Saturday, August 17, 2013
I bought a burqa today...
I bought a burqa today. (For the less enlightened among us -- a burqa is a full length garment worn by traditional muslim women of various sects over their clothes and head -- I've attached a photo at the bottom).
$54.99 at Amazon. Two day shipping with a Prime Membership and I will have it by Wednesday.
And no, I'm not converting to Islam.
I was in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport today waiting in line to get through security. Dutifully disposing of my 1/2 drunk bottle of coke and then emptying my pockets of all change, paper, cell phone; removing my belt, my shoes, and my light weight hoodie (which was the only thing preventing me from shivering in an airport which must have its thermostat set to 60 degrees).
I waited patiently for my turn to be scanned, although why this was an issue now that I'm standing there in bare feet, a pair of skinny jeans, and a lycra shirt. (Seriously? What could I possibly be smuggling in to the airport?!) Then, I happened to look up just as a young muslim woman entered the body scanner -- and yep, you guessed it, she was covered from head to toe in a burqa. A garment so voluminous that I imagine should could quite easily have had a picnic basket strapped to her body and, as long as it didn't contain metal, who would be the wiser? Oh, they gave her the same perfunctory pat-down I received when I exited the machine, but I couldn't help standing there with my mouth agape in utter shock contemplating the fact that, while I had to essentially strip naked to enter the "secure" terminal zone, others under the guise of "religious freedom" were free to flout the rules by which the vast majority of us must comply and saunter through in a head-to-toe parka. Are you kidding me?!
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against Islam (when practiced according the the actual teachings of Mohammed and the Koran) and I DO believe in religious freedom. However, I have to draw the line where the safety and security of my family are concerned. The last time I checked, the vast majority of suicide bombers and airline terrorists were not fair-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed residents of Wisconsin. Okay, so I'm not blond-haired and I'm not from Wisconsin, but I think you see my point. If TSA feels that it is necessary for me to take off my shoes and REMOVE MY HOODIE in order to ensure the safety of the other travelers in the DFW airport then I certainly feel that burqas should also be removed. Or, do I hop up and down and demand to keep my hoodie on as part of my religious freedom to stay warm? This reminded me of a Time magazine cover I saw years ago. I believe the title was "When Does National Security Meet Common Sense" and had a picture of a little boy of around 6 years old being wanded and patted down at the airport. UGH!
It also occurred to me while I'm standing there waiting with my frostbitten toes and blue lips, that this young muslim woman could (picnic basket aside) be quite comfortable with a hoodie under that cloak and maybe even a shearling jacket, but honestly, this isn't an issue of fairness with respect to permitted layers of clothing. This is a simple question for TSA. How is it necessary for everyone else to be subjected to the treatment we regularly receive at airport security centers around the US, but that these same rules do not apply to someone who was CLEARLY of Middle Eastern decent? I'm disgusted, but under no illusions that anything I have to say is going to make a damn bit of difference; so instead, I've come up with my own solution...
So, today and thanks to the myriad offerings by the folks at Amazon, I bought a burqa. No more will I stand 1/2 naked in a line at airport security. No more will I be endlessly shivering in the confines of the security coral. And no more will I have to pay outrageous prices inside the terminal for my bottle of water: I found a bottle holster on Amazon too!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Let me start by saying that I don't consider myself (nor would most of my friends consider me) a humanitarian or a humanist. I am a capitalist. If you want all the trappings of modern society, this requires you to get up, go to work, make money. I won't go so far as to say that I don't believe in taxes. I don't like them any more than the next person, but, frankly, government is better able to provide for some things than we could do individually: schools, police, and so on; and we should all contribute to these services that benefit us as a whole. No matter what, we are all part of a community. I also believe there should be safety nets for folks who hit bad patches: food assistance, unemployment compensation -- there are a few of them out there meant to help us get on our feet. But that is where I draw the line. Welfare and other entitlements that allow people to live off of others for extended periods of time, making no effort to get a job or otherwise contribute positively society, are just programs that take an unfair advantage of those of us who do work.
That said, I would never deny (and I believe most people would not deny) someone medical care. Sadly, the medical and insurance industries in this country have turned into massive profit making ventures -- it's disgusting. Insurance companies cancelling coverage for women diagnosed with breast cancer based on loopholes and other fine print in the contracts; the poor and undocumented workers forced to clog emergency rooms for treatment of colds and other minor illnesses; small children in need of organ transplants denied treatment because their parents do not have the ability to pay the massive bill. Is this what we've been reduced to?
In the past few years, government has tried to address these issues in a completely misguided way. Obama care? Really? We don't need more people on medicaid. We don't need people, particularly low income families, to be forced to purchase health insurance through their employer that they simply can't afford. Or Hilary Clinton's plan? The one that would have given medical coverage only to those folks who couldn't afford it, many of whom also couldn't be bothered to get a job!
Let's face it, we all deserve proper medical attention when we need it. I'm not advocating that the government pays for every obscure experimental treatment out there, but I am certainly advocating that each and every one of us is absolutely entitled to accepted medical treatments and care and we shouldn't have to face bankruptcy to get it. So, the only question is: how do we pay for that? Do we continue to charge those people with money and insurance $8000 for an MRI that should cost less than $1000, so that 7 people without money or insurance can get one for free? Healthcare is something we participate in equally and there should be a more equitable way to distribute the cost.
So, my solution is this: a federal sales tax, similar to the value added tax (VAT) in Europe. Probably one or two cents on the dollar is all it would take and embedded in the price you see on the shelf. Most folks are not even going to notice it. And this would be on every product: clothes, milk, aspirin, candy... The revenue could then be used to fund hospitals, doctors, clinics -- a public healthcare system -- for EVERYONE. It wouldn't matter if you were white, black, or purple, if you were making $15,000 per year or $150,000... if you are in this country legally or illegally... every time you bought something, you'd be contributing to the system -- everyone would be contributing to the system! And I would certainly advocating a higher tax rate on those products that contribute to America's continuing healthcare crisis: Junk food, alcohol, and cigarettes. If I choose to punish my body that way and risk poor health, then I certainly shouldn't use my neighbor's wallet to do it!
Now, I know there are those bleeding heart Democrats out there who are immediately going to jump on my sales tax plan insisting that it puts an unfair burden on the poor, but frankly, when did the needs and rights of the poor suddenly outweigh my rights? Is one person more important than another? Or should we look at the big picture which is simply this: you, me, our neighbors, our society -- each one of us is just as important as the next. As you don't want your rights trampled or the ability to care for your family... neither do I!
That said, I would never deny (and I believe most people would not deny) someone medical care. Sadly, the medical and insurance industries in this country have turned into massive profit making ventures -- it's disgusting. Insurance companies cancelling coverage for women diagnosed with breast cancer based on loopholes and other fine print in the contracts; the poor and undocumented workers forced to clog emergency rooms for treatment of colds and other minor illnesses; small children in need of organ transplants denied treatment because their parents do not have the ability to pay the massive bill. Is this what we've been reduced to?
In the past few years, government has tried to address these issues in a completely misguided way. Obama care? Really? We don't need more people on medicaid. We don't need people, particularly low income families, to be forced to purchase health insurance through their employer that they simply can't afford. Or Hilary Clinton's plan? The one that would have given medical coverage only to those folks who couldn't afford it, many of whom also couldn't be bothered to get a job!
Let's face it, we all deserve proper medical attention when we need it. I'm not advocating that the government pays for every obscure experimental treatment out there, but I am certainly advocating that each and every one of us is absolutely entitled to accepted medical treatments and care and we shouldn't have to face bankruptcy to get it. So, the only question is: how do we pay for that? Do we continue to charge those people with money and insurance $8000 for an MRI that should cost less than $1000, so that 7 people without money or insurance can get one for free? Healthcare is something we participate in equally and there should be a more equitable way to distribute the cost.
So, my solution is this: a federal sales tax, similar to the value added tax (VAT) in Europe. Probably one or two cents on the dollar is all it would take and embedded in the price you see on the shelf. Most folks are not even going to notice it. And this would be on every product: clothes, milk, aspirin, candy... The revenue could then be used to fund hospitals, doctors, clinics -- a public healthcare system -- for EVERYONE. It wouldn't matter if you were white, black, or purple, if you were making $15,000 per year or $150,000... if you are in this country legally or illegally... every time you bought something, you'd be contributing to the system -- everyone would be contributing to the system! And I would certainly advocating a higher tax rate on those products that contribute to America's continuing healthcare crisis: Junk food, alcohol, and cigarettes. If I choose to punish my body that way and risk poor health, then I certainly shouldn't use my neighbor's wallet to do it!
Now, I know there are those bleeding heart Democrats out there who are immediately going to jump on my sales tax plan insisting that it puts an unfair burden on the poor, but frankly, when did the needs and rights of the poor suddenly outweigh my rights? Is one person more important than another? Or should we look at the big picture which is simply this: you, me, our neighbors, our society -- each one of us is just as important as the next. As you don't want your rights trampled or the ability to care for your family... neither do I!
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