DOuG pRATt

Gaza Gazing

One of the benefits of being my age is I’m not influenced very much by the opinions of pundits, and I come to my own conclusions about world events. As far as I’m concerned, nobody in the Middle East is entirely in the right, or blameless of atrocities.

Israel was pounding Gaza while Bush was still President because they knew he wouldn’t complain. The only reason it’s offering a cease fire now is because Obama is taking office and they’re not sure how he’ll react, although I assume Hillary Clinton has been talking privately with Israel. Obama has been smart to not make any public statements about Gaza before taking office.

Nobody likes Hamas, and Israel is right to defend its people from attack, but if I were Obama the first thing I would do is say, “Effective immediately, no more planes or tanks will be sold to Israel.”

The rise of radical Islam is a result mostly of two things — the creation of the state of Israel, and America putting the Shah of Iran in power. Israel can either be an all-Jewish state, or not. America can continue to try keeping friendly governments in power in the Middle East, or not.

It’s obvious that hard-line, winner-take-all policies don’t work, because the way things are there can be no winners. If I were Obama my attitude would be, “I don’t care who started it, but I’m damn sure going to do what I can to end it.” To do that means not being a nice guy. So the Republicans are right about the need to be tough, but we have to be tough on Israel too.

3 comments January 19th, 2009

Chapel, Star Trek’s Number One Nurse

I loved watching Star Trek when I was a kid. Being the age I am, I saw the original series when it first aired, from 1966-69. I’d hold the mic of my portable Aiwa reel-to-reel tape recorder to the TV speakers, record the shows, and play them over and over again in bed late at night.

It’s already been a month since Majel Barrett passed away. About thirty years ago (!), Bismo and I attended a lecture and presentation by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry that was held at the Springfield (MA) Civic Center. Roddenberry showed the original Trek pilot, called “The Cage,” copied from what was then the only known print, in black and white. In the 80’s a video was assembled using color footage from “The Menagerie.” Later, a full color print of the pilot was found, but I enjoy the mixed version, because it highlights the parts that had been cut. Here’s my Nurse Chapel tribute.

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6 comments January 19th, 2009