RIP: Alexis Joy Briski

I recently attended Alexis Joy Briski's service at Calvary Church. You may read Alexis's obituary here:

http://www.losgatosobserver.com/2009/05/27/obituary_alexis_joy_briski

The service was beautiful. The large church was filled to capacity. The materials included a bookmark with a picture of Alexis pitching for her softball team and the "The Lord is my shepherd" prayer inscribed at the bottom; a blank page for the kids to draw on; a written transcript of some of the speeches to be given by Alexis's friends; and an outline of how the service would proceed.

Whenever we think we are having a bad day or life is not going the way we want, we should also remember the children who died before they could reach their full potential. Some people weren't given a chance to have all the options many of us have today. Sometimes, our options may be limited, but at least we have options. It is important to remember that.

Sad and Happy Stories

A sad story:

http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_12530827

Andrew King was arrested for molesting girls on Santa Clara's nationally-renowned San Jose Aquatics swim club. I realize all persons are entitled to a presumption of innocence, but it's hard to believe so many women would come forward now to make false allegations. As a youth basketball coach, I despise people like Andrew King. The whole point of coaching kids is to give them a set of skills that will help them become mature adults. When a youth coach violates the trust his community has placed in him, he fundamentally alters a child's maturation process.

And a happy one:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=A2KIPHfjfClKJlQBLw85nYcB?slug=jn-laue060509

Kevin Laue, a scholarship athlete...with one full arm.

President Obama in Cairo, Egypt

From LA Times: transcript of President Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/06/barack-obama-muslim-speech-text-egypt.html

Scroll down the page for the transcript.

The Economists' Roundtable

Just a wonderful, wonderful exchange between prominent economists:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22756

Nouriel Roubini:

[F]iscal policy cannot resolve problems of credit, and it is not without cost. Over the next few years it's going to add about $9 trillion to the US public debt. Niall Ferguson said it's the end of the age of leverage. It's not really. There is not deleveraging. We have all the liabilities of the household sector, of the banks and financial institutions, of the corporate sectors; and now we've decided to socialize these bad debts and to put them on the balance sheet of the government. That's why the public debt is rising. Instead, when you have an excessive debt problem, you have to convert such debt into equity. That's what you do with corporate restructuring—it converts unsecured debt into equity. That's what you should do with the banks: induce the unsecured creditors to convert their claims into equity. You could do the same thing with the housing market. But we're not doing the debt-into-equity conversion. What we're doing is piling public debt on top of private debt to socialize the losses; and at some point the back of some governments' balance sheet is going to break, and if that happens, it's going to be a disaster.

He makes so much sense, it's almost painful to listen.

Rita Pavone: IL BALLO DEL MATTONE (1963)

Movie: Nine Queens

Just saw the 2000 Argentinian film, Nine Queens (Nueve Reina). I try to remember at least one line from each film I see. This film's memorable line occurs after a character asks someone how much it would take for him to do a particular sexual act, hears rejections, and then increases the price until he sees hesitation:

You see? We're not lacking pillow-biters, just financiers.

Ah, the ongoing issue of morality, sex, and price. Overall, a good film. I give it 4/5 stars.

Guantanamo held a 12 year old boy

Congrats to all the Americans who supported Guantanamo under Bush. You favored locking up a 12 year old indefinitely without a trial:

http://sanfranciscochronicle.info/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/25/international/i114756D65.DTL

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/us-lawyers-ask-afghan-court-to-help-gitmo-inmate 

U.S. military lawyers asked Afghanistan's highest court Monday to demand the release of a Guantanamo prisoner they say was only about 12 years old — not 18, as the military maintains — when he was sent to the detention center in Cuba.

We knew President Bush was relying on secret evidence and refusing to be transparent. These kinds of embarrassments always happen when citizens don't demand government transparency. The government gets away with violating the Constitution and destroys our goodwill in the process.

Many years ago, I attended a speech by an ACLU attorney who was representing some of the Guantanamo Bay detainees. She told everyone, in a public meeting, that America was holding a 12 years old child in Guantanamo without a trial. If I remember correctly, she also said Guantanamo was holding a 75 years old man. Everyone knew. No one listened.

The next time you decide to trust your government, just ask yourself, "Is secrecy worth violating our own Constitution, the rule of law, checks and balances, and our goodwill?"

© Matthew Rafat (2009)

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. --Benjamin Franklin

I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. --Patrick Henry