Chapel Hill Murders

February 15, 2015 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

Trying to parse whether the senseless killing of three young Muslims at an apartment complex in Chapel in Chapel Hill, NC was a hate crime or a dispute over parking is an exercise in futility and a distinction without a difference. These three young people are dead in either case. Only a person full of hate could perpetrate such a heinous and outrageous crime against humanity. This chinless monster known as Craig Stephen Hicks is an abysmal human being living a life of quiet desperation collecting guns and burning a slow hate filled fuse. He was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off and the parking dispute was the detonator that set him off. What can we learn from this hideous crime? One, tolerance of intolerance is evil. We should always condemn bigotry in all its forms, be it racial, gender or religious. Two, this man should never have been allowed to carry a firearm, much less amass a cache of guns and ammunition. He was simply too irresponsible and incompetent to do so. Besides, who nee to have so many weapons? We need to have a serious conversation about the proliferation of guns in this country. Enough is enough already! How many more senseless killings will it take? How many roads must a man walk down? How many times must a weapon discharge? How many times must we turn our heads and pretend not to see?

Fox News: Ministry of Information

January 26, 2015January 27, 2015 / Benn Bell / 6 Comments

There are two ways of infringing liberty: by police power or economic power. The latter can be exercised either directly or indirectly, by orienting the way people think, by addling their brains, by using the press (media, a la Fox News) to bias them in favor of special interests (think Koch Brothers and Citizens United).

Citizens United left this country open to the power of money. We now know the extent to which moneyed interests use the press to further their interests.

American Sniper

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 / Benn Bell / Leave a comment

I have seen the film and I think it is quite good, but my reaction is complicated by the fact that I have a visceral dislike for the whole concept of sniper fire. Shooting people from a distance who never knew what hit them seems a little unseemly to me. I don’t like it. Put that together with the fact that the real life Chris Kyle was a racist and a bigot and would basically shoot any Iraqi, man, woman, or child, gives me even more pause. I am reminded of Wounded Knee and the slaughter of innocents who were also referred to as savages. Kyle is also a proven liar. Jessie Ventura has just won a lawsuit against his estate for a story about him in his book that was completely fabricated. You have to wonder what else is Kyle lying about. Not to mention the fact that we should not have been in Iraq in the first place. It was not a just nor a good war. But this story transcends the life of the real Chris Kyle and brings to our attention the plight of the American soldier returning from multiple deployments and the psychological trauma inflicted upon these tortured souls. Attention must be paid!

Golden Globes 2015

January 12, 2015February 15, 2015 / Benn Bell / Leave a comment

There was no one hotter than J-LO at the 2015 Golden Globes Awards with the possible exception of Heidi Klum. Viola Davis is looking mighty fine these days. Bill Murray gets special mention for “Most Disheveled” and Helen Mirren is sexy as ever.

Unbroken

January 6, 2015January 8, 2015 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

The movie Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie, proves that Miss Jolie is not only a movie star of the first magnitude, but a first rate director as well. There have been a lot of snarky comments about Angelina lately in the press, but I don’t know why there should be so much hate out there for the beautiful and talented Miss Jolie. Jealousy is the only thing I can see. I think credit is due for this masterful piece of work.
The film was beautifully photographed by Roger Deakins, also known for his work on The Shawshank Redemption, No Country for Old Men and, Skyfall. Writing credits go to Joel and Ethan Coen. The film was based on the best-selling book of the same name written by Laura Hillenbrand.
I was somewhat taken aback by some of the critics who called the movie boring and the hero unheroic. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was mesmerized for the entire running time of 2 hours and 17 minutes. This film was about the triumph of the human spirit. It was not about super human deeds on the battlefield.
The movie was a faithful rendition of the book on which it was based. It told in a straight forward way with flashbacks throughout to flesh out the back story and give the audience understanding of what gave Louie Zamperini the strength of character to remain unbroken throughout the many ordeals he faced during WWII. He first survived a plane crash in the ocean, then survived 45 days at sea on a rubber raft with very little food and water. When he was picked up by the Japanese he was incarcerated in a prison camp and braved harsh conditions, mistreatment, and torture at the hands of a sadistic camp commander known as, “The Bird.”
In my view this is an inspirational film of epic proportion that shows us that the human spirit can triumph over evil. We need more films like this one. I see Oscar buzz and a possible nomination for best picture. It has my vote. Bravo Angelina Jolie!

December 26, 1944

December 27, 2014December 27, 2014 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

The Pope has just delivered a message in which he openly states his support for democracy…We have been waiting many years for the leading spiritual authority of the day to condemn dictatorship in no uncertain terms. We have been waiting all this time for someone to speak out and clearly identify the sources of evil as the Pope has now done. We wished for this to be said when evil reigned triumphant and the forces of good remained muzzled.

We would have liked to see the Pope disavow Franco in 1936. We would have liked the Pope to have taken a stand at the height of that shameful period and denounce what needed to be denounced. It as wrenching to think the Church left that obligation to others.

At least we have this message. Our world does not need tepid souls. It needs burning hearts. The Christians of the first century were not moderates.

-Albert Camus writing in Combat in 1944.

A City Upon a Hill

December 23, 2014December 23, 2014 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

It seems the phrase, “a city upon a hill” has been misappropriated all over the place. It was most recently ascribed to Ronald Reagan who used it to describe America. He probably got it from his speech writer Peggy Noonan who has lifted other memorable quotes from the pages of history. She likely got it from John F. Kennedy who also used it to describe America. It was first used in America in 1630 by a former Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, in a speech wherein he describes American exceptionalism based on the concept of manifest destiny.

The actual origin of the phrase is biblical, Mathew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” I believe the origin to be even earlier found in Plato’s Republic. Plato describes the City-State as the perfect form of government and a philosopher-king as the perfect ruler. Plato uses Athens as an example describing it as “city set upon a hill.”

So you see, there is really nothing new under the sun. Everyone steals from everyone else.

Fields of Blood

December 21, 2014 / Benn Bell / 3 Comments

I am reading this new book by Karen Armstrong called, Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. It is really putting a lot of things into perspective for me. Turns out, until recently, religion and statehood were completely intertwined. State violence has been the order of the day since the beginning of civilization. Nationalism and religion went hand in hand and violence was completely justified as a way of survival by the ruling elite who quite often were the priests and the prelates.

Here is a quote from the book which I quite like.

We are flawed creatures with violent hearts that long for peace.

I Can’t Breathe

December 7, 2014December 7, 2014 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

According to no less a legal authority than Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the function of the grand jury is not to inquire upon what foundation the charge may be denied or to otherwise try the suspect’s defenses, but only to examine upon what foundation the charge is being made by the prosecutor. As a consequence, neither in this country or in England has the suspect under investigation by the grand jury ever been thought to have a right to testify or to have exculpatory evidence presented.

Furthermore, prosecutors work hand in glove with police in prosecuting their cases. They depend on their testimony, their evidence and their cooperation. There is an inherent bias favoring law enforcement by prosecutors. Prosecutors can manipulate the grand jury in any decision they want. Having prosecutors investigate the police is like having the fox guard the hen house.

I would suggest there has been a misuse, indeed an outright abuse of the grand jury system by prosecutors in the Michael Brown and the Eric Garner cases rising to the level of prosecutorial malfeasance. The only reasonable solution to this problem of the investigation police officers who kill unarmed citizens is to appoint a special prosecutor unencumbered by by bias, mutual obligation, and racial animus.

Interstellar

November 30, 2014 / Benn Bell / Leave a comment

When I entered the black hole
I was struck by the naked singularity
And the music of the night.

Jupiter was ascending
And Scorpio was rising
The jukebox as blaring
And the sirens were screaming.

The neon wilderness showed me the way
To the star studded brilliance of the Milky Way
I lost all consciousness as the drugs took hold
Somewhere in the depths of the hold.

When I regained my strength from my long winter’s nap
I dug deep into my jeans for a few copper pennies
To be sure I had the means to pay for my midnight sin
I strolled through the door to the daylight again
And once again became human once more.