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		Points of View Posted October 26, 2002 Guest Column © 2002 Ray Sharp Published with Permission

Homeland Security Roundup

By Ray Sharp, War Correspondent,
Reporting from the wind-swept steppes of Lower Liminga

Oct. 22, 2002

Another year has slipped by since my last report. Random acts of terror strike the nation's capital. Violence in Palestine. Nuclear proliferation. K-Mart is testing new logo colors. The U.S. is mobilizing for war in the oil-rich Middle East. So much has changed. So much more has not. Where to begin?

This season's first Saturday peace march from Houghton to Hancock and back -- like so many things in life, you walk and you walk and you walk some more, only to end up right where you started. Same people, a year older but perhaps no wiser. Thirty marchers, average age pushing 60. Where have all the young men gone, long time passing?

And what could K-Mart possibly be thinking, abandoning its tried-and-true, patriotic red and blue colors for a gray and lime green "K"? Especially with America leading the Free World in the War on Terrorism and the mission to deny weapons of mass destruction to the Axis of Evil. After all, Wal-Mart's logo looks just like the American flag, at least when you squint just the right way. Meanwhile, Target's famous red target logo -- concentric red and white rings -- can't help but remind you of our God-given Second Amendment rights. I wonder if any of the Washington sniper's victims were shot in a Target parking lot? The only thing gray and lime green makes me think of is rotting flesh.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Thanks to Arianna Huffington, writing in salon.com, for this one:

    Last week, talking to my friend Scott Burns, co-creator of the "Got Milk?" campaign, I was delighted to hear that he already had two ad scripts ready to go…The second, which opens on a man at a gas station, features a cute kid's voice-over throughout: "This is George." Then we see a close-up of a gas pump. "This is the gas George buys for his car." Next we see a guy in a suit. "This is the oil company executive who makes money on the gas George buys." Close-up on al-Qaida training film footage: "This is the terrorist organization supported by money from the country where the oil company does business." It's followed by footage of 9/11: "We all know what this is." And it closes on a wide shot of bumper-to-bumper traffic: "The biggest weapon of mass destruction is parked in your driveway." Pretty effective.

Can anyone seriously deny the connection between oil, foreign policy, war, and the current administration? And what will come after the military occupation of what's left of Baghdad? Fifty-seven years after Hiroshima, our armies are still based in Germany and Japan. What kind of deal are we cutting with Russia for their Security Council vote? Will they get North Iraq, same as East Germany? And France will need a share of the oil for their support. That's okay, there will be plenty of crude left for us. Fill'er up!

Cold War on a Warm Island

Mark your calendars -- Larry Klein, our neighbor from the Soo, is headed west next month to show slides and talk about his recent trip to Cuba. Larry wandered off the beaten path to get an inside glimpse at the Pearl of the Antilles 40 years after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Say what you will about Fidel Castro -- despot, enlightened revolutionary, communist villain, hero of the proletariat -- the man sure has staying power.

The presentation will take place at 6 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Community Arts Center in Hancock. Look for more information on Larry's talk in my next column. Until then, batten down the hatches and remember to change your gas mask filters when you reset your clocks.

Ray Sharp is the Bio-terrorism Public Health Emergency Response Coordinator for the Western U.P. (Really)

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