David Marshall, Jr., O.D., Ph.D.

R.I.P. NEDA

Posted: 06/22/2009

It seems the political and social unrest currently taking place in Iran has become all too common. We have seen voting irregularities occur in Presidential elections in Lithuania, Mexico, and here in both 2000 and 2004. However, the familiar yet unique scenario occurring in the streets of Tehran is quite different. It is widely known and accepted that power in Iran is wielded by a council of Clerics and it is the Supreme Cleric who actually determines the course, direction, and policy that defines the nation, yet hundreds of thousands have repeatedly taken to the streets, even in the face of a government ban and crackdown,  in staunch opposition to what they see as a violation of their rights. Yes they aware whoever their President is, he is truly just a figurehead yet the election of this puppet represents DEMOCRACY to them and for that principle they are willing to protest, participate in civil disobedience and unrest, and YES, even DIE. The Iranians should be applauded for taking a stance against this perceived injustice, but doesn't it seem weird that when the same thing happened here, the cradle of democracy, in 2000 and 2004, in a country whose founder's rallying cry was "Give Me Liberty or Give me Death", a country in which millions of citizens have since given their lives to that cause, nothing of any event comparable to what is presently occurring in Iran occurred anywhere in our United States? Unlike Iran, our elected leader wields TRUE POWER. What could and would have been avoided had we rallied behind the principles we hold so dear? I will leave that to political analysts, social scientists, and future generations to decide. Because of  our apathy or disillusionment we do not have a face to represent recent political injustices. We do NOT have a Neda, whose horrific and cruel circumstance which was caught on video for the whole world to see and which makes me feel empty, hollow, and hurt to the point I wished I had never seen the video nor even heard of her,  but we do see the faces of the unemployed and those facing imminent unemployment, those who have lost their homes to foreclosure and those about to, those who have lost their sons and daughters in vain, and sadly the faces of our children, whose youthful exuberance has been dampened by a very uncertain future. My heart goes out to the relatives and loved ones of Neda and I hope those who believe in the ideals of democracy, in whatever form, justice and "freedom" will never forget her. Rest in Peace Neda. To share your comments regarding this or any of my blogs, please click here.

OBAMA!!!!! Man or Black Man? Yes We Can?

Posted: 11/05/2008

Tonight something that I never dared even dream became reality. America, whose very foundation was based on racism, exploitation and inequality, elected a man of color to hold the highest office in the land. From the AP Barack Obama, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, shattered more than 200 years of history Tuesday night by winning election as the first African-American president of the United States. A crowd of 125,000 people jammed Grant Park in Chicago, where Obama addressed the nation for the first time as its president-elect at midnight ET. Hundreds of thousands more — Mayor Richard Daley said he would not be surprised if a million Chicagoans jammed the streets — watched on a large television screen outside the park. “If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” Obama declared. Yes anything now seems possible. However, let's get this straight. President-Elect Obama is an african-american since his father is african and his mother american, but he is NOT african-american in the sense our separtist race sensitive society has defined it. He is BI-RACIAL. However, his ethnicity, race, or creed shouldn't even be an issue. He is the PRESIDENT-ELECT. It is funny that we still, even after his landslide victory, see COLOR!! He should be held up as a man of vision, compassion, insight, strength, and a leader NOT a BLACK MAN. Funny, even after this we still find it difficult to change. What will it take America? To respond to this or any of my previous blogs please click here.

Nothing Important Happened Today

Posted: 09/11/2008

On July 4, 1776, perhaps the most powerful man in the world at that time wrote in his journal "Nothing Important Happened Today". Can you imagine what was going on in his mind? Maybe he was oblivious to the events unraveling across the Atlantic, or did not fully appreciate the gravity of the situation, or thought it was truly insignificant since nothing happened to him personally. We may never know for sure, but we and the whole world realizes the importance of that day just as we and the world remember today's signifiicance. September 11th,  9/11, The terrorists attacks, whatever you call it, has probably the most wide ranging consequences for our world when compared to December 7, 1941 or July 4, 1776. The later events changed the world drastically, but 9/11 has perhaps changed it forever. It is a day that launched the world into a new round of violence, however, unlike the other dates, no end of the war is in sight. There has been and will never be a decisive battle fought between opposing armies. There is no dehumanized enemy to hate, since not all Saudis, Afghans, or Arabs are involved. How can you fight an idea? How can their be peace between extremely dichotomous ideologies? I don't know. Does anyone? I just know 3,000 lives were lost on this day was and is painful to think about. I remember driving to work completely oblivious to the attacks and how I felt when I took my normal shortcut to my office through a Sears department store and stood transfixed before a 32-inch television and watched helplessly as the second plane struck the tower. My mind seethed with RAGE which later evolved into to pain, then sadness, and then back to rage. I guess somewhere someone noted that "Nothing Important Happened Today" in their journal on September 11, 2001, but for most of us, we will never forget it!!!  To respond to this or any other blogs, please click here.

Cern: Boon or Bust?

Posted: 09/11/2008

On September 10th an event occurred that may either heighten our understanding of the universe or, by some accounts, signal the end of our existence. What happened? After 14 years of preparation, a new scientific wonder of the world opened for business Wednesday with the official startup of Europe's Large Hadron Collider. The $10 billion particle accelerator is the biggest, most expensive science machine on earth, designed to probe mysteries ranging from dark matter and missing antimatter to the existence of extra, unseen dimensions in space. Scientists, journalists and dignitaries watched from the control room at Europe's CERN particle-physics center on the French-Swiss border, near Geneva, as beams of protons were sent all the way around the collider's 17-mile (27-kilometer) underground ring of supercooled pipes for the first time. So what? What does it have to do with me? Well, one young lady in the know was so troubled by the event  that she took what many of us would consider drastic measures. Why? Perhaps this will explain her actions Once the machine is in full operation, two streams of invisible protons will be whipped up in opposite directions around an underground racetrack to 99.999999 percent of the speed of light. When the two waves of protons slam into each other, scientists expect particles to melt into bits of energy up to 100,000 times hotter than the sun's core — a state that should replicate what the entire universe was like just an instant after it came into being.  Imagine re-creating creation. But preparation for this feat was not without its problems. ... At full power, the proton beams at the LHC will run into each other with the force of two 400-ton bullet trains going 100 mph. That amounts to 14 trillion electron volts, or about seven times the Tevatron's maximum power. To bend those subatomic bullet trains into a circular path requires a chain of more than 1,800 superconducting magnets that have been chilled so close to absolute zero that they're colder than the average temperature of outer space (1.9 degrees Kelvin, or 456.3 degrees below zero Fahrenheit). Some of those magnets have to be collimated to focus the beams precisely at the ring's four collision points, like a telescope focusing light onto its mirrors. Drawing on its experience from Tevatron, Fermilab was put in charge of providing many of those magnets. But back in March 2007, a design flaw led to a violent breakdown during a cooldown test. The supports that held the magnet in place came loose with a loud bang and a cloud of dust. The LHC's scheduled startup had to be delayed 10 months to install and test a fix for the faulty magnets. Even with the fix, there's no guarantee that the magnetic field will always hold. A runaway proton beam could blast right through its helium-cooled pipeline and kill anyone who got in its way. That's why the tunnel is sealed off for each run. If anything goes wrong, a computer-controlled system will shut down the collider and send the errant beam down a blind alley within milliseconds. Doesn't scare you yet? Well, read on Will the Large Hadron Collider destroy the world, or help the world? As the atom-smasher at Europe's CERN research center is readied for its official startup near Geneva on Wednesday, researchers might wish that the general public was captivated by the quest for the Higgs boson, the search for supersymmetric particles and even the evidence for extra dimensions. But if the feedback so far is any guide, the real headline-grabber is the claim that the world's most powerful particle-smasher could create microscopic black holes that some fear would gobble up the planet. Now, you get the picture. The scientists say that they can contain any particles that will be produced, but how sure are they. No one knows about dark matter or dark energy, and least of all black holes because we have never physically studied them. How reassured are you now? Many are not. The black-hole scenario is even getting its day in court: Critics of the project have called for the suspension of work on the European collider until the scenario receives a more thorough safety review, filing separate legal challenges in U.S. federal court and the European Court of Human Rights. Well getting back to the young lady mentioned earlier. Here's what happened BHOPAL, India - A teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatized by media reports that a "Big Bang" experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said. The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said. Her father, identified on local television as Biharilal, said that his daughter, Chayya, killed herself after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programs. Were her actions irresponsible, the actions of a person in the know, or that of a frightened naive child. I really don't know. I guess we all have to wait and pray. To respond to this or any of my previous postings, please click here.

RNC Hypocrisy

Posted: 09/04/2008

Last night we beheld another historic political event as GOP VP nominee, Sarah Palin, delivered what some have called an "electrifying" speech to the GOP delegates and a national audience. I must say that if I weren't as cynical or old as I am, I may have even enjoyed it. However, I am what you call "old school" and through experience have learned that all politicians LIE, but not when they are initially introduced to the mainstream! Usually the lying occurs much later. Tuesday evening's CBS Evening News hosted by Katie Courcic revealed the extent of Gov. Palin's deception. In fact the first nine minutes were dedicated to a segment that replayed her claims followed by the facts. WOW! I didn't think she was ready to lead with her extremely limited political experience (is Alaska even a real state?), but her initial time in the spotlight revealed her to be a truly (maybe I shouldn't use that word) seasoned politician. Hey, isn't she facing corruption charges in her home state of Alaska as well? You know I have to comment on what everyone else seems to be fixated upon regarding Gov. Palin, but I will use a novel approach, an indirect comparison. A young thirty-something hard working mother from an inner city, working hard to provide for her family, learns a devastating secret her teenage daughter has been keeping. A child she gave birth to, nutured, taught right from wrong, and placed her hopes upon, finally tells her mother she is pregnant. Despite all I have mentioned how is this hard working mother perceived. Yep, it signifies her failure to be a good mother. These things DON'T HAPPEN TO GOOD MOTHERS!! Good mother's children graduate from high school, go to college, pursue a career, meet a good man, settle down, and raise a good normal upstanding family. Don't believe me? Does anyone remotely think "famous" siblings Britney and Jaime Lynn's mother is a good mother? Why is Sarah Palin the exception? Why have we heard about the importance of strong moral character for the last 25 years and now in her case, it's a "family issue" and doesn't reflect her ability to lead and NO ONE should take it into consideration. This is from the GOP, otherwise known as GOD'S Party. Wonder what all those fine church goin' folks have to say? I guess we'll find out in November. If  you wish to respond to this or any of my previous blogs, please feel free and click the link here.

Cold War II = WWIII?

Posted: 08/21/2008

It seems the majority of  us are concerned with giving the Olympic Games our full attention. Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Usain Bolt, and the star of the games, Michael Phelps, have captured the hearts and attention of most Americans. However, it seems that few are focused upon the truly important events of tangible substance which will define not only our future, but the future of this planet. I am not belittling the accomplishments these and other athletes have achieved, but what will it mean to the future if there is NO future beyond 4 ½ years. Ask most Americans about South Ossetia and they haven't a clue. They will soon!! The relationship between ourselves and Russia has been cordial at best recently and now appears teetering on the brink of collapse. Is South Ossetia or Georgia worth it? The propaganda machine was in full mode when the Russian and US governments took up opposing stances regarding the conflict. We support the Georgian government's rights to quell and slaughter anyone who opposes it, while Russia portrays itself as a defender of life by intervening and halting the genocide of the South Ossetians by bombing the capital city of Tbilisi and occuppying the separtist region. Who's right? I don't know or care,  I just know it is always the people who suffer the consequences as a result of their goverments actions. However, the suffering probably won't end there. The US wanted our NATO allies to approve penalties against Russia but they declined, so to up the ante, we signed an agreement with Poland to place anti-ballistic missiles only 100 miles from Russian soil. Secretary of State Rice said "... these missiles aren't aimed at anyone..." Well we didn't need them before so why are they neccessary now? Russia responded bizarrely, according to a US news agency, by stating that the placement of missiles there would provide provocation for attack against Poland. Hey, REMEMBER THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER!!! Bizzare indeed! Act Five appears to be right on schedule. This does not bode well for humanity. If we look back to WW I, roughly 10 million were killed and WW II took the lives of roughly 50 million due to its broad scope and advances in military tactics and technology, well we are light years ahead in the business of taking lives since the conclusion of WW II, so a conservative estimate of 500 million to 1 BILLION lives lost seem to be reasonably within the realm of possibility. The stage is set, the players selected, all we can collectively do is sit back and watch the performance. What other choice do we have? God forgive us and have mercy on our souls! Enjoy the Olympics!! To respond to this or any other blog, please click here.

Act Five: A prophetic vision? You Decide

Posted: 08/10/2008

I wrote Act Five in February 2005 based upon a number of contingencies that I thought were possible but not probable. My forecast of the future is indeed dark. I wrote of the unintended collateral events the war on terror would bring forth, the impact that outrageous gasoline prices would have upon the social fabric of America, the escalation of warring parties in Iraq, the consequence of a change of leadership in Pakistan, and the adversarial posture that would develop between the U.S and Russia. So far, I'm  sorry to say, I'm batting 1.000. The events that may lead to the later events began Friday and as of today have only gotten worse. Today's AP headline states: TBILISI, Georgia - Russia battled Georgian forces on land and sea, reports said late Sunday, despite a Georgian cease-fire offer and its claim to be withdrawing from South Ossetia, the separatist Georgian province battered by days of intense fighting. Russia claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that was trying to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea, and Georgian officials said Russia sent tanks from South Ossetia into Georgia proper, heading toward a strategic city before being turned back. Russian planes on Sunday twice bombed an area near the Georgian capital's airport, officials said. The violence appeared to show Russia's determination to subdue diminutive, U.S.-backed Georgia, even at the risk of international reproach. Russia fended off a wave of international calls to observe Georgia's cease-fire, saying it must first be assured that Georgian troops have indeed pulled back from South Ossetia. Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was said to have told Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that Russia's military actions in Georgia "must not go unanswered." Cheney's press secretary, Lee Ann McBride, said the vice president spoke Sunday afternoon with Saakashvili. "The vice president expressed the United States' solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," she said.                                                        Cheney told Saakashvili "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community," McBride said. Has a line in the sand been drawn? Is this just political rhetoric? Tough, strong words without the possibility of action? I don't think it matters. Russia does not feel comfortable with Pro-US nations around its border and we can't tolerate not having them there, so here we go again. Cold War II. Let me know what you think regarding Act Five, current events, any of my previous blogs or any of my "songs" by clicking here.

The Worth of One

Posted: 08/07/2008

Routinely while watching the news we hear about tragic events surrounding an individual and continue with our day without skipping a beat, but what is the worth of one human being? We often only feel the loss personally and respond as a whole only when many lives are taken, such as in the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the tragedy of 911. Why? The cruel murder of one man led to the murder of at least 10 million during The First World War and was indirectly responsible for the carnage and mayhem of the Second World War. Governments have toppled due to loss of one man (sometimes for the best, sometimes not) and long-term painful memories have haunted us due to the assassinations of individuals such as JFK, MLK, and RFK. These single men impacted lives and it is easy to see their perceived worth, but isn't every life precious? Headlines today announced that Pakistan's Musharraf and the U.S. may soon find out the worth of one life. “The coalition leaders believe that it has become imperative to move for impeachment ... against General Musharraf,” Zardari, the head of the coalition and long-time opposition leader Benazir Bhutto’s widower, told a news conference with his main coalition partner former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The political uncertainty has taken a toll on Pakistani markets, with the main share index at its weakest in almost two years and the rupee headed back toward all-time lows posted in early July. Trip to China blocked Pakistan's foreign ministry announced Thursday that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, instead of Musharraf, would leave for China on Thursday to attend opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. The move against the U.S. ally in the war against terrorism could plunge the nuclear-armed Muslim nation into a new bout of political instability unless former army chief Musharraf, who came to power in a coup nine years ago, decided to go quietly. One life, once again, as we have seen in the past, CAN and DOES affect the world. In Act Five, I discuss possible future events and so far, unfortunately, it appears to be on track. Let me know what you think by clicking here.

Iraq...and NOW it has Begun

Posted: 07/28/2008

Violence in Iraq has been on the decline in recent weeks, however a spark has been provided to turn the situation there explosive once again. We may have gotten use to headlines such as: BAGHDAD - Suicide bombers struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad ... on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300, police said. Three female suicide bombers blew their explosive vests in the middle of pilgrims in Baghdad, moments after a roadside bomb attack, killing at least 32 people and wounding 102, Iraqi officials said. BUT NOT THIS: ... In the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, 25 people were killed and 185 wounded when a blast tore through a crowd of Kurds protesting a draft provincial elections law, officials said... A new deadlier round of ethnic violence is at hand, just as I predicted in Act Five: The Future. The bombings in Istanbul provided the spark but who should put out the flame? Depending on the outcome of November's election, our troops will be there for at least another 20 months and will be on the frontlines while situations continue to unravel, fighting a fight that is not theirs to fight. WMD's ? Regime Change? Iraqi Freedom? Now What? I'd like to know what you think. Send me your feedback by clicking here.

Bloody, Bloody Sunday

Posted: 07/28/2008

At almost regular intervals, we are forced to focus our collective attention on some "random" act of violence. Today a Tennessee town and a large foreign city drew our attention. From the news wire: KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A gunman opened fire at a church youth performance Sunday, injuring seven people and killing an elderly woman and a man who witnesses called a hero for shielding others from a shotgun blast. Members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church said they dove under pews or ran from the building when the shooting started. The gunman was tackled by congregants and eventually taken into police custody. None of the children were injured. A hospital spokeswoman said several of the wounded were in critical condition. Two others were treated and released...   AND ISTANBUL, Turkey - Two bombs exploded minutes apart in a packed Istanbul square Sunday night, killing 16 and injuring more than 150 in the deadliest attack against civilians in Turkey in almost five years. The city's governor called it a "terror attack" but officials did not blame any specific group and no one immediately claimed responsibility. CNN-Turk television, citing security sources, said police suspect Kurdish rebels may be behind it because intelligence reports had suggested the rebels were planning a bombing campaign in Turkish cities. Why will be the inevitable question asked regarding these incidents. In "PRELUDE" I discuss, through example, the mentally of a spree killer or mass murderer with the hopes of discouraging and preventing such acts. In my synopsis of our possible future (Act Five), I predicted a violent confrontation would soon take place between the Turks and Kurds with drastic consequences for Iraq. Unfortunately, both scenarios have occurred, or in the case of the Turks and Kurds in Iraq, will soon occur. I like to be right, but this is one time I wish I weren't. Send me your comments regarding this blog or any other blogs by clicking here.