With the world going broke and Dwight Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex giving us further pause, one has to wonder about the lack of outrage being registered concerning the frightening number of problems facing this country.
The anger simply isn't there although the concept of paper petitioning democratic governments, as old as the Magna Carta, remains in place while not in vogue. Petitioning doesn't appear to be the serious process it once was; perhaps it's a matter of having given up on our Washington politicians, a suggestion of obvious merit judging from those single digit approval ratings. Maybe we have backed away from the out-of-touchers and have turned to the internet to register what, unfortunately, is often trivial whining. Fortunately, we remain inclined to petition on a local level and it was a Bellingham, WA story that whirled my mind toward the electronic petition gaining in popularity as our favored method of registering complaint.
The Bellingham tale is about the Executive Director of the Port Commission who was fired by two of three Commissioners, the second of whom required a decidedly illegal weekend shoring up by the originator of the scheme. Without going into great detail, one of the Commissioners didn't like the Executive Director, a hire out of Seattle where he was highly regarded. According to those who know about such things, his Bellingham work was exemplary. A petition to save the Executive Director's job was enjoined by a less effective paper version. Close to 1,000 signatures and an April 17 heavily-attended and vocal Port meeting failed to impress the two Commissioners and the Executive Director's job was not saved. Other than learning of some Machiavellian involvement by a few Port staffers, the public still doesn't have any details of the firing. Petitioners will now attempt to increase the number of Port Commissioners to five.
Known as the City of Subdued Excitement, Bellingham achieves minor titillation most often when someone screws up at City Hall or at the Whatcom County level. It's the kind of place where an ex-mayor (he lost in November) succeeded in sliding a street-based camera security system past the City Council, then lost the election in all likelihood because his maneuver was recalled by an aroused citizenry that first produced a petition with enough signatures. The Council settled with the camera people for $100,000 later breathing great sighs of relief that the city had gotten off so cheaply. We put up with a lot of shit in Bellingham. Largely inured to such foolishness, we've become subdued although occasionally capable of retort.
It was a petition that started the camera folly rolling in another direction and 'hamsters became aware of the Port story when it was revealed by John Servais who publishes online the NorthwestCitizen. More down the road about Servais whose story beat the Bellingham Herald's version by two days. There are times when 'hamsters feel they are living in Mayberry and the Herald accounts for a lot of those times.
Curious about internet petitions and whether or not the American public has turned to them to express anger, I began searching the internet discovering a plethora. One is in behalf of an actor, Patrick Murphy, who plays Dr. Derek Sheppard on "Grey's Anatomy." Aware that the medical world provides fabulous fodder for fixated followers fascinated by favorite TV doctors from Ben Casey to House, I was not surprised to find petitioners desperately wanting Murphy to play Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange for Marvel Comics' upcoming "Doctor Strange."
It's good to know the Druids are not being ignored thanks largely to right-wing columnist Melanie Phillips who got on a tear back in October when she took exception to the British government's determination that the Druids have an official religion that enables them charitable status. Phillips writes for the Mail and it wasn't long before King Arthur Pondragon, a Druid activist, showed up at the Mail with an online petition of more than 4,000 signatures. Do not show pictures of Druids to Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Druid apparel is heavy on white sheets.
Half-time at the Super Bowl, like the Academy Awards, gets a lot of yawns and this year's use of Madonna got very mixed reviews. Hard to believe, but there's a hue and possibly even a cry from fans of Weird Al Yankovic (I'd call him Weird but we have yet to reach a first name basis) has "unparalleled showmanship," fans extol his "wide-swath of musical styles ranging from grunge parody to rap parody," and, least we forget, "geek appeal" that would translate into "killer ratings." By all means, let's never lose sight of geek appeal.
Decidedly on the serious side are a couple of petitions that recently forced a reaction by the White House and may have struck a blow to millions of conspiracy theorists. The petitions, containing 17,000 signatures, called on the government to disclose knowledge of extraterrestrial beings and contact with them. As a result, the White House has started a new andd highly original initiative called "We the People" that encourages petitions while denying there is any "credible evidence of extraterrestrial presence here on earth."
To pierce or not to pierce appears to be the question following tattoo adornment. Just as marijuana is the gateway drug, it appears that's the case with tattoos although Elke of the UK doesn't make a reference to any tats in her petition located on the Bureau of Petitions website. "I really want to get my nose pierced," she writes, "but mum won't let me...I think she will if I get enough signatures, I am 16, so I think I am old enough to make my own decisions...please sign!!! Thus far Elke has pleaded her way to 100 signatures.
Another slant on piercing is offered on the Care2Petitionsite where an attention-getting headline, Outlaw the Piercing Gun NOW!!! leads the reader into claims that the instrument is unhygienic, inaccurate and dangereous. With a goal of 1,000 signatures, 613 have signed up so far. No word yet about reaction from the National Rifle Association.
Holly's petition is to own a cat and may be found on Petition buzz whose website is, indeed, impressive. There are 10 categories, enough to satisfy the biggest complainers among us. Entertainment & Media, for example, has 886 offerings while the sports world has 277. Civil and Human Rights presently includes 664. A hot whine these days is a 20% VAT charge on sports nutrition drinks in Britain that will go into effect October 12 unless enough squawks materialize. The complaints, now numbering 22,413, are being sent to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. One of the fascinating aspects of Petition buzz is its thoroughness including tips on the use of Paypal to collect donations.
Tattoos for cats seem a bit obscure but the Russians are stirring things up as they occasionally do. Thus far, 24,322 cat lovers have expressed outrage at Russian tattooist Timur Rimit whose artistry is now being worn by his hairless sphinx. Another tat catastrophe is Mickey whose chest is now emblazoned with a likeness of King Tut. Both Mickey's owner, Oskana Popova, and Timur did make certain that three hours of sedation accompanied the procedure. Thus far 646,120 facebookers have made clear their removed disenchantment by registering a thumbs down.
Any sprawling topic like petitioning has to include the Japanese and it was U.N. Donne, head of Japanese Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, who knows just how weird are the Japanese and you thought their Hello Kitty assault rifle and the square watermelon were something along with penis ice cream and the breast grabber amusement arcade prize game? A thousand people recently signed a petition demanding that the government legalize marriage to cartoon characters. The petition does not make clear whether sexual identity is of any consequence in cartoon nuptials.
And, finally, it's good to know a sense of humor is possible in Pakistan. The humorist is a judge who recently heard a petitioner, one Atiqur Rehman, who claimed to be Meera's husband. Meera, for the uninformed, is a Bollywood babe who will do anything for publicity--most notably calling off engagements and weddings. One of her biggest scores was achieved starring in a movie featuring a kissing scene deemed "immoral" by Pakistanis not fond of her making films in India.
Rehman's request was pretty unique: he wanted to have a test conducted to determine the actress's virginity. The judge thought for a moment, then declined the request suggesting such an examination would open a Pandora's box.
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