The Oppenheimer Report - 7/4/16

Banff 2005

As I begin to write this report on Canada Day, I am listening to the radio and Hunters Bay Radio is airing all thirteen Tragically Hip albums.  Regrettably, it is raining which is not great for outdoor events, but we need the rain up here. There has been a fire ban for weeks, and there was some question about whether or not the fireworks displays would be permitted.  

Last Monday’s dedication to James Carroll turned out to be a very positive and uplifting gathering. About forty or fifty of James’ friends gathered at the Hunters Bay Radio studio for the unveiling of the stone bench. Local stone mason Rudi Stade offered his services for free, Jim Allen and Donna Mathias from Huntsville Treasures and Trophies provided the engraved plaque, and Shauna and I paid for the materials. We also planted a sugar maple tree outside James’ office window on the east side of the building, and during the dedication, whoever was so inclined scattered some of his cremains around the roots of the tree. Many people who attended the dedication stood up in front of the group and shared a “Jimmy” anecdote. Earlier in the day there were signs that James was screwing with us. There were a few mysterious technical glitches at the radio station that day, and Shauna could not get the printer to print off a copy of the poem she’s written for the dedication. The weirdest thing involved Shauna’s car. Because we had Shauna’s 91 year-old mom with us, we decided to drive into town in Shauna’s car. The air conditioning does not work in my car. We got about five miles from home and her car started to lose power. At one point it began to free rev and would not move at all, and I was sure this was some kind of catastrophic transmission failure. Horrible timing! I was eventually able to get the car moving, very slowly, and with the flashers on, somehow, we managed to limp into Huntsville in time for the ceremony. It seems a little strange that the car would fail at that particular moment, when we were pressed to make it to James’ event. He was adamant about not wanting a funeral service, and while this was not really a service, perhaps he was messing with us. Of all the times for Shauna’s car to fail so completely, it seems strangely coincidental that it would happen when we were going to James’ bench dedication.

Activist, writer and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel died last weekend at the age of 87. A Holocaust survivor and champion of human dignity, the Nobel peace laureate wrote extensively about his survival at both Auschwitz and the Buchenwald concentration camps. He witnessed unspeakable atrocities, he watched his father starve to death, and he lost everyone in his family but his two sisters. Wiesel represented a voice for the six million Jews whom some still deny were exterminated by the Nazis, and he was a spokesman for justice regardless of race or creed. To me what is most remarkable about this man, is that his message is one of atonement, and forgiveness, not bitterness and hatred. We could all learn a lesson from this man.Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial, is a reminder that we should never forget, but history continues to repeat itself. Cambodia and Rowanda are more recent reminders that evil is alive and well in the world, and while we concern ourselves with a relatively small group of crazy Islamic fundamentalist, there are much, much bigger evils in the world that seem to have been buried in the history books. I’d like to believe that in this age of information such atrocities are harder to forget, much less commit, but look who is running for President of the United States! Guys like Trump feed on the two worst characteristics of human beings: fear and ignorance. 

I watched a story on the news last week about Methylene blue, a relatively inexpensive drug that has been around for almost a century, and is widely used to treat blood disorders. Turns out that new research suggests it might improve brain function in stroke victims and Alzheimer’s sufferers. Give me more stories like this and less stories about why I should hate Muslims.

Speaking of the land of the free, and the melting pot of the world, Happy Fourth of July to all my friends stateside. I have fond memories of dangerous boating adventures to watch the fireworks display in Buffalo. Miss Liberty may be a little worse for wear, but she’s still standing. Here’s to freedom, and may we never lose it!          

 -Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED