Hi Everyone:
Since I am not a DJ, I don't usually take topic requests. But a reader challenged me to figure out a common sense solution to the situation where a mosque might be built close to ground zero. I accept the challenge and here is how I figured out what to do.
In order for me to figure out a common sense solution I must, as always, look at the facts which are as follows:
1) The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees the freedom of religion including practicing and praying where you want.
2) The building in question is the old Burlington Coat Factory building at 45-51 Park Place. The landing gear of one of the planes that hit one of the World Center buildings damaged the top of the building.
3) According to my research, a mosque has a dome roof and a minaret.
4) According to developer Sharif El-Gamal, the owner of the building, he said on record that it is not a mosque but an Islamic cultural (community) center that also has a prayer chapel. I read a description that it would be like an Islamic 92nd street Y.
5) The center would be called Park 51.
6) Depending on how you measure, Ground Zero is 2 to 5 blocks away.
7) The person that would be in charge of the center is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. He has been a trusted ally of the Clinton and G.W. Bush administrations as an Islamic religious leader on behalf of moderate Islam. The Obama administration just sent him overseas for another sanctioned fence mending trip.
8) The Imam stood in the rubble of the World Trade Centers and repudiated the cruel violence unleashed on innocent civilians.
9) The Imam stands for (amongst other things), fence mending and healing, his own words.
10) There are many people who approve of the Cultural Center being built there.
11) There are many people who oppose the Cultural Center being built at that specific location.
12) If the Cultural Center is built at the current location, more probably than not, there will be violence by a few American extremists who are totally against the Center.
So there are the facts that I know about the situation. Now I'm not saying that I have all of the facts, but I believe that I have enough facts to render my common sense solution. First of all, the owner of the building, if all approvals are met, has the right to build there. Secondly, if the center is built, I believe that there will be no peace and violence may occur. Some 9/11 victim's family's may find it totally insensitive. Thirdly, if the Imam is truly serious about his wanting to heal the rift between Islamic and the non-Islamic world, building his center there at that specific sight, would not help the healing process, but would keep the wound, left by 9/11, festering and not in a healing state.
Consequently, even though they may have the legal right to build the center there, my common sense solution based on all of the above would be to not build the cultural center at the Burlington Coat Factory building; but else where in the city. There are lots of of locations that are available and would not be cause for any more needless pain or insensitivity. The Imam then could say that he is indeed a man of healing.
Til next week.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
True Recycling
Hi Everyone,
My family and I just returned from a vacation at the Jersey shore. It doesn't sound right to say at the New Jersey shore. But I digress. We hadn't been there for a vacation in about 4-5 years. Although we spent most of our time in a quaint little town called Ocean Grove, which was founded in 1869. Ocean Grove is also the town directly south of Asbury Park.
The last time we saw Asbury Park it was a sorry, sorry sight, with more closed boardwalk stores then open ones. The heyday of Asbury Park seemed like a millennium ago. So we were quite pleasantly surprised to see a greatly improved boardwalk with lots of people and open stores. There was only one building that didn't have active tenants, but construction crews were working on the insides. A lot of money was spent, both by Asbury Park and the store owners, many of which sell some kind of food. But what really amazed me was that there were at least 20 shipping containers that had been converted into attractive stores/shops. Wow, what a concept that exudes the use of great common sense!
The shipping containers are the size of a trailer, the back end of the 18 wheeled tractor trailer. After they are unloaded from a ship, they are then lowered and secured onto a trailer that then gets driven to its delivery destination. But, due to the trade imbalance between the United States and China and other countries, there are more empty containers on this side of the trading route; since this country doesn't use that many to export our products. So the majority of the empty containers get returned to the ports and then sit there forever. Most likely never to be used again. I remember a segment on some news show, that aired many years ago, about the hundreds of thousands of empty shipping containers that were and still are sitting at ports all around our country and what to do with them. Well Asbury Park found a unique way of recycling them. The use of them is a win-win solution. It is obviously much less expensive to buy one of the containers and retrofit them versus building from scratch. And the containers are recycled into a useful product. Asbury Park's use of the containers was in the form of beach ticket sales offices and restrooms. As I said, the shops are attractive especially with colorful paint/designs and seemed to be very efficient. Some of the food shops even use two containers.
My hats off to Asbury Park and their forward thinking about recycling and using great common sense!
Til next week.
My family and I just returned from a vacation at the Jersey shore. It doesn't sound right to say at the New Jersey shore. But I digress. We hadn't been there for a vacation in about 4-5 years. Although we spent most of our time in a quaint little town called Ocean Grove, which was founded in 1869. Ocean Grove is also the town directly south of Asbury Park.
The last time we saw Asbury Park it was a sorry, sorry sight, with more closed boardwalk stores then open ones. The heyday of Asbury Park seemed like a millennium ago. So we were quite pleasantly surprised to see a greatly improved boardwalk with lots of people and open stores. There was only one building that didn't have active tenants, but construction crews were working on the insides. A lot of money was spent, both by Asbury Park and the store owners, many of which sell some kind of food. But what really amazed me was that there were at least 20 shipping containers that had been converted into attractive stores/shops. Wow, what a concept that exudes the use of great common sense!
The shipping containers are the size of a trailer, the back end of the 18 wheeled tractor trailer. After they are unloaded from a ship, they are then lowered and secured onto a trailer that then gets driven to its delivery destination. But, due to the trade imbalance between the United States and China and other countries, there are more empty containers on this side of the trading route; since this country doesn't use that many to export our products. So the majority of the empty containers get returned to the ports and then sit there forever. Most likely never to be used again. I remember a segment on some news show, that aired many years ago, about the hundreds of thousands of empty shipping containers that were and still are sitting at ports all around our country and what to do with them. Well Asbury Park found a unique way of recycling them. The use of them is a win-win solution. It is obviously much less expensive to buy one of the containers and retrofit them versus building from scratch. And the containers are recycled into a useful product. Asbury Park's use of the containers was in the form of beach ticket sales offices and restrooms. As I said, the shops are attractive especially with colorful paint/designs and seemed to be very efficient. Some of the food shops even use two containers.
My hats off to Asbury Park and their forward thinking about recycling and using great common sense!
Til next week.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
AFV
Hi Everyone:
So I've been thinking about this week's blog for a while. I wanted to have a lighter side blog that would be amusing. Since I have been blogging about common sense for 1 1/2 years now, I wondered where I could find the motherload of all motherloads that would showcase people doing stupid things without using any common sense. It finally dawned on me that I had found the supreme showcase of people without common sense. Where did I find it? On TV of course.
With hundreds of channels with our FIOS TV, it was right there in front of me and has been for over 20+ years. What is this lack of common sense TV show? It is none other then America's Funniest Videos, or AFV. I'm pretty sure that each and every one of you have watched this show at some point. AFV shows the best and worst of what happens to people when they do something without using common sense. Each show contains a multitude of people doing sometimes normal stuff and sometimes outrageous things and what pain and/or humiliation they endure afterwards. I have to admit that this is one of the few TV shows that makes me laugh numerous times during each show. The examples are far too numerous to mention, just watch it and see for yourselves.
But then I wondered what would happen to AFV if every person on Earth had great common sense and used it in every aspect of the daily lives. AFV would not have as many people clips then. Consequently, the way I see it, the name would then have to change to something like AFV: Animal Version. The animal clips are just as funny as the people clips are. I'm pretty sure the change would not diminish their ratings.
FYI, AFV is not the only show. There are a lot of others i.e.: COPS, Speeders and Most Amazing Videos etc., etc. My favorite though is AFV. Check it out and have a good laugh at all the people doing stupid things without thinking about the consequences.
Enjoy.
Til next week.
So I've been thinking about this week's blog for a while. I wanted to have a lighter side blog that would be amusing. Since I have been blogging about common sense for 1 1/2 years now, I wondered where I could find the motherload of all motherloads that would showcase people doing stupid things without using any common sense. It finally dawned on me that I had found the supreme showcase of people without common sense. Where did I find it? On TV of course.
With hundreds of channels with our FIOS TV, it was right there in front of me and has been for over 20+ years. What is this lack of common sense TV show? It is none other then America's Funniest Videos, or AFV. I'm pretty sure that each and every one of you have watched this show at some point. AFV shows the best and worst of what happens to people when they do something without using common sense. Each show contains a multitude of people doing sometimes normal stuff and sometimes outrageous things and what pain and/or humiliation they endure afterwards. I have to admit that this is one of the few TV shows that makes me laugh numerous times during each show. The examples are far too numerous to mention, just watch it and see for yourselves.
But then I wondered what would happen to AFV if every person on Earth had great common sense and used it in every aspect of the daily lives. AFV would not have as many people clips then. Consequently, the way I see it, the name would then have to change to something like AFV: Animal Version. The animal clips are just as funny as the people clips are. I'm pretty sure the change would not diminish their ratings.
FYI, AFV is not the only show. There are a lot of others i.e.: COPS, Speeders and Most Amazing Videos etc., etc. My favorite though is AFV. Check it out and have a good laugh at all the people doing stupid things without thinking about the consequences.
Enjoy.
Til next week.
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