Memorial Day 5.31.10: Honor the fallen

Today is Memorial Day. We honor those who gave their lives in the nation’s defense and remember them for their selfless services to the nation and the American people. Thank you.

30 Years Ago, a galactic empire strikes back…

Thirty years ago, on this day, the sequel to the wildly successful film of all times, Star Wars, was released to the public with much anticipation and excitement. Long lines and long waits ensued. Despite mixed reviews from film critics, it was an instant box office hit, but this movie surprised and shocked many people upon leaving the theaters, especially the one shocking scene in it. People talked about it for days and refused to tell people who have not seen it yet. See this picture below?

It was the emboldened Darth Vader telling the defeated Luke Skywalker a dark secret. The revelation shocked Luke to the point of denial, uncertainty, anger, and eventual acceptance, then he took an action that surprised Darth Vader.

There were other surprising elements in the movie, but one theme was persistent throughout the movie – tragedy. Since we were all enamored of the heroes fighting back and celebrating victory in Star Wars, we didn’t anticipate the kind of setback after setback after tragic setback for the heroes in the sequel. After all, the heroes blew up the Death Star and the Empire was mad as hell and determined to strike back. And struck back hard and relentless, they did. Darth Vader was obsessed with finding Luke Skywalker at whatever cost.

The big battle scene between the Empire and the Rebellion on an icy, snow world, Vader’s relentless pursuit of Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon on his Super StarDestroyer through the space and the asteroid field, the surprising introduction of Jedi Master Yoda whom Luke was told by Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi to seek out, the charming romantic resistance between Han Solo and Princess Leia, the fabulous Cloud City administrated by a rakish gambler Lando Calrissian, and the remarkably fierce lightsaber clash between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Oh, I almost forgot to mention: the introduction of a really cool character – the bounty hunter, Boba Fett. All’s that and more.

George Lucas did not direct this sequel as he did in Star Wars, he handed the reins over to his college film professor, Irvin Kershner. Though, there was controversy about Lucas and Kershner during the production of the film, and since Lucas wanted to control all the aspects of the movie, Kershner ticked Lucas off with some independent moves within the production. Eventually, Lucas gave in to Kershner and worked things out.

In addition to the production, the film was a technical achievement – for its special effects, music score, and sound effects won several awards. No CGI was involved, it was all miniatures, models, and puppets moved by hands or strings.

It was considered the darkest of all the Star Wars movies, at least until The Revenge of the Sith took its place as the darkest of all (though, it’s still debatable on the Internet forum discussions). Nevertheless, The Empire Strikes Back was the better of all the Star Wars movies.

Deaf-Blind Virginian Denied Restaurant Service Because of Her Service Dog, Islamic Belief Behind It?

A deaf-blind Virginian woman and her husband were denied service in a restaurant because of her service dog, according to this WLJA ABC Channel 7 news report posted last Friday. The restaurant managers basically told the couple to leave because of the service dog. The couple tried to explain that there are federal and state laws allowing such accommodations for people with disabilities and service dogs. Still, that didn’t matter to the restaurant managers, but the couple was forced to call the police to intervene.

Excerpt:

Forty-seven-year-old Christine Calabrese is legally blind, hearing impaired and suffers from severe balance problems. She needs her service dog for help walking in addition to seeing and hearing. But on a trip through southern Virginia the Calabreses were told the dog was not welcome at an area restaurant.

In the article, the restaurant managers were identified as Ahmed Ahmed and Fathy Morsy. Another article has one commentator pointing out that the managers are from Egypt.

They (Napoli’s owners) are from Egypt and my guess is, (guessing here because of the language barrier) they just had no idea there was such a thing as special needs/accomodations (sic) for people because there is no Egyptian equivalent.

Now you’re probably wondering why I included “Islamic belief behind it?” in the blog’s title? Egypt is about 90% Muslim and there is a strong Islamic belief among Muslims that all dogs are considered unclean. In most Muslim countries, keeping dogs as pets are forbidden; in some countries, dogs are allowed for only hunting and guarding purposes. This is basically a touchy religious-cultural issue for Muslims regarding dogs, especially for Muslims living in Western countries that love and adore dogs. If the restaurant managers are Muslim, then you should know why they asked the couple with the service dog to leave. If they aren’t, no difference there, after all, they grew up with Islamic norms.

In the last few years, there have been reports of Muslim taxi drivers denying blind customers with service dogs (see link for Google results). This has been a serious problem for the blind, since they needed taxi services to go to places that aren’t on the bus routes or too far from it. Lawsuits or complaint suits against taxi companies were filed and settled in the court of law. Taxi companies were directed to train Muslim drivers about the necessity of service dogs for people with disabilities and pick them up when requested, despite Muslim drivers’ religious objections.

The above commentator added the managers had no idea there was such a thing as specials or accommodations for people with disabilities. Even the manager Fathy Morsy claimed that he didn’t know about the Americans with Disabilities Act. I called bullshit on it.

If you’re an owner or manager of a restaurant business, you should know about the laws – the labor, employee, and wage laws, the alcoholics beverage law, food health and safety laws, property law, the ADA law, and other laws. Ignorance of these laws is no excuse and that restaurant managers at Napoli’s know it.

Ahmed and Morsy simply used their Islamic belief about dogs as a mean to suggest that “other customers complained” about the deaf-blind woman’s service dog in their restaurant and force the couple out.

Muslims living in the United States (or in any Western country) should learn to get used to the kind of things that aren’t allowed in the Islamic countries and try to work around them or adapt to them. Age-old or superstitious religious-cultural beliefs from other countries have little or no place in the United States and peoples accustomed to them shouldn’t expect other Americans to accustom to their religious-cultural beliefs just because it matters to people like Muslims. Ultra-orthodox Jews in America never impose their religious-cultural beliefs on Americans who aren’t Jewish and they have been around since the early days of colonial America. Likewise, Muslims in America shouldn’t do the same nowadays and in the future.

We Americans love and adore dogs, and utilize some dogs to help people with disabilities, I think some Muslims, in time, should learn to love and adore dogs, too, without worrying about how “unclean” the dogs are. After all, we bathe and clean dogs sometimes or all the times.;)

UPDATE: This morning, I went to see someone for an appointment and I shared with her about this story of deaf-blind woman and service dog. She told me of the other reason why dogs and other certain animals are considered “unclean” to Muslims. Accordingly, it has to do with the lack of spirituality and holiness in these animals and dogs. I can understand the spiritual and scriptural reasons behind it, but that is still a bunch of superstitious bunks. All creatures in this world are the evolutionary byproducts of the natural environments they live and sustain on, they had to adapt to any environment to ensure its survival. To suggest these creatures lacking any divine holiness or spirituality endowed by God, according to certain religious beliefs, is based on lack of scientific understanding why these creatures, including dogs, are like that in certain environments and why they evolved or bred to improvise themselves that seem “unnatural” and “unholy” to certain peoples. We have to put up with centuries-old, superstitious religious-cultural beliefs, and ambiguous scriptural writings based on simple-minded observations, fears, tribal/pagan customs, irrationality, and bigotry. Unfortunately, you can find plenty of that in the Qu’ran, the Old Testaments of the Bible, other ancient holy books and teachings.

A person so decadent, perverted, full of religious bigotry, and malicious to others is a lot more “unclean” than just an “unclean” dog.

Farewell to Atlantis: the Final Flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis

Today, at 2:20 pm, NASA will be launching the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its 32nd and final mission into space. By November this year, the entire space shuttle program will end, after a final mission is concluded with the space shuttle Endeavour. Atlantis began its maiden voyage on 3rd October 1985. The NASA space shuttle program began its first orbital-operational mission to space with Columbia on 11th November 1982 (Columbia disintegrated in February 2003 while returning to Earth)

However, Atlantis will be used as an emergency shuttle in case of future space emergency with the International Space Station. But there will be no more regular American space craft launching until 2015, so at that point, NASA will have to rely on Russia’s rocket program to lift its astronauts and cargo to the ISS for five years, maybe more.

There have been 6 space shuttles in its entire history of the program: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. Only Enterprise was never used for space missions, only for testing and promotional purposes. Sadly, Challenger and Columbia disintegrated in unfortunate accidents.

If you have the time to read, with a hot thing for deep technical and historical stuff, here’s the Wikipedia article on the Space Shuttle.

Interesting note: the title of this blog, “Farewell to Atlantis…”. Does it seems familiar to you? Remind you of something from a recent movie last year, now on DVD? Here’s the hint: it starred John Cusack and he plays a character who wrote a book in this super-mega-disaster movie.

If you know what I’m talking about, then I tell you… it’s all sekrit konspiracy stuff!

Obamacare’s folly: more unemployment for low-skilled workers

President Obama and the Democrats have expended so much time and energy on rushing and pushing through a landmark legislation to provide health care coverage for all Americans, they failed to take into account that it would generate an unintended consequence for many young Americans about to enter workforce: more unemployment.

This article from RealClearMarkets.com by Diana Furchtgott-Roth stated that employers are far less likely to hire young or low-skilled/unskilled workers in the future once the lawful effects of Obamacare kick in 2014:

But, come 2014, the new health care bill will make it harder for employers to hire low-skill workers. And, as workplaces around the country prepare to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers are considering how best to comply. For some companies, that means that low-wage and part-time jobs will start to go, not in 2014, but now.

Industries that have traditionally offered the most opportunities to low-skill workers – leisure and hospitality, and the retail trade – will be particularly hard-hit by the new law. Many employers do not provide their employees with health insurance, and both sectors have large percentages of part-time workers, whose cost of hiring will increase significantly.

If it is all indicated, a great number of young people, unskilled and/or low-skilled people, which included people in their mid-40s to 60s, and people with disabilities (those who can still function in some parts job-wise), are going to be the hardest hits.

I don’t know how much impact Obamacare is going to be on many large and mid-sized employers once after it starts kicking in 2014, but these employers have already prepared its long-term plannings on future hiring, the re-adjustment of its current workforce, its operations, production facilities, and/or franchises, to set up criteria for manageable and productive results to satisfy customer or client bases, and to ensure long-term profitability. I believe that Obamacare is going to make part-time jobs a thing of the past as employers are not going to pay health care benefits for part-timers the equivalent of full-time workers.

Unless Obamacare is either revised immensely or repealed outright, many young and older people are going to be greatly affected. Young people who work in restaurants, warehouses, and retail stores as part-time while going to schools or colleges. Older people (mid-40s to late 60s) who work in retail stores, restaurants or warehouses as part-time. People with certain disabilities, but can still function in some parts, may not be hired in either part-time or full-time because of persistent perception of higher medical costs involved for a person with a disability (though not always in most cases).

This would put difficult binds on these people, for their financial and lifestyle choices would be altered or sacrificed just to live.

Consider this:

In 2009, 50% of restaurant employees and 36% of retail employees worked part-time, i.e. under 35 hours per week. A higher percentage of women, 58% in the restaurant industry and 44% in the retail industry, work part-time.

With higher-skill jobs, employers can offer the required benefits and pay for them by cutting the wage. But low-wage jobs in the restaurant and retail sectors leave little room for cuts in wages.

So firms will have an incentive to become more automated, or machinery-intensive – and hire fewer workers. Fast food restaurants could ship in more food and have it reheated, rather than cooking it on the premises. Department stores could have fewer sales clerks and more price-scanning stations, so that shoppers could scan labels for prices rather than asking sales assistants.

If you look for a cloud having a silver lining, you shouldn’t ignore that dark and ominous clouds around it.

Certain people wanted to be useful to others in their jobs, they wanted to be productive and find the time to do something with their lives instead of doing nothing or being bored. I find this to be true when I was working with other people over the years, though I encountered people who didn’t like their jobs or find it boring and uninspiring; in some cases – they don’t like to work with fellow employees or for some asshole bosses. Oh, the drama. But all of them have something in common: they wanted to earn money by applying their skills for the employers and get benefits anyway.

On this point, as employers plan to re-adjust or re-make its entire work infrastructure just to stay profitable and in business, in preparation for the full effects of Obamacare, the future does not look quite bright for many young and older people trying to make ends meet. Low-skilled or unskilled people needed to enter employment so they can build up their skills and become more marketable to other employers for full-time jobs in the future.

While President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress were more interesting in getting a very partisan legislation passed and signed into law, they didn’t give a damn about the loss of American jobs or doing whatever it takes to get Americans back to being employed for long-term gains, they also forced employers into a difficult position of not hiring low-skilled or unskilled people in the future.

Paul Mirengoff of Power Line (whose blog on the same subject got me on it today) is right to point this out:

In some ways, generic claims that President Obama should have focused more on getting Americans back to work and less on transformative legislation like health care reform are too facile. A president need not devote large amounts of time to figuring out how to improve the short-term jobs outlook because there is little a president reasonably can do to put Americans back to work in the short-term.

But a president who pushes through legislation, the natural effect of which is to discourage hiring, deserves criticism when the job market lags (and even when it doesn’t). Obama has now put himself in that category.

Come 2012, Obama is going to be consistently reminded of this enough, he is bounded to lose the presidential election anyway.

NECA Proposals to FCC could kill VRS Industry?

UPDATE – 5.11.2010: National Association of the Deaf President Bobbie Scoggins issued a public announcement regarding the NECA-FCC-VRS matter.

SorensonVRS issued a nationwide plea to the Deaf/HoH consumers, asking for their help to convince the Federal Communication Commission not to accept the proposals from the National Exchange Carrier Association, which could doom the future of the video relay service industry. The link from SorensonVRS: http://www.sorensonvrs.com/savevrs.

This is the Public Notice from the NECA to the FCC: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-761A1.pdf (Source: MyVSR Relay Central)

The NECA proposals disappointed a number of video relay services such Purple, Sorenson, ZVRS, etc., and feared that FCC could adopt them by May 14th.

Million of deaf/Hoh people all over the nation use VRS to make calls to hearing people via qualified interpreters at no cost to the deaf/Hoh callers. If the proposals are adopted, the video relay services could be forced out of business gradually and the deaf/Hoh consumers would suffer as result.

Until May 14th, please act now and express your comment ASAP to the FCC by going here:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=wumwi

As a US citizen and a deaf/Hoh consumer, it’s very important to make your concern known to the FCC, otherwise, you may see the end of the VRS industry in a gradual fashion. Don’t use profanity or angry language when you’re commenting to the FCC or it will be ignored and deleted. Emphasize the importance of VRS to the deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers, like you, and how it affects you in a positive way. Good luck.

Islamist Pitbulls Smell America’s Fears, Ready to Bite America

Since before and after the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistan-born Islamic terrorist responsible for leaving a SUV vehicle loaded with bombs meant to kill and maim people at Time Square, New York, the mainstreamed media, New York Mayor, and the Obama administration has been doing a great disservice to the American people by doing mental gymnastics about who was responsible and looking to blame “right-wing tea-baggers” angry about Obamacare or something like that.

The worse of it is that President Obama’s appeasement to the Muslim world and removing references of “Islamic jihadism” or “Muslim radicals” from its national security doctrine of counter-terrorism has not deter or quiet down the Muslim terrorists and radicals anywhere in the world, in fact, he has emboldened them. Why?

Because they are smelling America’s fears and are ready to bite, pounce, maim and kill anytime.

That is exactly what Ralph Peters is saying in his New York Post article: The Smell of Our Fear (a nice paraphrasing of Tom Clancey’s book, The Sum of All Fears):

Our counterfactual assumption is that, if we’re really, really nice, the fanatics will stop being grumpy and blowing us up. But Islamist extremists haven’t read our actions (or inactions) as an admirable exercise in tolerance. They read our bowing and scraping and apologizing as weakness.

The mean-dog law applies: Let that pit bull sense that you’re afraid, and you’re going to feel its teeth.

Instead of applauding our ecumenical decency, terrorists just smell fear.

So we’ve had yet another attempt to ignite an inferno in the heart of Manhattan, to slaughter the innocent and teach America a lesson.

Nidal Hassan. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Now Faisal Shahzad. Who’s next?

According to the lamestreamed media (CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, Wa-Po, NYT, etc.) and government officials, we “must be careful not to say things about Islamic terrorists, radicals or to criticize Islam”.

But it is perfectly acceptable to criticize Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, etc, or attack the followers of these religions on TV, in print or the Web. Let’s make cartoons or animations lampooning these religions in hilarious but insulting ways.

But Islam? No! Free speech is verboten in Islam! Drawing prophet Mohammed is verboten, too! Those Taliban, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Islamist groups are probably “nice” guys armed to the teeth, bomb vests strapped to their bodies, and ready to impose Islam all over the world by whatever means and by violence. American and other lives are to be killed or maimed for getting in their ways of imposing Islam. America must bow down, grovel and apologize to them and beg for mercy.

“Why you…you insult the wholly Quran and the Prophet! Die, infidel! Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!”

*chop America’s head off*

When people are going to wake up and tell the LSM and President Obama, point-blankly, that appeasement and grovelling to the Muslim world are not going to work, stop making excuses and mental gymnastics, and quit blaming the wrong people?

These things are happening already because of Obama and the liberal media appeasing the Islamic world, making excuses, and blaming the wrong people (like that blathering idiot Contessa Brewer of MSNBC being bummed that the would-be Time Square bomber was not a white, right-wing Tea Party supporter).

At this point, someone from the Islamic world are going to step up and may do something more successfully than what Shahzad failed to do the next time. Then we’ll have Obama and the liberal media lecturing us that we must get down on our knees and do better to grovel to the Islamist pitbulls smelling America’s fears.

Think pitbulls can be appeased with kindness? I don’t think so.

Rest in peace, Todd Silvestri, Great Football, All-American Wrestler Star

UPDATE: Link to Facebook page – “In Loving Memory of Todd Silvestri”

Vincent Todd Silvestri, a former Gallaudet University football and wrestling star, a US Deaflympic wrestler, and coach, died suddenly yesterday or last night. I really don’t know the full details but I’m informed by someone on Facebook that he committed suicide and was founded by one of his brothers in the basement. I’m absolutely shocked and saddened by his death. My deep condolences and prayers to Toselli and the Silvestri family. Hang in there, Tos.

I was fortunate to meet and got to know Todd some times in my years at Gallaudet. He was really nice and cool to me, since I was a first-year player for Gallaudet football (he ended his football career long before me) and he always supported the young Bison players in practices and in games. He was quite a presence in the football locker room or on the field, and had a larger than life personality. He would make you feel like he was happy to see an old friend again, even if you have met him for the first time. That’s Todd, alright.

Less than 2 years ago, he was admitted into Gallaudet University Hall of Fame, details here (scroll down to second to last inductee – being his football teammate). He deserved a spot in the storied history of Gallaudet sports. Below is a recent picture of Vincent Todd Silvestri (right) with his former Gallaudet football coach, Bob Westermann.

He had been coaching young wrestling and football players in various deaf schools across the country, most recently Indiana School for the Deaf. All told, he was an inspiration to the young student-players.

Rest in peace, Todd.

UPDATE 5.02.2010: He was only 47 years old and had been battling depression for years. He was married recently but had no children.

UDATE 5.03.2010: If you know someone or you are battling depression, suffering with mental illness, and/or contemplating suicide, there are good helps and resources here: http://deafness.about.com/cs/mentalhealth/a/mentalhealth.htm. Please make use of these resources for the sake of someone you know or for your sake.

UPDATE 5.06.2010: Just learned of this today – article on Todd Silvestri from Gallaudet University Athletics Department.