Wednesday, March 27, 2024

The Socialist’s Journal: Quick Hits 2015 Part 1

Brookins Head Shot*The fact that there is a coalition of countries from the Middle East preparing to deal with the situation in Yemen is the best news from that part of the world in quite a while. It is an indication that those countries are taking an interest in and responsibility for a situation that could directly affect them. But more importantly (from where I sit at least) is the fact that it means the United States will not be taking the lead and putting Americans in harm’s way in this instance.

Call me crazy but I think I would be OK disciplining a child with physical punishment for minutes. When those minutes start approaching an hour, it’s time to change methods of discipline. When one hour turns into multiple hours you, Joyce Garrard, have officially entered child abuse territory and you deserve whatever penalty comes your way.

I imagine John Calipari’s recruiting pitch goes something like this: “Hi. I’m John Calipari.” In fact Calipari admitted as much saying every recruit basically knows he can find someone else who wants to win a bunch of games and become an NBA lottery pick. I’m sure there is still some work involved to get the guys he wants but really, the only way his job of recruiting could be any easier is if his name was Geno Auriemma.

From the I thought we covered this already department: Indiana has passed a religious freedom bill which opens the door to discriminatory acts as long as the perpetrator of those acts can use religion to justify their action. Of course the obvious problem is that Indiana is in the middle of the Bible Belt and has legalized gay marriage so there is bound to be a conflict in which a devout Christian will be in a position to act in a biased way toward a homosexual. That isn’t the problem. The real issue here is how no one can see the bigger picture. While I’m sure this bill was supported by conservative Christians, they will all be up in arms when an atheist or a Muslim uses this bill to discriminate against them. Let me know when this one is repealed.

I’m sure there will be some mental health expert who can refute me on this, but until they do… There should be some safeguards in place to prevent a mentally ill person from being behind the controls of an airplane, and holding the lives of over a hundred people in their hands. I’m sure there are plenty of jobs that mentally unstable people are capable of doing. Airline pilot shouldn’t be on that list.

Trevor Brookins is a free lance writer in Rockland County, New York. He is currently working on a book about American culture during the Cold War.  His writing has appeared in The Journal News. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @historictrev.

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