Marcus' World

Saddam Hussein Hangs

I'm with the Vatican.  Saddam Hussein's death by hanging will not bring peace to Iraq, because eye for an eye justice never solves problems. 

But I'm also with President Bush.  Hussein received a fair trial, despite protestations by his defense team to the contrary.  The absolutely impartial trial his attorneys sought was an impossibility, and there is no doubt that Hussein received much better treatment than the people whom he had executed after sham trials.  So although I am implacably opposed to the death penalty in absolutely all circumstances, I do support Iraq's right as a sovereign nation to handle its own affairs. Certainly most Iraqis seem supportive of the execution, even if the ghoulish video is enough to make you queasy.

The tepid response in the US, in contrast to the jubilation in Iraq, has been telling.  No crowing from the President that another mission has been accomplished.  No bloviating in the blogosphere about the awesome might of the United States of America.  Hussein's hanging, even for those who support it, is just one more piece of news from a disintegrating country.  Notice that his hangmen all wear masks, because they don't want to end up dead for being part of Hussein's final chapter.

Let us hope that 2007 restores a measure of civility to Iraq, because it is absent at the end of 2006.

Tribute to the Godfather of Soul

Christmas 2006 was dampened by the news that James Brown had died overnight in Atlanta.  But yesterday those of us in New York had a unique opportunity to pay tribute to the Godfather of Soul.

The Reverend Al Sharpton drove Brown's body overnight from Georgia Wednesday, arriving in New York in time for Brown to lie in repose at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem from 1-8 PM yesterday. One of Brown's favorite sights were the long lines to see him at the Apollo. Long lines formed one more time. Some people lined up at midnight the night before, to make sure they could pay their respects.

I didn't make it until 3:45 PM, after enormous lines had built up around the Apollo on 7th and 8th Avenue. I stood in the crowd for an hour or so, and hardly moved a block.  I could not stay around long enough to see Brown, and may not have made it in by 8 PM anyway.

In my brief stay, I heard one person joke about whether Gerald Ford would be next at the Apollo, and another person describe her favorite memory of Brown (giving him a hug after a concert at the Apollo when she was 5 years old.)  One radio station passed out free pictures of Brown to commemorate the occasion.  T-shirt vendors could sell you that same picture for $10.

So, a circus-like and respectful atmosphere.  The tone must have grown more subdued for those who did go into the Apollo, to await Sharpton's greeting as they filed by the coffin.   The whole occasion had a surreal and over-the-top air, just like Brown himself. So it was most appropriate.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Season's Greetings/Yadda Yadda Yadda

It's been another lovely Christmas for Helen and me.  On Friday we're heading to our first ever show at the Village Vanguard, thanks to Helen's gift this year. Two years ago we tried to attend the legendary club, but arrived too late and couldn't get in. This year Helen took no chances, and bought tickets in advance for a concert by Dr. Michael White's Original Liberty Jazz Band of New Orleans.  It's a fitting way to wind down the month, since we started it off in New Orleans.

We're planning to begin 2007 at Symphony Space, after attending the annual Gilbert & Sullivan Player's New Years Eve Champagne Gala.  To make sure we're ready for such decadence, this week we're boning up on The Pirates of Penzance.

But I digress.  My reason for posting is to add a few more words to the momentous, Fox News-inspired debate that sprang up again this year.  Should you say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" in December?  If "Merry Christmas" is potentially offensive to non-Christians, isn't "Happy Holidays" almost as meaningless as "How are you?" the rest of the year?

I'm no fan of political correctness; following speech codes is an easy way to feel virtuous without actually doing anything to prove that virtue.  College campuses are especially prone to such easy piety.   

But I do make an exception for "Happy Holidays," despite knowing that it is ultra-PC.  Christmas remains clearly Christian to me, despite the relentless commercialization that surrounds it.  Since there are many non-Christians in New York, "Happy Holidays" or sometimes "Happy Hanukkah" is more appropriate. Helen disagrees; as an atheist, she finds that the Christian part of Christmas is completely absent by now. So she much prefers "Merry Christmas" as the more authentic and natural greeting.   

So we disagree. But with a nuance that would make John Kerry blush, I think the situation changes as Christmas day actually approaches.  From December 23-25, it is fine to say "Merry Christmas!" to everyone you see.  A hearty "Ho-ho-ho" is optional. From Dec. 26 on, thankfully, "Happy New Year" offends no one.

Then again, that New Year is also a Western Christian concept.  Maybe I should keep saying "Happy New Year" until the Year of the Pig starts up in February.

The actual words spoken aren't the real issue, of course.  The conflict is about how to define American society.  According to Christmas commander Bill O'Reilly, we are all Christians or should be.  But conservatives like O'Reilly often speak about America's "Judeo-Christian" values.  What's "Judeo" if not Jewish? We've never been a Christian nation, as it happens, although we certainly are religious.

But enough--this battle can subside until next Thanksgiving. In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

Turkmenistan's Leader Dies

In 1999, just after graduating from Northwestern, I became a Peace Corps volunteer who was supposed to teach English abroad.  But in the course of 3 days, I flew from Chicago to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and back.  Clearly I was not emotionally prepared for being away from loved ones for 2 years, and should have called the trip off.

In my very brief time in Ashgabat, the cult of personality surrounding Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov (who called himself "Turkmenbashi," Head of All Turkmen) was oppressively apparent.  In government offices, the covers of the coffee table books featured pictures of the glorious ruler. He built opulent palaces, as well as a golden statue that rotated so that Niyazov's face was always in the sun. He outlawed video games and changed the word "January" to his own name. Meanwhile, he siphoned off profits from natural gas sales as most Turkmens suffered in poverty.  Turkmenistan remains a backwater among all the "Stans" that used to be part of the Soviet Union.

Niyazov died unexpectedly last week, and was buried today.  So I've been thinking about my short stay in his troubled land, and about how easy it can be for a domineering leader to grab all the power in a government.  "Temporary" measures become permanent, and assume their own logic even though they do not make any sense.

We are very far from such a situation in the US, because our system of separation of powers prevents too much concentration of power in any one branch of government.  President Bush will never get a chance to rule like Turkmenbashi, a fact that should lead everyday citizens to rejoice.

Grant to Train Librarians in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Since May I've been the Chair of the Librarians without Borders (LWB) task force for the Medical Library Association.  This stems from my tenure as a member of an earlier MLA group, the Global Initiatives Task Force (2003-2005).  The Global Initiatives Task Force set the stage for MLA to become a more active association internationally.  MLA actually has a long tradition of international involvement, but the Association still perceived a need to strengthen its ties with overseas colleagues.

The current Task Force will work until May 2008, at which time we will submit a final report to the MLA Board.  We are specifically interested in ways that trained librarians can assist with information support following natural or man-made disasters.  Hence, "without Borders" in the same spirit as Doctors Without Borders.

This week LWB and MLA announced a major training initiative that will fund 8 in-person workshops and one distance education program for librarians in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  There are many great resources available to librarians in the developing world, but the people who could use them are often unaware of their existence. 

Funding for the training, $80,000 in total, comes from Elsevier, a major global publisher.  One of the LWB Task Force members is Tony McSean, the Director of Library Relations at Elsevier. Certainly librarians and Elsevier have had their share of tense moments, and that will continue. But everyone can agree that this is a worthy cause; it is only appropriate that it was announced during the holiday season.

This is an exciting project that grew out of LWB, but was not envisioned by our group initially.  As the Chair of the group, I had the pleasure of watching this planning unfold among task force members. Everyone selected for the task force cares about world libraries, and they want to make things happen rather than just talking about the terrible divide between rich and poor countries. Who knows? By May 2008, hopefully more unforeseen projects will come to fruition. 

New York in 2030

As most people who know me realize quickly, I am just another in a long line of people who believe passionately that New York is The Greatest City on Earth.  Obnoxious and provincial, you say? Indeed.  But it's how I feel, with that special dose of civic pride that belongs to people who were not born here.

New York is supposed to grow by almost a million people over the next 25 years, to approximately 9 million residents.  Last week Mayor Bloomberg announced a very ambitious plan to manage this growth, by providing for new infrastructure and housing in an environmentally conscious manner. Some thoughtful critics have already questioned whether the scope of "PlanYC" (which has 10 specific goals for the next 25 years) is feasible.  Certainly there will be political compromises and a narrowing of ambition as the years roll on.  But the Mayor deserves applause for pushing City residents to think big.

Today's Times has an insert about the plan. It notes that the City built subways through farmland and built water tunnels that could serve millions, well before millions of people lived here.  So New York does have a history of anticipatory planning.  Goals for 203o include the cleanup of all contaminated land in New York, and making over 90% of the City's waterways available for recreation.

We live right down the street from Gracie Mansion, the Mayor's official residence.  I always joke to Helen that it will be an easy move once I'm elected.  That's probably not in the cards, but you never know.  Whatever I'm doing in 2030, I do look forward to calling New York home.

Jury Duty Concludes

Today marked the end of jury duty, after two days of juror selection and a five day trial. The trial itself was three days, followed by two days of deliberations.

The People of the State of New York charged Mr. Dondi Credle with sale of a controlled substance (crack cocaine) in the third degree; possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (with intent to sell); and sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds.  In the wee hours of April 12, 2006, Mr. Credle allegedly sold two rocks of crack cocaine on West 114th St., between 7th and 8th Avenues in the County of New York (Manhattan).

After many tense moments and false starts, we the jury unanimously found Mr. Credle guilty of two counts: 1. Sale of a controlled substance; and 2. Sale near school grounds.  We unanimously found him not guilty of possession. This was not because he did not possess the two rocks he sold, but because the standard for possession included "dominion or control" over the larger number of drugs that constituted the night's stash for that block.  We were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Credle had legal possession of this larger stash, because it was in the physical possession of another person.

At one point I thought he was guilty of all three counts.  But a late argument by a fellow juror convinced me of the weakness of the possession charge. So I changed my vote; one lesson of jury duty is the importance of keeping an open mind.  Also, it was essential to remember that our only obligation was to consider whether the prosecuting attorneys had proved the charges. Although natural, we could not worry about the consequences of our actions for Mr. Credle.

The most impressive thing about this experience is that, unlike almost anything else in life, it is an exercise in radical democracy.  There is no hierarchy, although natural leaders do emerge to facilitate the discussion. (This wasn't my role. I was quiet most of the time, although I made a few comments that broke through log jams.)  The jury included an attorney and a well-paid property manager, but also a cafeteria worker and home health care provider.  We were a racially diverse group, with 9 women and 3 men.  Everyone had an equal vote, and I hope we did a good job of  ensuring that people with dissenting viewpoints received a fair hearing.

The usual reaction to receiving a jury notice is, "Ugh! How can I get out of this?" But for me it was a fascinating experience.  I'll probably never see any of my fellow jurors ever again, but for this  brief period of time we were able to work together to make an important decision.

More Echoes of Vietnam

Back in 1968, the war in Vietnam took a fateful turn.  The North Vietnamese launched the Tet offensive early in the year, and just a few months later some US soldiers massacred villagers at My Lai.  The war was lost, and we were never going to win it.  So what did General William Westmoreland do?  Request that 206,000 more troops come join the slaughter.

In 1969 Richard Nixon's administration began talking about "Vietnamization"--turning over military responsibilities to the South Vietnamese.  But we didn't end up leaving until 1975.  By that point, neighboring Cambodia had fallen under the control of the genocidal Khmer Rouge.  Early that decade, our secret excursions into Cambodia (as a strategy for fighting the war in Vietnam) had destabilized the nation and paved the way for the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

This history is instructive, and worrisome.  After almost four years of occupying an Iraq that is worse off in 2006 than it was in 2004, President Bush appears to be leaning toward a magical "surge" of troops into Baghdad.  Just put 20,000-30,000 young people in the city for no more than a few months, and we'll get this thing under control.  But the likelihood of unintended consequences--such as the rise of  the Khmer Rouge--is greater than the probability of  success.

In essence, this "surge" proposal is a request that more soldiers die for no good reason.  Through a combination of arrogance and poor planning, we've opened up a Pandora's box in Iraq.  And as Colin Powell warns, just piling on more soldiers won't close the box.    The only logical course now is to state a withdrawal date, remove our soldiers out accordingly, and then attempt through diplomatic means to clean up our mess.

Timing is Everything

Back in the pre-blog era, just after I graduated from college, I worried about the terrible toll that "blood diamonds" were taking on innocent Africans.  As I walked around Evanston or Chicago and looked in the windows of jewelry stores, I recognized with horror that the beautiful diamonds I saw before my eyes may have financed a brutal war in Sierra Leone.  People's arms had been hacked off so that other people could make money from these completely superfluous items.

In fits and starts I tried to tell people about this tragedy. I was always completely ineffective at this, because I never wanted to make people feel guilty for their purchase or display of diamonds.  So I might mumble something, or perhaps even send out an email. But I always let the subject drop eventually, and found myself saddened at the cruelty of some people and frustrated by the obliviousness of most others.

Fast forward to 2006.  Blood Diamond, a new movie starring heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio, is in theaters and is jolting moviegoers.  The film is so graphic that global diamond industry has launched a fierce PR initiative to contain the damage.  Who knows? Many of those people I mumbled to in the lunchroom at work in 2000 may go see it. 

By now there is a process, the Kimberly Process, to certify which diamonds are clean; one goal for this movie is to strengthen the process.  And it actually would not be good if consumers suddenly revolted and refused to purchase any more diamonds, because many stable African nations depend on their trade.

Of course, that won't happen.  The most we can expect is that some people's consciousness will be raised, which will hopefully spill over into a more general awareness about the human cost of many products we purchase.  Purists can carp that we shouldn't need Hollywood to  raise our awareness.  I'm glad this movie exists.

More New Ideas

Now I have a better understanding of why the wheels of justice grind slowly.  Jury duty has been filled with frequent and lengthy breaks.

One benefit: I've now read about every single idea of the 74 discussed in the annual Times Magazine "Year in Ideas" issue.  While I still have a sentimental attachment to the Journal of Spurious Correlations, many other items are also noteworthy.

To take a few examples:

1. Indian scientists are working on salt that doesn't stick to the shaker when it's humid (cool, but not essential). 

2. Humans and chimps may have mated at one time in our evolutionary past, bringing a bestial dimension to our typical understanding of Darwin (gross, but probably true). 

3. And an expert at the CIA has gone far beyond "if you're not with us you're against us" to produce an innovative scale of the likelihood that an Islamic zealot will become a threatening terrorist (important, but hopefully not too little too late).

Try it, you'll like it. Check out the ideas and see which ones strike your fancy or cause you to think about the world in new ways.