Monday, June 30, 2014

World Cup 2014 - The Family That Cheers Together

First appeared on Blogcritics.

cup 2 Something is happening here. My family is coming together like never before. We are watching TV with the kids more than ever. The iPads and iPods are dark, and there is a sense that we need to experience what we are seeing collectively. In case you’re wondering, it is the World Cup matches from Brazil that are having this magic effect on our clan.

I love sports, but watching the Mets, Jets, and Knicks is usually a solitary pursuit on my part. My son has started to show some interest in the games, but he much rather still play with his toys or watch Disney Junior. During any particular contest, my wife and daughter are too busy asking questions ranging from “What is a first down?” to “How is it a foul?” Sometimes I will explain the basics, but the next time they watch I have to go through it all again. It is better for me to slink down to the basement and watch my games in relative peace and quiet.

Not so with soccer. Since my daughter has been on a team since she was nine, the whole family has been to many games and understands the rules. Truthfully, the game is so easy to understand and, I must admit, infinitely more exciting to watch than nine innings of slow-paced baseball or a plodding American football game. The kids seem drawn to watching these matches, and it doesn’t hurt that all their relatives and friends are into it as well. We are finally watching the same thing on TV as a family and enjoying every minute of the action.
cup 3

Believe it or not, we are not just rooting for the American team, though when U.S.A. played Germany the other day, there is no question whose side we were on. But as we gear up for the big match between Belgium and U.S.A. on Tuesday, we are enjoying the excitement of other matches as well. My daughter’s piercing screams - as Germany’s  Thomas Meuller (my daughter's favorite) assisted a goal (to Andre Schuerrle)  for example - actually caused concerns amongst neighbors to whom I had to diplomatically apologize as I explained that she was just getting “emotional” about the World Cup.

Honestly, she is not the only one. We have all screamed our share during these matches. I don’t know what is more encouraging for me - the fact that we are watching these games together or the fact that we are so invested in them that we are cheering with glee or yelling in despair. The last time I got this emotionally invested in a professional sporting event was when Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry wore NY Mets uniforms. I am thrilled that we are coming together in this way.

With the kids off from school, the matches couldn’t have been better timed, and they are actually foregoing park, pool, and other activities because they do not want to miss a minute of all the excitement. Usually, I wouldn’t allow TV to take them away from outside activity, but we have our own soccer net and in between matches we can hit the backyard and kick the ball around.

Judging from the interest in the World Cup by Americans in general, something wonderful is occurring here. It may just be a turning point in America’s attitude toward soccer, perhaps one that will not fade once the excitement of the World Cup is over or if Team U.S.A. goes the distance or not. Since so many young children are playing soccer as are my children, the moment is ripe for something to give on the professional level.

cup 1Soccer (or futbol as the rest of the world rightfully calls it) has great appeal in a time and place that calls for simplicity. Baseball, football, basketball (and to a lesser extent hockey) have had a lock on our psyche for so long, but it just may be the time for a new American pastime to emerge. Guess what MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL? There could be a new sheriff in town and it’s possible it may not be big enough for you all.

For now, I hope you are enjoying the World Cup as much as my family and I are. I have joked with my kids, "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium," but the kids haven't a clue about the film that inspired that quote (and then I heard one of the announcers try the same lame joke that also passed right by them). Whether Team U.S.A. wins or loses, we're looking forward to more excitement to come. I only hope that my eardrums can survive my daughter’s glass breaking shrieks until it’s all over. Now, where are those earplugs?    

Photo credits: fifa.com, espnfc.com  

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Music, Gym, and Art Should Be Mandatory Subjects in K-12 Schools

First appeared on Blogcritics.

As a parent and an educator, I have heard lamentations coming from school boards, districts, and state education departments about budget problems many times over the years. Sadly, this always seems to come at the horrific price of cutting programs – usually art, music, and gym are the first things to go followed by athletic programs and sometimes even sports teams. I am sure that many parents would agree that this is simply unacceptable regardless of the financial issues that initiate these proposed eliminations.

After reading a recent NPR article regarding Milwaukee Public Schools, I felt that there may be light on the horizon. In that city it had long been the practice to cut these “special” subject areas in order to save money. So called “special” teachers worked part-time in a number of different schools (one day a week in each). Here in New York that sounds very familiar; however, there are cases where students never even see an art or music teacher at all in some schools nationwide.
arts 1

Milwaukee’s renaissance is a welcome sign to parents everywhere, and the administrators there see the implementation of new art, music, and gym classes as a way of “attracting more families and boosting academic achievement.” Schools superintendent Gregory Thornton notes that these subjects are “a vital part of the balance of a young person's educational agenda.” 


For far too long educators and politicians have been worried about test scores – usually in relation to English and Math – and anything that falls out of the periphery of contributing to higher scores seems to be on the chopping block. Even seeing a story like this, there will no doubt be those who say this is a waste of resources. There are many who wouldn’t mind if our children never played volleyball, listened to Mozart, or learned anything about Picasso. What a sad state of education it would be if our children never experienced any of those things.

As a former school administrator, I witnessed the benefits of art, music, and physical education contributing to the greater academic and social well-being of students and the school. Students who never excel in other subject areas can be superstars in these “special” subjects, offering them affirmation and opportunities for advancement. I have always felt education should be a matter a teaching and inspiring the "whole" child, and schools without art, music, and gym are definitely institutions with glaring holes in their structure. Imagine those schools as if they were the Titanic, and those lost programs would be their iceberg.

arts 2I have seen many cases where a student who excels in art/music/gym class improves his/her work in other classes. Because of the recognition of the child’s talent and boost to self-esteem, there is a growing sense of accomplishment that can be extended to other areas. This is why as an administrator I have always supported “special” programs as nothing but what they should be – an integral part of a well-rounded educational program.

One time long ago when pitching full-time gym, art, and music programs in my school, I spoke bluntly to a school board wanting to eliminate those programs. I said, “Imagine your world without being able to touch, to see, or to hear.” That got their attention. I continued, “Taking away gym is like losing the sense of touch; taking away art is like being unable to see, and taking away music is like being deaf. Ostensibly, you’re advocating a loss of three of the five senses for our children when you are proposing a budget to remove these programs from our school.” Happily, the board proceeded in restoring funding for those programs after that meeting.

arts 3Needless to say, we know schools districts will at times face financial challenges; that is a given in the modern world; however, cutting programs that parents, students, and their teachers see as essential is not a wise way to go about saving money. A more sound way to cut corners is to scale back or eliminate the wasted time and talent that goes into assessments. The exorbitant amount of money invested in testing each year – and the associated hours lost training teachers for scoring and then having them score the exams – amounts to highway robbery of parents’ tax dollars by school districts and state education departments.

I propose that every K-12 school in the United States be mandated to provide physical education, art, and music classes as part of their daily schedule. Ideally, the teachers in these classes may be evaluated as “special” educators (due to their excellent work) but come to be seen as part of the regular fabric that makes up the scholastic tapestry.

Of course, I am concerned with academic subjects, but all the solved math problems in the world, all the proper grammar taught, and the fervent appreciation for literature engendered are nice but not enough. As a parent, I want my children to have a complete scholastic experience, and that means being exposed to healthy activity in gym class, learning about great artists such as Monet and Picasso and trying to emulate their work, and listening to a wide variety of music, learning about musicians and their various styles, and being taught how to play an instrument or two.

Milwaukee Public Schools have taken an initiative that makes sound sense academically as well as fiscally speaking. More parents will be drawn to schools that offer a full academic program that includes art, music, and gym. Now that Milwaukee has lit the torch, we can only hope that districts nationwide will see the light and follow in the same direction.    

  Photo credits: npr, lillstreet.com, denver.cbslocal.com

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

24: Live Another Day - Episode 9: Ironic Implications

First appeared on Blogcritics.

8-4 *This recap of Episode 9 contains spoilers.


 Fans of the series 24 have always been aware of the dramatic irony that has been threaded throughout the seasons of the series. We seem to be the only ones who know how much Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) has selflessly done for his country, giving up all semblances of a normal life in order to do what has to be done when most everyone else will not or cannot get the job done. This is par for the course in the life of Jack, but this new season’s 9th episode has taken that irony to an entirely different level.

We ended episode 8 believing that President of the United States James Heller (William Devane) had literally bitten the dust in a drone strike in the center of Wembley Stadium. It was a horrific ending, and this episode opens with the detritus of that attack in full view on TV screens worldwide, the smoke still rising from the devastated pitch into the dark London night.

We are all waiting for Audrey’s mental state to shatter, for Jack to come back and maybe be stopped from doing his job, and for the terrorist Margot Al-Harazi ((Michelle Fairley) to renege on her deal with Heller and use the remaining drone missiles against London. But this is not a case of Polonius being behind the curtains, when an unsuspecting Hamlet mistakenly believes it is his murderous Uncle Claudius. Instead, we are treated to situational irony, with the characters actually doing and knowing something of which we the audience are not yet aware.
9-2

Not like this is the first time that this has happened in 24 history, but a character we thought was dead is not. Heller plotted with Jack and intrepid Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) to loop the video and trick Margot into believing that she killed Heller. By the time Margot and her totally tied to the apron strings son Ian (Liam Garrigan) recognize that fact, all but one drone has been sent into the deep ocean. Margot now determines to use the remaining drone to teach Heller a lesson and targets a packed Waterloo Station as the place she will incinerate.

Good old Jack has other plans. Working with Chloe who is fending off increasingly buzzed Brits in a pub, Jack is narrowing down Margot’s hiding place. Chloe calls on her boss Adrian Cross (Michael Wincott) to help her zero in on the location. Cross does assist her, but as we know he is the shadowy figure with whom CIA Station Chief Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt) has been conversing, so we get the idea that Cross has a deeper interest in these matters than just helping out Chloe.

Jack does get to the building, lands the helicopter on the roof, and makes his way downward as CIA uber-agent Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski) and her team make their way up against stiff resistance (in a great shoot-out worthy of an old A-Team episode with so many shots fired that miss). Still, Jack channels his inner John McClane (not the first time either in the series) and wraps wires around his waste and jumps off the roof (with a helicopter behind him). Jack doesn’t get to shoot out the windows because Ian spots him and does it for him.
9-1 
What happens next is one of the best sequences of its kind in any 24 season. Jack grabs Ian and drops him five flights for a final kiss with the pavement. He then shoots and wounds Margot (yes, we’re all thinking not another mistake of allowing a supreme villain to survive), but then Jack cuffs her and makes her be a witness as he thwarts her plans for Waterloo Station. No, we are not going to get to see Margot waltzing into headquarters like Nina Meyers after being captured. In fact, if Jack has learned anything from all his troubles is that the only good bad guy/gal is a dead one. Soon Margot is sailing out the window to join her son on the pavement, and thus ends the Harazi family, dysfunctional as it was.

I’m thinking perhaps the only more satisfying instance of Jack dispatching a villain is a toss-up between Victor Drazen (Dennis Hopper) or Nina Meyers (Sarah Clarke), but even those moments weren’t as unexpected or cathartic as this one. Credit Fairley’s supremely credible turn as Margot, a mother who would kill her children as easily as the commuters in a tube station. She goes down as one of the best villains of the series (and that’s quite a compliment considering 24 has had its share of great antagonists.

Now that Margot is dead, we know that there are three episodes left, thus as is part of the 24 canon, new threats always emerge (and sometimes new villains revealed) that may be even worse than what has preceded them. In possession of the override device (that caused all the trouble with the drones in the first place), Jack returns to CIA headquarters to have it analyzed by a red shirt (meaning an expendable character as on the original Star Trek series).

Meanwhile, Kate has learned that Jordan (Giles Matthey) has been found dead in a warehouse with the most inept assassin in 24 history. Kate calls Navarro to let him know Jordan is dead, and Bratt plays him as unraveling before our eyes. He calls Cross and demands papers and money to get out of the country; in return, Cross requires the override device.

Jack gets a call from Audrey (Kim Raver), and he is as distracted as a schoolboy waiting to talk to the girl he wants to invite to the prom. In a totally unlike Jack moment, he takes his eyes off the prize in order to talk with Audrey, who wants to thank him personally for saving her father. Okay, Jack, steady, boy. While on the phone just long enough, Navarro strangles the red shirt and takes off with the override device. Jack is soon hot on his trail, however, and yet misses a chance to shoot Navarro.

9-3Now we reach the place in the series where all things start to come together. In the old 24-episode show, this was around the 19th or 20th episode, but here we just have three hours left; therefore, there are many intriguing possibilities for the way the season will finish. With the climax apparently achieved (Margot’s death and the plot seemingly diffused), the resolution and denouement need to address many unresolved matters, including those from the previous seasons.

Thinking the threat is over, Chloe wishes Jack well and leaves the pub and gets in a car with Adrian. As they kiss romantically (yes, you were not the only one who cringed at the sight of our gal kissing Doctor Evil), we immediately realize that Chloe is in for the worst three hours of her life. Knowing that she has already lost her husband and son, Chloe is in a vulnerable place. If she discovers Adrian’s duplicity and understands his part in the day’s events (which is still not clear to any of us yet), there’s the possibility that she will have to witness him commit even more heinous crimes; furthermore, it is likely that Jack will soon become involved and may have to kill Adrian (and is it possible that Chloe could be hurt or killed in the process?).

I believe the following things need to happen in the last three episodes. They are:

1. Chloe has to be able to get away from Adrian and get back to living her life.
2. Jack has to stop Navarro and Adrian as well before they hurt more people.
3. Audrey's husband Mark (Tate Donovan) must be held accountable for forging Heller’s signature.
4. Heller must tell the Russians that Jack is off limits. (not that they will stop trying to get him, which could lead into next season’s series if there is one).
5. Jack must be able to have more time with Audrey.
6. Audrey has to kick Mark to the curb (I’m sure Jack will enjoy assisting her).
7. Agent Kate Morgan must be reinstated to the CIA or, even better yet, return to America with Jack to help man a new CTU unit.
8. Heller should be allowed to resign in dignity and return to America with Audrey to live out his life.
9. Prime Minister Davies (Stephen Fry) must acknowledge Jack publicly and then sign that agreement with Heller. Afterwards, Fry must make haste to get back to things that really matter like narrating the children’s animated series Pocoyo.
10. Finally, the door has to be left open for the series to return next season in some capacity. Perhaps not as 12 hours or even 24, but in no matter what configuration we know that now that Jack is back we don’t want to say goodbye, at least not yet.

 Until next time, Klaatu Barada Nikto.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Three Olives - A Short Story by Victor Lana

First appeared on Blogcritics.

Paul the bartender is a nascent philosopher, opining on life’s larger mysteries with deft language and acerbic wit. Most of the drunks in the Irish Peddler Pub fail to appreciate Paul’s incisive commentaries, especially as they stare vapidly over their shots and beers at the big TV screens behind the bar.

Usually after being on a verbal roll, Paul will lean back on the counter behind the bar and make a wavy movement with his hand, indicating that he’s gone over their heads. This is for my benefit as I sit there, nursing my nightly martini before walking home to my lonely Forest Hills apartment.
olives 3

This Friday evening I’ve come in for a longer haul since there’s no work tomorrow. There are innocuous 70s songs playing on the jukebox. The strains of Kansas, Boston, Journey, Linda Ronstadt, and others are sure to be playing all night long, but it’s nothing but background noise to me.

Paul gives me a thumbs-up while grabbing the Beefeater bottle. I like to watch as he splashes a small amount of dry vermouth into the shaker, swishing it with aplomb and then dumping it. He then free pours the gin, drops in ice, and takes a martini glass from the freezer. It is sort of like watching a skilled dancer going about his movements, as if Balanchine had choreographed the whole procedure.

Paul holds the long-stemmed glass filled with the nectar of perhaps lesser but very inebriated gods, drops the requisite three olives into it, and places it on top of a napkin. I stare up at him wondering why he uses three olives.
olives 2
“What?” he asks.

I’ve always wanted to ask but have hesitated until now. “Why three olives?”

Someone calls his name at the other end of the bar. He glances over his shoulder. “Have to give Mr. McCoy his boilermaker; be right back.”

I look at the drink, the olives staring up at me like three miniature eyeballs. Now I’ve gone and done it, I think.

Two attractive young women come in dressed in business attire. They obviously just got off the E train from Manhattan, now ready to have that cocktail and start their weekend. In the old days I would have attempted a conversation, but since the divorce and my wife and children moving across country, I just haven’t found it in me to get into the game. 

Paul serves them both colorful drinks. I haven’t paid attention to what they ordered; it is meaningless to me. I think of the last time I spoke with my kids. Ella happily told me about Kindergarten, but Tommy’s struggling in school and angry, blaming his difficulties in second grade on me because I left his Mommy. How can I tell them that Daddy came home and found Mommy kissing Santa Claus (actually a very bad elf from her office)? Serves me right for leaving work early that Christmas Eve.

Paul returns and jabs his thumb toward the ladies. “Any luck?”

“I’m getting too old!”

"Who said forty is old?”

“Forty-four,” I say.

“Hey, that’s like the new 25.”

“Yeah, easy for you to say.” I figure Paul’s about 30.

Paul leans on the bar and grins. “So, you want to know about the olives?’

I sip my drink. “Yeah, it’s been on my mind.”

"Three is a perfect number - like the trinity, man: peace, love, and happiness.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah, see one is a lonely number. One is alone and sullen.”

“Check,” I say.

“Hey, no offense.” I grin at him and take another sip. “Two is deceptive, because you think it’s better than one, but two is imperfect because if one leaves then the other is one again.”

“Check!”

“But with three there is always support. One can be sick or sad and the two help out.”

“But then that’s imperfect.”

“But better than one sick alone, right?”

“I guess.”

“Three is a lucky number too,” Paul says. “What is three times seven?”

“21.”

“Exactly. Another lucky number. All multiples of three are lucky.”

I’m not comfortable with these explanations, but I have nothing to say refute them. “Okay, so I guess three it is.”
olives 1Paul sits on his stool with a book. He’s reading Sartre’s La Nausée, in French, of course. He takes classes at NYU and clearly belongs someplace other than here.

“The Mets are losing again,” moans an old drunk at the bar. “What meatballs!”

Paul closes his book, jumps off the stool, and stands in front of the old guy blocking his view of the TV. “Do you understand the sublime nature of underdogs? There is something inherently beautiful in losing; that takes infinite more integrity than winning.” He goes on and on, and the old man sips his shot and drinks his beer with a stolid facial expression.

This is Paul’s venue for discourse. As he walks those boards behind the bar, he is a sage on the stage, speaking on all topics with authority, but I cannot help but thinking it’s mostly sound and fury signifying, if not nothing, very little at best.

I sip my martini and one of the girls leans toward me and says, “Excuse me.”

I turn and look at her pretty young face, the gleam in her eyes indicating that nothing much in life has disappointed her yet. What does she want with me? “Yes?”

“You know where Thai Kitchen is?”

“Not from around here?”

“No, just got off the train and saw this place.”

I lean back and point toward the door. “Go right and at the corner make a right. It’s on Austin Street.” 

“Hey, thanks,” she says. They finish their drinks quietly and leave with no farewells.

Paul returns and says, “Were you hitting on those girls?” 

"Well, no, but guess I scared them off anyway.”

“It’s their loss, Tom. Ready for another?”

I chew the olives and push my empty glass towards him. “Some more peace, love, and happiness.”

 He smiles. “You got it!”

  Photo credits: baltimoresun.com; martinimedianetwork.com; wikipedia

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

24: Live Another Day - Episode 8: Presidential Timber

First appeared on Blogcritics.

*This review contains spoilers! 

8-5
As 24: Live Another Day has reached episode 8 (which means we will enter the last third of the shortened season 8 next week), the tension seriously reached new levels as Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and President James Heller (in an Emmy-worthy performance by William Devane) butt heads as they try to come to an understanding as to how to stop terrorist Margot Al-Harizi (Michelle Fairley) from unleashing more drone attacks on London. We also follow techie Jordan (Giles Matthey) who has been shot by a thug sent by his boss Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt) and is trying to escape, while Margot’s daughter Simone (Emily Berrington) lies near death in hospital.

All of these scenarios are part of the 24 canon; of course, this year being a shortened season means that the excrement hits the fan a good deal faster than in previous seasons. Character arcs that would have dragged out much longer (think the painful Behrooz episodes or Kim and the cougar) are necessarily shorter here. Simone’s close to checking out in the CIA hospital wing, so Agent Kate Morgan (Yvonne Strahovski) needs to push her against her instincts to preserve life (Jack tells her to basically get what she needs out of the “bitch” no matter what). Of course, since Simone has been linked to terrorist attacks that already have killed thousands in London, we can’t shed too many tears for her.

8-3Meanwhile, CIA Chief Navarro has his secret, scrambled decoder ring (no, actually a cell phone) that connects him to the shadowy Adrian Cross (Michael Wincott in a slimy portrayal of a supposedly anti-government tech wiz) who reminds him that he has been paid well, and that Jordan should be pushing up daisies or some form of Thames debris, but Jordan takes a licking and keeps on ticking for the moment (though after a second encounter with the thug he is in pretty bad shape).

Back to Heller and Jack, it’s not like it’s the first time they have clashed. All the history between them comes to a head in two powerful performances by Devane and Sutherland. You can see all the respect Jack has for Heller, and you can tell that Heller has grudging affection for Jack (reminding him that he’s the only one who has done anything right that day). Heller’s plan is brilliant in its simplicity - he is calling Margot’s bluff by offering himself up to her in exchange for destroying the remaining drones.

Margot never expected this turn of events, and now she has to either comply or come off to the world as a “bad” terrorist (as incongruous as that seems). The point here is that originally Margot thinks she can rely on Heller’s noncompliance (turning himself over to her) to continue to justify unrelenting drone attacks on London. Now that he has complied, she faces keeping her end of the bargain that she never expected to keep (got that?).

8-1
Jack agrees to Heller’s plan once the president reveals that he has Alzheimers disease and it is advancing. Jack needs help getting Heller past the Secret Service, so to whom does Heller turn for assistance but Chief of State Mark (I hate Jack Bauer) Boudreau (Tate Donovan), who just happens to be married to Jack’s ex-flame Audrey (Kim Raver), Heller’s daughter. Despite the soap opera-like dynamics, the actors all rise to nuanced performances, especially Raver as she says “goodbye” to her father (without realizing it) and talks of a fishing trip with her late mother (a sure sign Heller is toast).

Jack and Mark find a way to work together, but we know Mark has already promised Jack to the Russians when this is over, but as he watches Jack load a pistol, we get to thinking Mark is going to get his butt kicked by Jack sooner or later. Mark arranges for a meeting and moves Secret Service around to allow for Jack and Heller to exit, but one agent gets in Jack’s way, and he has to knock that guy out (seriously, Jack has to up the ante in the last four episodes because he has not beaten up or killed enough bad guys this season).

Calling on his many skills, Jack pilots a helicopter to take Heller to Wembley Stadium, where Heller is too stand in the middle of the field and offer himself up as a sacrifice. There is notable silence between Jack and Heller, though the heft of all that has gone before is there. Heller knows Jack has been screwed for basically sacrificing any chance for a normal life for his country, and Jack knows that Heller is giving the ultimate sacrifice to save countless lives. It is a poignant moment in the history of 24. With all the incompetent or corrupt presidents since the magnificent President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), here is finally a Commander and Chief Jack can respect, and the man is now going to die. In these final moments Heller confirms that he is as worthy as Palmer was of Jack’s loyalty and service, proving without a doubt his presidential timber for the whole world.

Once inside the stadium Jack makes one final attempt to make sure Heller wants to go through with this, and Heller confirms that he does. He also tells Jack he has given him a full presidential pardon (for four years ago and this day as well). Finally, someone has the good sense to give Jack the thing that he has needed, and Heller tells him that he can now go back to his family. It’s a bittersweet moment, but confirms for all 24 fans that Heller does love Jack like a son and it’s an amazing final act by this man Jack had always admired. 

Heller takes his place in the center of the stadium, and Margot cannot believe her eyes when the drone computer’s facial recognition confirms that it is James Heller. In a sort of macabre Macbeth kind of moment (“is this a dagger that I see before me”), Margot mans the controls, her finger hovering over the trigger. In seconds she pulls it and obliterates the leader of the free world in a stunning explosion. For 24 purists Heller didn’t get the silent clock (as did Terri, Edgar, Tony, and many others before him when they died) after dying, but instead we get a final image of Margot’s satisfied face. That may get some people thinking Heller isn’t dead (yes, it’s happened before) but there seems there is no way that Heller could have escaped that missile unless he suddenly became Superman or The Flash.

Episode 8 of season 9 was thrilling and unexpected. Heller’s death will no doubt shape the way the rest of the season plays out, especially with Jack now not only needing to save innocent people but also no doubt wanting to avenge Heller’s murder. Can’t help thinking that Jack has a bullet with Margot’s name on it, but we also have to see what Adrian and Navarro have to do with the whole plan.

Will the powers that be now allow Jack to continue his mission with Heller gone? What will Audrey do when she finds out that Jack took her father to meet his end? And how will the Russians react when they learn that Jack has been pardoned? It doesn’t seem likely that they’ll invite him over for some caviar and Stolichnaya anytime soon.


8-2

This episode is simply the best of this season, and one of the most memorable in 24 history (and that is quite an accomplishment). The series seems reinvigorated now, and it could no doubt be brought back again next year; however, if the big shots at FOX don’t know it yet, they have a shining star in Strahovski. If she doesn’t get her own show, it will be a most serious mistake. Here’s my vote for 24: Agent Kate Morgan to debut next season because Strahovski not only deserves it but we fans do too!

Photo credits: FOX, 24spoilers.com

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Father's Day - Endurance: a short story by Victor Lana

First appeared on Blogcritics.

boat 1
My sons and I were in the Jeep pulling the old boat on the trailer. We were on our way to Oyster Bay, where I had spent many days with Dad, who had passed away the year before on Father’s Day. Now a year later I felt it was time to introduce Anthony and Robert to the joys I once knew.

I had a marine mechanic check out the inboard motor, and he serviced it and said the boat was in pretty good shape considering all the years of inactivity. Before we left the driveway, I had the kids walk around the boat to get accustomed to it. Ten-year-old Robert, intrigued by the small toilet next to the galley, laughed when I said, “That’s the head.”

As we drove up Route 106 to the bay, I remembered going out on the water with Dad and Pop in the old row boat. It had been Pop’s father’s boat, and when he was a boy they’d gone fishing in the days before the war along the South shore, when it was a clamming paradise. Collecting clams in low water, then rowing out to catch a few big fish, they would go home and have a barbecue. When Dad got old enough to go out with them, the clams were disappearing, but he remembered his grandfather sitting on the boat and drinking wine as they searched the surf.

boat 3The fishing shifted to the North shore when Dad bought our house in Muttontown. We used the old row boat for a brief time, but it seemed too small now with Pop along and me getting bigger. Pop started staying home as Dad and I’d go out. On those few occasions, I recalled those moments alone with my father, the sun setting on the water, the strong smell of the bay, and only the fish tugging a line could break the sacred silence between us.

Dad broke down in 1979 and bought the Coastal Cruiser which we now towed. It was 36-foot long with all the amenities Pop could never have imagined. On our first trip out on the bay, Pop sat there with his rod and a can of beer like a king in the swivel chair. Dad taught me how to operate the boat, and I thrilled at pushing the throttle up high and manning the steering wheel.

“Why didn’t Papa use the boat anymore?” Anthony asked, his voice seeming deeper since he turned 13.

I kept my eyes on the road. “After his father died and I went off to college, he didn’t like going out by himself anymore.”

“Why?” Robert asked.

“I guess he thought fishing should be a family thing.”

I drove into the parking lot, passing the pier where other fathers and sons dangled their poles in the water, creating Father’s Day memories together. I backed the trailer into the water, a little nervous as I was doing this for the first time all by myself. I said, “Make sure you take the cooler, the tackle box, and the rods.” “Aye, aye, Captain!” Robert said.

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I pulled the boat closer to the pier and tied the rope to a post and waited as the boat rolled off the trailer into the water. I got back into the Jeep and parked in a designated spot. Returning to the boat, the boys were already onboard and I said, “Put on those vests!” As they slipped on the orange vests, I looked at the name of the boat painted on the stern - Endurance - and thought about how I had wished my father’s love of the water had truly endured. Instead the boat sat under that tarp and the gear languished in the garage for over thirty years.

Once onboard I slipped on my vest, took the key out of my pocket, and Robert ran over to me and tried to grab the wheel “I want to steer, Dad.”

I pointed out over the bow and said, “See all those boats and that land out there?”

He nodded and I said, “When we get out beyond the neck, I’ll let you take her on the open water. Okay?” He smiled enthusiastically.

Anthony attempted to prepare the rods as I moved the throttle to hi-idle and started the engine. It purred perfectly as I remembered from long ago. I slowly moved the boat away from the pier, navigating a path through an array of ships moored in the harbor. Some people were sitting out on deck, enjoying the sunshine and waving at us.

The kids waved back at them and then Anthony said, “Are you going to show us how to fish?”

“Yes, of course.”

As we moved into more open water, we passed the North shore mansions overlooking the bay, their stately columns and wide verandas reminiscent of the time of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The smell of the oil mixing with saltwater and fresh air invigorated me as I caught a glimpse of the Long Island Sound ahead of us.

I gently pushed Robert forward and he grabbed the steering wheel. “I’m driving!”

“Just keep it steady, son,” I said with a hand on his shoulder.

When we got to what Dad used to call “the sweet spot,” I cut the engine. Robert said, “I need to pee.”

“You know where to go,” I said.

He went down the steps into the cabin, and I walked over to Anthony who seemed squeamish about putting the bait on the hook. “I…I don’t like worms.”

I helped him and then prepared Robert’s hook and mine. After Robert came back on deck, we cast our lines and stood there with not a cloud in the sky and the sun high above our heads.

“This is really cool, Dad,” Robert said.

“Are we going to do this more often?” Anthony asked.

Placing my pole in the rod holder, I put my arms around the boys’ shoulders and said, “Every chance we get.”

Photo credits: pics.usaauctions.com; clarahinton.com; thecorrectness.com   

Friday, June 13, 2014

The World Cup – Shows the Way for MLB World Series

First appeared on Blogcritics.

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Many of you are no doubt glued to your TV screens right now, watching Spain playing against the Netherlands in the World Cup match from Brazil. You can also check in at the official FIFA website for up to the minute scores (I just checked and the score was 1-0 at this moment in favor of Spain). Meanwhile, I cannot even speak to my daughter (a huge soccer fan) who is glued to her iPad watching passionately as she keeps saying, “Piqué!”

cup 4    Obviously, singer Shakira is not the only one enamored with the Spanish footballer. I purposely used the word “footballer” and not soccer player because we Americans are the only ones in the world who do not recognize the game by its real name. Of course, we have the National Football League to thank for that one, but the rest of the planet knows the truth. Besides the handsome Piqué, there are plenty of matinee idol type players to be found on the 32 teams involved in the tournament, but most of us are tuning in to see great action on the pitch.

cup 2Each of the 32 teams (broken down into eight groups of four teams) will play three games during the “group stage.” Wins will earn a team three points and a tie one point. After the group stage, two teams will then be selected from each group to go into the next phase, the second or “knockout stage” ; if a team loses a game it is over. After this we have the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match, and the final game. It's a long, exciting schedule that promises fans weeks of great matches with the end result providing a “world” champion.

 Looking at the process I thought about a wonderful possibility – why not look at a way to do this same kind of thing in Major League Baseball? Many MLB fans may be content with our current “World” Series, but I think if you look at it honestly, we know there are truly great teams playing baseball all over the world but we never get to see these teams and the players.

If we can have a World Cup for soccer/football, there is no reason why we cannot have a “real” World Series for baseball. I imagine that the set-up would be very similar to the World Cup. A host country would have to be established (I am thinking for the first ever true World Series that it should be a country other than the United States). Once that is established, teams would have to “qualify” based on some kind of rubric that involved perhaps wins and losses, team ERA and batting, and so on. To determine which team represented each country should be an equitable process for all nations involved.

cup 3As a New York Mets fan, I have no illusions that the Mets would represent America, but perhaps then there could be a compiled team to do that (sort of a team of All Stars). This would have to be determined, or we could just let our current playoff schedule stay in place and the team that wins the “American World Series” would then head off to Japan or Taiwan or Australia for the true World Series.

I really like the idea of a baseball World Series that features players from all over the world. It would be amazing to watch this, to see the skill level of stars from other countries, and to build a new event that could not only reinvigorate the sport but also be a source of good will and cooperation. Wouldn’t it be nice to see North Korea playing on the field against Japan instead of them fighting in a real battle?

For now we can enjoy watching the World Cup and wonder what it would be like for baseball. Maybe someday we can extend the idea to American football, but a Super Bowl for the world may have to come up with a term other than “football” in order for it to be successful. What about the Gridiron Super Bowl or the Pigskin Super Bowl? Hmmm. Will have to think about that one for a while.


  Photo credits: pique-fifazine.com, Wikipedia, metro.co.uk  

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

America’s Shooting Epidemic – Death by Media

Appeared first on Blogcritics.


shooter 3Whenever I have written about school shootings (or other such incidents) that have happened in this country in recent years, the one thing I have always avoided is giving too much information about the shooters or putting their pictures in my articles. The reason is quite salient – other similarly warped individuals are watching and are thrilled to see the pictures of killers. The more exposure these maniacs get, the more likely they will spawn copycats. What do you think is happening now in this country?

Today there was a school shooting in Oregon (the 74th “school shooting” since Sandy Hook in 2012). Before that there were the cops shot in Las Vegas this week, and we can go on and on in regards to these indiscriminate killings. The point is that the number of these shooting horror stories has steadily increased because of the media’s coverage. Instead of just getting pictures of those lost, we get numerous photos of the killers plastered on print tabloids and newspapers; they also can be found all over the Internet. If potential killers out there are looking for incentive, the media is only too willing to provide it to them.

You can note that I am leaving the topic of gun control out of this equation. Someone with infinite more knowledge and experience in that area can deal with that subject, but for me the camera is the ultimate weapon here because pictures not only speak 1,000 words but they are forever. Images of these assassins can be saved, printed out, enlarged, and grace the walls of every looney tune requiring inspiration.

I am thinking back many years now, but I have seen a consistent pattern with these kinds of killings and even political assassinations going back to the assassination of President Kennedy. Just as an expatriate loves running into a fellow expat in a foreign land, these psychologically unbalanced people thrive on seeing those of a similar bent appearing on TV, in print, and online. What greater incentive for those people who want their fifteen minutes of infamy than to see other criminals get such widespread exposure?

The concept of death by media has now supplanted the notion of death by cop. It used to be common for a berserk individual to taunt cops into killing him. Now an infinitely more appealing way to become known is to do something criminal – like killing innocents by flying planes into buildings or standing at a parade with a bomb in a backpack – knowing for certain that your image will grace all sorts of media for days, weeks, and years to come. They kill others and then almost always end up killing themselves. The dead are just collateral damage in a quest for notoriety that will last forever.

My feeling is that the perpetrators of heinous acts should never be depicted in publications of any kind. The media should limit the story to the heroes who may have interceded (or came to the rescue after the fact) and the victims. By going into details about the killers and their lives and publishing their photographs, we are only encouraging others to do the same.


shooter 1
If you doubt the truth of this, let’s look at the case of Charles Manson. Here’s a fellow who should never have been seen ever again after his conviction and sentencing, but I just searched for him on the web and got 3,110,000 results in less than five seconds. Want any even scarier example? I searched for Son of Sam and got back 146,000,000 results even faster. If you click on “images” for either murderer you have an infinite array of photographs from which to choose. A similar thing happens for James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, John Hinckley Jr., the 9-11 hijackers, and so on. Because of the past frenzy of the media to cover these killers, stories and images are readily available for those who may use them to recruit others or to stoke their own warped fantasies of glory.

I know people will shout about “freedom of the press” and its First Amendment protection; however, there has to also be a sense of decency and decorum when it comes to events that include victims. If you recall how the press descended en masse on Newtown, Connecticut, to cover the school shootings there, you may have cringed as I did when news anchors took up space in the streets of town. This kind of sensationalism makes it seem as if they are covering a parade or sporting event instead of story about personal loss, sacrifice, and suffering.

shooter 2
As long as the media glorifies these mass murders and shooters with multiple stories and photographs, and as long as the audience seems to have an unquenchable thirst for such fare, the cycle will continue and more deaths will be inevitable. I think people should eventually begin to realize that the motivation for these things – besides allegiance to fringe groups or mental illness – is a sick version of fame. This ugly cycle of violence will no doubt continue as long as death by media is made available for free and on such a widespread basis.

Perhaps you can let your voice be heard, calling on your local channels and the networks to change the way they report these kinds of stories. As far as I’m concerned, we don’t need to “get into the mind of the killer” as I heard on one local TV report, delving into the background and childhood of this maniac or that one. I want to hear about the victims, like those Las Vegas cops who were just doing their jobs and having lunch when they were gunned down. Let's hear their life stories, and allow the world to see what decency was extinguished by these assassins. Why should anyone waste a drop of ink or a second of air time on lives that were not worth knowing about?

If you agree, reach out and let it be known that you’re as mad as hell and not going to visit their websites, read their newspapers, or watch their TV channels anymore. The only way to stop death by media is to let those in charge know that we won’t support any news outlet that glorifies criminals with stories and images. A change is desperately needed and the only way to make it happen is to let your voice be heard.  

  Photo credits: cbc.ca, abcnews.go.com, businessinsider.com

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Too Busy Little Bees - The Thing We Are Not Giving Our Kids

First appeared on Blogcritics.

bee 3 Do you sometimes feel like a personal assistant to your kids? Do you find it necessary to maintain an “event calendar” to keep straight all the days and times of their activities? If you answered “Yes” to either of these questions, then you are like me and fall into the category of parent chauffer, secretary, waiter, personal shopper, and valet. Sometimes I think the old term “manservant” perhaps fits even better for me, but I think I would draw the line at donning a tuxedo and watching the Titanic go down with those I serve (as did some of those faithful ones on the doomed vessel) because I'd be too busy throwing them into the lifeboat.

In a recent poll of children ages 9-13, Kids Health asked questions about “Being Busy” and the idea of “free time.” A whopping 90% said “they felt stressed because they were too busy.” In this same survey, 61% of the kids express the need for more free time. While this may surprise some people – including many parents who schedule their kids like they were business executives – some of us have seen this coming for a long time, and maybe now is a good time for some clarity in regards to what we are doing to children before and after school and on vacations.

"Many overscheduled kids are anxious, angry and burned out," notes child psychiatrist Alvin Rosenfeld, M.D., co-author of The Overscheduled Child. This is not surprising. Having been spoon-fed the need to do as many things in as many categories as possible, kids have accepted their parents’ philosophy that they must “be busy” in order to find fulfillment. We parents are guilty of pushing the activity envelope, and then curse our misfortune of having to negotiate how we get the kids to everything.

I see this with my own family. Faced with the daunting prospect of nine or ten weeks of summer vacation, my wife and I started talking about camps, schools, and programs to fill in the gaps. I began thinking of my own parents - who never did anything of the sort. They gave us freedom to play all day, but they also reminded us to “read some books” along the way. I have never enjoyed reading as much as I did during those years. While I enjoyed playing as much as the next kid, I liked to shut down too and find a quiet place for my reading. I got to read everything from A Tale of Two Cities to War and Peace to The Sun Also Rises. My real love of books and literature never came from an English class but developed during those long summers. I especially remember being happy on rainy days sitting on the porch with some of the greatest stories ever told.

bee 1
During this last school year we have had to deal with scheduling gymnastics, soccer, swimming, ice skating, dance classes, piano lessons, and drama club. There are some weeks when there are activities on every evening (even the sacred Friday night), and then there are games, events, shows, and recitals on Saturdays and Sundays. We can sometimes face seven days of non-stop scheduling, and the sturm und drang that takes place when activities collide (and how we decide which one we will miss or be late attending). If you think it only happens in Disney movies, you haven’t seen your child running into an auditorium taking off one uniform while putting on another.


The thing we haven’t spoken about yet is school. Most of the time these activities are after school, meaning homework and studying get pushed to later in the day or well into the evening or night. My newly teenage daughter (13) has found herself between Scylla and Charybdis when it comes to getting her work done, studying for tests, and attending practices, events, and games. While I want school to be the priority, competition, teamwork, and the all too valued championship trophy seem to loom larger in the adolescent mind.

bee 2
Of course, I have to keep reminding myself that if not for my wife and me we wouldn’t be in this predicament. We disgruntled parents of overscheduled kids are not part of the solution but part of the problem. We’re all members of the same, sorry club. I am reminded of the famous Groucho Marx line: “I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member.” Sometimes when I get really frazzled, an alternate Groucho one-liner comes to mind: “I’ve got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.” In this case I just exchange “you” with “myself” and I’m good to go.

As for this upcoming summer, we have decided on a revolutionary approach that will boggle the mind - we are not putting the kids in anything scheduled. For the first time they are going to be free as I was as a child. Yes, we will go swimming, visit museums, and take the family vacation. Along the way we will get some school work in, and I am hoping that reading books on their own will become a habit as it did with me.

We parents have pushed our kids to do all sorts of activities, many of which they probably would not have chosen on their own. When you start children on a course when they are three or four, they are in no position to say they don’t want to go to dance class or to play soccer anymore. They have become so accustomed to going, and the years pass and there is the unspoken expectation that the kids believe we want them to continue on that course. We keep taking them, and this pressure obviously can and does get to them. If your overscheduled child comes home with a “C” on a math test, look in the mirror for the person to blame.

bee 4We lavish gifts on our children and pay for all these activities, but have lost sight of the one thing we can give our kids that they need most: free time! Free time is when kids get to build skyscrapers in their imaginations, live in castles, be knights in shining armor and princesses, and fly balloons or throw  or kick balls until the streetlights come on. I look back on my childhood summers and after school moments and savor the time my parents gave, and that is a precious gift that keeps on giving to this day.


I’m not saying we have to stop everything our kids do, but it makes sense to start thinking about how much is too much. The best thing you can do is sit down, talk to your children, and ask them how they really feel. Tell them with sincerity that you will not mind if they stop one, two, or more activities, and let them know that you want them to do well in school but also the priority is for them to be healthy and happy. They may be surprised if you do this, but maybe you will be even more surprised by what they have to say to you.


Photo credits: mindfulexposurebook.com, am satire.blogspot.com, yummymummyclub.com, she knows.com

Friday, June 6, 2014

On 70th Anniversary of D-Day – Remembering One Man’s Story

First appeared on Blogcritics.

Scan_Pic0002On this June 6, 2014 – the 70th Anniversary of the day that has come to be known as D-Day – President Barack Obama attended ceremonies in France and spoke of the men “who defied every danger” as they swept onto the shores of Normandy with the crashing waves. It is right and fitting that these brave service members are honored for going into the jaws of death and spitting in its face.

As for those of us who had relatives who were on those landing craft on that monumentally crucial day in the history of the world, the situation becomes personal. All the men who stormed those beaches knew they could die, and almost 5,000 Americans did, with over 12,000 American casualties. To put it in perspective, the combat death toll in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars combined is estimated at 5,291 (over many years). So the death toll on this one day is staggering, but many of the men survived and pushed on as did my father, which would eventually make the Allies victorious.

Dad (who passed away last year) always recalled D-Day wistfully. He remembered leaving New York on the Aquitania, the once luxurious ocean liner converted into a troop ship. Before leaving his mother joked with him that he was going over like a rich man, but Dad thought differently. When he got on board nothing remained of the famous Cunard liner that had ferried royalty, wealthy people, and movie stars between Europe and the United States except its impressive four smokestacks. Painted battleship gray, fitted with six-inch guns, and carrying thousands of troops, it was nothing more than a once glamorous transport.
D-3

 Dad said the crossing of the North Atlantic was tough. The nine decks of the ship were crowded, and he preferred to stay outside as much as possible – to make it easier to vomit overboard. The seas were so choppy that he and many others were sea sick. Some soldiers were boasting about the food being good, but Dad said he barely ate a thing because of the constant turbulence. To make matters worse, there was always the fear of the German U-boats sinking the ship. Staying outside on deck made him think that he at least had a chance, but in the middle of the cold ocean there was nowhere to go.

They came off the ship in Scotland and immediately boarded trains south. Dad always joked that he got to see the place “very fast” as the clock was ticking and the invasion would not wait. The train stopped only once for ten minutes at Stratford on Avon, and Dad said he walked along the platform thinking about how he would have liked to see Shakespeare’s house. An old woman with no teeth was hawking “cottage pies.” Having regained his appetite after being on solid ground, Dad bought one and ate it ravenously. Unfortunately, back on the train his stomach rejected it and he had to make use of the toilet to feel better. 

D-1The train ran all night and they came to the English coast, where he said they were rushed onto the “Higgins Boats” (or landing craft) with their gear. It became real at this moment for him and all the other men. He said the 100-mile crossing of the English Channel was rather quiet except for the noise of the engines, and Dad still felt sick from that rogue pie he had consumed. As they neared the beaches of France a palpable wave of fear overtook him and he imagined everyone else on board as well – there was a very good chance they were not walking away from this one.

His boat was not the first to reach the beach; those men were the ones that got cut down unmercifully. I had watched Saving Private Ryan with him, and he said that Spielberg got it right, but that it still seemed much worse than the movie. The German firepower was fierce, but by the time Dad got off the boat Americans were pushing forward and the enemy was running out of ammunition. Besides the soldiers there were many vehicles on those boats, and some of them got stuck on the beach, including the tanks, but they were still of value as they fired on the German positions.

The first day of the Invasion – D-Day – was a modest success according to Dad, but they had gotten across the channel and were moving slowly against a resilient enemy. It would takes days and weeks until the goals of the mission were realized, but it all started with those men on that June 6, 1944. Dad said that the enormity of the day came to him that evening as he ate his meal and the fork in his hand was shaking, but he also said, “C-rations never tasted so good!”


D-2
This was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany and its tyrannical ruler, Adolf Hitler. Since Dad’s expertise was demolitions, he eventually became stationed in Fontainebleau and worked with the liberated members of the forestry service to find unexploded bombs (which were numerous due to the Allied bombing campaign before the invasion). He never got to Germany and remained in France until 1946 coordinating efforts with the locals, and he returned home a hero as all his fellow soldiers who could and couldn’t make it home after the war were heroes.

Now that Dad is gone I watch the old fellows on the news, and I see the glint in their eyes, old warriors looking proud as they wear a hat or uniform jacket. They watch silently as flags flap in the wind, people salute them, and rightly honor their courage for the heroism they showed that day. D-Day is just one day in history, but they were soldiers before that day and always remain so long after it. The truth is old soldiers do die, but they don’t ever fade away. They all collectively are owed our highest honors and should be celebrated eternally as the people willing to draw a line in those Normandy beaches. It was there where American blood (and other Allied blood as well) mixed with the sea and sand that the tide began to turn and the Nazi evil was eventually extinguished.

  Photo credits: getty images; U.S. Army; diesel punks

Sunday, June 1, 2014

World War W - The Horrific Worldwide War on Women Continues

First appeared on Blogcritics.

Farzana Parvene. Meriem Ibrahim. Nigerian school girls. 14 and 16-year-old cousins gang raped and murdered in India. These girls and women are now forever linked together, indicative of an increasingly disturbing war on females that shows no signs of abating. In fact, judging from daily news reports, there are growing concerns that many women worldwide are in constant danger of kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder. If this pattern goes on unchecked, it is the male population of this planet that must be blamed. As of now, these male criminals have blood on their hands and it is the responsibility of all law abiding males and females to do something immediately.

Anyone who has a daughter, sister, or granddaughter should be worried about these events. Women are being targeted because of their gender and vulnerability in societies that disparage them. I recall being in North Africa many years ago traveling with male and female friends, and one of the girls was blonde. At a rest stop we came across a man who had ten camels, and he offered three of them to me “For the yellow hair.” I laughed but he looked at me seriously and said, “Okay, five camels, final offer.” We got back on the bus and my blonde female friend was shaking with fear, and what may have been seen as something isolated was really a glaring microcosm of a problem that is now being seen in the news. Women are just chattel to people like the guy with the camels, and they are considered a possession that can be interchanged, beaten, and disposed of at the whim of the man in charge.

Recently I saw a story about President Obama’s daughter Malia attending her first prom. We Americans take this for granted. Prom is a rite of passage for young women who get to dress beautifully, go alone or with friends or a date, and dance and have a good time. There is inherent freedom in that kind of thing, and Malia deservedly got to partake in something healthy and normal for young people. But let us Americans not start getting too comfortable because we have our own problems in this matter.
girls 5 
Think of Ariel Castro who kidnapped, raped, and incarcerated three women for eleven years. This didn’t happen in some distant Third World country; it occurred in Cleveland, Ohio. These three women are an example of girls and women who are taken every day in this country. They are abused, threatened, and sometimes end up dead. This is because some men even here in supposedly enlightened America still think in medieval terms - women are a possession, the inferior sex, and subject to male whims and desires. Thankfully, the ongoing narrative of Castro’s victims continues to inspire and amaze as these young women reclaim their lives, but they have paid a terrible price. Hopefully, Americans can learn a valuable lesson from this and take action in their daily lives to prevent this kind of thing from happening.
girls 3 
The story of Farzana Parvene, a 25-year-old Pakistani woman who was three months pregnant, rattled the world with its brutality. Since she dared to marry against her family’s wishes, a group of men consisting of family members (including her own father) stoned her to death. Afterwards the father claimed it was “an honor killing,” which probably means that he believes this absolves them of guilt. The fact that her husband Mohammed Iqbal says that he murdered his first wife in order to marry Farzana only adds more insanity to this bloody charnel, but the truth is that no matter what the details are, a woman was murdered for being a female who tried to have some kind of independence in a world where she was deemed to have none.
girls 1Sudanese woman Meriem Ibrahim’s situation is even more incongruous. Despite being pregnant (she has since had the baby in jail), Meriem was sentenced to death for failing to renounce her Christianity and marrying a Christian man. The pregnant woman found guilty of “apostasy” also has her toddler in jail with her. The brutality of the sentence and the condition of her captivity has sparked worldwide outrage, and there are now reports that she will be set free. While this story may have a happy ending, that is yet to be realized. The trauma and pain caused are indicative of this continuing war on women, and there has to be more than outrage. Much more.

In an chilling and frightening account, we hear of 14 and 16-year-old cousins who were gang-raped, strangled, and hung from a tree in India. Three brothers (two have been apprehended) are accused in this crime, but more details are expected to come in this ghastly example of males denominating women with horrific results. Of course, this is not the first gang rape story to come out of India. The gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in 2012 sparked worldwide awareness and outrage of a pattern of sexual violence against women in that country.

girls 2Perhaps no other story has shaken decent people to the core more than the that of the 219 school girls abducted by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. While we all take for granted that kids go to school everyday and should be safe there, this is not the case in many places, and this story frightens everyone with the kidnappers' pernicious intent to punish the girls for being students in a Christian school. The story takes an even more ominous turn when the captors claim that they have converted the girls to the Muslim faith and that they will be sold into basic slavery.

These stories are microcosms of a World War against women - World War W. Make no mistake, this war is as dangerous and difficult to fight as any previous conflict, and the enemy is as nefarious as any dictator or opponent that we have ever faced. The fact is that women are being treated worse than animals in many places around the world, and we must assemble armies bigger and stronger than ones that have ever marched against military foes. The combat must be intensive, extensive, and ultimately decisive because the lives of women and girls are at stake. While there are many other important worldwide issues to deal with today, nothing is as important as the true and lasting freedom of females worldwide.

If these stories don’t move you, this one hopefully will - the ritual of genital mutilation that occurs across parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The World Health Organization categorizes it as a real and growing issue of great concern. WHO’s description of the practice should send shivers down your spine: “Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”

Many people will find it difficult to process this barbaric practice. Little girls from infancy to about age fifteen are subjected to procedures conduced by male relatives who have no medical background or experience.
You can read about these atrocities on the WHO website, but I have heard firsthand accounts of screaming girls being held down as their fathers or other male relatives use razors, knives, or even jagged edges of tin can covers to butcher them. All of this is not in the name of any religious practice; rather, it is an obsession to dominate females and subject them to a place of inferiority and subservience, where they have nothing to say about their health or well being or anything else for that matter.

The World War W continues at an incessant pace, and it shows no signs of abating. As a father two daughters and President of the United States, President Obama must make every effort to align allies in a concerted effort to secure the safety of women worldwide, to provide them opportunities for education and healthcare, and remove them if necessary to locations where they can live life in normalcy.

girls 4More than any war on terrorism or enemy, this battle is necessary and compelling - these are “Our Women” as much as the girls taken by Boko Haram have been called “Our Girls.” Just as Michelle Obama has taken up the cause for the school girls' freedom, so too should we for them and females everywhere.

In the name of justice, in honor of Farzana Parvene, Meriem Ibrahim, Michelle Knight, Amanda, Berry, Gina DeJesus, the Nigerian school girls, the raped and murdered Indian girls, and oppressed females across the globe, we must shout out our support for them and condemn the perpetrators of violence against them. It is time to make every effort to liberate girls and women worldwide, and it’s the responsibility of good decent people everywhere to take up the cause and bring them home.

 Photo credits: ny daily news, thetimes.co.uk, thehollywoodgossip.com, express.co.uk