The Antonym of Brotherhood

I never joined a fraternity during college. I always thought that brotherhood was the last thing that these groups had in mind, especially during initiation rites. I mean, how could anyone call their tormentors “brother.”

I had a dorm mate during my sophomore year who tried to join a famous fraternity in campus. We were already told that the recruitment process was a sham since entry therein was by invitation only. However, in order to keep their accreditation as a legitimate school organization, they still conducted yearly recruitments. Of course, the “undesirables” never made it, while the jocks breezed through the initiation rites.

I’m not totally against fraternities. Some actually merit the school and the community’s praises. However, many of these organizations were constituted just to house the hip and famous. Joining these entities is like joining a beauty pageant.

I know I sound a little bit bitter, or that my hatred for most of these groups is very evident. I guess you already have an idea why. During my freshman year, I got a fight with a fraternity member. It’s a geek-versus-jock kind of thing (guess who’s the geek). There was a time when I can’t even walk on the hallway without constantly looking at my back. That fraternity was notorious for maligning students who they deem to be “uncool.”

I heard that some of its members were already charged before the local courts for physical injuries. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the stupid jerk who punched me in the groin has a lengthy criminal record already.

I’m shoveling up buried angst right now. I already forgot about it actually until I saw an article on Yahoo! regarding the expulsion by a sorority of some of its members who didn’t “fit in.”

The expelled members are mostly overweight. Some of them are also members of the minority groups in the society. Many groups criticized the criteria that the organization has. However, the sorority’s governing body has denied allegations of discrimination and has vowed to look into the matter.

Ironic

The Oxford dictionary has defined “Irony” as an expression of meaning, often humorous or sarcastic, by the use of language of a different or opposite tendency.

Such was the word that immediately came into my mind when I saw the statistics on crime as posted on the White House Web site.

The good news is that violent crimes have declined since 1993. Property crime rates also followed a similar trend. Despite the drops, the number of adults inside correctional institutions has been sharply increasing. 7 million detainees were recorded in 2005. I guess it’s safe to surmise that that number is close to testing the 8 million mark already.

I’m sure you’ve already noticed that the statistics are conflicting. If the number of criminal records is declining, then how come penal facilities are still fully booked? I don’t have the data to explain this irony. Maybe it’s because violent or property crimes are just a small part of the total number of crimes that are being committed in the country. Let me know if you have a different answer.

New Evidence on JFK Assassination?

I’m sure many Americans would be opening up Lee Harvey Oswald’s criminal records again as a newly discovered footage of President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade shortly before he was shot was made public by the Sixth Floor Museum.

The homemade movie was taken by George Jefferies. He kept it from the public for forty years. It was only during a conversation with his son-in-law that he finally decided to let it out by donating it to the Dallas museum.

Some speculate that the footage would provide new insights to the assassination. I’m not sure if it will, but I hope that it could answer some of the questions that were left unanswered by the investigation that was conducted decades ago.

I’m sure that there are many more similar footages of the assassination or motorcade that are kept from the public. Although authorities have said that they already exhausted all available means and taken all open avenues to shed light to the case, new evidence might make the picture much clearer.

Rapping Their Way to Crime?

My ego is still hurting from the teasing that I got from my sister. She called me up last night to talk about the Grammy winners. She even gave me a line or two of the songs that won the gold.

She was surprised that I haven’t had the slightest idea of what she was talking about. I’m familiar with the award, but it’s just that the names of the current winners don’t ring a bell in my mind anymore.

I asked my officemates this morning if they’re fans of the awardees. I was relieved when most of them admitted that they don’t know who the Dixie Chicks are. I told them that I might be conducting a background check on some of the winners in order to reacquaint myself on the “who’s who” in the music industry. John joked that I should be doing a criminal records search instead if I want to know more about the rap artists who won the award. Very funny, John.