I sincerely don't understand the continued upheaval in Pakistan over those Danish cartoons. What is the connection to the United States? How will burning buildings and killing people change things? I don't care who is inciting these people to riot - how mind-numbingly stupid do you have to be to think that violence is okay? (Baa-baa go all the little sheep.)
I'm looking at pictures in today's newspaper and there are children rioting. Yes, children. There is also a report that one of the protesters accidentally shot and killed an 8-year-old boy. What parents allow their children to attend a riot? (Or a violent protest - whatever terminology you prefer.)
Can someone please explain to me (in small words so I understand) how this could happen in this day and age? I'm trying to understand, to empathize, but I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for a violent group of people who hate all Westerners indiscriminately.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
Wanted: Arsonist For Hire
Just as a follow-up to my last rant on the terrorists acting on the Danish cartoons that were reprinted recently in several European papers and depict a caricature of the Prophet Muhmammed...
Through Erin's site, I read one of her friend's responses to her opinions about the situation abroad. She (the friend) spoke as a Muslim, but not as a representative of all Muslim-kind. And she made a lot of excellent points, including this statement, "I think it was irresponsible of the EU to RE-publish those comics when they already knew that it caused boycotts only months earlier."
My only problem with this is - then why did the "Muslims" torch the Danish mission in Lebanon and ransack a Christian neighborhood? I certainly don't want to hold Taz responsible for answering this question or to offend her in any way, but I certainly wish that more of her "Muslim" brethren would adopt her attitude towards these cartoons. No matter how much offense you feel that the European newspapers are giving you, that doesn't make violence right. And if you believe, like she does, that the European papers acted irresponsibly, why are you still prosecuting the Danes? The whole situation is rife with emotion and aggression and hatred, and it is NOT on the side of the European newspapers or the Danes.
The people who are committing these atrocities need to stop and think. They are so utterly ineffective. Instead of burning buildings, write a letter to the editors of the newspapers. Work with your church to have roundtable discussions at the universities and churches in the cities where the cartoons were published. Inform the non-Muslim and Muslim masses alike. Work towards dialogue. Don't immediately jump to conclusions and force your opinions down the collective European throat. There ARE OTHER METHODS to get your point across, and are much more productive if your end goal is to be treated with the respect you feel you deserve.
Through Erin's site, I read one of her friend's responses to her opinions about the situation abroad. She (the friend) spoke as a Muslim, but not as a representative of all Muslim-kind. And she made a lot of excellent points, including this statement, "I think it was irresponsible of the EU to RE-publish those comics when they already knew that it caused boycotts only months earlier."
My only problem with this is - then why did the "Muslims" torch the Danish mission in Lebanon and ransack a Christian neighborhood? I certainly don't want to hold Taz responsible for answering this question or to offend her in any way, but I certainly wish that more of her "Muslim" brethren would adopt her attitude towards these cartoons. No matter how much offense you feel that the European newspapers are giving you, that doesn't make violence right. And if you believe, like she does, that the European papers acted irresponsibly, why are you still prosecuting the Danes? The whole situation is rife with emotion and aggression and hatred, and it is NOT on the side of the European newspapers or the Danes.
The people who are committing these atrocities need to stop and think. They are so utterly ineffective. Instead of burning buildings, write a letter to the editors of the newspapers. Work with your church to have roundtable discussions at the universities and churches in the cities where the cartoons were published. Inform the non-Muslim and Muslim masses alike. Work towards dialogue. Don't immediately jump to conclusions and force your opinions down the collective European throat. There ARE OTHER METHODS to get your point across, and are much more productive if your end goal is to be treated with the respect you feel you deserve.
Stupid Things I Do When I Should Be Rewriting My College Essays
Stolen from Musicguy, who filled this out in 2004 but I am just catching up with his Blog now...
A - Age: 26
B - Band listening to right now: Whatever I can program into my MP3 player, and whatever Anthony suggests. Newest band entering my vocabulary: Drop Kick Murphys and Less Than Jake.
C - Career future: International humanitarian aid worker
D - Dad's name: David
E - Easiest person to talk to: my mom, because she, like, so gets it
F - Favorite song: it depends on my mood, but invariably relates to my knowledge of all the words
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy Bears, bouncing here and there and everywhere; high adventure that's beyond compare; they are the gummy bears...
H - Hometown: Clinton, MA
I - Instruments: Nothing well, but I have had public performances for flute, clarinet, and voice. At one point I even tried the piano.
K - Kids: Not the human kind. But Anthony and I just adopted the cutest puppy ever...
L - Longest car ride ever: Huntsville, AL to Pheonix, AZ
M - Mom's name: Marylee, or, more fittingly, da' Momma
N - Number of people you slept with: Yeah, I want to tell the internet that
P - Phobia[s]: n/a
Q - Quote: I smell what you're stepping in - attributable to a high school friend of mine, Christian Stein-o-mite
R - Reason to smile: too many to count! But Anthony, Grace, Mom, Michelle, Christy, Mel, Yael's new baby, Sarol, and me tripping over my own two feet are amongst them.
S - Song you sang last: You must have been a beautiful baby, you must have been a beautiful child, you must have been a beautiful baby, cuz baby, look at you now - to my sweet, sweet Grace.
T - Time you wake up: 5AM, and not because I want to. It's because Grace does what I call the "puppy pee-pee" dance if I leave her in the crate any longer.
U - Unknown fact about me: I have never liked drinking.
V - Vegetable you hate: Lima beans
W - Worst habit: procrastinating
X - X-rays you've had: it would probably be easier to list those I haven't had.
Y - Yummy food: potatoes and ice cream
Z - Zodiac sign: Scorpio
A - Age: 26
B - Band listening to right now: Whatever I can program into my MP3 player, and whatever Anthony suggests. Newest band entering my vocabulary: Drop Kick Murphys and Less Than Jake.
C - Career future: International humanitarian aid worker
D - Dad's name: David
E - Easiest person to talk to: my mom, because she, like, so gets it
F - Favorite song: it depends on my mood, but invariably relates to my knowledge of all the words
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy Bears, bouncing here and there and everywhere; high adventure that's beyond compare; they are the gummy bears...
H - Hometown: Clinton, MA
I - Instruments: Nothing well, but I have had public performances for flute, clarinet, and voice. At one point I even tried the piano.
K - Kids: Not the human kind. But Anthony and I just adopted the cutest puppy ever...
L - Longest car ride ever: Huntsville, AL to Pheonix, AZ
M - Mom's name: Marylee, or, more fittingly, da' Momma
N - Number of people you slept with: Yeah, I want to tell the internet that
P - Phobia[s]: n/a
Q - Quote: I smell what you're stepping in - attributable to a high school friend of mine, Christian Stein-o-mite
R - Reason to smile: too many to count! But Anthony, Grace, Mom, Michelle, Christy, Mel, Yael's new baby, Sarol, and me tripping over my own two feet are amongst them.
S - Song you sang last: You must have been a beautiful baby, you must have been a beautiful child, you must have been a beautiful baby, cuz baby, look at you now - to my sweet, sweet Grace.
T - Time you wake up: 5AM, and not because I want to. It's because Grace does what I call the "puppy pee-pee" dance if I leave her in the crate any longer.
U - Unknown fact about me: I have never liked drinking.
V - Vegetable you hate: Lima beans
W - Worst habit: procrastinating
X - X-rays you've had: it would probably be easier to list those I haven't had.
Y - Yummy food: potatoes and ice cream
Z - Zodiac sign: Scorpio
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Friday, February 03, 2006
Holy Shiite Muslim
I have had this conversation with many of my friends, but I still can't understand how backwards some of the Muslim population of the world is.
Now, before you get all up in my grill, as Erin would say, I am the one constantly telling my friends that it is not the Muslim religion itself that advocates violence, it is unstable individuals who are only looking to religion for an excuse for bad behavior. My essential point is that I honestly believe that most Muslims are good people.
However, the bad people have guns that they're willing to use so they get in the paper a lot more.
All that being said, this whole issue about the Dutch cartoons that depict the Prophet Muhammad is almost laughable. If it weren't for the Palestinian militants trying to kidnap Europeans in Gaza. What is wrong with these people?
I just can't get it through my thick skull why anyone would have to resort to violence, intimidation and fear tactics just because someone else doesn't believe the same things you do. Everything I believe in comes down to what my parents always taught me - just get over it. If someone else's behavior isn't harming you in any real sense, other than your feeling of moral superiority, then let it go. You don't have to live their life.
I feel this way about religion, abortion, gay marriage, politics...whatever the hot button issue of the day is, that is the way I roll, folks. It doesn't make any sense for the Arab world to hate the Jews for existing, nor does it make any sense that a lot of Christians think homosexuals are the devil incarnate. Yet while I don't agree with these sentiments, I can respect them, and just go about my day. The thing I can't just stand by and watch is when these people feel they have the right to hurt, abuse, or control the life of someone they don't agree with.
Seriously, what is the point?
I'm also pretty sick of the cop-out that God wants it so. If God wanted it so, all the Jews would be smitten, the gays would die out, doctors performing abortions would become sterile, etc. There is no religion in the world that advocates following god's will by destroying another life. If you continue to insist that you have that right, then you are a murderer, plain and simple, and it has nothing to do with religion. You simply have no moral foundation.
So today's news just blows me away. It's a CARICATURE folks, no big deal. Walk away.
Now, before you get all up in my grill, as Erin would say, I am the one constantly telling my friends that it is not the Muslim religion itself that advocates violence, it is unstable individuals who are only looking to religion for an excuse for bad behavior. My essential point is that I honestly believe that most Muslims are good people.
However, the bad people have guns that they're willing to use so they get in the paper a lot more.
All that being said, this whole issue about the Dutch cartoons that depict the Prophet Muhammad is almost laughable. If it weren't for the Palestinian militants trying to kidnap Europeans in Gaza. What is wrong with these people?
I just can't get it through my thick skull why anyone would have to resort to violence, intimidation and fear tactics just because someone else doesn't believe the same things you do. Everything I believe in comes down to what my parents always taught me - just get over it. If someone else's behavior isn't harming you in any real sense, other than your feeling of moral superiority, then let it go. You don't have to live their life.
I feel this way about religion, abortion, gay marriage, politics...whatever the hot button issue of the day is, that is the way I roll, folks. It doesn't make any sense for the Arab world to hate the Jews for existing, nor does it make any sense that a lot of Christians think homosexuals are the devil incarnate. Yet while I don't agree with these sentiments, I can respect them, and just go about my day. The thing I can't just stand by and watch is when these people feel they have the right to hurt, abuse, or control the life of someone they don't agree with.
Seriously, what is the point?
I'm also pretty sick of the cop-out that God wants it so. If God wanted it so, all the Jews would be smitten, the gays would die out, doctors performing abortions would become sterile, etc. There is no religion in the world that advocates following god's will by destroying another life. If you continue to insist that you have that right, then you are a murderer, plain and simple, and it has nothing to do with religion. You simply have no moral foundation.
So today's news just blows me away. It's a CARICATURE folks, no big deal. Walk away.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Meme - Pass It On
I don't even know what this "meme" crap means, but I'm inspired by Heather's blog and I have nothing better to do right now.
Four jobs I’ve had
1. Pharmacy Assistant at CVS - that's right folks, I was allowed to tamper with other people's medication (Mwahahahaha!).
2. Law Clerk - didn't know that, did ya? It was awful (the tradeoff was that I sleep in Brent Stinski's freshman seminar instead). They let me go after I requested and received time off for Spring Break. When I returned, they had hired someone else and didn't even have the decency to call me before I showed up for work.
3. Babysitter - yeah, didn't think anyone would let their children spend time alone with me, would ya? Well, I needed to pay the man (a.k.a. Columbia House for all those CDs I ordered) and this was the best thing available. I did my best to twist the minds of all who were impressionable.
4. Professional Assasin, a.k.a. Special Agent - 'nuff said.
Four movies I can watch over and over
I'm a girl, so sue me. I like dramas and romantic comedies. And I prefer to watch them alone so y'all can't make fun of me for crying like the big, fat baby I am.
The other thing that is noteworthy about my movie-watching is that I am such an afficionado that I could watch ANYTHING over and over. Even paint peeling and grass growing. I'm THAT sick.
1. Dead Poets Society
2. What a Wonderful Life
3. Empire Records
4. Ever After / Office Space / Clerks / The Princess Bride
(Okay, that was more than four, but I assure you I had to force myself to stop when I did.)
Four places I have lived
1. Clinton, MA - oh, the stories I could bore you with.
2. Philadelphia, PA - hands down the best city for food I have ever encountered. Yet I still hate the people.
3. New York, NY
4. Washington, DC - the city without a soul.
Four TV shows I love
Let me tell you a little something about my relationship with the television. TV turns me into a drooling, vegetative, retarded zombie. Therefore, I don't really try to turn it on, and when I do, it may be days before I resurface again. So the following list is really those shows that I catch sort of regularly, and only because I am too brain-zapped at the end of the work day to get through all the other chores I've set for myself.
1. “America’s Next Top Model” - don't make fun. I know there are several of you out there who make special arrangements to watch things like the State of the Union address and West Wing. We are all the hugest dorks. I just embrace my dorkdom.
2. "Dancing with the Stars" - I'm not really married to this show, but I am fascinated that Master P is still on it after consistently getting the lowest scores I've ever seen from the judges.
3. "Stranded with Cash Peters"
4. "The Simpsons" - since I didn't start watching regularly until the past year or so, it's all new to me.
Four places I’ve vacationed
1. York Beach, ME - absolutely the best place on earth.
2. London, Paris, Belfast, Madrid, Munich, Dublin - all in the same summer.
3. Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan)
4. Dominican Republic
Four of my favorite dishes
1. Baked potatoes with I can't believe it's not butter, sour cream and garlic salt (I'm a slave to my Irish heritage)
2. Thanksgiving dinner - crispy turkey skin, turkey and homemade gravy, stuffing (cooked in the turkey), mashed potatoes, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce jelly that stays in the shape of the can, stuffed artichokes (my Nonnie's recipe), and pumpkin pie
3. Anything out of the kitchen at Marcel's in DC, and nearly everything Morimoto is willing to cook me.
4. Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Fudge, or two eggs (overeasy) with bacon, white toast and butter, crispy flavorful homefries, orange juice, hot herbal tea, and a half cup of good coffee with cream
Four sites I visit daily
1. Craigslist
2. USAJobs
3. Heather Armstrong's blog
4. Erin's blogs - here and here
Four places I would rather be right now
1. Since I think I'm coming down with my second cold in the past month, at home, in bed with the tv remote and my Netflix.
2. Even better, at my mom's house with her making me homemade tortellini soup and letting me veg out on the couch all day, constantly tucking me into a blanket and fluffing my pillows (moms are good like that).
3. Some tropical location I've never been to before, like Puerto Rico, Brazil, the Bahamas - anywhere close to the equator that's experiencing a high volume of sun and ocean right now. Mmmmm, sun.
4. Despite the illness, it's a pretty awesome day for hiking. I'd like to be learning how to rock climb right now - preferably somewhere out West, like Colorado, Wyoming, or some other rocky place.
Four people I am tagging
Tag, you're it!
1. Yael - and no, I don't want to hear any excuses about, "I just had a baby," or anything!
2. Darwin
3. Erin
4. Katie
Four jobs I’ve had
1. Pharmacy Assistant at CVS - that's right folks, I was allowed to tamper with other people's medication (Mwahahahaha!).
2. Law Clerk - didn't know that, did ya? It was awful (the tradeoff was that I sleep in Brent Stinski's freshman seminar instead). They let me go after I requested and received time off for Spring Break. When I returned, they had hired someone else and didn't even have the decency to call me before I showed up for work.
3. Babysitter - yeah, didn't think anyone would let their children spend time alone with me, would ya? Well, I needed to pay the man (a.k.a. Columbia House for all those CDs I ordered) and this was the best thing available. I did my best to twist the minds of all who were impressionable.
4. Professional Assasin, a.k.a. Special Agent - 'nuff said.
Four movies I can watch over and over
I'm a girl, so sue me. I like dramas and romantic comedies. And I prefer to watch them alone so y'all can't make fun of me for crying like the big, fat baby I am.
The other thing that is noteworthy about my movie-watching is that I am such an afficionado that I could watch ANYTHING over and over. Even paint peeling and grass growing. I'm THAT sick.
1. Dead Poets Society
2. What a Wonderful Life
3. Empire Records
4. Ever After / Office Space / Clerks / The Princess Bride
(Okay, that was more than four, but I assure you I had to force myself to stop when I did.)
Four places I have lived
1. Clinton, MA - oh, the stories I could bore you with.
2. Philadelphia, PA - hands down the best city for food I have ever encountered. Yet I still hate the people.
3. New York, NY
4. Washington, DC - the city without a soul.
Four TV shows I love
Let me tell you a little something about my relationship with the television. TV turns me into a drooling, vegetative, retarded zombie. Therefore, I don't really try to turn it on, and when I do, it may be days before I resurface again. So the following list is really those shows that I catch sort of regularly, and only because I am too brain-zapped at the end of the work day to get through all the other chores I've set for myself.
1. “America’s Next Top Model” - don't make fun. I know there are several of you out there who make special arrangements to watch things like the State of the Union address and West Wing. We are all the hugest dorks. I just embrace my dorkdom.
2. "Dancing with the Stars" - I'm not really married to this show, but I am fascinated that Master P is still on it after consistently getting the lowest scores I've ever seen from the judges.
3. "Stranded with Cash Peters"
4. "The Simpsons" - since I didn't start watching regularly until the past year or so, it's all new to me.
Four places I’ve vacationed
1. York Beach, ME - absolutely the best place on earth.
2. London, Paris, Belfast, Madrid, Munich, Dublin - all in the same summer.
3. Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan)
4. Dominican Republic
Four of my favorite dishes
1. Baked potatoes with I can't believe it's not butter, sour cream and garlic salt (I'm a slave to my Irish heritage)
2. Thanksgiving dinner - crispy turkey skin, turkey and homemade gravy, stuffing (cooked in the turkey), mashed potatoes, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce jelly that stays in the shape of the can, stuffed artichokes (my Nonnie's recipe), and pumpkin pie
3. Anything out of the kitchen at Marcel's in DC, and nearly everything Morimoto is willing to cook me.
4. Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Caramel Fudge, or two eggs (overeasy) with bacon, white toast and butter, crispy flavorful homefries, orange juice, hot herbal tea, and a half cup of good coffee with cream
Four sites I visit daily
1. Craigslist
2. USAJobs
3. Heather Armstrong's blog
4. Erin's blogs - here and here
Four places I would rather be right now
1. Since I think I'm coming down with my second cold in the past month, at home, in bed with the tv remote and my Netflix.
2. Even better, at my mom's house with her making me homemade tortellini soup and letting me veg out on the couch all day, constantly tucking me into a blanket and fluffing my pillows (moms are good like that).
3. Some tropical location I've never been to before, like Puerto Rico, Brazil, the Bahamas - anywhere close to the equator that's experiencing a high volume of sun and ocean right now. Mmmmm, sun.
4. Despite the illness, it's a pretty awesome day for hiking. I'd like to be learning how to rock climb right now - preferably somewhere out West, like Colorado, Wyoming, or some other rocky place.
Four people I am tagging
Tag, you're it!
1. Yael - and no, I don't want to hear any excuses about, "I just had a baby," or anything!
2. Darwin
3. Erin
4. Katie
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