Entry #3 American Injustice

          Forty years ago on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, a major event in American history took place. It was so long ago that most people either don't remember it, or have never heard of it because they had not been born yet.

          Two FBI agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A.Williams entered an American Indian reservation at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, for the purpose of arresting an American Indian by the name of Jimmy Eagle on robbery charges. At some point, for whatever reason gunfire was exchanged. Unfortunately the two FBI agents died that day from gunshot wounds.

    There has been much controversy and varied opinions as to what actually happened that day at Pine Ridge in June of 1975 between the FBI and the members of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Eventually Leonard Peltier, the leader of AIM and two other American Indians, Bob Robideau and Dino Butler were arrested for murder. Although the prosecution had matching evidence against all three, Leonard Peltier was the only one to be found  guilty of murder and was sentenced to two consecutove life terms. Robideau and Butler were acquitted upon the jury hearing evidence that was presented by the defense. The defense persuaded the Jury that a history of fear and violence at Pine Ridge may have led to what the defendants believed at the time to be self defense.

          The presiding Judge in Peltier's case was Judge Paul Benson. After granting Peltier a change of venue, Judge Benson had the case sent to his home town of Fargo, North Dakota. An all- white jury of ten men and two women was selected. Judge Benson quickly gave the prosecutors some important victories. The judge ruled that any evidence of any possible improprieties at Pine Ridge by the FBI  prior to June 26, 1975, would not be admissible in court. He did however rule that pictures of the slain FBI agents could be shown to the jury.                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                            The Honorable Judge Benson

           Many groups including Amnesty International as well as American Indian celebrities such as Robert Redford and the late Marlon Brando, have fought to have Leonard Peltier pardoned for the last forty years to no avail. The supporters of Peltier believe he did not receive a fair trial because of his leadership role in AIM. They also believe that because it was FBI agents that died that day, the U.S. Government had to find someone guilty, and that only left Peltier.We have all heard the phrase "You can't fight city hall." try fighting in Federal Court with a Judge who has already determined your fate.                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                               
          On December 16, 2000 three hundred FBI agents marched on the White House to urge then President Clinton to reject clemency for Peltier. A reporter for a California newspaper stated that he or she found the news coverage on the march to be "slanted" in favor of the FBI.
          On December 22, 2000  six days after the FBI march, the Chicago Tribune Published an article titled "No Clemency For Murderer Peltier". The Author (unknown) used very descriptive language such as "ambush", "gaping wounds" (referring to the IRS agents injuries). The Author also comments on how as the FBI agents died, as they were lying in the dust. Midway through the article the author also states that "What has not changed is that Peltier is as guilty as it gets".
           On December 27, 2000 before leaving office, President Clinton stated that he would review the 1975 Peltier case as well as other clemency cases.

          Leonard Peltier is still in prison in Lewisburg, Pensylvania. Is it possible that one or a series of "slanted" articles, elected officials, broadcasts, public outcries etc.,can determine the future course of how we live or don't live our lives?
     ......Cane Man

 References: <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/trial/peltier/peltieraccount.html>, <http://amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/security-and-human-rights/leonard-peltier>, <http:www.chicagotribune.com>, <http://articles.latimes,com/keyword/leonard-peltier>

Entry #2 Hands-Free Pick-pocketing

Question: Am I the only person who finds advertising commercials annoying?
Answer: I hope not!
     It seems as though no matter what form of media I am trying to enjoy, I'm constantly being interrupted by someone trying to pick my pocket.

      I understand that revenues generated from advertising is what allows some forms of media to be available at no cost to the consumer, but do they have to be so annoying? When was last time you heard, read or viewed a commercial that you found interesting and informative enough that it actually convinced you to go out and purchase that product? (Not so fast. Read on.) Usually they feel the necessity to not only point out the merely obvious, but the extremely obvious as well. Example: This grease fighting cleaner helps to dissolve grease on contact! I suspect that this cleaning product company believes that the consumer/potential purchaser might be confused about two issues here: 1. That a grease cleaner is in fact to be used to clean up grease and  2. That it actually has to come into contact with the grease to work. Annoying.
      Silly, insulting commercials bother me so much, I'm considering starting a non profit organization called Silly Commercials Upset Me (SCUM). Together maybe we could get legislation passed by all of the politicians that use advertising to help win their positions pass laws that restricts how much commercials are allowed to insult our intelligence.
      The biggest problem I would encounter with the SCUM program is this: Probably most of the members including myself, are in fact influenced by advertising to purchase goods and services whether we know it or not. It would be hard to believe that small companies all the way up to huge corporations would spend large amounts of money on something that did not generate a positive return on their investment. So you have to believe that advertising must work.
      I'm sure that advertising agencies spend a great deal of time determining which angles,triggers, approaches, etc. that best help their clients sell their goods and services. These agencies, I would assume have a variety of professionals from Psychologists to Comedians helping to decide what type/style of advertising will produce the best sales results. The average American Joe or Jane doesn't stand a chance against these expert pickpockets, let alone little Joey or Janie.
       I'm sorry that I sound so cynical about something that probably doesn't bother most people as much as it does me, but there is a little more to the point I'm trying to make here than just being a crabby old fart with nothing better to bitch about than a common occurrence in our everyday lives.
      The bottom line is this: Most Americans have probably been influenced to purchased something, whether they needed/wanted or not, because of an advertising campaign for that product.
      Food for thought: If sponsored media can effect what we purchase and how we spend our hard earned money, what other influence might they have in our daily lives? It scares me, how about you?
   
   
 
     
     

English 102 Blogs: Introduction Practice Entry " The Brains of the Walker Gang"

     Hello everyone. I am truly on the blogger polices' most wanted list, I am very much a novice at blogging. I do however intend to change that, either through hard work or dumb luck. I'm really hoping for the dumb luck thing to side in my favor. My name is Mark, AKA Cane Man. I'm thinking however, about changing my name to Cart Man Mark. Due to a recent injury I decided to join a notorious group of senior citizens known by law enforcement as "The Walker Gang". Here's a picture of our vicious enforcer "Brutal Bob".

    I hope that GCC doesn't treat me unfairly simply because I associate with outlaws like Bob. I didn't decide to enroll at GCC with the intent of anything other than furthering my education.  I had last attended college 39 years ago before perusing a career in the IBEW as an electrician for the next 35 years,

     I very much enjoyed my chosen profession for the entire time that I was able to do that type of work with no regrets in my career path. In 2011, due to medical issues I could no longer continue to work in the trade. I decided about a year and half ago to move to the Phoenix area to be near my son.
     After I became situated here in Glendale, I thought to myself "now what?" The only thing I knew for sure was that I hadn't moved 2000 miles to hide from the heat and watch Oprah reruns. I'm not sure if a requirement counts as a hobby, but I was required to go to the gym everyday and somewhere along the way it turned into a hobby, which has worked out well for me. In the mean time however my brain was beginning to slowly turn into:

   After careful consideration, I decided that the only way to keep my brain cells from gelling was to keep them exercising as well, so decided to return to school. I'm not sure if I'll ever actually obtain a degree, but in the mean time I'll keep learning and I have in fact, determined that no one is ever "Two old to learn". (get it -"two"? just kidding.)
         When I'm not exercising my body or my brain, I enjoy fishing, music, mountain climbing (audience laughs) and watching my son play sports, mostly baseball.
         At this time in my life, my small course load at GCC is fulfilling my expectations and requirements to continue on my determined path to become the "Brains" of the Walker Gang, With my brain and Bob's brawn, The Walker Gang will begin to rule Glendale (audience laughs hysterically.)
          By the way, I'm also trying to start a new fraternity for all of the male blue hairs here at GCC. It's going to be called Granpa-Likes-PI, so if your interested please get in touch with the Cane Man. That's about it for now.

Entry #7. Blogging is Now for Me!

Before this semester started, I read some of the online reviews of the GCC English 101 course, and Professor Nielson's class format. I noticed that quite a few of his prior students commented about how much they enjoyed the "blog" portion of his class. Frankly, as I read these positive reviews about how much they enjoyed the blog assignments, I was thinking maybe this is not the class for me."What the hell is a blog?" I thought to myself. Then, when I found out that the blog projects accounted for 15% of our grade, I decided I better try to figure out "What the hell a blog is." At first, I found this more than a little frustrating. Half way through Entry #1, I went to my toolbox to get a very important blog tweaking tool.

 As stated in the title my first blog, at this point I was sure that "Blogging is not for me." Fortunately,

I didn't use the hammer on my computer or myself. Instead, I sat in front of my laptop and did the best I could to try and make sense, maybe even learn, what blogging is. 

The more frustrated I became, the more determined I became. The thought of not being able to do something that has become so commonplace these days, was not going to get the better of me.  So I put away the hammer, tucked my pride in my pocket, and I started asking other people for help. I was able to get my thoughts in order, but I had no idea how to submit them electronically. I found out something that shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. The less you know about something, the more others are willing to share their knowledge with you. The companies that produce men's slacks should build in a "Pride Pocket" for us men to use. With the help I received, basically from strangers, I was able to submit my first blog. Wow! It sounds silly I'm sure to anyone reading this, but to me it was a big deal.    

So now I'm feeling OK with this blogging stuff. Instead of thinking "What the hell is a blog.", I'm thinking "What the hell can I blog about?" This just goes to show you that some of the old sayings are true, and some are not. True; "You're never too old to learn." False; "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." 

Entry #6. Fathers Day

     I just realized yesterday, that Father's Day is this coming Sunday. I know that for most people, Father's Day takes a back seat to Mother's Day, because after all, Mom carried you in her womb for 9 months. Most likely, she was also the one who nurtured you the most during the first few years of your life. For many people both male and female, mom was always their anchor, their go-to parent in times of need. Mom was always there with sympathetic eyes and ears.

http:/mar2396438.blogspot.com

   Historically, dad was a different breed. He was more concerned about being a provider, as well as the disciplinarian. He might of even seemed "cold" at times, heading off to work no matter what, and then punishing us when he arrived home, for things that we did wrong while he was away at work. "Wait till your father gets home!" used to be a popular phrase for mothers to threaten misbehaving children. Even though we were a little afraid of dad, that fear also taught us respect. Like it or not, You probably learned a lot more than you think from dear old dad. Dad was always there for you as well, in his own way. When you thought he was being mean, he was really trying to teach you about life from the hard lessons that he had learned. If your father is like most fathers, he doesn't expect much for fathers day. So give him something that is priceless. An hour or two of your undivided time will mean the world to him. As you spend your time with your father on Father's day, it's important that you remember this:

                                                              

If you text, talk, email or google during your "Special Father's Day time" together, you might just bring out the disciplinarian side of dear old Dad that you had long forgotten about. Trust me on this one.

Entry #5. Can You Disgust Me a Little More, Mr. Kenner ?

As part a of class assignment in English 101, we all watched a movie today, that was titled Food, Inc. It was a somewhat graphic movie centered around food production in our Nation. After carefully watching this movie in great detail, I think I might try a new life style, and NEVER EAT ANYTHING AGAIN! Obviously, that's not realistic. I had the opportunity to view this movie prior to the classroom presentation. This allowed me the opportunity to observe the various reactions of the other students, to the informational segments, as well as the somewhat graphic video portions. It was interesting to see, that while some of students were clearly upset by the graphics, other students were bothered more by some of the information that was provided. I think in making this movie, Robert Kenner new how to kick everyone's Achilles Tendon in just the right spot. Good job Bob! The portions of the movie that snapped my tendon the most, were the parts that showed what a monopoly the food industry really is. From my research that I had previously done for another project, I was already aware of the "Big Four" meat packing companies that control 80% of the meat packaging in America.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I was not however, aware of the stranglehold that these corporations have on the farms and the farmers as well. Going only by what I saw in the movie, it seems to me like today's farmers endure modern day "Share Cropping." Perhaps a better comparison would be "Organized Crime." Once you get in, you can't out. Only in this case, It would appear that the farmers don't join voluntarily. The information on the Monsanto Company was the portion I personally found the most disgusting.










                                                                                                        How could any one company be allowed to gain such control over not just an industry, but what ends up on our store shelves, and our plates as well. I would bring up about how George Bush appointed former Monsanto attorney Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, except I'm afraid that might it be a criminal offense. Robert Kenner and his Food, Inc. movie did an excellent job of disgusting our class in various ways. It sounds like a bad thing when I put it that way, but actually it's the opposite. It seemed to have a big impact on the entire class that's for sure. I know that throughout the movie I became more and more disgusted with our current food system. If there could some how be a way that everyone in this country could be enticed into seeing a "Slap you in the face" movie like Food, Inc., there is a chance, that a change could begin. So thank you Mr. Kenner for totally disgusting me.