Sometimes in April

Watching this HBO original movie was like eating light at a buffet where you pick out a single dish from the many offered. This well-done film plucks one man’s story out of the totality of the 1994 Rwanda experience, and in the process tries to explain how this black holocaust started and why one part of a nation turned on another and massacred an estimated 800,000 men, women and children. In the Nazi era in Germany, and especially the Stalin era in the Soviet Union, there were those ordinary citizens who silently participated through “many forms of collaboration and compromise,” whereas in Rwanda, Hutu extremists and government personnel (including military) wielded machetes and fired guns on Tutsis and moderate Hutus – their brothers and sisters. “Sometimes in April” does a better job of exploring the inactivity of the west through several scenes of American political and military officials meeting, discussing and in the end doing nothing. This is a black mark on the Clinton foreign policy record. Similarly, another African nation, the Sudan, will be a black mark on the Bush foreign policy record unless action occurs immediately to end the current conflict. A UN peacekeeping force (proposed by a pending U.S. resolution) will be a useless gesture unless it takes on a peacemaking role to help end the conflict that has forced more than 2 million in the Darfur region of Sudan to flee their homes.
#258 (05-19)
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Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda is a must see movie for those who ignored the plight of Tutsis and Hutus in that Central African country in 1994 when almost a million were slaughtered by Hutu extremists with the connivance of the French-backed Hutu government. "Those who ignored" means pretty much all of the civilized world, including the United States. The Hutu government in Rwanda was chafing at a United Nations supervised agreement that they share power with a Tutsi rebel group. I thought the performances by Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo outstanding. My regret is that I did not see the film earlier than yesterday (March 17, 2005).
HBO will enter this arena on Saturday, March 19, with "Sometimes in April," another reminder of this black holocaust.
#257 (05-18)
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'tis an Irish Blessing

...for St. Patrick's Day
May those who love us, love us
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts;
And if He doesn’t turn their hearts
May He turn their ankles
So we’ll know them by their limping.
#256 (05-17)
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Great news for Packer fans
Brett Favre will return for his 14th season as the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers - great news for Packers and their fans, not so good news for the rest of the league.
#255 (05-16)
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Nixon sightings?
Has anyone reported any Nixon sightings lately? Reply by e-mail.
#254 (05-15)
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Searching this web site

Blogger suggests allowing readers to search a site by adding the Google search bar but doesn't explain how to do that. The blogger bar searches your whole computer; not something you want everyone to be able to do.
#253 (05-14)
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Condolences to families of slain RCMP
We send our condolences and thoughtful prayers out to the families of the four RCMP officers slain this week in Alberta, Canada, while investigating an illegal marijuana site.
#252 (05-13)
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Comments on Aviator review
"Well good for you! (When I'm wrong, I mutter and scurry furtively out of sight!)" (X- A minister in South Carolina)
"I haven't seen 'Aviator' yet, but I def-will. Nancy has and enjoyed it immensely. Good to read of your contrition. [lol]" (Dave in New England)
"An honest man! How rare! Thank you. I enjoyed the film too. Everyone sez it's a shoo-in for Best Picture, but I'm thinking maybe Million Dollar Baby (which I haven't seen!)." (John in South Carolina.)
#251 (05-12)
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Aviator
Some weeks ago I expressed an adverse opinion about the film Aviator without having seen the film. I did not believe that Leonardo de Caprio could carry off the role of Howard Hughes because I consider him to be too young and baby-faced. Yesterday, we saw the film and it is obvious why I am not a Hollywood producer of epic films. My casting skills suck. de Caprio does a great job and he carries the film from beginning to end. Having grown up during the Hughes era, reading about him and seeing him in newsreels in my youth affords me a perspective to appreciate how accurate the film story line is with regard to Hughes and his accomplishments. It may not win the Oscar tonight, but it will be a worthy contender. Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Kathryn Hepburn is also right on target and she is a delight to watch
Five stars.
#250 (05-11)
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Master Cheat
This third novel by Jack Miller features a lead character drawn from a composite of different cheaters operating in the glitz and greed of Las Vegas. The methods employed and the scams run by the cheaters are based on actual events. Their successes as well as the precautions taken by casinos to protect themselves are both complex and simple. Miller was a senior agent of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for eleven years and writes from first-hand experience. His book may be obtained on-line through Mystic Publishers (www.mysticpublishers.com).
#249 (05-10)

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Death of a good friend
Today I will be a pallbearer for my good friend Fred Matthews who died on Saturday after a brief illness. Fred was 83 years old and I knew him for 41 years. He could always be counted on to help anyone in our neighborhood with any project and he was a font of knowledge on many everyday things. I will miss my friend.
#248 (05-09)
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Trip over -short circuited
Our trip to SE Asia was cut short after my wife took a cold and was unable to shake it. We felt it was better we journey home than traispe around SE Asia with one of the party - as they say - 'sick as a dog.'
#247 (05-08)
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On a trip to SE Asia
On January 20, I will leave on a trip to SE Asia with planned stops in Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Three Gorges in China, Bangkok, New Delhi and other points in the area. Two months have been allocated for this overseas adventure, my first since visiting South Africa from January to March 2003.
#246 (05-07)
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The Economist and Einstein
Dear James,
I cannot express adequately how glad I am that you turned me on to The Economist a couple of years ago. I often enjoy reading their diverse essays and commentaries and marvel at how much my mind has been expanded and knowledge increased. So it was especially so this week as I ploughed into the three page Science and Technology essay which celebrates the 100 years of Einstein and where the editors "attempt to elucidate" on Einstein's theories about (1) atoms, (2) relativity, and (3) quantum physics. Being, however, a social science major who matriculated in mid-life, I have no f****** idea what the hell they or Einstein are talking about. I thought I would share this with you. I did enjoy Lord Scarman's obituary, although the world is poorer for his passing.
Dad
#245 (05-06)
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One vote against bathing
A long time good friend wrote: "Believe it or not, I knew a woman who died in a bathtub; her doctor husband electrocuted her by dropping a radio into the water and trying to make it look accidental. He was caught."
#244 (05-05)
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Reasons to stop bathing or gambling
Your lifetime odds of dying in a bathtub are 1 in 11,469; the odds of winning the Powerball lottery are 1 in 120, 526,770. (Source: David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal, Jan.6, 2005, pg 2.)
#243 (05-04)
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Readers comments on automated phone systems

(1) The main utility in New York City, Con Edison, has a diabolical voice mail. If you hit "0”, a cheery voice says "thank you for calling Con Edison" and disconnects the line. The only way to get a real live person is to punch the code for reporting a gas emergency.

(2)My mother who had trouble with her eyes could not see well enough to press those numbers and had to take the phone from her ear to look at the numbers so she could press whatever button she needed. Sometimes it would disconnect her before she could push the right button. She would get so frustrated and call me to help. I think this is a sorry situation for all of us but especially for our elders who might have trouble hearing and seeing.

(3) I too have encountered some automated business call systems that made me want to drive right over and change my account or service to another company. However, I have encountered some that were both easy to use and led me to an answer quicker than an employee in a busy office could have helped me alone. The technical difference is simply in the programming. The human difference is, I suspect, in whether anybody high enough up in the company that they really ought to making decisions affecting their customers' satisfaction ever sat down and actually tried the new service experience before its installation.

(4) Oh, you cannot know the meaning of aggravation until you have tried to reach the good folks at AT&T. I asked the young lady in Bombay (and I'm not complaining that I was talking to someone in India) to please fwd my concern as high as she could that it was ironic to see this giant of American communications technology reduced to an impenetrable voice messaging system.

(5) Amen--and there are many more companies and businesses that provide the same "automated" service!
242 (05-03)
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Credit Union Telephone Service
It is a new year and time to strike back at those systems and things that aggravate a man's soul. We were not put on this earth to be abused by businesses that won't put a human being on the phone when we call. I understand efficiency, but I also learned almost sixty years ago that the customer is number one - or ought to be. Herewith my opening salvo in this year's first crusade. If you have similar or dissimilar thoughts send them to me for posting on my blog.

January 5, 2005

Chairman, Supervisory Committee
SC Federal Credit Union
PO Box 190012
North Charleston 29419-9012

Dear Sir,

Again today, I had to call the Credit Union to tell them that we could not access our iTeller statements after receiving e-mail messages that the statements were available. The computer system was not responding for statements until after 12:30 in the day.

The main thrust of this letter is to express my aggravation at the automated telephone answering system in use by the Credit Union. This system may be the cat’s meow to some employee technical geek who thinks he or she has brought the Credit Union into the 21st century but from a user’s standpoint, it is a blood pressure raising aggravation designed to increase the frustration level. The voice recording the messages is an irritation and the number of buttons you have to press to get anything done is ridiculous.

I do not call the credit union much anymore because you cannot talk to an individual unless you wade through the automated system. It occurs to me that if the next time I have to call the system is not improved, then my family will be better served by moving our accounts elsewhere.

Cordially,

Francis X. Archibald
#241 (05-02)

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Doctors Without Borders
DWB are rendering emergency aid throughout the stricken SE Asia area and elsewhere in Sudan, particularly the Darfur Region. If you can, make a contribution today at www.doctorswithoutborders.org . It will give you a good feeling throughout your body and soul.
#240 (05-01)
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Christmas Spirit
A new Christmas is upon us but somehow it seems like recent Christmas' past: a suicide bomber in Mosul blew up an Army mess tent and killed or injured almost 100; President Bush is going to renominate 20 judicial candidates who have not passed earlier muster - (Democrats say they approved 240 of the President's nominations and sacked only 10); the market is having a Christmas upswing, but the dollar has fallen against the Euro and a it takes almost two dollars to get a British pound. Happy New Year!
#239 (04-88)
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