O Tempora, O Mores! (March, 2004)

Miserable Haiti

Haiti is one of the most unhappy places on earth. It has the third highest rate of malnutrition in the world, and is on par with sub-Saharan Africa in life expectancy and availability of clean water. A greater percentage of its citizens live in poverty than those of war-ravaged Congo. It has the highest AIDS rate in the Western hemisphere. Perhaps worst of all, Haitians have destroyed their primary natural resource: land.

Once known as the “Pearl of the Antilles,” Haiti was covered with thick timber and rich soil. In the last 50 years, as the population quadrupled, Haitians cut down 99 percent of the country’s tree cover, and erosion has destroyed two-thirds of its farmland. The eight million Haitians survive on foreign aid, and think America is the promised land. The Haitian population in Florida has doubled in the past decade to about half a million. Many keep in contact with their homeland and encourage yet more immigrants. [Tim Collie, Haiti: ‘The world doesn’t have any idea how bad this is getting,’ South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 7, 2003.]

In 1994, the Clinton administration backed the “Operation Restore Freedom,” invasion of Haiti, an ironic choice of name, since Haiti has never experienced freedom. The United States restored Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Marxist former priest, to power, and the administration claimed a great triumph for democracy. President Aristide has proven no more democratic than his predecessors; he fixes elections and uses gangs to intimidate opponents. He so openly stole the presidential election in 2000 that the US and the European Union canceled foreign aid.

President Aristide blames the failures of his country on the white countries that reinstated him and have given him billions of dollars. At the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Haitian independence, he said, “After 200 years of economic violence, the traces of slavery are still here. Whether it be slavery or embargo, it’s the same plot. You are victims.” By the term “embargo,” he meant the suspension of foreign aid.

The stolen election and the miserable state of the country have caused great unrest. President Aristide’s political thugs are called “chimères” (“monsters”), and come from the worst ghettos — some go by the names of American rappers like “Snoop Dogg” and “Tupac Shakur.” A few of these gangs, however, have turned against the president. One of these is called “the Cannibal Army,” and currently controls the town of Gonaives. As many as 10,000 students at a time have joined in protest against the regime. Clashes among students, “cannibals,” and “monsters” have led to mayhem in Port-au-Prince and throughout the country. Drunken “monsters,” chanting “Aristide for King!” swagger about, steal cars, and fire on people seemingly at random, while students march in the streets with banners bearing the black cross. This is the cross of Baron, voodoo master of the dead and keeper of cemeteries, and symbolizes the students’ readiness to die for their cause. Mr. Aristide’s supporters will be pleased to put this readiness to the test. [Marcus Warren, Monsters and Cannibals at War in Haiti, The Electronic Telegraph, Dec. 13, 2003; Michael Radu, Clinton’s Haitian Nightmare, FrontPageMagazine. com, Jan. 22, 2004.]

New Americans?

The Day of the Dead, during which relatives gather at cemeteries to commemorate the dead, is a national tradition Mexicans celebrate on November 2. People place offerings of flowers, candles, and meals at graves, and put up skeletons bearing the names of both the living and the dead. Because of the importance of this tradition, Mexicans who immigrate to America do not want to be buried here, but in their homeland so that they can be honored by their families. Nearly all illegal immigrants are shipped to Mexico after they die, but even Mexicans who become US citizens generally say they want to be buried in what they consider their real home. More than 1,200 Mexican corpses were sent home from Los Angeles airport alone in 2002, despite the fee of $1,500 that funeral homes charge for shipping a body. According to a Mexican farmer, immigrants to America “don’t want to lose their identity as a Mexican. What they want is to find a way back to be here, even if they come back dead.” [Morgan Lee, Thousands of Bodies Flown Back to Mexico, Miami Herald, Nov. 1, 2003.]

Uppity Whites

In California, students at two high schools have tried, and failed, to found “Caucasian Clubs.” The first is Lisa McClelland of Oakley, who got the idea after seeing there were student groups for blacks, Hispanics, and Asians at her school, but none for whites. She got more than 300 signatures from students and townspeople, most of them non-whites, on a petition to found a “Caucasian Club,” which was to deal with European heritage and “issues of racial disparity.” The club would have allowed non-white members and had planned field trips to museums to study white history.

Miss McClelland has described herself as a “mutt.” “I’m Latina, Mexican, Irish, Scottish, German and Dutch. I’m everything — a true American,” she says, but her campaign proved to be, in her words, “too politically incorrect.” Darrell Turner, an official of the local chapter of the NAACP said he was “vehemently opposed” to it. “When we use the word ‘white’ or ‘Caucasian’ or whatever, it has always been associated with racial bigotry.” No faculty member would sponsor the club, and students intimidated Miss McClelland. “Some people would say words like ‘racist’ when they see me,” she said. “Some people would give me a look. Some people would whisper something.” She also says Hispanic boys threatened to beat her up. She became so uncomfortable she moved to a different school. [Valerie Richardson, Caucasian Club Creates Imbroglio, Washington Times, Sept. 23, 2003; Barbara Simpson, Caucasian a Bigoted Term, WorldNetDaily. com, Sept. 22, 2003; Valerie Richardson, Girl Abandons Caucasian Club Effort, Washington Times, Nov. 24, 2003.]

In Piedmont High School in the San Francisco Bay area, the assistant principal, Randall Booker, approved students’ plan for a “Caucasian Student Union.” However, Mr. Booker canceled the club after one of its members attended a meeting wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle, which, he says, caused a “disruption.” “This was all very precarious,” Mr. Booker says. “Does having a Caucasian Student Union create a hostile environment? No. Does having a Caucasian Student Union with one of its members wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle create a hostile environment? Yes.” [José Antonio Vargas, In World of Racial Diversity, What is ‘White’? San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 8, 2003.]

Tim Bueler, founder of the Rancho Cotate High School Conservative Club, has suffered greatly for suggesting that the government crack down on illegal immigration. Both students and teachers were disturbed by his Dec. 12article in the club’s newsletter, in which he wrote, “Liberals welcome every Muhammad, Jamul and Jose who wishes to leave his Third World state and come to America.” Hispanic classmates have called him “white boy,” “racist,” and a “marked man,” and threatened to beat him up. At one point, in anticipation of trouble, the school called in 15 police officers. Teachers have joined in, calling Mr. Bueler a “Nazi” and the members of his club “bigots” and “wing-nuts.”

His teachers have not protected him against threats from classmates. Once he escaped a dozen Hispanic boys who threatened him in the hall, by ducking into a classroom, and asking the teacher for help. Mr. Bueler reports that she said, “No. Get out of here.” On another occasion, when he asked for help after some Hispanic students blocked his exit from a classroom, a teacher replied, “When you say things like that, you’ve got to expect that things like this are going to happen. Why don’t you go out the back door?” [Valerie Richardson, A Dissenting Student Hounded for His Views, Washington Times, Dec. 30, 2003; Cecilia M. Vega, Tensions Persist at Rohnert Park School, Jan. 31, 2004.]

The Sharpton Campaign

Al Sharpton’s presidential campaign has proved notable for its race-huckstering, legal corner-cutting, free spending, and incompetence. While the media have criticized Howard Dean for his frenzied campaign speech after his defeat in Iowa, it was far tamer than Rev. Sharpton’s speeches, which have gotten little attention. In Centersville, South Carolina, he delivered a stump speech in the guise of a sermon from the pulpit of a Baptist church. His message was that blacks should remember their grievances against whites, and vote for him. “A lot of black folk forget where they come from,” but “the struggle is not over.” “You may not be responsible for being down, but you are responsible for getting up.” The congregation chanted “Amen!” after every sentence, and Rev. Sharpton began singing his sermon to the accompaniment of piano and drums. He mocked his opponents’ stiff and unmusical campaign appearances at black churches. “The other candidates wish they had [these churches]. That’s why they’re all running around to them and clapping off-beat.” [Kirsten Sharnberg, Sharpton Resounds in the ‘Amen’ Corner, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 2, 2004.]

The other candidates may not have rhythm, but are better at obeying the law. Mr. Sharpton has been dogged by financial scandals throughout his career, and this campaign has added to them. In a formal complaint against him filed with the Federal Election Commission, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) alleges numerous violations of election law, including a failure to disclose in-kind contributions and expenditures, and acceptance of contributions in excess of legal limits. For example, Rev. Sharpton did not report a lavish fund-raiser sponsored by businessman LaVan Hawkins as a contribution to his campaign, as he is required to do. Since Mr. Hawkins and his wife had already contributed the legal maximum of $2,000 to the campaign, this sponsorship was illegal. Furthermore, Rev. Sharpton reported no contributions from the fund-raiser at all — hardly likely. A business owned by Mr. Hawkins recently paid the candidate a $25,000 “consulting fee.” The NPLC remarks wryly, “While Al Sharpton has been described in many ways, ‘business consultant’ is not the term that typically is used.” Rev. Sharpton claims the records relevant to the complaint were destroyed in a fire. He made the same claim when his finances came under scrutiny in 1997. [National Legal and Policy Center, Sharpton Accused of Running “Off-The-Books” Campaign, Feb. 2, 2004.]

Rev. Sharpton lives lavishly on campaign contributions. He spent $7,343.20 for three nights at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, and enjoyed a similarly extravagant stay in Miami — strange priorities for a campaign that has raised only $284,000. [Sharpton’s Hotel Bills Add Up, AP, Jan. 11, 2004.]

Staff incompetence has kept Rev. Sharpton off the ballot for the Louisiana primary. His people did not fill out the forms properly and sent the wrong kind of check. These problems could have been easily corrected if his staff had not waited until a few hours before the deadline to send in the papers. They also listed the wrong telephone number, so it was hard for primary officials to tell Rev. Sharpton’s staff about the problems. [Sharpton Not on Ballot in Louisiana, Shreveport Times, Jan. 31, 2004.]

Rev. Sharpton has not done well in the primaries. His best hope of a win was in Washington, DC, which is 95 percent black. He said he refused to “entertain any notion of coming in second.” Howard Dean won that primary, with 43 percent of the vote; Rev. Sharpton got 34 percent, and Carol Moseley-Braun, 12 percent. A NewsMax article alleges that the candidate’s disappointing finish may be the work of the Democratic establishment, which wants the notorious race-baiter to fail. The unsigned article says Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe persuaded Mrs. Moseley-Braun to run in order to split the black vote and keep Rev. Sharpton from winning. He would certainly have won the DC primary if his votes and Mrs. Moseley-Braun’s had been combined. [Dean Wins First Primary; Sharpton Second, NewsMax, Jan. 14, 2004.]

Tarnished Idols

On Jan. 28, police in Aiken, South Carolina, arrested black septuagenarian soul singer James Brown for domestic violence after he pushed his wife to the floor, brandished a chair over her, and threatened to kill her. If convicted, he faces a $500 fine and 30 days in jail. Mr. Brown is an experienced jailbird, having served two and a half years in a South Carolina prison for a 1988 arrest on drug and assault charges. In May 2003, the governor of the state granted “the godfather of soul” a full pardon.

Mr. Brown grew up in Augusta, Georgia, and owns a radio station there. For years, Augusta had a James Brown Music Festival, but on February 4, in response to public outrage at the news of the arrest, the city changed the name to Garden City Music Festival. “We were not able to find corporate sponsors,” explains arts council Executive Director Brenda Durant, so long as the festival was named after a wife-beater. Mr. Brown’s scheduled performance in the May festival is now in doubt.

Mr. Brown still has something to feel good about. On the same day the arts council renamed the festival, city officials authorized another $10,000 payment on a $40,000 bronze statue of the singer. The city still plans to unveil the monument to kick off the James Brown, err, Garden City Music Festival. [Singer Faces Wife-Abuse Charge, AP, Jan. 29, 2004. Music Festival Drops James Brown’s Name, AP, Feb. 5, 2004.]

On Dec. 30, 2002, the singer Diana Naess, née Ross, formerly of The Supremes, was arrested by Tucson police for driving southbound in northbound traffic. She had a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent. Arizona’s legal limit for blood-alcohol while driving is 0.08 percent; anyone who drives at 0.15 percent or higher is guilty of driving under “extreme intoxication.” In June, Mrs. Naess and her lawyer tried to have the blood-alcohol test thrown out on the grounds that police coerced her to take it, but a judge ruled there was no coercion. On February 9, Mrs. Naess pleaded no-contest to driving under intoxication, and the charge of driving under extreme intoxication was dropped. She must serve 48 hours in jail, complete at least 36 hours of treatment for drinking problems, and pay $852 in fines and fees. [Arthur H. Rothstein, Diana Ross Convicted of DUI, AP, Feb. 9, 2004. Joseph Barrios, Ross on the Stand for DUI Charge, Arizona Daily Star, June 24, 2003.]

Bad News for Vultures

More than 70 percent of South Africans buy lottery tickets, including 58 percent of those who earn less than the minimum wage. “The lottery sells fuel for your psychological fantasies about becoming stupendously and fabulously rich,” says South African gambling researcher Peter Collins. Other forms of gambling are also popular. Thirty-two casinos with 20,000 slot machines have opened since the end of white rule, during which gambling was illegal. South Africans as a whole spend 1.9 percent of their incomes on gambling, whereas Americans spend only 0.6 percent. Poor South Africans spend an average of 10 percent of their income.

Gambling is bad news for vultures. Many South Africans believe they arrive at a carcass within a short time of the animal’s death because they are clairvoyant. According to witch-doctors, anyone who drinks a potion made from ground vulture bones can predict winning lottery numbers. “Because of the lottery, a lot more vultures are being killed,” says Terri Wolfe of the Endangered Wildlife Trust of South Africa. [Lottery Draws Throngs of the Poor in South Africa, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 19, 2003.]

The Wages of Ignorance

Every day, Zambian newspapers chronicle the rise of child rape, a crime fueled by the belief that sex with a virgin cures AIDS. Particularly shocking were the rape of a 1½-year-old baby by her father, and the death of an 11-year-old girl after she was repeatedly raped by her half-brother. Four hundred cases of child-rape were recorded in Zambia in 2003, and 238 in 2002. Many believe “traditional healers” (a.k.a, witch-doctors) are to blame for the epidemic because they promote quack cures for AIDS. They also tell their customers that child-rape can boost business profits and help them get promoted. Zambian witch-doctors have an advocacy group, the Traditional Healers of Zambia Association, which denies any wrong-doing. [Shapi Shacinda, Child-Rapes Traced to AIDS-Cure Myth, Reuters, Dec. 19, 2003.]

Sikhing Trouble

Last November, 40,000 Sikhs from all over Europe descended on London to participate in the Guru Nanak procession, the biggest Sikh religious rite held outside India. During a briefing to officers who would be patrolling the streets along the procession’s route, a senior female police inspector advised her men to stay away from food provided by Sikh temples, noting that one officer had eaten temple food and gotten sick. “Their hygiene standards,” she said, “are not as good as ours.”

Sikh leaders were outraged by the inspector’s statement. Ever sensitive to non-white feelings and desperate to recruit more non-white officers, both Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident. Senior police officials, officers from the Sikh Police Association, and representatives from the Sikh community, are running the investigation so justice will no doubt be swift, sure — and impartial. [Hugh Muir, Met Inquries into Alleged Slur on Sikh Temples, Guardian (London), Jan. 2, 2004.]

Don’t Tell the Truth

The number of HIV cases in Glasgow, Scotland, is rising rapidly because of immigration and asylum-seeking from Africa. During 2002-2003 there were 85 new cases in Greater Glasgow, an increase of 77 percent over the previous year, and double the figure for 2001. The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health describes the majority of new cases as people who got the disease abroad and brought it to Scotland with them. The center likes to give the impression that it is Scots traveling in Africa who become HIV-positive rather than report how many Africans arrive with the disease. “That is information that we have not published because it is felt that is not appropriate. We have to take into account the potential for racism, xenophobia, etc,” explains Prof. David Goldberg, who oversees HIV and AIDS monitoring. Sheila McLean, professor of medical law and ethics at Glasgow University, agrees, adding that the only reason she can think of for knowing the HIV figures would be to encourage prejudice against non-whites. [Tom Curtis, African Immigrants Take Scots HIV/AIDS To Record Levels, The Scotsman (Glasgow) Jan. 28, 2004.]

Brotherly Love

An article in the January 6 Philadelphia Inquirer, “Do You Live a Segregated Life?” elicited the following response from a black reader:

There is nothing wrong with segregation. Most African Americans with good sense want the same social relations that most whites want. We don’t want them living in our neighborhoods. We don’t want our children going to school with theirs. We don’t want our daughters and sons marrying their sons and daughters. No thanks . . . we don’t want or need social integration. We want economic and political integration . . .

If white people are seeking fair relations with African Americans, let them start supporting our businesses . . . Let whites push for more African American judges. Maybe then 80 percent of the people in the jails won’t be African Americans.

We don’t need tea and cookies and fireside chats with white people. We don’t have to pretend we like one another to have good relations. We only need to integrate with the two friends we have in common, Pol and Bill — politics and the almighty dollar.

[Leon A Williams, Blacks Don’t Need Tea and Cookies with Whites, Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 13, 2004, p. B2.]

The New Italians

Europeans are trying to come to grips with African immigrants who practice female genital mutilation. Denmark, Sweden and Britain have all passed laws outlawing the procedure. In Italy, Cristiana Scoppa of the Italian Association for Women in Development opposes a similar bill in the Italian parliament because it is “a specific attack against a culture.” A Somali-born gynecologist proposes a compromise.

Dr. Omar Abdulcadir, who practices in Florence, Italy, treats as many as 500 women a year who suffer the consequences of crudely performed mutilations. These include menstrual problems, swelling, and chronic infection. He wants the hospital where he works to let him perform a “largely symbolic” female circumcision, which would involve piercing the tip of the clitoris to draw a drop or two of blood. He thinks this will stop immigrants from taking young girls — under 10 — back to Africa or to unsafe underground local clinics for the traditional procedure. “My proposal isn’t ideal,” he says. “But is there a better answer for how to save the children? Whether they live in Italy or Britain or France or America, they don’t want to let go of their traditions. So I’m trying to give them a way to save that tradition.” [Frank Bruni, Doctor in Italy Tries to Ease Pain of an African Tradition, New York Times, Feb. 1, 2004.]

Profile in Pandering

Campaigning for black votes in South Carolina before the February 3 primary, Democratic presidential candidate and retired army general Wesley Clark attacked front-runner John Kerry for once sounding tepid on affirmative action. When asked why he was criticizing the senator for remarks made more than a decade ago, Gen. Clark said, “because this is not ancient history. This is modern day America. We need affirmative action in this country as long as race is a factor, and it is.”

At black Benedict College, Gen. Clark told the audience he strongly opposed racial profiling, because he was “profiled” by an Arkansas state trooper in 1968 — his hair was long and he was driving a car with foreign license plates. “I had been profiled as one of those long-haired guys who was part of the riots,” he said. “All I was was a captain in the United States Army who hadn’t gotten a haircut in three weeks.” [Beth Fouhy, Clark Needles Kerry on Affirmative Action, AP, Jan. 30, 2004.]

Can an army captain really grow a hippy head of hair in just three weeks?

UNifying Europe

On January 29, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the European Parliament to let in more immigrants. Here are some excerpts from his speech:

• “There can be no doubt that European societies need immigrants. Europeans are living longer and having fewer children. Without immigration, the population of the soon-to-be-25 Member States of the EU will drop, from about 450 million now to under 400 million in 2050.”
• “In today’s unequal world, vast numbers of Asians and Africans lack the opportunities for self-improvement that most Europeans take for granted. It is not surprising that many of them see Europe as a land of opportunity, in which they long to begin a new life . . .”
• “. . . Europeans would be unwise to close their doors. That would not only harm their long-term economic and social prospects. It would also drive more and more people to try and come in through the back door . . .”
• “A closed Europe would be a meaner, poorer, weaker, older Europe. An open Europe will be a fairer, richer, stronger, younger Europe . . .”

[Kofi A. Annan, Why Europe Needs an Immigration Strategy, News Release, UN Office of the Secretary General, Jan. 29, 2004.]

Sinofornia

Mass Third-World immigration is rapidly detaching California not only from American but from Western civilization as well. State Assemblyman Leland Y. Lee of San Francisco recently introduced a measure in the state legislature urging the California Building Standards Commission to pass regulations that conform to feng shui, an ancient Chinese form of building design and interior decorating that is supposed to bring health, harmony and prosperity. Feng shui dictates the placement of doors and staircases, the positions of buildings and the alignment of furniture so as increase the flow of chi, or positive energy, and avoid negative energy, or sha. Developers in the San Francisco area conform to feng shui, for example, when they avoid putting houses at T-shaped intersections, which supposedly invite sha. Chinese Californians want this done statewide.

“Feng shui is a very major cultural factor,” says Irene Jhin, publisher of the Chinese New Home Buyer’s Guide. Mr. Yee agrees, saying, “We need to allow the expression of one’s culture. That’s why people come to California.” The true believers may have another, larger agenda. According to a Chinese proverb, the benefits of feng shui can be wide-spread: “If there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.” [Patricia Leigh Brown, California Measure Would Align Building Rules With Feng Shui, AP, Jan. 30, 2004.]

Black Child Killers

Last December brought two stories of black men who murdered their white girlfriends’ white children. The first was the gruesome case of Christian Hoerler in Australia, who tortured seven-month-old Jordan Anderson to death in February 2000. Mr. Hoerler hit the child so hard his front teeth went through the roof of his mouth, and crushed his toes with a clamp. He refused to accept full responsibility for the murder because, he claims, the mother asked him to hit the child because he was crying. In December, Mr. Hoerler, who pled guilty to manslaughter, received only an eight-year sentence, to the outrage of the boy’s relatives.

The Australian online news service “news.com.au” originally posted the story, which did not mention race, with photographs of both Mr. Hoerler and his victim. Later, it thought better of this and reposted it without the photographs. [Lorna Knowles, Baby-Killer Gets Eight Years Jail, news.au.com, Dec. 12, 2003.]

In Clinton, Ill., Amanda L. Hamm and Maurice Lagrone, Jr. have been charged with drowning Miss Hamm’s three children, aged 23 months, 3 years, and 6 years. She called the police on September 2 to report that her car had rolled into a lake with the children inside. Police refuse to reveal the motive for the killing. Mr. Lagrone was once convicted of domestic battery. [No Plea from Mother Accused of Drowning Three Children, Washington Times, Dec. 12, 2003.]

Defacing the Desert

In 1937, Congress set aside 330,000 acres along the Arizona-Mexican border as a national treasure, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The park is home to rare stands of saguaro cacti and fragile ocotillo shrubs. To protect the area further, the National Park Service declared it off-limits to all but hikers in 1978.

Today illegal aliens and drug runners are destroying the fragile ecosystem. Trash is everywhere and vehicle ruts scar the once-pristine sand. Border Patrol agents say they routinely find abandoned cars, fire pits, graffiti, and new desert trails. Rangers consider Organ Pipe the most dangerous park in America. Bandits roam the desert, robbing, raping and murdering illegal aliens. In 2002, a Mexican drug runner wanted for murder south of the border shot and killed 28-year-old park ranger Kris Eggle. The situation is so bad the government is considering erecting a 30-mile steel barricade along the border. [Hugh Dellios, Desert Park Victimized by Illegal Immigration, Knight Ridder News Service, Dec. 19, 2003.]

Out of Their Element

For decades, the Marshall Islands, home of Bikini atoll (the hydrogen bomb test site), were a US protectorate. The islands became independent in 1986, but Marshallese still have the right to emigrate to the United States. They even qualify for federal loans for tuition at American colleges, just like US citizens. More than 10,000 — out of a total population of 60,000 — have moved here, and more are on the way. There aren’t many jobs to keep them at home. The biggest industries are tourism, followed by drying coconut meat and fishing. The unemployment rate is 30 percent.

The biggest problem for Marshallese living in America is adjusting to the Western concept of time, and the faster pace of life. Most Marshallese don’t know how old they are, since they usually only celebrate a child’s first birthday. “Fifty-four,” says islander Conrad Anni when asked his age. “No,” he adds, after thinking it over, “I was born in 1959. Fifty-four.” Wintha Joran, who has lived in the US since 1978, says he remembers how relaxed life was when he told time by the position of the sun. “Here everything is so fast, and you have to be on time for everything,” he says. “The attitude there is you don’t have to worry about anything — everything will be all right.” Mr. Joran still misses being able to catch his dinner by just wading into the shallow water and spearing a fish.

Korab Nemra, a Mashallese living near Seattle since 1986, believes the US is wealthier than the Marshall Islands largely because Americans worry more — about time, work and making money. He says watching the clock and spending time at work away from their families rattles the slow-moving Marshallese. Mr. Nemra has been able to return only three times in 18 years. On each visit, he was reminded how happy the Marshallese were on their islands. “It’s just so mellow there,” he says. “People smile a lot more than here. Sometimes I think, ‘Man, what am I doing here?’” [David Olson, Keeping up With Culture, Not the Clock, Everett (Washington) Herald, Jan. 19, 2004, p.A1.]

Bad Sports

The US Olympic soccer team is playing its qualifying games in Zapopan, Mexico. Prior to a match against Canada on Feb. 5, the Mexican crowd booed during the performance of “Star Spangled Banner”, booed when the American team scored goals, and chanted “Osama! Osama! Osama!” as the US players left the field following their 2-0 victory. [US Soccer Team Hears Osama Chants in Mexico, AP, Feb. 6, 2004.]