here in New York. Some people in the Glen Cove City School District (Long Island, NY) may have felt enough pressure to generate high test scores that they cheated to get them. The district indicated that it is involved in an investigation to determine if “testing administration irregularities” occurred during NYS English Language Arts (ELA) and math exams given in April 2012.

18 or more teachers in the district are being probed regarding “coaching” of students on those high stakes English and math examinations. Teachers in the district’s Margaret A. Connolly and Landing elementary schools are being investigated for inappropriately helping students in 3, 4, and 5th grades in those two schools. Glen Cove Schools Superintendent Joseph Laria revealed this information on the schools’ website in a “Testing Irregularities Statement.” As part of this statement, Laria condemns the alleged actions by the teachers writing, “It is with great disappointment that the Glen Cove City School District must report allegations of testing administration irregularities. These allegations, if true, represent a grave disservice to the children, families and community of Glen Cove.”


We can remember only too well the most recent testing scandals in Great Neck public schools on Long Island and at Stuyvesent High School in Manhattan. These incidents are not isolated to New York alone because there have been recent testing scandals in other places such as El Paso, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. In El Paso, Lorenzo Garcia, the school superintendent, is currently in jail, and this could happen in the Atlanta case as well. Are superintendents everywhere taking notice? Well, they should be.

The motivation is always the same: boost students’ test scores to either enhance the district’s performance, protect people’s jobs, or for students to secure better grades for personal gain. The New York State Education Department, according to spokesperson Dennis Tompkins, is “monitoring the situation” in Glen Cove. This is another way of saying that they are waiting to get involved once Glen Cove is done conducting its probe. All signs point to this thing not going away but becoming a much larger problem for the district.

The issue here in New York State and elsewhere is that so much weight has been tied to students’ scores on these assessments that the increasing heft is weighing down everyone involved. With New York also linking test scores to teachers’ evaluations, there is a great fear that lower scores will get teachers terminated. The reality is that both Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg are waiting patiently for this to happen, and with the tests being linked to the new Common Core State Standards, there is a tangible reason for teachers being nervous about what will happen next. If some of them are thinking that their jobs are on the line, is it so incredibly impossible to believe that they may try to boost scores to protect their positions?

Of course, this goes back to the districts and state education departments that have enabled testing companies to rule the day. While it makes sense to come up with “common” standards that all students should aspire to achieve, forcing them to be linked to assessments is the first mistake. Allowing those assessments to then be used to qualify teachers and districts as good or bad is poor practice, but when it then becomes a case of determining teachers’ employment status, then we have gone to the lowest depths of absurdity.

All of this is nonsense happens to be business – extremely big and lucrative business – for those testing companies and the districts. If districts can be locked into long-term, expensive deals with testing companies, and those districts in turn can use the test results to eliminate some higher end salaries, it’s a win-win for both parties, with teachers and students being on the losing end of the deal.

It really is time for parents to be advocates for their children because no one else will be. Parents are actually the employers of public school employees, including all those highly paid superintendents who seem to like standardized testing and all of its trappings. The taxpayers must stop the madness, and one of the most powerful ways is by opting out of the testing. Of course, parents are concerned about these grades being used for placement and graduation, but if they all came together and universally refused for their children to take these tests, something powerful would happen all across the nation.

Right now we are mired in a testing nightmare in this country. Assessments are only instruments, and just like drums, guitars, and keyboards, they can make no music without someone to play them; however, the testing companies are counting on everyone to push their children to be reluctant performers, no matter how bad the music may end up being. Since the companies already have their big contracts, no one is worrying about students playing the wrong notes.

That is why someone has to come in and stop the madness now. Word about the possible scandal in Glen Cove is yet another example of what high stakes testing is doing to people. Teachers who have always followed the rules are worried and rightly so, and the pattern is continuing all over the country. It is time to put the most important people in this equation first – the children!

The only way to do that is to eliminate the source of the problem: faulty assessments that should never have been given so much importance to begin with. If we can stop the pattern, we can hopefully ensure that children won’t be going to school to be taught to test but rather to learn they way they are supposed to be learning. Otherwise, the testing will continue to overwhelm all other educational matters and that will be a disservice to all especially the students.


Parents must ask themselves this question: do I want my child’s teacher teaching to take tests all year long or do I want him/her to provide meaningful instruction that will prepare my child for college and life? The answer is relatively a simple one if you view assessments as “evil” that is not necessary. Testing is only a necessary evil for the companies and districts who stand to gain from them. Stopping this testing madness now will ensure that our children will receive a quality education, and that lasts a lifetime.

Photo Credits: glen cove-newsday.com; lorenzo garcia-npr.org; classroom-mashable.com

The Masters: No Country for Old Men

Article first published as The Masters: No Country for Old Men on Blogcritics.

If you have been following The Masters from Augusta, Georgia, you probably have been amazed not by names like Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, or Phil Mickelson, but rather by the wonderful story of 14-year-old Tianling Guan from China. Amazingly, the “young” golfer made the cut and is the youngest player in the history of The Masters.

Guan’s still learning English, but he said rather clearly to the press, “I want to win a major and hopefully I can win the four majors in one year.” If you are chuckling about this, please note that Guan is quite serious about hitting a Grand "Guan" Slam, no doubt before he hits the ripe old age of 20.

Those of us of a certain age can remember the golden age of golf, when names like Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus defined an era and what great golfers would be like for generations to come. Those men were of their time, and now we see someone like Palmer (83) watching Guan and thinking of a whole new era in the sport.

In between golf’s Mount Rushmore of Player-Palmer-Nicklaus and the emerging Guan is Tiger Woods, who continues to define his era and no doubt is the guy Guan wants to supplant one day. Woods (38) has no peers such as the greats in the past; he is up on his own peak, the Mount Everest of golf where he stands apart with no one even close to his ability.


Despite Woods’ personal problems, he is the Babe Ruth of golf, swinging his way into fame and fortune. Tiger attracts the fans like no other golfer and gets people watching on TV. The endorsements are coming back his way now, and what other pro golfer wouldn’t want to be standing in Woods’ Nikes right now?

Maybe that would be Guan. Clearly, the young man has his eyes on the prize – if not the green jacket – somewhere down the road. Guan has the poise, skills, and determination to keep focus, and he knows what possibilities await him. His talent has been evident and impressive (a putt from the fringe on 18 that rolled in for a birdie is a prime example). Even seasoned guys like Ben Crenshaw (in Guan’s group) are noting his talents, with Crenshaw stating, “He played more like a veteran. That’s what really impresses me!”

So, ladies and gentleman, take note that there’s a new kid in town, with emphasis on kid, and his name is Tianling Guan. Remember that name because maybe he is the future of golf, and perhaps will change the direction of golf the way Mr. Woods did not so long ago. For now, Guan is the best story at The Masters, where Player-Palmer-Nicklaus are just memories, and for now it is a country for a very young man.

Photo credit: guan-guardian.co.uk; woods-people.com

Margaret Thatcher Is Gone with the Wind

Article first published as Margaret Thatcher Is Gone with the Wind on Blogcritics.

When you think about your young and easily distracted days, sometimes a moment or an object stands out as a vivid memory that helps qualify time and place. I recall being in London at a flat party in the early ‘80s, and everyone was having a grand old time. We were trading our horror stories about growing up in our respective whited sepulchers (I in New York and the rest in London). I was ready to rant and rave against America’s policies – foreign and domestic – and my English friends had no problem confronting the same issues with their government.

What I remember most was not the political conversations (the specifics of which have long since faded from memory) but the unforgettable image of a poster tacked on the wall. It featured U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher being held in the arms of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The poster was fashioned like a movie advertisement, with a mushroom cloud in the background, the title screaming out: Gone with the Wind.

I remember staring at that poster for a long time, fascinated by the obvious and clever connection to the iconic image of Clark Gable (as Rhett Butler) and Vivien Leigh (as Scarlett O’Hara) from the famous American film Gone with the Wind.

The imagery evoked the old film poster in such a way as to enhance the humor of the Thatcher-Reagan one. While Rhett and Scarlett’s romance sizzled even with Atlanta burning, Thatcher and Reagan’s did so as well as a nuke went off in the distance.

Fortunately, there was a real world qualifier in the room that I cannot forget either. A fellow named Nigel sat in the corner in his wheelchair smoking a pipe and drinking whiskey. We were all pointing at the poster, chatting about it and laughing, and he seemed to be brooding as he stared blankly across the room at someplace beyond its walls.

I asked my friend Gary, “What’s up with him?”

Gary sipped his bitter and leaned towards me to whisper. “He lost his legs in the Falklands.”

“Oh,” I said, remembering the “war” that took place earlier that year over the disputed islands off the coast of Argentina. I had been in America at the time and thought it odd that we were supporting a colonial power when the Monroe Doctrine supposedly forbade that kind of thing in our hemisphere long ago.

We all stopped our foolish laughter after that and got on with other things. Gary took a Depeche Mode album off the turntable and slipped U2’s Boy onto it. As “I Will Follow” blasted out of the speakers, I turned away from Gary and walked over to Nigel and sat down next to him. “I’m sorry if my laughing about that stupid poster bothered you.”

Nigel stared at me. “It’s not just the bloody poster; it’s that wretched woman!”

“Yes, well, many of us Americans aren’t too happy with Ray-guns either.”

Nigel pointed the wet end of his pipe up at the wall. “You see, you are all laughing about that, but there is a mushroom cloud there. I’m certain the Japanese tourists who see it in the shops in Piccadilly aren’t laughing!”

I nodded but said nothing. Gary came over and sat next to me. Nigel stared off again at the distant place beyond the confines of the flat and said, “The whole thing is not amusing.”

I glanced down at the stumps of his legs, the floppy ends of his jeans hanging over the seat of the wheelchair. I felt compelled to respond so I said, “You’re right; it’s not funny at all.”

The proceedings turned decidedly grim after that, so Gary and I ended up leaving the flat and going down to a pub where we knew everyone. We both ordered a pint and Dexys Midnight Runners were singing “Come On, Eileen” on the jukebox, and everything seemed right with the world at that moment, yet I knew that wasn’t true.

Later that night I walked home the long way along the Thames and stared at the illuminated Big Ben and Parliament, the lighted bulbs along the embankment swaying in the breeze. It was a great photographic moment, but I didn’t have my camera with me. I recalled the poster and Nigel’s reaction to it, and all I could think about was how he said it wasn’t funny and how all of Reagan’s shoot-from-the-hip stuff wasn’t humorous to me either.

All these years later I had forgotten about Nigel and that poster and the night walking along the Thames, and then I heard that Margaret Thatcher died. I guess she and Reagan are having a few laughs now, reminiscing about how they did this and that and stopped the Cold War, and I am certain that world leaders from many countries will heap praise on the “Iron Lady,” so named by Russians who thought that she was a strong-willed leader.

A new indelible image comes into my mind now. I picture Nigel sitting in a room somewhere watching TV. When the announcer says, "Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died," I see Nigel removing the pipe from his mouth, raising his glass of whiskey in a mock toast, and saying, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Photo credits: reagan/thatcher-flickr.com; gable/leigh-cornel1801.com

North Korea’s Intimidation Strategy – Time for the U.S. to Get Some Headlines Too

Article first published as North Korea’s Intimidation Strategy – Time for the U.S. to Get Some Headlines Too on Blogcritics.

If you are like me, probably you wish to wake up one morning and not see or hear a story about North Korea; however, that seems unlikely to happen any time soon. Leader Kim Jung-Un and his spin masters have cleverly positioned themselves onto the front page and into the top stories on CNN and other TV news stations. We hear all about missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland, how Seoul will become a “sea of fire,” and basically that Kim is like a gunslinger with an itchy trigger finger.

Well, all of this has to reach a saturation point, but for now it seems to be working in North Korea’s favor in that it keeps the country in the news. Instead of being a small country on the periphery of importance, Kim has jettisoned himself into that dubious cast of characters on the world political stage that include Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, and the late Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

Now is the time for the U.S. to get some headlines of its own, and the way to do that is not to counter with defense systems being put in place, recalling our diplomats, and trying to sanction North Korea into compliance. None of these things are working with the volatile Kim, so it is time to take a different course of action.


The first and most crucial step Mr. Obama should make is to name Dennis Rodman, the former outlandish NBA star, as Ambassador to North Korea. I am completely serious on this issue, for Mr. Kim found a kindred spirit in Mr. Rodman (who said that Kim would be his "friend for life"). Mr. Kim’s love of basketball is an important link between him and America. Hitler liked King Kong, Saddam Hussein enjoyed American spirits, and Usama bin Laden apparently loved American reality TV shows, but no one ever tried to exploit those avenues in the past.
Naming Rodman ambassador will grab international attention and plenty of press; it will also signal to Mr. Kim that Mr. Obama is serious about connecting with him and working on a relationship based on respect. Mr. Kim seeks to be respected as a leader, so that will be accomplished with this move.

The next step is to get some NBA games to be played in Pyongyang, with Rodman and Kim on the sidelines. More press will follow and Rodman can work his magic on Kim, perhaps even present him with a series of gifts (like basketballs signed by Michael Jordan – a Kim hero) and ply him with some KFC.

The final step Mr. Obama should make is to offer to play a game of one-on-one with Mr. Kim. Can you imagine the headlines? Mr. Obama has some serious on court skills, but this is no time to showcase them. Mr. Obama has to do exactly what I do when I play games with my four year old – Obama has to let him win, but Kim can never know that (wink, wink).

Overall, some may dismiss this strategy as ridiculous, but I think it has an excellent chance to succeed. Mr. Kim will be able to tell all his friends, “I beat Obama! I beat Obama!” In such a simple but significant way, Obama will be the real winner, as will America and the world.

We have always heard that Fidel Castro wanted to be a major league baseball player, but he didn’t make it and we all know how that worked out. Mr. Kim could be emboldened by his defeat of Obama on the court, try out for the Lakers, and the wisest move would be to give him a job. Yes, that means he would be making headlines again, but the kind of which would be the best publicity for all parties.

Photo credits: north korea-cia.goc;kim & rodman-sportsgrid.com;obama-sportsillustrated.com