The James Logan Courier

By Tierra Negra, Courier Correspondent

Would you give a gun to someone enraged with society? Was not such enragement the cause of Germany to arouse into a military power that originated Second World War? What perfect nonsense! No one would… or should… but then again the United States allows Israel to have nuclear weapons among all the others that are denied to possess them! Were they supposed to be more responsible with their use?

I see a couple of ironies in regards to Israel. First the fact that even though it has been supported by a hard core capitalist country they had to create little units based in a communal type of organization (kibbutz) to be able to tend and inhabit the new land prone to invasions. Second is, how could people that have been subjected to so much persecution be willing to repeat the same abuses unto others? Would it not make them more understanding and wise? Not according to this movie, where their portrait is abusive and arrogant.

By Tierra Negra,
Courier Special Correspondent

John Locke’s social contract, back in the XVII century, was born from the need to counteract monarchs’ abuses through taxation. The idea that each of us is born free and with some inalienable rights such as “Life, health, Liberty, or Possessions" was the main source of inspiration for the Founder Fathers of this country when designing the American Declaration of Independence and its Constitution:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

By Tierra Negra, Courier Special Correspondent

History shows us how the wars for occupying land (and the resources that come with it) have been going on for a long time. The discovery of America provided most of it during at least three hundred years until independent movements from many colonies started to take place. Although no more “physical territory” remains visible for grabs, we continue to fight an ongoing battle for a more subtle “space”.

Each human being is born with a personal record composed of inherited DNA which is also part of a larger collection of data where evolution leaps have been “engraved”. Even though we have not had a mutation deep enough to differentiate our specie beyond those changes necessary to adapt to a specific climate, the immense bundle of information that we handle now days could never be compared to that of five decades ago. Therefore, we have been developing efficient ways to store and handle enormous packets of it.

Note: The Courier regularly spotlights books and other materials newly arrived, or expected to arrive, in the James Logan Media Center.


The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie:
A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us
by Tanya Lee Stone
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN 978-0-670-01187-2

From librarianbyday.blogspot.com
She's been a heroine, a role model, and perennial career-hopper. She's also been a villian, a target, and a symbol of all that's wrong with society's treatment of females. Funny how a 11 3/4 inch tall doll can be all that. Yet in the fifty years since the introduction of the Barbie doll, that's what this toy has been. For decades, little girls have wanted to play with Barbie. But is playing with Barbies harmful? The history and impact of the Barbie doll is full of depth and contrary opinions.

By Tierra Negra, Courier Special Correspondent

“Small is beautiful” by E. F. Schumacher came very late in my life otherwise it would have been one of those books that makes the deepest impression. Albeit a short story I read once, from a science fiction book, arrived earlier to provide such insight about human nature problems.

Sadly, I cannot remember the author or the title of the Spanish version and, about three years ago, the possibility of never finding it again prompted me to write my own utopia: “La Nueva Era”, more out of sheer desperation in an attempt to leave a vestige of the original ideas eagerly absorbed as a teenager.