Hal - Deliberately Basic

What Do You Really Want to do Before You Die?

The first time I heard of a “list of things to do before I die” was at the top of mount Laconte in The Smokies, having dinner with a geography professor. At 6593 FASL, Mount Laconte, is less than 100 feet lower than the mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi.

While we ate our course supper (incredibly tasty after climbing 8 miles up the mountain) professor Barker talked about the mountains, how the ridges wove around, the foliage, and most interesting, a huge barren area at the side of one trail where a hurricane had smashed into it. As we bantered on about this and that, I mentioned that I would like to hike some of the higher mountains in the west. About this time the professor laughed and remarked that he had a list of 50 things he wanted to do before he died.

Of course my first question was what was on the list.
“A lot of silly things”, he said. “Things like, buy a motorcycle and ride across the country, hike every trail up this mountain without stopping, (altogether there are 29 miles of trails up Mount Laconte), some personal things that are small and insignificant to anyone but me”.

That was about a dozen or so years ago, and even at the time, I knew that this could not be an original idea. Nevertheless, it was new and unique to me and a novel idea. Right away I took to the idea of making my own list.

Before I sat down to write my list, it never occurred to me that this could be more difficult than I imagined. Of course it was easy to come up with the first five or so things, but after that I was amazed how much I had never thought about anything like this. I was also astonished at how many things I had already done that might have been added to the list earlier.

I didn’t want to add anything to the list that was not likely to happen. For example, it is improbable that I will ever step foot on the moon. Too many mundane items, watching a certain movie, reading a particular book, would also spoil the list.

Here then, are a few things from my original list, some done, some to do:

Take a ride in a hot air balloon - Done
Visit the Grand Canyon - Done
Hike the Grand Canyon - Not Done
Climb a mountain at least once a year - Not done
Go to at least one major league baseball game - Done
Drive the California / Oregon coastline - Done
At least one trip to England - Not Done
Buy a motorcycle - Not done
Visit Washington DC at least once - Done
Drive coast to coast at the top of the map - Not done (Done in the middle and bottom)
Visit Alaska - Not done yet

Lists such as this are prevalent on the Internet. Here are two of my favorites

100 things to do before I die.

Forbes list of 10 things to do before you die.

What have you done, and what would you do before you die? Please don’t tell me that you intend to watch every episode of Star Trek at least 100 times. As William Shatner said, “Get a life.” By that, I do not think he meant a virtual life.

Capital Punishment - Right or Wrong?

Three countries are responsible for 81% of the world’s executions, China, Iran, and the United States. This, according to Amnesty International in 2002. In 2005 the figures change somewhat, with 94% of executions taking place in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USA. As a citizen of the USA, and one who still believes in the principles of my country, I am not proud of this figure.

I have deliberated the pros and cons of capital punishment for years. There is no convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime. The United Nations survey conducted in 1988 and updated in 2002 concluded: “. . .it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment.”

The US Supreme Court halted executions in 1972, the concern being that the death penalty was being handed out too haphazardly. In 1977 the court ruled in favor of the death penalty, supposedly due to “new laws” that would inhibit bias in the system. Consider this: Since 1973 123 prisoners have been released from death row due to evidence emerging that proved them innocent. But what of the many recorded cases of those who have been put to death in spite of reasonable doubt over their guilt? Or, after finding DNA or other evidence that proves these people did not deserve to die?

Now, for the other side of issue. What about the maniac who is proven beyond a doubt to have killed someone, especially an innocent child? Should he be put to death? The only reason I can see for this is vengeance, and admittedly, I might want that myself if one of my loved-ones was killed. In my mind, the real question is, who should do the killing? Should it be the state, or the the individual involved? In other words, should I be allowed to kill the killer under the given circumstances?

There is a reason to ask questions such as this. So many times families claim they need closure, and when the killer is put to death, they feel better about the whole affair. Nothing is ever closed. If your child is murdered how can you ever close that? I don’t believe you can. What you have is vengeance, pure and simple, so why call it by some euphemistic pop psych title made up by the counselor of the day.

I believe executions should be televised. Folks, this is the ultimate reality show. The newsless media and television executives show us nearly everything anymore, so why not this? Anyone want to wager a show like this wouldn’t get high ratings? I’ll take odds that it would get the highest ratings of all time. According to a 2004 poll, two-thirds of Americans think televised executions is a good idea.

Yes, there would be outrage from all manner of groups with and agenda against anything to do with violence. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would get their exposure by making it a black issue. The important question is, would it be of any consequence to deter crime? I don’t think it would. Most of us know that in England when pickpockets were being hanged, other pickpockets were working the crowd that watched the hanging.

In the end, the fundamental question remains, is capital punishment right or wrong? As with all things, alternatives exist, and perhaps Devils Island was not such a bad idea after all.

How much hate can we stand?

No matter your feelings about the Iraqi war, did you know that 61 percent of the Iraqi people would attack the United States? In January, General Joseph Hoar, former chief of U.S. Central Command, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations committee, citing a poll as such. According to a USA Today Report 6 in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S. led forces.

In the military there exists a method to calculate how many enemies are against us, aptly named, order of battle. Using round figures from these polls, calculations show that there is a maximum 26 million Iraqis against us. Two-thirds of the maximum would attack us, so there is a potential for millions against our 150,000. Our troop level will change, of course, with the political wind that blows in Washington.

But wait, that’s not all. Let us not forget Iran. Of course they would attack us in the millions, and there is every possibility we will be at war with Iran. Now the order of battle has changed and we face extreme numbers against us.

Meanwhile, the so-called moderate Arab states are not sitting idly by ignoring the situation. Under the current administration the U.S. has created a potential Middle East nightmare, with scores of millions who hate us.

The possibility that the Middle Eastern countries will unite against the U.S. and our allies may be remote. On the other hand, this entire conflict is about oil, not WMD, not those who attacked us on 9/11, not democracy, or any idealistic idea. Developing countries, especially China, and India, need that oil as much as we do.

Nevertheless, to paraphrase General Hoar, when we face several states where the current regime is on our side, but the public is not – millions upon millions against us, that is not a good situation to be in.

Learning to Live White, Without Getting Killed

The recent brouhaha over the remark made by radio host Don Imus is sending yet another message that having white skin makes you evil. If you have black skin, you can open your mouth and say anything. You can insult blacks, demean women, and spew filth for the whole world to hear. This is called music, or RAP. The sad thing is, you can get paid millions of dollars for it. Considering the white – black relationship in the US today, that remark could get me shot, banned, ostracized or hanged under the right circumstances.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I do not condone racial remarks and slurs of any kind, by anyone. Hey, remember me? I’m the guy who stood up and argued for black equality in the sixties. I’m the one who fell out with the “white is right” establishment back then. Even now, I still have liberal attitudes, and I don’t see that changing, much.

Another thing to set straight, this is not a hate article. I don’t hate anyone. I strongly dislike quite a few people, and absolutely disagree with their point of view. Al Sharpton, is a self-serving attention seeker who I would love to hate, but alas, I don’t even hate him. You don’t get to my age without being wronged a few times. People and life will knock you on your ass if you live long enough. But, I see no reason for hate. Hate is negative energy, and will hurt me more than the object of hate.

That said, I am sick and tired of inequality among the races, specifically concerning free speech. Or in most cases concerning whites, the lack of free speech. Over the last 25 plus years I watched as the news media butchered not only celebrities, but their own colleagues for inappropriate remarks. At the same time, certain black comedians have made their entire careers with disparaging, insensitive, dialog about whites. And of course we have that horrible thumping, hate-filled music, RAP.

I predict Don Imus will disappear, and a year from now, he will go the way of Jimmy the Greek, a used to be in his own time. Ultimately his name will mean nothing, or forever be associated with his racial remarks. Forgiveness, (Al Sharpton, remember that Christian concept?) disappeared long ago, especially for a dumbass. I wish he would stop that damned begging to be forgiven. Meanwhile, on a stage somewhere, a black comic will say something like, “…all the white people in the audience are scared shitless now. The niggers are comin’ fo yo ass…”

Sometimes black comedians – and Latinos do this as well – go on for most of their act using racial slurs. They ride the backs of poor whites as if only they understand poverty. They use the words redneck, hillbilly, white-trash, briers and dozens of other aspersions to degrade and belittle the entire white race. Now, imagine a white comic trashing the black race with ethnic clichés.

Was Imus an insensitive, dumbass for making his remarks? Of course he was. There is no arguing that. However, I believe there is a much larger issue that needs to be addressed.

Why is racial denigration okay for non-whites only?

I have black friends. I don’t hang out with a lot of black people, and the few men I know personally, don’t talk to me this way, and I would never in a million years refer to them in a derogatory manner. I have respect for them, and I believe they have respect for me. This is equality. God save us from the news media.