The Iraqi Groundhog Emerges

The United States is stuck in “Groundhog Day” the movie, where the American people play Bill Murray's character, the frustrated weatherman Phil Connors. We are waking up only to realize that yesterday is today over and over again. American soldiers in Iraq are killed, Iraqis are killed in sectarian bombing that adds to a series of more bombings, and another bloodiest day in Iraq occurs. The American people are looking for an exit strategy out of Iraq, and President Bush wants to increase troops escalating the war declaring that this surge is now our only option for success. It is Groundhog Day, over and over again.

When Bill Murray's character, Phil Connors, first realizes he is awakening to the same day, he uses this “invincibility” to his advantage by engaging in risky behavior. As he continues to wake up on February 2^nd over and over again, he adapts to his situation and attempts to better himself and use his knowledge of the upcoming events to help himself and others around him. The US, on the other hand, is trapped in a “bizzaro” Groundhog's Day. After four years without success and a seemingly endless cycle of violence, lies, and political rhetoric, our government is not changing its course of action to get us out of this cycle; instead it maintains the same course. For Phil Connors, life and the lives around him kept getting better, but for the US, the occupation in Iraq continues to worsen with loss of life and suffering on all sides of the fighting.

As we have to adapt to the new pressures that this war places on both the US and Iraq, it may be necessary to alter the definition of success in favor of pulling out our troops. If the situations and the circumstances do not change around us, then we have to start changing around them. The joke must be on us, the American people, as we continue along the path paved since March 20, 2003, and yet we have had little success in the Iraq War and the river of blood keeps flowing. Congress may help block President Bush from sending an additional 21,000 troops into Iraq to help end this repeating cycle, however the president does not seem too willing to give in to Congress and the American people's wishes.

If we wake up in the morning and no longer hear, “It's another bloody day in Iraq,” blaring on the radio like Phil Connors no longer heard Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” then we will know an exit strategy out of Iraq has begun, and then we have seen the last of Iraq's Groundhog's Day. On the eve of the war we should have headed the advice of the nutty insurance agent in the film, Ned Ryerson, “Watch out for that first step. It's a doozy.”

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Message of wartime America not found in new music

What do Kelly Clarkson, Nickelback’s “Photograph,” and Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” have in common? Little except that they were all released during wartime America in the ‘60s with Vietnam and in the ‘00s with Iraq. Two wars fought under different yet similar conditions; however, pop culture and the youth culture have been slow to react toward the war. With over 2,300 military casualties, 17,000 reported wounded, and a thirty-seven percent approval rating for President George W. Bush, Americans are growing restless with our country’s occupation of Iraq. Despite public disapproval, the entertainment industries have yet to speak out against the war at the level as witnessed during Vietnam.

With the release of “The Constant Gardener,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and “Syriana,” filmmakers are putting their antiwar feelings on the big screen for the public’s viewing pleasure. In James Risen’s “State of War” and Noam Chomsky’s “Hegemony or Survival,” authors have published books for several years trying to expose where our country went wrong and how we can turn things around. Puff Daddy threatened people to vote in his “Vote or Die” campaign. Music artists, unlike filmmakers or authors, are not yet producing the volume of antiwar inspired songs like those artists of the ‘60s.

The fear of political backlash is lessened as the majority of the country sees no end in sight to the president’s “Messopotamia.” If the Dixie Chicks had confessed their shame for the president’s Texas residence today, radio stations would now likely give them more airplay instead of a blacklisting. Green Day grabbed Grammy Awards with their anti-Bush/ anti-War rock album, “American Idiot.” The Dave Matthews Band jammed out to “American Baby” in last year’s “Stand Up.” Kanye West began his crusade with “Jesus Walks.” These are successful artists, yet a stronger message is waiting to be heard as the nation’s youth and caretakers of the ‘60s flounder as they come to grips with the seriousness of the current war.

A sentiment similar to that demonstrated by The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, CSNY, Scott McKenzie, Joan Baez, The Beatles, and John Lennon is absent in today’s music scene. Is the nation waiting for a military draft or until American casualties reach 58,000? As civil war nears in Iraq and the US maintains its occupancy, D4L raps about “Laffy Taffy,” Nelly sings about his “Grillz,” and Fall Out Boy just wants to “Dance, Dance.” All catchy songs, but it seems trivial to think the gold in our mouths is the best subject for a song.

Perhaps the nation is so disturbed with the state of our country that we remove ourselves from reality by listening to the chorus lines and rhymes on our iPods. Music artists play to the public. If the public is not demanding that our current administration take responsibilities for their actions, then artists might hesitate to make a statement on their own.

If it is antiwar feelings that artists secretly have, it is not conveyed when they try to produce the next pop radio hit or nightclub remix. The public’s lack of awareness goes beyond the war and the administration. The clueless apathy could be a result of our culture of greed which causes deception.

One can only hope that the small stand in the entertainment industries will grow in favor of a more proactive stance. It has been three years since we entered war with Iraq; Vietnam took ten years to end. There is little reason to believe we will not occupy Iraq for any shorter a period of time than we spent in Vietnam. As the artists of the ‘60s proved, provocative, lasting music is written when there is an invested emotion. And war leaves enough emotions to last for several generations, but where is this emotion today?

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A post-spring break bonus, for all of us

It appears there could be an end to the UNICCO strike and a positive one at that. After several weeks of marches, protesting, and classes held outdoors, the University “adopted and implemented a new policy that sets minimum standards for service contractors doing business on the University’s campuses.” This minimum was raised around two dollars and in some cases nearly three dollars. Despite the protesting, this writer always had the feeling that President Shalala would do the right thing in terms of a living wage for the workers.

Knowing our president’s history in politics and leadership, I felt a decision to improve the UNICCO employees’ pay rate would be dealt with as she has governed in the past. After a period of deliberation, President Shalala and the group that she “appointed to study wages and insurance benefits of the employees of outside service contractors” created a plan appealing to the employees and the students. Additionally, the tuition rates published for next year will not change. Time was taken to assess the situation for all involved. Nothing was done in haste; likely to ensure that all sides were respected.

The voices and outcry from the school community were heard and continue to be heard. Coordinating the relocation of classes was done despite the difficulties placed on students and professors. Then, the school went on spring break. After a week-long hiatus, the thought of UNICCO workers pushing for higher wages was buried under memories of beaches and cruises. Though many students may have forgotten, some classes remained vacant but most of all, President Shalala and the school administration had not forgotten. School returned with a surprise email in everyone’s mailbox from the president herself.

In a country that sees the effects of war and the suffering it creates, that is subjected to globalization and global warming, that has higher numbers of unemployed, it is the goal to make life better not harder for those who are struggling at the bottom of the pay scale. Everyone on this campus is part of the UM community and as President Shalala proves, everyone will reap the benefits that this decision has to offer. The current strike caused a disruption to the school, but it was an honorable one. Without the wise leadership of our president, the school could have witnessed a larger disturbance placing great hardships on students, parents, faculty members, and employees.

Because we have a leader with the experience, integrity, and compassion of President Shalala, there was little worry that the University would leave any parties unsatisfied and not treated fairly. Now that the school made a decision, it remains up to UNICCO, its employees, and their union. As has been stated, the school remains neutral. With this first positive step underway, we look forward that an agreement will be made to give the UNICCO employees a living wage allowing the University to get back to normal.

Quotations taken from President Shalala’s letter to the school.

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Wild tales from spring break? UM does it year-round

As colleges get back to the daily grind of classes and push toward finals, some students may still be recovering from a week of various forms of debauchery, a few mistakes, and hopefully many good times remembered between black outs. For some students at the University of Miami, spring break is a little more unconventional. There are of course the groups of students who fly off or set sail to the Caribbean, Mexico, or home, and for others, it is a week of nothing.

Students at UM have the distinct pleasure of maintaining the spirit of spring break throughout the year. The warm weather, the sunny beaches, the clubs of South Beach, and the bars of Coconut Grove are available to us throughout the school year. A typical Thursday night spent in Coconut Grove then sleeping away Friday at the beach is routine for a Cane but likely a warm dream for many snowed in New Englanders.

As spring breakers invade our local spots, we retreat. The familiar faces are replaced with pale Northerners stretching the waiting lines and temporarily raising prices. While walking through Coconut Grove during one of the few nights I ventured out with a group of friends, a car full of college girls told us to “Go home spring breakers.” After my friend whipped out his cane card to prove his local identity, the girls drove off in what I like to think was an embarrassing mistake.

After almost run out of town like a fox from his hole, we ventured to Fort Lauderdale to check out its scene. The city was surrounded by beer, bars, and babes; debauchery on the beach. I had to act like a real spring breaker for at least one night.

The rest of the week was spent hiding from the crowds. It was welcomed relaxation after the droves of tourists forced you to your home. This past week was a time to unwind and recharge the batteries from the demanding and hectic first two months of the spring semester. For those college students who have not felt warm weather since August, spring break is the week to go all out and capture the spirit of spring to hold them over until summer.

I stopped experiencing seasons eight years ago when my family moved to Florida. This spring break, however, had a new feel. Walking through Coral Gables as one of the sore-thumb tan locals had never felt more gratifying. I was the local. The city of Miami is where I call home. What excites some for a week is another day in paradise for South Florida residents.

Why would anyone want to leave Miami during spring break when everyone comes here? If it is the endless amount of spring breakers, then I can understand why one would want to flee. Spending every spring break in Miami during your years at UM, whether you did anything, is the cheapest way to be in one of the ultimate spring break hot spots.

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One Nation Under Bluetooth

If we had more limbs and ears, we could take multitasking to a new level and take advantage of everything that the world of technology has to offer. With the latest technology in hands-free headsets for cellular phones, one of our iPod earbuds will have to move aside so our Bluetooth wireless headsets can take over.

Now that the geeky, antiquated, wired, hands-free headsets have given way to the sleek and stylish Bluetooth headsets, talking to yourself has officially become normal. Until Bluetooth headsets become the standard method of cell phone conversations, many people will have some adjusting to do the next time someone is seen arguing with themselves.

As a frequent Bluetooth wearer, I often get awkward stares as I stroll through the aisles of Publix or Target talking on the phone. Passersby often start answering my questions thinking that I am talking to them. Then, they notice that shiny silvery gadget in my ear and laugh at their confusion. It has been a slight adjustment to regulating my cell phone to my pocket, but as I find typing a paper or cooking dinner without having to wedge my phone between ear and shoulder or bother with the annoying earpiece wire, the benefits of Bluetooth technology have never been so rewarding.

Many users keep their comfortable ear pieces in throughout the day. Why waste time putting it on your ear every time a call comes through? Bluetooth headsets, freeing our hands from the constraints of cell phones, now invade activities where cell phone use was often physically impossible. The increase of Bluetooth headsets into the UM gym surprises me. A place to release stress, listen to music, and ignore the world for a few hours, the gym becomes an ideal time to talk on the phone while in an extreme set of bicep curls or an intense treadmill run.

It is not bothersome that someone is on the phone next to me kvetching about their relationship woes, but it saddens me to think that we have become so busy and attached to our cell phones that not even during rigorous exercise can we ignore our phone calls. In many hectic college lives, it is not often during the day that we have time to ourselves.

I am not one to judge when a call is important or where a call should be received, but for now, Bluetooth technology creates more ease than disruption. The verdict is still out on how safe extended cell phone use is for the brain when the phone is kept by the ear. Now, perhaps, we have a way in which we can prevent the possible harmful waves that may cause brain damage.

Just when it was thought that cell phones would never come unglued to ears, Bluetooth headsets made the glue even stronger. What about the dangers of driving while talking on your cell phone? If Bluetooth headsets came free with a purchase of a new car, then perhaps more people would keep their eyes on the road or will they?

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And the War Burns On

The search for weapons of mass destruction has ended on the home front. The latest US recruit, Willy Peter, appeared in Iraq using chemical weapons against the Iraqi insurgency. This is Willy Peter’s second tour of duty. He made his first appearance in November 2004 during the battle of Fallujah in what the US called the “shake and bake” missions to force out insurgent positions.

Willy Peter, the military nickname of white phosphorus, has again become the latest military tactic in the US’s attempt to bring democracy to Iraq. White phosphorus is a chemical weapon similar to napalm, except the 800-1,000 °C burns of white phosphorus penetrate through to the bone.

Two reports revealed the Pentagon regarded the use of white phosphorus as “an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants.”* A March 2005 magazine article in Field Artillery and reports from embedded US journalists conflicted with the Pentagon’s original message of “we don’t use napalm or chemical weapons.”*

In a war that was never meant to last years and was to liberate persecuted people, the line between oppressors and oppressed is blurred. Using chemical force to drive the enemies “out of their holes*” is a tactic that should be unfamiliar to most Americans.

As our country attempts to establish who can and cannot have weapons of mass destruction, the Pentagon claims the use of white phosphorus as an illumination tactic should in no capacity categorize this compound as a chemical weapon. The use of white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon skirts the boundaries of the Geneva Convention on Biological and Chemical Weapons of 1980. The US has yet to sign this agreement that bans using incendiary weapons in civilian regions.*

Clearly our country, with its great wisdom, has decided to become not only the weapons inspector but weapons enforcer. And as the weapons czar, the US has the power to use any weapon it deems necessary to complete a military mission, despite such weapons outlawed by countries of potential terrorist capabilities.

With a global agreement in place to reduce the stockpiling of weaponry and withhold the use of chemical and biological weapons in civilian areas, the US should not rise above international law. If white phosphorus is not considered a chemical weapon, despite phosphorus as one of the most volatile periodic elements, the US again enters the rhetorical war as the self-proclaimed weapons czar who decides what is correct and not correct.

The Iraq War has been a battle of rhetoric since the first bombs destroyed Iraqi homes. The public must understand the chemistry and the barbaric effects of this pyrophoric substance so that considering white phosphorus a non chemical weapon is meaningless.

The reports of torture, clandestine prisons, and now the questionable use of white phosphorus should make everyone wonder about the mission our country has undertaken. The most powerful and technologically sophisticated country in the world uses warfare tactics that were only thought capable by the enemy? What country sets these examples for a burgeoning democracy?

The trenches have grown so deep that the current government seems to now turn to any means necessary to dig itself out. A country of such wealth and privilege should have the ingenuity and wisdom to save itself while saving the lives of others, for power is useful if one knows how to use it and not abuse it.

*Quotes and facts provided by “Chemical Weapons: Willy Peter” by Danny Mayer for the January 2006 issue of Z Magazine.

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The Pen is Still Mightier

As dissent grows from our occupation in Iraq, it appears the pen is no longer mightier than the sword or in 2006, the automatic weapon. For Wall Street Journal reporter Matt Pottinger, taking action against inaction, his pen no longer holds the might it once did. This 32-year-old journalist joined the US Marines knowing the strong chance he will be deployed to Iraq. This change of occupation comes as part of his plea to America to "Get off our sofas and get involved. Start improving ourselves. We're competing now.”

After returning to the US from assignment in China, he returned to a country that did not seem at war. "I was surprised by that … and that disturbed me. It gave me a sense that we were being a little bit too complacent."

He served his country for nearly a decade as a reporter, and now takes, as what he feels, is the next step in serving his country. "I wanted to actually be participating in an incredibly important period in our history as opposed to just observing and reporting events. … I didn't want to watch the movie and not have a part in it."

As the president’s line of reasoning for this war is gradually refuted, the public’s disapproval for the imperialism under the banner of “spreading democracy” grows. And as the US wonders how far to dig the war hole, our men and women fight a government’s war of a seemingly endless struggle against religious extremists seeking the riches of martyrdom.

In a war that now appears to be a quagmire, the media is beginning to find its backbone and expose the injustice that is committed daily. For Pottinger, his voice at the news power house of the Wall Street Journal (a conservative news organization) was apparently not enough in a country where the majority of citizens is against the war and has a national voice via the Internet. Though we are now able to have our voices heard through blogging, those with instant national recognition have an obligation to open the eyes of the country to the true facts, positive or negative.

Now is not the time to add another body to the death count if it can be avoided. If it is complacency that one detests, call your fellow Americans to action through the many means this country offers from Congressional letters to blogs to non violent protests.

It is going to take more than Pottinger to help bring democracy and stability to Iraq. With the information that comes out of Iraq regarding the insanity, the mounting deaths on both sides, and the turmoil this war has caused at home and abroad, it is difficult to believe that one would voluntarily enlist in the Marines during this war of needless aggression when you had a media outlet behind you that published your voice.

Fueling the violence in the Middle East will not create peace. If we want to right a wrong, uncovering injustice is the first step. Losing a journalist to fight in the war, rather than going overseas to cover the war, may prove counter productive when many at home are crying for their family members to return to the US from the war.

On top of the mounting concerns in Iraq and the corruption on Capitol Hill, the state of the union is not reassuring. The media have enlightened the public for decades to social and political scandals. During this time of possible executive government malfeasance, the media should place our current government on a public trial exposing the dishonesty in the court of public opinion thereby forcing chance.

If our society has not lost its sense of ethics and law, justice will overcome injustice, but this will not be accomplished with a gun. You can save more lives with your pen than with violence. Matt Pottinger you may be a naive conservative ideologue who has imbibed too much kool-aid from the neoconservative trough. Violence only breeds more violence. I hope you come home safe, and you learn war and violence cause much suffering.