Every morning in Spina, a small village in Afghanistan, about 50 girls sneak through a square opening in a mud-baked wall. In defiance of a Taliban edict, they are going to school. They sit on the floor where the chalkboard is, about half of them have old books sent from Kabul. At first there were only a few children 5 to 12 and as the school, began by two brothers, became known, the children kept coming including girls. The two brothers with long beards and traditional Afghan dress, want to remain anonymous. They say they know the people in the Taliban, chose not to join and told them they would only teach religion to the girls. Still threats were received, but the school goes on in hopes the threats will not be carried out. The courage of the two brothers is of course remarkable, but even more remarkable is he courage, the determination, the temerity, fearlessness, enthusiasm of the young girls. They force us to put our everyday life under scrutiny and too make us feel that with that kind of people in its midst Afghanistan will survive in spite of its politics.
April 2012
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Guns Without Roses
According to a New Yorker Article, there are 300 million privately owned firearms in the United States. That includes, 106 million handguns, 105 million rifles and 83 million shotguns. Although it’s less than the number of cars or the number of phones, it roughly works out to one per person. While only tragedies such as the killing of young Trayvon Martin or the Oikos University shootings shortly after make headlines, there are in an average year about 100,000 Americans killed or wounded with guns. Gun control issues really began after JFK’s assassination and by the time Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinkley, the NRA had flourished and the notion of gun ownership part of conservative political discourse. In 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the 1975 Firearms Control Regulations Act and in the 5-4 decision Justice Scalia wrote, “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia.” To some that was a rather liberal interpretation of the Constitution. Nevertheless, 2 years later in another case, McDonald v. Chicago, in another 5-4 decision the Court extended the Heller rights to the states. Nothing less than another Supreme Court decision could undo the status quo, which is why the issues of gun ownership and gun control are already part of the Presidential campaign. Each side hopes that the justices appointed by the next president will seal the issue to conform to their point of view. The French may have some advice, to quote La Marseillaise, “Aux armes, citoyens!”
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Pot And Profits
Medical marijuana advocates have been a force behind the legalization of the drug. For years we have been exposed to stories of people whose pain is eased by smoking pot. On the Venice Beach Boardwalk, that famous California tourist attraction, getting a doctor’s prescription and whatever amount one needs is as easy as buying sunglasses or other touristy trinkets. Washington State is now trying to legalize marijuana and Initiative 502 on the November ballot will essentially do that. It allows persons 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana without penalty. It would issue licenses to those who farm the drugs, to distributors and even to stores. They could then sell it openly like any number of commodities. Initiative 502 would bring marijuana under state control and it is estimated by its backers that it would bring up to $606 million in tax revenue the first year, not to speak that in doing so it would take away profits from the drug cartels. As it turns out the medical marijuana dispensaries have banded together against the initiative. The official reason is that it would require most of them to get a license to grow the herb, and that those under 21 caught with its sign in their blood could loose their driver’s license. It appears, however, that there is another more immediate and practical objection behind the dispensaries not backing initiative 502—profits.