I'm Maimi Bound
06.30.04 (7:09 pm) [edit]
So in less than ::looks at watch:: er.. 14 hours or so, I shall be boarding a plain headed for beautiful Maimi, FLA. Yep, that's right. And, boy, am I excited!! This is my second trip out there and it's gonna be great. Visiting some good friends of mine who moved there a little over a year ago and we're going to have the best 4th of July ever! YAY for LEGAL fireworks! Woo!
We plan on hitting the 'gator farm in the everglades and the BEST bakery in the world, Annie's! They make THE most delicious Challah (bread) in the world! It's like cake! MMMMM ::drools::
So then, I guess you've figured out that I'm going to be a little absent for a little while. I'm sure I'll be missed (yea, right! I'm sure all of the whack jobs around here are just so relieved that they get the run of things for a while)! :P
At any rate, be good while I'm out. I hope that you're independance day is great and full of that which is great (namely tv and fireworks as well as some nice beef).
Happy BBQing!
I'll hopefully have photographs when I return! :D
The Illusion of Relative Morality
06.30.04 (4:42 pm) [edit]
I was going to talk about animal rights today. That blog shall have to wait. Don't let me forget though! However, I feel compelled to talk about Morality because so many people discount it. Especially lately with all of this talk on Gay Marriage and Prostitution.
I'm not saying let's talk about one person or groups' morality and it's supremacy. I'm far smarter than that. What I am talking about is the absence of conscience in decisions being made by the people of today.
But first, what do these words mean? Conscience? Morality? What is that?
What it comes down to is right and wrong. What is the correct thing to do vs. the incorrect thing to do? What does your heart (dare I mention it) compel you to do in terms of the "right thing?" Many people seem to think that it doesn't matter what they think is right or wrong. [i]Who are we to judge? What's right for me may not be right for the person I'm standing next to.[/i]
It's good to think that in certain situations. That is an excellent way to think as a way of respecting people. I often muse things about in that key, myself. But when it comes down to the knitty gritty, if you are absolutely vehement that this is the doctrine ([i]who am I to judge?[/i]), you tend to be untrue to your own feelings. In a way, I can best put it fourth as, you are discounting yourself and disallowing yourself the credit of a thoughtful mind.
However, it has become the trend to throw out anyone's assertions that something is wrong or right. I think an idea that had good prospects went horribly wrong. This is the problem of our PC world. It's ok to be ethnically diverse, but not ideologically. And if you're the right ethnicity, only then are you allowed your diverseness.
I've heard often, not just on tblog, "It's my opinion, but I'm right." I can understand how someone would get insulted over that. The knee-jerk translation to the receiver of this statement is "I'm right and you're wrong, poopie-head." It doesn't have to be that way.
The theory that there are no Moral Absolutes is rather weak. Popular as it may be, it's also very dangerous. Right now, I'm reading [b][i]Brainwashed[/i][/b] by Ben Shapiro and he has a section dedicated to the theory of no moral absolutes. In reading this book, I find I do differ from Mr. Shapiro, a UCLA graduate, on some things, but he really hits the nail on the head in much of his book. Especially the section on Moral Relativity.
Shapiro notes one of his professor's ideal:
[b][i]"'There is no such thing as a neutral or objective claim,' said Professor Joshua Muldavin of UCLA. It was early in the quarter, and the professor was explaining to our class that there is no such thing as capital-T Truth. There is no right and wrong, no good and evil, he taught. We must always remember that we are subjective beings, and as such, all of our values are subjective.
It's a load of bunk ..."[/b][/i] (Shapiro, p.1. 2004).
I could not agree more. Murder is wrong, any way you slice it. Theft is wrong. Abuse is wrong. These are evil things. These are wrong!
Once you start living by what Professor Muldavin preaches, then you start advocating terrible things.
IF there is no such thing as right or wrong, then you can't say that the Holocaust was wrong. You can't say that hijacking airplanes to kill innocent civilians is wrong. [i]Who are we to judge?[/i]
Another point, if there is no such thing as wrong or right, then that theory can't be right either. Make sense? No one can impose this theory of Moral Relativity. No one. [i]Who are we to say it's right?[/i]
In a society, we have rules. We impose these rules on the populace to keep them safe from harm. Our government is there to inforce these standards. I'm not advocating having a thought police. Think what you want. But think. It is the place of the government to protect it's citizens from harm. Some people take their moral relitivity to the point that the government shouldn't inforce nor have laws to ban some practices. What about moral obligations? If there are no morals, there are no obligations.
If you're morals are important to you, do not be afraid to uphold them. Do not be afraid to (in a kind and respectful manner) voice your opinion. Do not be intimidated into a [i]closet[/i] because you believe in God or no god at all.
But do not pretend that just because you think morality is relative, you're not imposing your morals on anyone else.
To thyself be true.
Prostitution: Factsheet on Human Rights Violations
06.30.04 (10:14 am) [edit]
In continuation from [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]this post[/url] that I made yesterday, here are some FACTS about prositution from ProstiutionResearch.com
[line]
[b][i]by Melissa Farley PhD
Prostitution Research & Education
Box 16254, San Francisco CA 94116 USA
© 4/2/2000
In order to quote from this Factsheet, please credit the author above as well as the specific sources listed below. Thank you.
http://www.prostitutionresearch.com" title="http://www.prostitutionresearch.com" target="_blank"http://www.prostitutionresear...[/b][/i]
Prostitution is:
a) sexual harassment
b) rape
c) battering
d) verbal abuse
e) domestic violence
f) a racist practice
g) a violation of human rights
h) childhood sexual abuse
i) a consequence of male domination of women
j) a means of maintaining male domination of women
k) all of the above
The commercial sex industry includes street prostitution, massage brothels, escort services, outcall services, strip clubs, lapdancing, phone sex, adult and child pornography, video and internet pornography, and prostitution tourism. Most women who are in prostitution for longer than a few months drift among these various permutations of the commercial sex industry.
All prostitution causes harm to women. Whether it is being sold by one’s family to a brothel, or whether it is being sexually abused in one’s family, running away from home, and then being pimped by one’s boyfriend, or whether one is in college and needs to pay for next semester’s tuition and one works at a strip club behind glass where men never actually touch you – all these forms of prostitution hurt the women in it. (Melissa Farley, paper presented at the 11th International Congress on Women’s Health Issues, University of California College of Nursing, San Francisco. 1-28-2000)
"The everyday life of prostitution is distant from most of us. And here, our imagination is a poor assistant. Negotiate a price with a stranger. Agree. Pull down one pant leg. Come and take me. Finished. Next, please. It becomes too ugly to really take it in. The imagination screeches to a halt." (Cecilie Hoigard and Liv Finstad, Backstreets: Prostitution, Money, and Love, 1992, translated by Katherine Hanson, Nancy Sipe, and Barbara Wilson; first published as Bakgater in Norway, 1986, Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Pennsylvania).
Men call up the image of the whore when they are abusing their partners. The accusations in between the kicks and slaps: "You slut....whore...." Historically, the words mean "subhuman," "having no rights," "invisible," and "wicked." As recently as 1991, police in a southern California community closed all rape reports made by prostitutes and addicts, placing them in a file stamped "NHI." The letters stand for the words "No Human Involved." (Linda Fairstein, Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape, 1993, New York, William Morrow.)
"[The prostitute] is a victim of every bad thing men do to women: physical and sexual abuse, economic oppression and abandonment." (Mick LaSalle, "Hollywood is hooked on hookers, " San Francisco Examiner, December 3, 1995).
Women in prostitution are purchased for their appearance, including skin color and characteristics based on ethnic stereotyping. Throughout history, women have been enslaved and prostituted based on race and ethnicity, as well as gender (Kathleen Barry, 1995 ,The Prostitution of Sexuality, New York University Press).
We usually don't see prostitution as domestic violence because it is just too painful: "...the carnage: the scale of it, the dailiness of it, the seeming inevitability of it; the torture, the rapes, the murders, the beatings, the despair, the hollowing out of the personality, the near extinguishment of hope commonly suffered by women in prostitution." (Margaret A. Baldwin "Split at the Root: Prostitution and Feminist Discourses of Law Reform" in Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, 1992, Vol 5: 47-120)
"Male dominance means that the society creates a pool of prostitutes by any means necessary so that men have what men need to stay on top, to feel big, literally, metaphorically, in every way;..." (Andrea Dworkin, Prostitution and Male Supremacy, in Life and Death, Free Press, 1997).
"Prostitution isn't like anything else. Rather, everything else is like prostitution because it is the model for women's condition." (Evelina Giobbe, 1992, quoted by Margaret Baldwin in "Split at the Root: Prostitution and Feminist Discourses of Law Reform," Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, 5:
47-120).
"The sex industry markets precisely the violence, the practices of subordination that feminists seek to eliminate from the streets, workplaces, and bedrooms." Sheila Jeffreys, (1997) The Idea of Prostitution, Spinifex Press, North Melbourne, Victoria.
The practice of prostitution is a practice of sexual objectification of women. "... every act of sexual objectifying occurs on a continuum of dehumanization that promises male sexual violence at its far end." John Stoltenberg (1990) Refusing to be a Man, Fontana, London.
The average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years (M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes, Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133) or 14 years (D.Kelly Weisberg, 1985, Children of the Night: A Study of Adolescent Prostitution, Lexington, Mass, Toronto). Most of these 13 or 14 year old girls were recruited or coerced into prostitution. Others were "traditional wives" without job skills who escaped from or were abandoned by abusive husbands and went into prostitution to support themselves and their children. (Denise Gamache and Evelina Giobbe, Prostitution: Oppression Disguised as Liberation, National Coalition against Domestic Violence, 1990)
The age of entry into prostitution is decreasing. For example, how do we even conceptualize "juvenile" prostitution, when the age of consent for legal sexual activity is constantly lowered, as in Netherlands and Philippines? (Kathleen Mahoney, Professor of Law, Calgary University, Canada, 1995)
*
"Incest is boot camp [for prostitution.]" (Andrea Dworkin, "Prostitution and Male Supremacy," in Life and Death, Free press, 1997)
Estimates of the prevalence of incest among prostitutes range from 65% to 90%. The Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, Oregon Annual Report in 1991 stated that: 85% of prostitute/clients reported history of sexual abuse in childhood; 70% reported incest. The higher percentages (80%-90%) of reports of incest and childhood sexual assaults of prostitutes come from anecdotal reports and from clinicians working with prostitutes (interviews with Nevada psychologists cited by Patricia Murphy, Making the Connections: women, work, and abuse, 1993, Paul M. Deutsch Press, Orlando, Florida; see also Rita Belton, "Prostitution as Traumatic Reenactment," 1992, International Society for Traumatic Stress Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes," Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133; C. Bagley and L Young, 1987, "Juvenile Prostitution and child sexual abuse: a controlled study," Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, Vol 6: 5-26.
80% of prostitution survivors at the WHISPER Oral History Project reported that their customers showed them pornography to illustrate the kinds of sexual activities in which they wanted to engage. 52% of the women stated that pornography played a significant role in teaching them what was expected of them as prostitutes. 30% reported that their pimps regularly exposed them to pornography in order to indoctrinate them into an acceptance of the practices depicted. (A facilitator's guide to Prostitution: a matter of violence against women, 1990, WHISPER - Women Hurt in Systems of Prostitution Engaged in Revolt Minneapolis, MN)
The male sexuality in prostitution is "male masturbation in a female body." (Hanna Olsson, regarding a study of Swedish prostitution, quoted by Kathleen Barry in The Prostitution of Sexuality, 1995, New York, New York University Press) In prostitution, "men buy not a self but a body that performs as a self, and it is a self that conforms to the most harmful, damaging, racist and sexist concepts of women..." (Kathleen Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality, 1995, New York, New York University Press)
The prostitution market is driven by customer demand for sexual service. During WW II, the Japanese military forced from 100,000 to 200,000 Korean women into prostitution to service their military. (Kathleen Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality, 1995, New York, New York University Press).
In 1974, police estimated that there were 400,000 prostitutes in Thailand, procured primarily for the U.S. military on R & R from the Vietnam War. As of 1993, an unofficial estimate is that there are 2 million prostitutes in Thailand, whose national economy is dependent on tourism. Prostitution is the largest commodity for the 450,000 Thai men who purchase prostitutes daily as well as for a large percentage of the 5.4 million tourists a year who arrive in Thailand for "sex tours." (Kathleen Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality, 1995, New York, New York University Press).
A more accurate term for "sex tourism" is prostitution tourism. (Melissa Farley, 1997)
90% of prostituted women interviewed by WHISPER had pimps while in prostitution (Evelina Giobbe, 1987, WHISPER Oral History Project, Minneapolis, Minnesota).
Pimps target girls or women who seem naive, lonely, homeless, and rebellious. At first, the attention and feigned affection from the pimp convinces her to "be his woman." Pimps ultimately keep prostituted women in virtual captivity by verbal abuse - making a woman feel that she is utterly worthless: a toilet, a piece of trash; and by physical coercion - beatings and the threat of torture. 80% to 95% of all prostitution is pimp-controlled. (Kathleen Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality, 1995, New York, New York University Press)
Describing the trauma of prostitution, and its consequences, one fourteen year old stated: "You feel like a piece of hamburger meat – all chopped up and barely holding together" (D. Kelly Weisberg, 1985, Children of the Night, Lexington Books, Toronto).
The answer to the question "why do prostitutes stay with their pimps?" is the same as the answer to the question "why do battered women stay with their batterers?" (Melissa Farley, 1996) Humans bond emotionally to their abusers as a psychological strategy to survive under conditions of captivity. This has been described as the Stockholm syndrome (Dee Graham with Rawlings and Rigsby, Loving to Survive: Sexual Terror, Men's Violence, and Women's Lives, 1994, New York University Press, New York.)
"About 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a rape. It's hard to talk about this because..the experience of prostitution is just like rape. Prostitutes are raped, on the average, eight to ten times per year. They are the most raped class of women in the history of our planet. " (Susan Kay Hunter and K.C. Reed, July, 1990 "Taking the side of bought and sold rape," speech at National Coalition against Sexual Assault, Washington, D.C. )
Other studies report 68% to 70% of women in prostitution being raped (M Silbert, "Compounding factors in the rape of street prostitutes," in A.W. Burgess, ed., Rape and Sexual Assault II, Garland Publishing, 1988; Melissa Farley and Howard Barkan, "Prostitution, Violence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder," 1998, Women & Health.
78% of 55 women who sought help from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives in 1991 reported being raped an average of 16 times a year by pimps, and were raped 33 times a year by johns. (Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives Annual Report, 1991, Portland, Oregon)
85% of prostitutes are raped by pimps. (Council on Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, 1994)
Prostitution is an act of violence against women which is intrinsically traumatizing. In a study of 475 people in prostitution (including women, men, and the transgendered) from five countries (South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Zambia):
62% reported having been raped in prostitution.
73% reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution.
72% were currently or formerly homeless.
92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately.
(Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426
83% of prostitutes are victims of assault with a weapon. (National Coalition Against Sexual Assault)
A Canadian Report on Prostitution and Pornography concluded that girls and women in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average. ( Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution, 1985, Pornography and Prostitution in Canada 350.
Many of the health problems of women in prostitution are a direct result of violence. For example, several women had their ribs broken by the police in Istanbul, a woman in San Francisco broke her hips jumping out of a car when a john was attempting to kidnap her. Many women had their teeth knocked out by pimps and johns. (Melissa Farley, unpublished manuscript, 2000)
One woman (in another study) said about her health: "I’ve had three broken arms, nose broken twice, [and] I’m partially deaf in one ear….I have a small
fragment of a bone floating in my head that gives me migraines. I’ve had a fractured skull. My legs ain’t worth shit no more; my toes have been broken. My feet, bottom of my feet, have been burned; they've been whopped with a hot iron and clothes hanger… the hair on my pussy had been burned off at one time…I have scars. I’ve been cut with a knife, beat with guns, two by fours. There hasn’t been a place on my body that hasn’t been bruised somehow, some way, some big, some small." (Giobbe, E. (1992) Juvenile Prostitution: Profile of Recruitment in Ann W. Burgess (ed.) Child Trauma: Issues & Research.
Garland Publishing Inc, New York, page 126).
In one study, 75% of women in escort prostitution had attempted suicide. Prostituted women comprised 15% of all completed suicides reported by hospitals. (Letter from Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Jan 6, 1993, cited by Phyllis Chesler in "A Woman's Right to Self-Defense: the case of Aileen Carol Wuornos," in Patriarchy: Notes of an Expert Witness, 1994, Common Courage Press, Monroe, Maine.
Like combat veterans, women in prostitution suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a psychological reaction to extreme physical and emotional trauma. Symptoms are acute anxiety, depression, insomnia, irritability, flashbacks, emotional numbing, and being in a state of emotional and physical hyperalertness. 67% of those in prostitution from five countries met criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD – a rate similar to that of battered women, rape victims, and state-sponsored torture survivors. (Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426
"For a great part of 1992 I lived in a beautiful apartment on Capitol Hill. I drove my expensive car. I bought lovely clothes and traveled extensively out of the country. For the first time in my 20 years as an adult woman, I paid my own way. There was no need to worry about affording my rent, my phone bill, all the debts one accumulates simply by living month to month. I felt invincible. And I was miserable to the core. I hated myself because I hated my life All the things I came to possess meant nothing. I could not face myself in the mirror. Working in prostitution lost my soul." Survivor interviewed by Debra Boyer, Lynn Chapman and Brent Marshall in Survival Sex in King County: Helping Women Out (1993), King County Women;s Advisory Board, Northwest Resource Associates, Seattle.
"[In the past, we had a women's] movement which understood that the choice to be beaten by one man for economic survival was not a real choice, despite the appearance of consent a marriage contract might provide. ...Yet now we are supposed to believe, in the name of feminism, that the choice to be fucked by hundreds of men for economic survival must be affirmed as a real choice, and if the woman signs a model release there is no coercion there." (Catharine A. MacKinnon, "Liberalism and the Death of Feminism," in Dorchen Leidholdt and Janice Raymond (eds), The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism, 1990, Teachers College Press, New York.)
67% of 475 people in prostitution from South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Zambia met diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 92% stated that they wanted to leave prostitution, and said that what they needed was: a home or safe place (73%); job training (70%); and health care (59%). (Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426
Other studies have noted that those in prostitution want to escape, and have the same needs as others who are in similar circumstances. El Bassel found that women who used drugs and who also prostituted were significantly more psychologically distressed than were drug-using women who did not prostitute. El Bassel et al. (1997) "Sex Trading and Psychological Distress among Women Recruited from the Streets of Harlem," American Journal of Public Health, 87: 66-70.
In order to understand the trauma of prostitution, it is necessary to also understand the ways in which racism and sexism are inextricably connected in prostitution (see Vednita Carter,1993, "Prostitution: Where Racism and Sexism Intersect," Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, 1: 81-89. Also see Jackie Lynne (1998) "Street Prostitution as Sexual Exploitation in First Nations Women’s Lives." Essay submitted in partial fulfillment of Master of Social Work, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, B.C., April 1998. See a short version of Lynne’s thesis "Colonialism and the Prostitution of First Nations Women in Canada" on the Prostitution Research & Education web site
In 1994, women in the sex industry were identified as one of three populations most in need of specialized services, primarily as a result of the violence inflicted upon them as a result of their work. (City of Seattle Dept of Housing and Human Service, Domestic Violence Community Advocacy Program Expansion, Feb. 1994)
In prostitution, demand creates supply. Because men want to buy sex, prostitution is assumed to be inevitable, therefore 'normal.' Here are quotes from three different johns:
1. "It’s like going to have your car done, you tell them what you want done, they don’t ask, you tell them you want so and so done…" (McKeganey, N. and Barnard, M. ,1996, Sex Work on the Streets: Prostitutes and Their Clients. Milton Keynes Open University Press, Buckingham, Scotland.).
2. I am a firm believer that all women… are prostitutes at one time or another" (Hite, S. ,1981, The Hite Report on Male Sexuality. New York, Alfred A. Knopf)
3. Discussing his experience in a strip club, one man said, "This is the part of me that can still go hunting" (Frank, K. (1999) Intimate Labors: Masculinity, Consumption, and Authenticity in Five Gentlemen’s Clubs, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Duke University, Durham, N.C.).
4. Violent behaviors against women have been associated with attitudes which promote men’s beliefs that they are entitled to sexual access to women, that they are superior to women, and that they are licensed as sexual aggressors. ( White,J.W. & Koss, M.P 1993, "Adolescent sexual aggression within heterosexual relationships: prevalence, characteristics, and causes. " In H.E. Barbaree, W.L. Marshall and D. R. Laws.(eds.) The Juvenile Sex Offender, Guilford Press, New York.
In 1993, 42% of women arrested in Seattle on prostitution-related charges were convicted.
In 1993, 8% of men arrested in Seattle on prostitution-related charges were convicted. (Seattle Women's Commission, 1995, "Project to Address the Legal, Political, and Service Barriers Facing Women in the Sex Industry" Seattle, Washington.
If we view prostitution as violence against women, it makes no sense to legalize or decriminalize prostitution. The primary violence in prostitution is not "social stigma" as some maintain. Decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution would normalize and regulate practices which are human rights violations, and which in any other context would be legally actionable (sexual harassment, physical assault, rape, captivity, economic coercion.) or emotionally damaging (verbal abuse). (Melissa Farley)
In 1999, the Swedish Parliament put into effect a law which criminalizes the buying of sexual services but not the selling of sexual services. This is a compassionate, social interventionist legal response to the cruelty of prostitution. (see,Sven-Axel Mansson and Ulla-Carin Hedin, 1999, "Breaking the Matthew Effect - On Women Leaving Prostitution," International Journal of Social Work. Also see Prostitution Research & Education web site, http://www.prostitutionresear... for a copy of the Swedish law))
[i]P.R.E.: Melissa Farley, PhD is at mfarley@prostitutionresea rch.com
Current Webmaster: Nitecat Media
Site Originally Crafted by: Nikki Craft
All Contents ©1998-2001 Melissa Farley unless otherwise noted.[/i]
Everyone’s a Nazi, except for the Nazis
06.29.04 (4:01 pm) [edit]
[i]Take passages from Hitler and simply replace the word “Jews” with “Zionists”, and the results are spine-chilling: A perfect copy of the things that are being written and said against Israel in various radical forums
[b]by Amnon Rubinstein[/b][/i]
The last issue of the “New Republic”, the influential American monthly, featured an article by noted historian Amir Bartov, who specializes in research of the Nazi era. The article, called “He meant what he said”, refers to Hitler’s second book, the continuation of “Mein Kampf”, which was only discovered after World War II, and was only recently properly translated into English.
Hitler’s book is a direct continuation of the hateful anti-Semitism (in the words of our day: the Nazi narrative). Bartov explains that in hindsight, we know that Hitler carried out everything he wrote about in his books, but that in his time, when he wrote those things, many good people assumed that the moment he would become leader of the government, Hitler would not be able to carry out his plan because of internal policy matters and international realities.
In other words, Bartov warns that there are people and movements who plan to do exactly what they say they will do. “The scary part about what Hitler writes, in both books, is that a good number of things that he writes can be easily found in other places now—on the internet, propaganda booklets, political speeches, protest leaflets, academic publications and religious preaching”. The most unfortunate truth is that today, these “Nazisms” can be heard from the right, from the left, from religious and secularists, from students, pacifists, terrorists, intellectuals and from anti-globalization activists.
Bartov points out the overwhelming similarities between extremist Islamic propaganda and Nazi propaganda. Bartov is a harsh critic of Israel’s policies in the territories, and sees in them both damage to Israel and to international law. And because of this, he does not see criticism of Israel as illegitimate and he warns against Jewish paranoia in this regard. But he differentiates between this kind of criticism, and a comparison of Israeli policies to the Nazis; between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda that is violent and extremist.
Bartov takes passages from Hitler and simply replaces the word “Jews” with “Zionists”, and the results are spine-chilling: A perfect copy of the things that are being written and said against Israel in various radical forums. Bartov points out the similarities between the caricatures and propaganda that represents Israel as resembling the Nazis, closely resembles the propaganda that was featured in “Der Strumer”. He quotes former Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Mahatir, and the publications of the Hamas, and points out the identicalness in their hatred of Jews to the hatred of Jews of yore. Bartov quotes testimony that was for some reason not publicized enough in the international media from the trial of the al-Qaeda terrorists in Hamburg in February, 2003.
This is what one of Muhammad Atta’s partners said [Atta was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon]:
“Atta’s world view was based upon National Socialist thinking. He believed that the Jews seek to rule the world, and that there is a Jewish conspiracy”.
Another defendant said: “What Hitler did to the Jews was not bad at all”.
There is a direct connection, according to Bartov, between the murderous planning of Hamburg in the 1990s, and those genocidal fantasies that Hitler dreamt about in Munich in the 1920s. Actually, there isn’t even any need to quote those shocking testimonies to be able to see the frightening parallels between Arab-Muslim propaganda and old Nazi propaganda: A television program shown on official Egyptian television stations and other Arab stations, “Horseman without a horse”, is a Nazi propaganda film that preaches murder of Jews and refers to the historical period before the rise of the State of Israel. It’s a program whose royalties should have gone directly to Streicher, Goebbels and Himmler had they still been alive. The publication of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and displaying it in Alexandria’s new national library as a “Jewish sacred text”, are acts of Nazism.
Hitler, determines Bartov, “taught us a lesson, but the world refuses to learn it”. The lesson is a simple one: “If you see a Nazi, fascist or anti-Semite, don’t hesitate to say so… don’t be forgiving of them, remember that if you do so, you are justifying the ideology of genocide”.
It may not be fashionable to say such things in the enlightened salons of the west; it is only allowed to compare Israel with the Nazis, and Sharon to Hitler. In fact, when you see the demonstrations that display the swastika as equal to the star of David, then you must reach the insane conclusion that in the eyes of part of the world—everyone is a Nazi, especially the leaders of the US and Israel, except for those that really are Nazis.
[i]source: http://www.maarivenglish.com/...[/i]
Prostitution
06.29.04 (2:53 pm) [edit]
Ok, now this is getting to be more interesting. [url=http://dragonbait22.tblog.com...]Dragonbait22[/url] wrote [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]an excellent and thought provoking post[/url] about Prostitution in the aftermath of my [i]shocking[/i] [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]Polygamy[/url] entry.
So now, I'd like to lay out my thoughts on prostitution and why I am opposed to it. Much of what I shall write here was said in the comments on Dragonbait22's post, but it'll be good to organize thoughts.
Despite what many people think and have labeled prostitution as, it is not a victimless crime. When it comes to two consenting adults, there is a problem already because of the issue that the "possibly exploited" may be consenting verbally, but what about their mind and their feelings as well as, dare I say, their soul? What of women (and sometimes men) who are forced into prostitution for whatever reason? Sure, they may consent to have sex for money, but is that really what they want to do?
Someone brought up the issue that what about people who are forced to go to regular jobs like farming or working at Mikki D's? Um, you can't morally equate prostitution to regular forms of work. There's a difference between going to work for a living to earn money and being sexually abused at work and earning money by being abused. "It's not abuse if they consent." So then, if someone consents to be shit on by someone else, literally, it's not abuse (There's some people out there who like to shit on and be shat on, believe it or not)?
I can best equate it to hazing. If the above were true, then hazing would not be considered illegal or wrong in that event. In the event of hazing (let's say in a fraternity or serrority), a pledge is made to endure disgusting forms of abuse. A house in my town was shut down this last semester because frat brothers were actually peeing on pledges. The pledges did just sit there and take it. Should the frat brothers be charged with hazing?
Then there's the issue of when it's not two consenting adults. What if it's a concenting adult and non-consenting or even concenting child?? Also, what of the pimps? What role should they play? They abuse the women they are in charge of all the time! They will often mutilate a girl so that she is no longer attractive, often focusing on her face, as form of punishment! Even a threat of mutilation or assult is a form of abuse!
There also enters the subject of disease and drugs. In times of the past where societies had legal prositution, diseases were spread easily among the people in that society. Prostitutes would carry the disease, a married man would go have an affair with a paid "sexual expert", bring it home to his wife and then we have the makings of an epedemic. In these time, with more serious STD's like AIDS and HIV, I'd think it to be more practically and health-wise irresponsible to legalize prostitution.
On the drugs front, studies have shown that opiates and also stimulants are very "chic" in the prostitution business. These are harmful drugs. It's not like pot which is generally considered more benign. This may spread the usage and so on if prostitution is legalized.
And then there's my MAIN REASON as to why I am opposed to prostetution: the issue of exploitation.
Women are still considered sex objects by many of our chauvanistic penile-clad counterparts. What kind of message would it send to some men out there to allow them to further objectify women in a most disgusting fashion? We have Brittney Spears and Madonna who flaunt their bodies as they do a glorifyed strip show for audiences and that is the standard that little girls hold themselves to as they grow up.
With a legalized prostitution, the social consequences of this chauvanistic objectification and exploitation of women would be more acceptable and allow it to be easier to exploit the female gender. And sure, it might be male prostitutes also, but let's face it, it's easier to exploit women to the point of creating worthless sex slaves than it is for women to do to men or men to do to men.
Prostitution allows men to further objectify and victimize women, be it physically or mentaly victimize (as in mental abuse). It gives them an excuse and a vehicle. By saying it's legal to have sex with a woman for money and use her in that manner it gives men the validation needed to abuse women further.
The purpose of a prostitute is to have a body without a person. Perhaps having sex with a corpse would be more productive?
The illegal status of prostitution does not inhibit people from free choice. On the contrary, if it did, prostitution would not exist at all in places where it is illegal today. People still have a choice to or to not engage in protitution sex acts. Some of the things I mentioned above may be incidental to the act of prostitution between consenting adults, however, the fact that it is illegal today is also just a merely incidental risk for proponents of prostitution to contend with.
Float On
06.29.04 (1:28 pm) [edit]
You're listening to Modest Mouse!
I backed my car into a cop car the other day
Well he just drove off sometimes life's ok
I ran my mouth off a bit too much, Oh what did I say
Well you just laughed it off it was all ok
And we'll all float on ok
And we'll all float on ok
And we'll all float on ok
And we'll all float on anyway, well
A fake jamaican took every last dime with that scam
It was worth it just to learn some sleight-of-hand
Bad news comes don't you worry even when it lands
Good news will work its way to all them plans
We both got fired on exactly the same day
Well we'll float on good news is on the way
And we'll all float on ok
And we'll all float on ok
And we'll all float on ok
And we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Now don't you worry we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Alright don't worry we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Alright don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy
We'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Okay, don't worry we'll all float on even if things get heavy
We'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Alright, don't you worry we'll all float on
Alright
All float on
A Dose Of Reality
06.29.04 (11:12 am) [edit]
Here is some pictures of recent events in Israel. Tune in to your news source for more information.
[i][b]An Israeli rescue worker cleans up a bloodstain in front of personal belongings following a rocket attack at the Israeli southern town of Sderot June 28, 2004. Palestinian rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Sderot killed people in Israel for the first time, a three-year-old boy and a man, in a deadly battle of wills in anticipation of an Israeli pullout. Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters
Reuters - 8 hours, 1 minute ago[/b][/i]
[i][b]An Israeli man who was injured in a Palestinian rocket attack is treated by rescue workers in the southern Israeli town of Sderot June 29, 2004. Makeshift missiles of the kind that killed two Israelis on Monday wounded two people in Israeli southern towns on Tuesday, intensifying the upsurge of violence ahead of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 's planned pullout from occupied Gaza. (ISRAEL OUT) REUTERS/Gadi Kabalo (ISRAEL OUT)
Reuters - 8 hours, 14 minutes ago[/b][/i]
[i][b]An Israeli man is helped by bystanders as he waits to be evacuated after being injured by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants in an industrial zone in the outskirts of the southern Israeli town of Sderot Tuesday, June 29, 2004. The attack was part of a new barrage of makeshift rockets fired by militants into southern Israel Tuesday, despite the launch of an Israeli offensive meant to halt such attacks. (AP Photo/Dave Buimovitch)
AP - 8 hours, 32 minutes ago[/b][/i]
This has been your dose of reality.
06.29.04 (10:59 am) [edit]
[b]17:10 Jun 29, '04 / 10 Tammuz 5764[/b]
Source: http://www.israelnationalnews...
Red Crescent personnel in the Arab-populated villages north of Ramallah this morning found the body of an Israeli from the south of the country, 63 years old, in a truck. The man, a frequent business visitor to the area, was apparently shot to death by Palestinian terrorists waiting in ambush. IDF forces were called to the scene, and the investigation continues. Although the victim was known to have frequented the local Arab villages for business purposes, police are largely leaning towards assuming that the murder was of a terrorist nature.
In other defense/security news today, a Kassam rocket hit Sderot this morning;
[url=http://www.israelnationalnews...]see separate story... [/url]
Hizbullah fired some anti-aircraft missiles at northern Israel today, no casualties or damage... An Arab who threw a shrapnel grenade at an IDF force in Gaza today was wounded by IDF fire; no Israelis were hurt...
[b]17:10 Jun 29, '04 / 10 Tammuz 5764[/b]
Source: http://www.israelnationalnews...
Red Crescent personnel in the Arab-populated villages north of Ramallah this morning found the body of an Israeli from the south of the country, 63 years old, in a truck. The man, a frequent business visitor to the area, was apparently shot to death by Palestinian terrorists waiting in ambush. IDF forces were called to the scene, and the investigation continues. Although the victim was known to have frequented the local Arab villages for business purposes, police are largely leaning towards assuming that the murder was of a terrorist nature.
In other defense/security news today, a Kassam rocket hit Sderot this morning;
[url=http://www.israelnationalnews...]see separate story... [/url]
Hizbullah fired some anti-aircraft missiles at northern Israel today, no casualties or damage... An Arab who threw a shrapnel grenade at an IDF force in Gaza today was wounded by IDF fire; no Israelis were hurt...
Lasagne Al Pesto
06.29.04 (9:45 am) [edit]
Was looking 'round the foodnetwork website. This looked awesome!
[line]
Lasagne Al Pesto
Recipe courtesy Fausto Oneto, 2003
Recipe Summary-
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Kosher salt
1/2 pound fresh green beans, ends removed
1/2 pound new potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 pound dried lasagne sheets
Fresh Pesto sauce, recipe follows
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the potatoes then the beans in the water, cooking each until just tender. Drain the potatoes and slip off the skins. Drain the beans and refresh them in ice water.
Refill the pot with salted water. Cook the pasta sheets 1 at a time, just until tender. Drain each sheet and lay on clean towels. Cover with additional towels to keep warm.
Coat the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch serving dish with a thin layer of pesto. Cover the pesto with a 1/3 of the warm lasagne noodles. Spread pesto over the pasta. Break the potatoes up into bite-size pieces and put half of them and half the beans on top. Arrange another layer of pasta over the beans and potaotes, cover with pesto, another layer of beans and potatoes then a final layer of pasta. Cover the lasagne with Parmigiano-Reggiano, cut and serve.
Pesto Sauce:
4 bunches fresh basil, leaves picked
4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon yogurt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the basil leaves, garlic, and pine nuts in a mortar or food processor. Grind or pulse until the leaves are finely chopped. Gradually incorporate the Parmigiano Reggiano, ricotta and yoghurt. Then, work in the oil, adding it in a steady stream. Season the pesto to taste with salt and pepper.
Fresh Lasagne (instead of dried):
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Pinch salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mix the flour with the salt and mound them on a clean work surface. Create a well in the center of the flour mound. Add the eggs and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the well. Lightly beat the eggs with the oil. Using the fingers of one hand, begin incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet, drawing flour into the well in a circular motion. Use the other hand to protect the outer wall. Work the flour mixture into the egg mixture until the dough forms a ball (if the dough doesn't come together add a drop or two of water). Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Brush the surface with the remaining olive oil , wrap the dough in plastic wrap; and set aside to rest for about 30 minutes.
Cut the ball of dough in half. Wrap and reserve the piece you are not immediately using to prevent it from drying out. Dust the counter and dough with a little flour. Form the dough into a rectangle and roll it though a pasta machine, 2 or 3 times, at the widest setting. Pull and stretch the sheet of dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Reduce the setting and crank the dough through again, 2 or 3 times. Continue tightening until the machine is at the narrowest setting: the dough should be paper-thin, about 1/8-inch thick. Make 4 pieces, about 20-inches long and 6-inches wide. Lay the lasagne sheets out on a clean dry surface and allow them to dry slightly (about 10 minutes) before using.
An Excellent Documentary That Portrays The FACTS!
06.28.04 (9:29 pm) [edit]
Now [url=http://www.michaelmoorehatesa...]THIS[/url] is a movie that I want to see this summer!
Click on the poster to check out the trailors!
Hat tip to [url=http://oduwildman.tblog.com/]ODUwildman[/url] for having that in his links section!
Cartoon!
06.28.04 (8:02 pm) [edit]
This came to me by way of one of the links on [url=http://camelface.tblog.com/]Camelface's blog[/url].
Click to see full version!
You can find the origional source here: http://www.conservativecrust....
Genius!
The Diversity Double Standard
06.28.04 (5:27 pm) [edit]
Few days ago, I wrote [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]"Gay Marriage"[/url], a blog entry dedicated to my opinion on the matter of which shared the title of my entry. For the most part, I got some great reactions. By "great", I mean respectful, not that they all necissary agreed with me. You don't have to agree with me. That's what's so wonderful about being an individual. You make your own manifesto and think your own thoughts! I would just request everyone to be respectful, as that's what I try to acomplish.
However, one person didn't comment here, but rather commented on tblurt (a chat thing on the tblog main page, for those outsiders) and then wrote a blog of his own basically calling me un-evolved and insinuating that I'm somehow stupid for having my opinion and having it based on my religious principles. I'm not mentioning names here because I don't do that. He was at least kind enough not to mention me by name on his blog.
I wouldn't have cared much, though, if he did mention me by name because I'm proud of what I said.
I'm proud that I have an opinion that I thought out on my own and came to that conclusion by myself using my own research and rationality. I'm proud that I am able to have such an opinion and still remain respectful to other peoples' opinions and feelings. I'm proud that I'm at least more origional than Mr. guy who feels so threatened by my ideals that he has to pick on my RELIGION to work out his insecurity.
You know, you didn't have to go and read it!
This person went on and on about how I go by outdated rules from holucinations by dessert dwellers that died thousands of years ago. He made it sound like I'm not thinking and I'm afraid of change or opening my mind. He made fun of my religion and my opinion. And you know what, even though he was really rude and belittling towards me, I still respect his opinion, no matter how different it is than my own.
What he didn't realise was that (with the exception of the dessert dwellers) he was doing the very thing he was ridiculing me for! That's right, I didn't go on and on about how he was wrong and I was right because he's a moron (I don't think that at all); he did. I told him, I guess diversity is all well and good, in less you have a differing opinion from gay people about gay marriage. I guess diversity is wonderful except when you're DIFFERENT! Yea, that guy really knows how to evovle and open his mind!
I guess I must be really stupid for thinking!
I must be really rude for being respectful!
I must be really scared of change for going against what a majority (at least on the tblog server) thinks!
Don't preech to me how much better than me you are because you think you're so much more "evovled" than I. When you do that, you make yourself lower on the Diversity Food-Chain than I could ever be!
Respect, people. Respect.
Confronting Jihad: Israel's Struggle & the World After 9/11
06.28.04 (4:54 pm) [edit]
[b]Confronting Jihad
Israel's Struggle & the World After 9/11
By Saul Singer [/b]
[i][b]Review by Don Kenner [/b][/i]
To tune in today to the Arab-Israeli conflict is to view events out of time and space. In order to truly understand how the Arab-Israeli conflict became the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with most of the former airbrushed from history (or at least from any discussion of that history in the media), one must go down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass.
Recent history hasn't fared any better. The NPR-BBC-CNN axis of equivocation continually portrays Arafat's deadly intifada as a regrettable consequence of Israeli actions. As an antidote, I humbly recommend reading one Saul Singer editorial each evening, and canceling your New York Times subscription in the morning.
Singer's collection of op-eds from the Jerusalem Post is entitled [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/ob...]Confronting Jihad: Israel's Struggle and the World After 9-11[/url] . The front cover photograph shows a mother with her two children and a baby stroller pausing to allow two Israeli soldiers to pass. This is Israel's dilemma, and it has become, since 9/11, our dilemma: how to fight an enemy who views the slaughter of a mother and two children as a victory for the resistance and a ticket to heaven.
Covering the period from January 1, 1997 to July 4, 2003, the book gives a blow-by-blow analysis of the War on Terror, even before the U.S. began calling that. But Singer isn't just a chronicler of bad things happening to good people; these editorials put Palestinian terror within the larger context of global terrorism. The massacres of 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, and the war to liberate Iraq are signposts along the way. Singer is at his best when he analyzes the rhetoric and reality of each of those events, especially as they relate to U.S. policy toward the Middle East. Ever humble, Singer precedes each editorial reprint with a paragraph or two describing how right, or wrong, his (and our) opinions were at the time.
In the November 23, 2000 editorial "The Cost of Evenhandedness," Singer wrote, "On Monday morning, an Israeli school bus was bombed, killing two teachers and maiming at least three children for life. That day Israel responded with missile strikes pin-pointed at the headquarters and training bases of Fatah, the Tanzim, and Force 17, the forces that have led the armed attack. The [U.S.] State Department did not tarry in its response: Israel should 'understand that excessive force is not the right way to go.'" Singer goes on: "No one believes that attacks against empty buildings seriously raises the price of Palestinian aggression…"
Well, no one with eyes open, but in the American media the Israeli response was portrayed as an excessive tit for tat that would only exacerbate the "cycle of violence." In his new introduction to this piece, Singer notes the irony of the U.S. lecturing Israel about excessive use of force after a series of horrific bombings against civilian targets. Singer wrote, "It is also striking how unsupportive the U.S. could be toward Israel's need to fight terror, and what this says about attitudes toward terror before September 11, 2001."
It is also striking how on-target Singer's opinion pieces were. Even the hindsight of our own journalists like the New York Times' Thomas Friedman lacks both the moral clarity and veracity that Singer managed when writing on events not yet twenty-four hours old.
After Israel killed Hamas leader Yassin, State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said that the action "increases tension and doesn't help our efforts to resume progress toward peace." Someone should send Boucher a copy of [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/ob...]Confronting Jihad[/url] .
[i]Don Kenner is director of [url=http://www.catholicfriendsofi...]Catholic Friends of Israel.[/url] [/i]
Neat-o Name thinga-ma-jig and a Quiz
06.28.04 (2:06 pm) [edit]
Ok, so you take the letters of your name and then it'll tell you about yourself (supposedly).
A - You can be very quiet when you have something on your mind.
B - You are always cautious when it comes to meeting new people.
C - You definitely have a partier side in you, dont be shy to show it.
D - You have trouble trusting people.
E - You are a very exciting person.
F - Everyone loves you.
G - You have excellent ways of viewing people.
H - You are not judgemental.
I - You are always smiling & making others smile.
J - Jealousy.
K - You like to try new things.
L - Love is something you deeply believe in.
M - Success comes easily to you.
N - You like to work, but you always want a break.
O - You are very open-minded.
P - You are very friendly and understanding.
Q - You are a hypocrite.
R - You are a social butterfly.
S - You are very broad-minded.
T - You have an attitude, a big one.
U - You feel like you have to equal up to people's standards.
V - You have a very good physical and looks.
W -You like your privacy .
X - You never let people tell you what to do .
Y - You cause a lot of trouble.
Z- You're always fighting with someone.
Here's mine:
R - You are a social butterfly.
E - You are a very exciting person.
D - You have trouble trusting people.
T - You have an attitude, a big one.
I - You are always smiling & making others smile.
G - You have excellent ways of viewing people.
R - You are a social butterfly.
E - You are a very exciting person.
S - You are very broad-minded.
S - You are very broad-minded.
How 'bout yours?
There's also this:
Find your Role-Playing
Stereotype at mutedfaith.com.
Baby Steps vs. Instant Gratification
06.28.04 (11:41 am) [edit]
Iraq was handed over to it's people today. It was a great step in getting a free and indipendant Iraq. That's what it was; a step. People often confuse these steps with the instant gratification they want to see. But it may not necissarily be what they need.
You ever hear that Rolling Stones song? Well, now it's been bastardized in a diet soda campaign (among other comercials), but I always loved the message it sends.
[i][b]"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need."[/b][/i]
So true!
Sometimes what you want isn't what you need. And the reverse in many cases is that what you need isn't what you want. Lots of people [b]WANT[/b] to be done with Iraq. They [b]WANT[/b] our troops home. They [b]WANT[/b] the war/occupation to be over. [i][b]WANT WANT WANT!!![/b][/i] What ever happened to what is [b]NEEDED?[/b]
Can we be a little more realistic here! Just for a moment?
When one looks at things logically, and sees what is going on and then thinks about the remedy(ies), you'd hope they'd be thinking about the most healthy way to do something. The right tool for the right job. (today's post is just full of cliches, no?) For example, taking off a band-aid. When you take off a band-aid, you have to pull it off quickly so that the pain will be minimized. Is it a good idea to apply that logic to everything? In my opinion, no.
Like in a fireworks display (since the 4th of july is coming fast), would it be much of a display if all the fireworks just shot up all at the same time and it was over in seconds? Or, is it better when you ebb out the fireworks and have some here, others here and then the grand finally that everyone's been waiting for! [b]POP![/b] That way makes for a better 4th of July, if you ask me.
I was also talking to a friend today who is going through a break up. He wants to heal from it, he wants to feel better, he wants to get on with his life and have everything all good ... [b]NOW![/b] You can't do that. It's all a process. You have to heal before you can start functioning again.
The same holds true for what's going on in Iraq right now.
We're not dealing with a band-aid situation here, folks. We're dealing with something more like a break up. The Iraqis are breaking up with oppression! The US is the counciler helping to make it happen and empower it's patient. That takes baby steps! I don't care if some Arab analyst says this isn't enough or if some yahoo is screaming critical and unhelpful things like, "We want out NOW!" Go take a nap with your blankie!
We're dealing with a slow progression! What happened today is [b]monumental[/b]! We must not forget that this is not everything, merely a step. Anyone who thinks this is the end-all-be-all must have missed a few days at school. But that is why it is so monumental! It is the first step on a new, long road to Iraq's rebuilding and independant soverignty. It is a step towards freedom for the Iraqi people in the right direction!
Be patient. By January, they will be holding elections! In a matter of time, our troops will leave when the Iraqis are able to fend for themselves. We need to do this the right way! If we're not careful, we'll have more problems and the troops will just have to stay or go right back.
The future is showing to be bright, we just need to do what we can to make the fireworks happen when they should, with the correct timing.
This may not be what some of us want, but it's definatly what everyone needs!
06.28.04 (10:39 am) [edit]
JERUSALEM - Palestinian militants fired two missiles at the Negev Desert town of Sderot on Monday — just a mile from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's private ranch — wounding several people, rescue workers said.
The homemade missiles were fired just hours after militants carried out a well-planned operation in the Gaza Strip, blowing up an outpost and killing one soldier. A short while later, Israel fired missiles at two metal workshops in the coastal area.
The improvised Qassam rockets landed on a road not far from a kindergarten, rescue workers said. It was not immediately clear how many people were wounded or what condition they were in. Israel Radio said a few people had been wounded by shrapnel, while others were suffering from trauma.
Sderot, located just a few miles, from the Gaza border, is often a target of militant rockets.
JERUSALEM - Palestinian militants fired two missiles at the Negev Desert town of Sderot on Monday — just a mile from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's private ranch — wounding several people, rescue workers said.
The homemade missiles were fired just hours after militants carried out a well-planned operation in the Gaza Strip, blowing up an outpost and killing one soldier. A short while later, Israel fired missiles at two metal workshops in the coastal area.
The improvised Qassam rockets landed on a road not far from a kindergarten, rescue workers said. It was not immediately clear how many people were wounded or what condition they were in. Israel Radio said a few people had been wounded by shrapnel, while others were suffering from trauma.
Sderot, located just a few miles, from the Gaza border, is often a target of militant rockets.
06.28.04 (10:27 am) [edit]
In case you havn't heard ...
[line]
[b]1 hour, 10 minutes ago
[i]By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, Associated Press Writer [/b][/i]
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early Monday in a surprise move that apparently caught insurgents off guard, averting a feared campaign of attacks to sabotage the historic step toward self-rule.
Legal documents transferring sovereignty were handed over by U.S. governor L. Paul Bremer to chief justice Midhat al-Mahmood in a small ceremony in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Bremer took charge in Iraq about a year ago.
"This is a historical day ... a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to," said Iraqi President Ghazi Al-Yawer. "This is a day we are going to take our country back into the international forum."
Militants had conducted a campaign of car bombings, kidnappings and other violence that killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent weeks and was designed to disrupt the transfer, announced by the Bush administration late last year. Intially, the Americans were thought to have planned for about one more year of occupation.
The response in Baghdad was mixed.
"Iraqis are happy inside, but their happiness is marred by fear and melancholy," said artist Qassim al-Sabti. "Of course I feel I'm still occupied. You can't find anywhere in the world people who would accept occupation. America these days, is like death. Nobody can escape from it."
Two hours after the ceremony Bremer left Iraq on a U.S. Air Force C-130, said Robert Tappan, an official of the former coalition occupation authority. Bremer was accompanied by coalition spokesman Dan Senor and close members of his staff. Bremer's destination was not given, but an aide said he was "going home."
The new interim government was sworn in six hours after the handover ceremony, which Western governments largely hailed as a necessary next step. The Arab world voiced cautious optimism, but maintained calls for the U.S. military to leave the country quickly.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi delivered a sweeping speech sketching out some of his goals for the country, urging people not to be afraid of the "outlaws" fighting against "Islam and Muslims," assuring them that "God is with us."
"I warn the forces of terror once again," he said. "We will not forget who stood with us and against us in this crisis."
Members of Allawi's Cabinet each stepped forward to place their right hand on the Quran and pledged to accept their new duties with sincerity and impartiality. Behind them, a bank of Iraqi flags lined the podium.
"Before us is a challenge and a burden and we ask God almighty to give us the patience and guide us to take this country whose people deserves all goodness," said President Ghazi al-Yawer after taking his oath. "May God protect Iraq and its citizens."
Although Iraqis are now supposed to be in charge, American security officers prevented reporters from talking with willing Iraqi ministers after the swearing-in ceremony, hustling journalists away even after the new government officials had stopped to chat with them.
Several staffers from the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Communications are now serving as media advisers to Allawi.
The NATO alliance quickly said it would begin training the Iraqi military, which faces a daunting task in putting down the growing insurgency threatening the country.
President Bush marked the transfer with a whispered comment and a handshake with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, gathered with world leaders around a table at a NATO summit in Istanbul, Turkey.
Stealing a glance at his watch to make sure the transfer had occurred, Bush put his hand over his mouth to guard his remarks, leaned toward Blair and then reached out to shake hands. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a row behind the president, beamed.
Bush was briefed Sunday that the Allawi government was ready to take power early.
The early transfer had been under discussion between Allawi and U.S. officials for at least a week, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bremer's last moments in Iraq were spent in a meeting with Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top American commander in the country.
John Negroponte, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, arrived in Baghdad late Monday. Bush named Negroponte, 64, as ambassador to Iraq on April 19.
With Negroponte in Baghdad, "the Department of State is taking the lead now," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
"We will be the dominant voice," Armitage said.
U.S. plans call for a U.S. Embassy that probably will be the largest in the world, with some 1,000 Americans assisted by hundreds of Iraqis. Negroponte will be assisted by a handful of U.S. ambassadors who volunteered for duty in Baghdad.
Although the interim government will have full sovereignty, it will operate under major restrictions — some of them imposed at the urging of the influential Shiite clergy which sought to limit the powers of an unelected administration.
For example, the interim government will only hold power seven months until, as directed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, there must be elections "in no case later than" Jan. 31. The Americans will still hold responsibility for security. And the interim government will not be able to amend the interim constitution. That document outlines many civil liberties guarantees that would make problematic a declaration of emergency.
As Iraq's highest authority, Bremer had issued more than 100 orders and regulations, many of them Western-style laws governing everything from bankruptcy and traffic, to restrictions on child labor and copying movies.
Some are likely to be ignored. One law requires at least a month in jail for people caught driving without a license — something many Iraqis do not have. Another demands that drivers stay in a single lane, a rule widely ignored in Iraq's chaotic streets.
Others are more controversial. On Saturday, Bremer signed an edict that gave U.S. and other Western civilian contractors immunity from Iraqi law while performing their jobs in Iraq. The idea outrages many Iraqis who said the law allows foreigners to act with impunity even after the occupation.
A Bremer elections law restricts certain candidates from running for office, banning parties with links to militias, for instance.
The Coalition Provisional Authority's laws remain in effect after the occupation ends unless rescinded or revised by the interim government, a task that another Bremer-signed law allows, but only after a difficult process.
The new government's major tasks will be to prepare for elections, handle the day-to-day running of the country and work along with the U.S.-led multinational force, which is responsible for security. The Iraqis can in principle ask the foreign troops to leave — although that is unlikely.
With the transfer, the Iraqis now face the daunting task of securing law and order with the help of about 135,000 U.S. troops and about 20,000 more from other coalition countries.
The handover ceremony took place in a formal room with Louis XIV furniture in an office in the building formerly used by the Iraqi Governing Council. Officials were seated in gilded chairs around a table, in the center of which was a bowl of flowers with a small Iraqi flag in it.
Just before the handover, everyone stood up, and documents were passed to the chief justice at 10:26 a.m. local time — at that point, legal sovereignty was passed.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the coalition deputy operations chief, was the only U.S. military official present.
"We'd like to express our thanks to the coalition," al-Yawer said. "There is no way to turn back now."
Bremer, wearing a dark suit and a blue tie with small white dots, read the transfer document, which was inside a blue folder. With a laugh, he referred to himself as the "ex-administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority."
Allawi stood on his right and al-Yawer on his left.
"The Iraqi government is determined to hold elections at the scheduled date, which is January next year," Allawi said in Arabic. He had told CBS television network that the election might be delayed if the security situation did not improve.
There was little initial public reaction to the near-secret transfer ceremony, which was broadcast on Iraqi and Arabic satellite television stations. There was no celebratory gunfire — which rattles through Baghdad when Iraq's national soccer team defeats foreign clubs.
Workers were cleaning the area on Firdous Square where the statue of Saddam Hussein was hauled down on April 9, 2003, when Baghdad fell. More police were seen in the streets.
Coalition officials said Bush had already sent a letter to al-Yawer formally requesting diplomatic relations.
"You have said, and we agreed, that you are ready for sovereignty," Bremer said in the ceremony. "I will leave Iraq confident in its future."
[line]
Let freedom reign!
In case you havn't heard ...
[line]
[b]1 hour, 10 minutes ago
[i]By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, Associated Press Writer [/b][/i]
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early Monday in a surprise move that apparently caught insurgents off guard, averting a feared campaign of attacks to sabotage the historic step toward self-rule.
Legal documents transferring sovereignty were handed over by U.S. governor L. Paul Bremer to chief justice Midhat al-Mahmood in a small ceremony in the heavily guarded Green Zone. Bremer took charge in Iraq about a year ago.
"This is a historical day ... a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to," said Iraqi President Ghazi Al-Yawer. "This is a day we are going to take our country back into the international forum."
Militants had conducted a campaign of car bombings, kidnappings and other violence that killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent weeks and was designed to disrupt the transfer, announced by the Bush administration late last year. Intially, the Americans were thought to have planned for about one more year of occupation.
The response in Baghdad was mixed.
"Iraqis are happy inside, but their happiness is marred by fear and melancholy," said artist Qassim al-Sabti. "Of course I feel I'm still occupied. You can't find anywhere in the world people who would accept occupation. America these days, is like death. Nobody can escape from it."
Two hours after the ceremony Bremer left Iraq on a U.S. Air Force C-130, said Robert Tappan, an official of the former coalition occupation authority. Bremer was accompanied by coalition spokesman Dan Senor and close members of his staff. Bremer's destination was not given, but an aide said he was "going home."
The new interim government was sworn in six hours after the handover ceremony, which Western governments largely hailed as a necessary next step. The Arab world voiced cautious optimism, but maintained calls for the U.S. military to leave the country quickly.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi delivered a sweeping speech sketching out some of his goals for the country, urging people not to be afraid of the "outlaws" fighting against "Islam and Muslims," assuring them that "God is with us."
"I warn the forces of terror once again," he said. "We will not forget who stood with us and against us in this crisis."
Members of Allawi's Cabinet each stepped forward to place their right hand on the Quran and pledged to accept their new duties with sincerity and impartiality. Behind them, a bank of Iraqi flags lined the podium.
"Before us is a challenge and a burden and we ask God almighty to give us the patience and guide us to take this country whose people deserves all goodness," said President Ghazi al-Yawer after taking his oath. "May God protect Iraq and its citizens."
Although Iraqis are now supposed to be in charge, American security officers prevented reporters from talking with willing Iraqi ministers after the swearing-in ceremony, hustling journalists away even after the new government officials had stopped to chat with them.
Several staffers from the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Communications are now serving as media advisers to Allawi.
The NATO alliance quickly said it would begin training the Iraqi military, which faces a daunting task in putting down the growing insurgency threatening the country.
President Bush marked the transfer with a whispered comment and a handshake with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, gathered with world leaders around a table at a NATO summit in Istanbul, Turkey.
Stealing a glance at his watch to make sure the transfer had occurred, Bush put his hand over his mouth to guard his remarks, leaned toward Blair and then reached out to shake hands. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a row behind the president, beamed.
Bush was briefed Sunday that the Allawi government was ready to take power early.
The early transfer had been under discussion between Allawi and U.S. officials for at least a week, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Bremer's last moments in Iraq were spent in a meeting with Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top American commander in the country.
John Negroponte, the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, arrived in Baghdad late Monday. Bush named Negroponte, 64, as ambassador to Iraq on April 19.
With Negroponte in Baghdad, "the Department of State is taking the lead now," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
"We will be the dominant voice," Armitage said.
U.S. plans call for a U.S. Embassy that probably will be the largest in the world, with some 1,000 Americans assisted by hundreds of Iraqis. Negroponte will be assisted by a handful of U.S. ambassadors who volunteered for duty in Baghdad.
Although the interim government will have full sovereignty, it will operate under major restrictions — some of them imposed at the urging of the influential Shiite clergy which sought to limit the powers of an unelected administration.
For example, the interim government will only hold power seven months until, as directed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, there must be elections "in no case later than" Jan. 31. The Americans will still hold responsibility for security. And the interim government will not be able to amend the interim constitution. That document outlines many civil liberties guarantees that would make problematic a declaration of emergency.
As Iraq's highest authority, Bremer had issued more than 100 orders and regulations, many of them Western-style laws governing everything from bankruptcy and traffic, to restrictions on child labor and copying movies.
Some are likely to be ignored. One law requires at least a month in jail for people caught driving without a license — something many Iraqis do not have. Another demands that drivers stay in a single lane, a rule widely ignored in Iraq's chaotic streets.
Others are more controversial. On Saturday, Bremer signed an edict that gave U.S. and other Western civilian contractors immunity from Iraqi law while performing their jobs in Iraq. The idea outrages many Iraqis who said the law allows foreigners to act with impunity even after the occupation.
A Bremer elections law restricts certain candidates from running for office, banning parties with links to militias, for instance.
The Coalition Provisional Authority's laws remain in effect after the occupation ends unless rescinded or revised by the interim government, a task that another Bremer-signed law allows, but only after a difficult process.
The new government's major tasks will be to prepare for elections, handle the day-to-day running of the country and work along with the U.S.-led multinational force, which is responsible for security. The Iraqis can in principle ask the foreign troops to leave — although that is unlikely.
With the transfer, the Iraqis now face the daunting task of securing law and order with the help of about 135,000 U.S. troops and about 20,000 more from other coalition countries.
The handover ceremony took place in a formal room with Louis XIV furniture in an office in the building formerly used by the Iraqi Governing Council. Officials were seated in gilded chairs around a table, in the center of which was a bowl of flowers with a small Iraqi flag in it.
Just before the handover, everyone stood up, and documents were passed to the chief justice at 10:26 a.m. local time — at that point, legal sovereignty was passed.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the coalition deputy operations chief, was the only U.S. military official present.
"We'd like to express our thanks to the coalition," al-Yawer said. "There is no way to turn back now."
Bremer, wearing a dark suit and a blue tie with small white dots, read the transfer document, which was inside a blue folder. With a laugh, he referred to himself as the "ex-administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority."
Allawi stood on his right and al-Yawer on his left.
"The Iraqi government is determined to hold elections at the scheduled date, which is January next year," Allawi said in Arabic. He had told CBS television network that the election might be delayed if the security situation did not improve.
There was little initial public reaction to the near-secret transfer ceremony, which was broadcast on Iraqi and Arabic satellite television stations. There was no celebratory gunfire — which rattles through Baghdad when Iraq's national soccer team defeats foreign clubs.
Workers were cleaning the area on Firdous Square where the statue of Saddam Hussein was hauled down on April 9, 2003, when Baghdad fell. More police were seen in the streets.
Coalition officials said Bush had already sent a letter to al-Yawer formally requesting diplomatic relations.
"You have said, and we agreed, that you are ready for sovereignty," Bremer said in the ceremony. "I will leave Iraq confident in its future."
[line]
Let freedom reign!
06.25.04 (5:05 pm) [edit]
LOS ANGELES - A Jewish high school student has sued his former coach and his school district for discrimination, alleging he was called degrading names, sidelined during games, and that school officials did little to stop the abuse.
Samuel Goldstein, now 16, is seeking unspecified monetary damages in the federal suit against John Marsden, his former baseball coach at Newbury Park High School, and the Conejo Valley Unified School District.
According to the lawsuit, Marsden yelled obscenities at Goldstein in front of his teammates and said "God didn't like him because he was a Jew."
The suit also charges that Marsden kept the student from playing for most of a season after the boy's mother confronted him about the abuse, which allegedly began when Goldstein was a freshman in fall 2002.
Marsden has denied the claims, the boy's family said. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The teenager's mother, Lori Goldstein, said the district "took no action" after she complained to Steven Lepire, assistant principal at the Thousand Oaks, Calif., school. He conducted an investigation in May 2003 and said Marsden was disciplined, according to the suit.
But the abuse continued and Marsden made "childish and cruel remarks, including jokes about the Ku Klux Klan and gays," the lawsuit states.
District Superintendent Robert Fraisse told the Los Angeles Times that Marsden no longer works for the district. He wouldn't comment further on the suit. Phone calls by the Associated Press to Fraisse were not immediately returned Thursday.
Goldstein quit the baseball team in February and he may attend a new school, his family said.
LOS ANGELES - A Jewish high school student has sued his former coach and his school district for discrimination, alleging he was called degrading names, sidelined during games, and that school officials did little to stop the abuse.
Samuel Goldstein, now 16, is seeking unspecified monetary damages in the federal suit against John Marsden, his former baseball coach at Newbury Park High School, and the Conejo Valley Unified School District.
According to the lawsuit, Marsden yelled obscenities at Goldstein in front of his teammates and said "God didn't like him because he was a Jew."
The suit also charges that Marsden kept the student from playing for most of a season after the boy's mother confronted him about the abuse, which allegedly began when Goldstein was a freshman in fall 2002.
Marsden has denied the claims, the boy's family said. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The teenager's mother, Lori Goldstein, said the district "took no action" after she complained to Steven Lepire, assistant principal at the Thousand Oaks, Calif., school. He conducted an investigation in May 2003 and said Marsden was disciplined, according to the suit.
But the abuse continued and Marsden made "childish and cruel remarks, including jokes about the Ku Klux Klan and gays," the lawsuit states.
District Superintendent Robert Fraisse told the Los Angeles Times that Marsden no longer works for the district. He wouldn't comment further on the suit. Phone calls by the Associated Press to Fraisse were not immediately returned Thursday.
Goldstein quit the baseball team in February and he may attend a new school, his family said.
D'var Torah for Chukat
06.25.04 (4:29 pm) [edit]
In this week's Parsha (weekly portion), Chukat, there are three distinct concepts/events that take place. The first concept is the Para Adumah (Red Cow), which was used to purify all those that had come in contact with dead bodies, but while the person sprinkling the ashes becomes impure, the person being sprinkled is purified. The second and third seemingly unrelated events are the deaths of both Miriam and Aaron.
Commentaries note that when Miriam died the water supply dried, and the Jews had to ask for water, while when Aaron died the cloud that led the Jews also went away. Although these seem like random facts, there is one common theme that we can actually use to improve our approach to life.
There are three ways view the world: The simplest way is to see what we have, and attribute it to its source. The perfect example is water, which is easily traced to its origin, be it an ocean or river. The next level is to KNOW where something came from, even though you don't see the source firsthand. An example of this is a cloud, which we know is formed through evaporation, but we can't visually follow the source back to its creation. The third way is to know something WITHOUT understanding its origin.
The example the Torah gives us is the laws of the Para Adumah (Red Cow), which apparently make no sense, but one that we follow anyways. With these levels in mind, we still need to know why all these concepts are linked together in the Parsha through death (of Aaron and Miriam). The answer is because death has all three elements of knowledge: You can determine what causes the death, you can sometimes know what caused the illness, yet you don't always know why it happened.
Our challenge is to realize that although we think we know what goes on in our lives, and how these things happen, we never really know WHY they're really happening! And just when we think we have life figured out, something happens to remind us that there's still an element that we'll never understand. We never fully understand all the "why's" of life and of the Torah, but learning to live our lives using the Torah as "The Guidebook of All How's And Most Why's", we'll surely look back at a life well-spent.
Liberal Academia
06.25.04 (4:13 pm) [edit]
Way back a few weeks ago, I posted a news article about a UCLA student by the name of Ben Shapiro who has recently written a book about the Liberal Bias and Brainwashing on today's college campuses. If you missed the article, you can find it here: http://www.tblog.com/template...
I just got a message from [url=http://jimdoney.tblog.com]JimDoney[/url] that included some interesting findings on the two parties' (Republican & Democrat) donations to various colleges.
[url=http://www.steveverdon.com/ar...]Here's the Site Jim sent[/url]
Interesting, no? Would it be safe to say that those who give more money have more influence on what faculty and staff teach, even who the faculty and staff is that gets hired?
Here's some highlights from these interesting findings on that site ...
80% of the donors are Democrats
20% are Republican
[That explains it! -Tigress]
VS.
47% Democrats
53% Republicans
and finally, this one amazed me ...
100% Democrats
0% Republicans
Wow. What does that make me think? Well, in my mind the only solution to balancing this out is for Republicans to start giving more monitary donations to College Campuses and balance out the "brainwashing effect" this may have on the students.
Big thanks to Jim.! People really need to know about this!
Gay Marriage
06.24.04 (2:41 pm) [edit]
By popular demand after my last post below, entitled [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]"Polygamy"[/url], people wanted me to help them to better understand my stance on Gay Marriage. While the point of "Polygamy" wasn't to really discuss Gay Marriage but rather explore the idea of polygamy and expose the fact that the polygamy argument against Gay Marriage is weak and illogical, I suppose it sparked some deeper curiosity as to where I stand since I did mention I am against it.
In order to get my point accross, I must communicate how I feel about homosexuality itself.
Well, to put it plainly, I feel that we must seperate two things. It is one thing to have urges and yearnings. It's another to act upon them. In the Torah it states that intercourse between members of the same sex is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22). This refers to the action. It is against Jewish law for a man to lie with another man as he would a women (and to a lesser degree, the same applies to women as well).
I realize that some people feel they are attracted to only members of the same sex. That, in itself, is not a sin. To act upon it and not control your physical urge in that respect, is a sin. This is according to Jewish law.
Do I accept homosexuals? Well, it depends on what you mean by that. I have many gay and lesbian friends. Our friendships are not sexuality based and so we do not discuss the intricacies of our highly personal experiences and so on, just like I wouldn't do so with my straight friends. I care for my gay and lesbian friends. I feel they are human beings, deserving of friendship, love, and kindness. Am I responsible for their actions? No. They are responsible for themselves. It's all between them and God, just as whatever I may do is between me and God. It's their life.
What I really hate is when people stand on street corners and flail their crosses and bible's and yell about how the 'fags' are going to burn in hell. In who's mind is that productive? How does that work on kindness and human expressions of care for one another? I'll tell you, it does nothing for either. Those same people, by the way, would probably stand on a street-corner with their crosses and bibles screaming about how the 'kikes' are going to burn in hellfire as well. Be they yelling about 'fags' or yelling about 'kikes', I see both of those actions as the same, either one just as disgusting as the other.
All I'm saying is, here's the information ('x') of don't do 'y'. If you choose to do 'y', that's your problem. I've done all I can by providing the information from 'x'. You are still made in God's image.
That said, let's bring it back to Gay Marriage. Since I do not accept the action that is homosexuality, I do not endorse it by calling Gay Marriage a valid or acceptable lifestyle. At a vote, I will vote against Gay Marriage given my feelings as illustrated above. It's my belief, it's how I feel. Does that mean disrespecting a Gay person? No. Disagreeing doesn't mean disrespecting. The two do NOT go hand and hand. They should never.
What it comes down to is the vote of the people. I am just one of many voting people. I give my vote and my voice as well as my opinion. I deserve the same respect as anyone else for that. I am only one. That is where I stand. Where do you?
[i]*Update: I would also just like to point out that I do believe I am being very fair here and trying my darndest to be respectful to all peoples while holding reverence for my own culture and traditions near and dear. Also, in case anyone was wondering, I am friends with about 5 Gay and Lesbian people whom I attended/attend school with. These close friends of mine who happen to be Gay and Lesbian are aware of where I stand and they are able to respect it, as I respect them, and our friendships are closer and stronger for it.[/i]
Polygamy
06.24.04 (1:43 pm) [edit]
Lately there's been much talk about the subject of Gay Marriage. Many of those in opposition to Gay Marriage cite that if we allow that to go through and change the institution of marriage itself, then that opens the door to polygamy, incest, or marriage to animals.
My goal here isn't really to talk about Gay Marriage. That's another blog entirely. I'm also really not interested in discussing incest or marriage to animals here today. What I do want us to take a look at is Polygamy.
I would just like to note here that though I have my own opinions on Gay Marriage (that being against), I do think the above hypothetical argument is incredibly weak. Which I guess is why I am writing this. What is so wrong with Polygamy??
Let's start with a rough definition, for those not in the know as to what this practice is about:
[i]Polygamy (po·lyg·a·me)
Function: noun: marriage in which a spouse of either sex may have more than one mate at the same time -- compare[/i]
(Thanks to [url=http://m-w.com]Merriam-Webster Online[/url])
Now that we have this out of the way, let's take a look at the history of this rarely occurrent (in the United States) practice. The beginnings of Polygamy can be traced back to Biblical times. Abraham, the first forefather of the Jewish people and the father of Monotheism, had a wife Sarah and her hand maid Hagaar. He had children with both. Going further down the line on the family tree, we have Jacob who had Rachel and Leah as wives.
To shy away from the Jewish tree, we have tribes in Africa and Asia who have had multiple wives and continue to do so to this day. Tribes in South America have female dominant societies where the women have many husbands. Many Muslims practice multiple wives. In the U.S.A., we have Mormons (mostly in Utah) who practice this form of family (though illegally).
It seems that many people in the ancient as well as modern world practice this polygamy.
So, then, why is it that if one form of different marriage is introduced and then Polygamy becomes a possibility, that is so bad?
It has become practice in the Western World to have only one spouse at one time. There are many reasons for this. In Judaism, the Rabbis had made a decree that for a certain amount of years, the practice of Polygamy is forbidden. (I have heard differing opinions that say the ban has been lifted due to the end of the 1,000 years or so in which the decree was designated to. As far as the rest of the Western world, I'm not sure where they are coming from so I won't make any assumptions. I'm stating it from the point of view that my culture comes from, or at least how I have come to understand it.)
Now, personally, I wouldn't want to participate in such a practice as polygamy. Let it suffice to say, I'm merely territorial. I suppose it is a tiger trait (just kidding). In any case, I can understand how someone might want to have more than one spouse.
In the communities where such conduct is considered acceptable to the point of normality, strong familial bonds and structured families are found. Studies have shown that in the African tribes that practice polygamy, the women who belong to one husband are bonded together and look after eachothers' children as if they were their own. Families are stronger and solid, generally speaking, in families that have more than one spouse. It is even safe to say that the children who come from polygamous homes have faired better than children who came from homes in which the parents are divorced or single.
So it leads me to wonder, would the legalization of polygamy be the end of the world?
Ok, one more quiz ...
06.24.04 (1:04 am) [edit]
... and now I'm off to bed!
Nemesis
?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla
Cooincidentally, first time I took this test, I got matched with Athena. I guess it all depends on what kind of a mood one is in. And also, whether or not they had a trying day like I have had.
'Nite!
06.24.04 (12:17 am) [edit]
[i][b]By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer[/b][/i]
JERUSALEM - Israel will play a major role in securing the Athens Olympics, with its navy patrolling the Greek coast and military and intelligence officers working closely with the Greek armed forces, the U.S. Army and NATO.
Israel also is advising Greece on how to seal its airspace and coastal waters in the event of a terror attack, Israeli military officials said Tuesday.
A seven-nation security task force, including the United States, Britain and Israel, is part of the $1.2 billion security plans for the Aug. 13-29 games.
There already are ties involving the Israeli navy, its Greek counterpart, the U.S. 6th Fleet and the relevant air forces. Greece, the U.S. Army and NATO also are in close contact with Israeli intelligence, the officials said.
Israel expects one of its senior officers to be at NATO's southern command headquarters in Naples, Italy, during the games. NATO is still undecided on such close Israeli involvement, the officials added.
Private Israeli firms will also contribute to the Greek security effort, supplying patrol boats for the Greek navy, closed-circuit TV and other monitoring systems for the streets of Athens and other services.
Israel's Shin Bet security agency will protect the Israeli team, guarding Israeli quarters in the Olympic village, sites Israeli athletes may visit and sailing events off the Greek coast. The agency has provided such protection since the 1972 killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.
The Olympic guard detail will be Israel's largest because of intelligence estimates of a potential terrorism against Israelis at the Athens Games, officials said.
Greek officials said the foreign security agents will not be allowed to carry firearms.
[i][b]By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer[/b][/i]
JERUSALEM - Israel will play a major role in securing the Athens Olympics, with its navy patrolling the Greek coast and military and intelligence officers working closely with the Greek armed forces, the U.S. Army and NATO.
Israel also is advising Greece on how to seal its airspace and coastal waters in the event of a terror attack, Israeli military officials said Tuesday.
A seven-nation security task force, including the United States, Britain and Israel, is part of the $1.2 billion security plans for the Aug. 13-29 games.
There already are ties involving the Israeli navy, its Greek counterpart, the U.S. 6th Fleet and the relevant air forces. Greece, the U.S. Army and NATO also are in close contact with Israeli intelligence, the officials said.
Israel expects one of its senior officers to be at NATO's southern command headquarters in Naples, Italy, during the games. NATO is still undecided on such close Israeli involvement, the officials added.
Private Israeli firms will also contribute to the Greek security effort, supplying patrol boats for the Greek navy, closed-circuit TV and other monitoring systems for the streets of Athens and other services.
Israel's Shin Bet security agency will protect the Israeli team, guarding Israeli quarters in the Olympic village, sites Israeli athletes may visit and sailing events off the Greek coast. The agency has provided such protection since the 1972 killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.
The Olympic guard detail will be Israel's largest because of intelligence estimates of a potential terrorism against Israelis at the Athens Games, officials said.
Greek officials said the foreign security agents will not be allowed to carry firearms.
06.24.04 (12:10 am) [edit]
Well, then. I find this a bit interesting. This is certainly a change from the percieved norm. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Have a look...
[line]
[b]Wed Jun 23, 5:02 PM ET
[i]By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer[/b][/i]
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the world's largest Islamic organization praised the Bush administration Wednesday for backing Palestinian statehood.
Syed Hamid Albar, who heads the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, said he had a "very good, productive, very constructive" meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Syed Hamid said Powell assured him that the administration would keep working for a negotiated settlement that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"We are very happy with the way the United States is handling the issue," Syed Hamid, who also is Malaysia's foreign minister, told reporters.
Specifically, Syed Hamid said Powell had reassured him and Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat that the Bush administration will go ahead with its "roadmap" for peacemaking even if Israel withdraws from Gaza and yields the territory it has held for 37 years to the Palestinians.
"I think this reassurance to us is important so we will be able to send a clear message to the Islamic countries that a roadmap is still there and the final status has to be negotiated between the Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Erekat said, meanwhile, he had asked Powell for help in stopping Israel from expanding "settlements" on the West Bank and in Jerusalem.
"We want to see an action plan specifying that the end game is ending Israeli occupation," the Palestinian minister said.
Well, then. I find this a bit interesting. This is certainly a change from the percieved norm. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Have a look...
[line]
[b]Wed Jun 23, 5:02 PM ET
[i]By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer[/b][/i]
WASHINGTON - The chairman of the world's largest Islamic organization praised the Bush administration Wednesday for backing Palestinian statehood.
Syed Hamid Albar, who heads the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, said he had a "very good, productive, very constructive" meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Syed Hamid said Powell assured him that the administration would keep working for a negotiated settlement that would establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"We are very happy with the way the United States is handling the issue," Syed Hamid, who also is Malaysia's foreign minister, told reporters.
Specifically, Syed Hamid said Powell had reassured him and Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat that the Bush administration will go ahead with its "roadmap" for peacemaking even if Israel withdraws from Gaza and yields the territory it has held for 37 years to the Palestinians.
"I think this reassurance to us is important so we will be able to send a clear message to the Islamic countries that a roadmap is still there and the final status has to be negotiated between the Palestinians and Israelis," he said.
Erekat said, meanwhile, he had asked Powell for help in stopping Israel from expanding "settlements" on the West Bank and in Jerusalem.
"We want to see an action plan specifying that the end game is ending Israeli occupation," the Palestinian minister said.
Islamo-Facists and their love of beheading
06.22.04 (5:25 pm) [edit]
[b]"When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks" (Qur'an sura 47, verse 4)[/b]
Sound familiar to anyone?
Thanks to [url=http://www.swornenemy.org]Sworn Enemy[/url] (Trackback -- http://www.swornenemy.org/hts... ), I found this article from [i]Front Page Magazine[/i] which is from May, but it's still definatly got relevence, unfortunatly. You really gotta read this!
[line]
[b]The Sacred Muslim Practice of Beheading
[i]By Andrew G. Bostom[/i]
FrontPageMagazine.com
May 13, 2004[/b]
Reactions to the grotesque jihadist decapitation of yet another "infidel Jew," Mr. Berg, make clear that our intelligentsia are either dangerously uninformed, or simply unwilling to come to terms with this ugly reality: such murders are consistent with sacred jihad practices, as well as Islamic attitudes towards all non-Muslim infidels, in particular, Jews, which date back to the 7th century, and the Prophet Muhammad's own example.
According to Muhammad’s sacralized biography by Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad himself sanctioned the massacre of the Qurayza, a vanquished Jewish tribe. He appointed an "arbiter" who soon rendered this concise verdict: the men were to be put to death, the women and children sold into slavery, the spoils to be divided among the Muslims. Muhammad ratified this judgment stating that it was a decree of God pronounced from above the Seven Heavens. Thus some 600 to 900 men from the Qurayza were lead on Muhammad’s order to the Market of Medina. Trenches were dug and the men were beheaded, and their decapitated corpses buried in the trenches while Muhammad watched in attendance. Women and children were sold into slavery, a number of them being distributed as gifts among Muhammad’s companions, and Muhammad chose one of the Qurayza women (Rayhana) for himself. The Qurayza’s property and other possessions (including weapons) were also divided up as additional "booty" among the Muslims, to support further jihad campaigns.
The classical Muslim jurist al-Mawardi (a Shafi’ite jurist, d. 1058) from Baghdad was a seminal, prolific scholar who lived during the so-called Islamic "Golden Age" of the Abbasid-Baghdadian Caliphate. He wrote the following, based on widely accepted interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunna (i.e., the recorded words and deeds of Muhammad), regarding infidel prisoners of jihad campaigns:
“As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, 'When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks' (Qur'an sura 47, verse 4)”....Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah." [The Laws of Islamic Governance, trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192. Emphasis added.]
Indeed such odious “rules” were iterated by all four classical schools of Islamic jurisprudence, across the vast Muslim empire.
For centuries, from the Iberian peninsula to the Indian subcontinent, jihad campaigns waged by Muslim armies against infidel Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Buddhists and Hindus, were punctuated by massacres, including mass throat slittings and beheadings. During the period of “enlightened” Muslim rule, the Christians of Iberian Toledo, who had first submitted to their Arab Muslim invaders in 711 or 712, revolted in 713. In the harsh Muslim reprisal that ensued, Toledo was pillaged, and all the Christian notables had their throats cut. On the Indian subcontinent, Babur (1483-1530), the founder of the Mughal Empire, who is revered as a paragon of Muslim tolerance by modern revisionist historians, recorded the following in his autobiographical “Baburnama,” about infidel prisoners of a jihad campaign:
"Those who were brought in alive [having surrendered] were ordered beheaded, after which a tower of skulls was erected in the camp." [The Baburnama -Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, translated and edited by Wheeler M. Thacktson, Oxford University Press,1996, p. 188. Emphasis added.]
Recent jihad-inspired decapitations of infidels by Muslims have occurred across the globe- Christians in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Nigeria; Hindu priests and "unveiled" Hindu women in Kashmir; Wall Street Journal reporter, and Jew, Daniel Pearl. We should not be surprised that these contemporary paroxysms of jihad violence are accompanied by ritualized beheadings. Such gruesome acts are in fact sanctioned by core Islamic sacred texts, and classical Muslim jurisprudence. Empty claims that jihad decapitations are somehow "alien to true Islam," however well-intentioned, undermine serious efforts to reform and desacralize Islamic doctrine. This process will only begin with frank discussion, both between non-Muslims and Muslims, and within the Muslim community.
[i]Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University Medical School, and occasional contributor to Frontpage Magazine. He is the editor of a forthcoming essay collection entitled, "The Legacy of Jihad".[/i]
Some funny quizzes
06.22.04 (4:59 pm) [edit]
LoL, this ain't accurate ... much
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youre edward scissorhands
what johnny depp movie are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
06.22.04 (4:14 pm) [edit]
These monsters must not be given satisfaction!
[line]
[i][b]NBC News and news services[/i][/b]
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi militant group believed to be linked to al-Qaida beheaded a South Korean hostage after the Seoul government refused to remove its soldiers from Iraq.
U.S. soldiers on a routine patrol found the body of the man, Kim Sun-il, 33, between Baghdad and Fallujah, 22 miles west of the capital, about noon (4 a.m. ET), military officials told NBC News. They said that Kim’s body was booby-trapped with explosives but that the explosives did not go off.
The South Korean Embassy in Baghdad confirmed that the body was Kim’s by studying a picture of the remains it received by e-mail, Shin said. South Korean television showed Kim’s distraught family members weeping and rocking back and forth with grief at their home in the southeastern port city of Busan.
President Bush condemned the execution and said he remained confident that South Korea would go ahead with plans to send 3,000 troops to Iraq. “The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal actions of these barbaric people,” he said in Washington.
U.S. forces launched an airstrike in Fallujah on a safehouse used by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist whose al-Qaida-linked group, Monotheism and Jihad, was believed to have snatched and killed Kim.
The Arabic-language satellite television channel Al-Jazeera reported that three people were killed and that six others were wounded, while witnesses and a hospital official told Reuters that four people were killed.
Statement read on new video
Kim worked for Gana General Trading Co., a South Korean company supplying the U.S. military in Iraq. He was abducted last week, according to the South Korean government.
A videotape, apparently made shortly before his death and aired on Al-Jazeera, showed Kim kneeling, blindfolded and wearing an orange jumpsuit similar to those issued to prisoners at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Five hooded men stood behind Kim, one reading a statement and gesturing with his right hand. Another captor had a big knife slipped in his belt.
One of the masked men said the message was intended for the Korean people: “This is what your hands have committed. Your army has not come here for the sake of Iraqis, but for cursed America.”
The video did not say when Kim was killed. A spokesman for Al-Jazeera said the tape went on to show one of the men cutting off Kim’s head with a knife, which the station did not air.
Al-Jazeera said the video claimed that the execution was carried out by al-Zarqawi’s organization, which also claimed responsibility for the decapitation of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg last month on a videotape that was posted on an al-Qaida-linked Web site. U.S. officials believe al-Zarqawi himself wielded the knife in Berg’s killing.
In Saudi Arabia, Paul M. Johnson Jr., 49, a U.S. helicopter technician, was kidnapped by al-Qaida militants who followed through on a threat to kill him if the kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners. An al-Qaida group claiming responsibility posted an Internet message that showed photographs of Johnson’s severed head.
Kim’s kidnappers had initially threatened to kill him at sundown Monday unless South Korea canceled its troop deployment to Iraq. The government rejected the demand, standing firm with plans to dispatch 3,000 soldiers starting in August.
In a dispatch from Baghdad, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an “informed source” as saying negotiations with the kidnappers collapsed over the South Korean government’s refusal to comply.
S. Korea to evacuate 22 nationals
South Korea convened its National Security Council shortly after Kim’s death was confirmed and reiterated its decision to send more troops to Iraq. “Our government’s basic spirit and position has not changed,” a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.
The government had already said that it would evacuate the last of its 22 nationals in Iraq by early next month because of concern over reprisals for the deployment. It also warned its citizens not to travel to Iraq for the same reason.
Kim was believed to have been kidnapped about 10 days ago. A videotape broadcast Sunday by Al-Jazeera showed him pleading for his life.
Kim, described as a devout Christian, studied Arabic as well as English in South Korea. His parents said he went to Iraq because he dreamed of becoming a missionary in the Arab world, the Seoul newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported. A South Korean television news station, YTN, said he had been in Iraq for about eight months.
Recent abductions and attacks appear aimed at undermining the interim government that is set to take power June 30, when the U.S.-led occupation formally ends. U.S. and Iraqi officials have vowed to go ahead with the transfer.
Dan Senor, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said that by week’s end, all Iraqi government ministries would be under full Iraqi control.
[i]NBC’s Scott Foster, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.[/i]
These monsters must not be given satisfaction!
[line]
[i][b]NBC News and news services[/i][/b]
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi militant group believed to be linked to al-Qaida beheaded a South Korean hostage after the Seoul government refused to remove its soldiers from Iraq.
U.S. soldiers on a routine patrol found the body of the man, Kim Sun-il, 33, between Baghdad and Fallujah, 22 miles west of the capital, about noon (4 a.m. ET), military officials told NBC News. They said that Kim’s body was booby-trapped with explosives but that the explosives did not go off.
The South Korean Embassy in Baghdad confirmed that the body was Kim’s by studying a picture of the remains it received by e-mail, Shin said. South Korean television showed Kim’s distraught family members weeping and rocking back and forth with grief at their home in the southeastern port city of Busan.
President Bush condemned the execution and said he remained confident that South Korea would go ahead with plans to send 3,000 troops to Iraq. “The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal actions of these barbaric people,” he said in Washington.
U.S. forces launched an airstrike in Fallujah on a safehouse used by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist whose al-Qaida-linked group, Monotheism and Jihad, was believed to have snatched and killed Kim.
The Arabic-language satellite television channel Al-Jazeera reported that three people were killed and that six others were wounded, while witnesses and a hospital official told Reuters that four people were killed.
Statement read on new video
Kim worked for Gana General Trading Co., a South Korean company supplying the U.S. military in Iraq. He was abducted last week, according to the South Korean government.
A videotape, apparently made shortly before his death and aired on Al-Jazeera, showed Kim kneeling, blindfolded and wearing an orange jumpsuit similar to those issued to prisoners at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Five hooded men stood behind Kim, one reading a statement and gesturing with his right hand. Another captor had a big knife slipped in his belt.
One of the masked men said the message was intended for the Korean people: “This is what your hands have committed. Your army has not come here for the sake of Iraqis, but for cursed America.”
The video did not say when Kim was killed. A spokesman for Al-Jazeera said the tape went on to show one of the men cutting off Kim’s head with a knife, which the station did not air.
Al-Jazeera said the video claimed that the execution was carried out by al-Zarqawi’s organization, which also claimed responsibility for the decapitation of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg last month on a videotape that was posted on an al-Qaida-linked Web site. U.S. officials believe al-Zarqawi himself wielded the knife in Berg’s killing.
In Saudi Arabia, Paul M. Johnson Jr., 49, a U.S. helicopter technician, was kidnapped by al-Qaida militants who followed through on a threat to kill him if the kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners. An al-Qaida group claiming responsibility posted an Internet message that showed photographs of Johnson’s severed head.
Kim’s kidnappers had initially threatened to kill him at sundown Monday unless South Korea canceled its troop deployment to Iraq. The government rejected the demand, standing firm with plans to dispatch 3,000 soldiers starting in August.
In a dispatch from Baghdad, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an “informed source” as saying negotiations with the kidnappers collapsed over the South Korean government’s refusal to comply.
S. Korea to evacuate 22 nationals
South Korea convened its National Security Council shortly after Kim’s death was confirmed and reiterated its decision to send more troops to Iraq. “Our government’s basic spirit and position has not changed,” a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.
The government had already said that it would evacuate the last of its 22 nationals in Iraq by early next month because of concern over reprisals for the deployment. It also warned its citizens not to travel to Iraq for the same reason.
Kim was believed to have been kidnapped about 10 days ago. A videotape broadcast Sunday by Al-Jazeera showed him pleading for his life.
Kim, described as a devout Christian, studied Arabic as well as English in South Korea. His parents said he went to Iraq because he dreamed of becoming a missionary in the Arab world, the Seoul newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported. A South Korean television news station, YTN, said he had been in Iraq for about eight months.
Recent abductions and attacks appear aimed at undermining the interim government that is set to take power June 30, when the U.S.-led occupation formally ends. U.S. and Iraqi officials have vowed to go ahead with the transfer.
Dan Senor, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said that by week’s end, all Iraqi government ministries would be under full Iraqi control.
[i]NBC’s Scott Foster, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.[/i]
Stuff as I see it, by RED TIGRESS
06.22.04 (2:52 pm) [edit]
"I am not a pacifist nor am I partisan." -Jon Stewart, the [i]Daily Show[/i]
That pretty much sums it up. I heard the above quote while watching one of my favourite shows, the [i]Daily Show with Jon Stewart[/i]. Jon has it right on the money there. I don't believe in war all the time. One would have to be completely [b]daft[/b] to want to war all the time. Anyone would have to be daft to even want war at all. But, as with everything, there is a time and a place.
If someone is trying to kill you, you have a moral obligation to protect yourself and your family. That is pure and simple truth. Now, the semantics on whether or not someone is really trying to kill you is something that must be thoroughly thought out and truly found. Measures must be taken so that mistakes are not made. It would be more immoral to go after someone who was no real threat! There in lies the mandatory measure of thinking things through before acting.
The way I see things; Hamas, Hizbolla, Fatah, Al Aqsa, and Al Quaida all want to kill not just me but other Jews. Specifically, all of us. Where do I get this? From their own mouths, from their own literature, from their own very [b]actions[/b]! I listen to what these groups say, and it's all about hate with them. They want to kill us! It is important to, once again, note that this does not serve true for all Arabs or Muslims. On the contrary, there are many good people in the Arab/Muslim community who do want the violence to stop and they do want peace between their Jewish brothers and sisters.
That said, it is my feeling that these good people need to own their ideals and turn out the ones who perpetuate the violence against others and their own people. It can only start with them.
Until then, it is the right of Israel to protect itself. What does that intail? Ah, here comes the talk about partisanship.
Whether or not you are right or left or middle of the road or republican or democrat or green or you don't care, the truth is; You have to protect yourself and those you love. What is Israel doing?
Well, they're cracking down on terror hideouts and building a security barrier. In my humble opinion, this is good for Palestinians and good for Israel. The reason being, if Israel cracks down on terror, that's less people being killed by blowing themselves up. Less children being sent to become martyrs.
If Israel builds a security barrier, then that allows Palestinians to start making way for their new state. They can focus on their own self-betterment. They can still come into Israel and work if they wish, but they are given the freedom to make that choice and make it safely. They don't have to worry about blowing up or getting shot at a checkpoint. They can just come to work.
If Palestinians have their own country, that means they can have their own economy! That means they can live in better conditions and thrive as a peaceful nation, void of hatred and terror.
I believe there is a time and a place for war and action. And even though I am a republican, I am in no way partisan in my thoughts and feelings as a human. I am republican because that is the party whose ideals I identify most with. That is not to say I'd not vote for a Democratic president or not have a left leaning idea in my head.
It is time we all look at the facts and make a decision based on logic, not allegiances. It is time we be realistic.
SHABBAT CHESED
06.22.04 (1:02 pm) [edit]
This is so sad. I wanted to post this in case anyone can help or would like to participate!
[line]
[b]Message from Daniel & Halana Rosenfield - Worldwide SHABBAT CHESED[/b]
We got up from Shiva just last week for our special Chani. As many of you know, our 3-year old Chani was diagnosed 1 and a half years ago with Cancer (Stage IV Neuroblastoma). Chani lived a good life and knew how to enjoy and appreciate every moment, with a smile and a laugh at all times. I remember her not only hooked up to an IV pole - but RIDING the IV pole around the hospital with a big smile, making all of the children and parents laugh and bringing joy and chessed to other patients and families.
One person who visited the Shiva recalled a time when he offered Chani a lollipop once in shul on Shabbat. He gave Chani a purple lollipop and she looked up at him and said, "Purple is my favorite color". Lilach, Chani's big sister, then came over and wanted a purple lollipop too, except there were no more purple lollipops, only yellow ones. Chani gave her purple lollipop to Lilach. As Chani took a yellow lollipop, she turned up to him and said, "Yellow is my favorite color".
Chani taught others to appreciate every moment in life. She was so good-natured and happy. On one occasion when she was only 1 and a half, she had to have an IV inserted in the middle of the night. After many tries at stabbing and jabbing to get the IV in and much crying, Chani turned up to the nurse and gave her a kiss. This is who Chani was. She took everything in stride and with a smile, always looking to make others happy.
Also, as my neighbor in Ramat Bet Shemesh told me at the shiva: what gedolim and roshei yeshiva try to inspire people around the world to greater heights of tefilla, chesed and unity, Chani was able to accomplish in her short 3 years.
To read Halana and my hespedim (eulogies), please go to http://www.chanaliora.com
Many of you have been diligently davening and doing good deeds for Chani's refuah. As I mentioned at the levaya (funeral), please do not stop your tefillot and mitzvot (prayers and good deeds). Chani would have wanted you to keep davening and doing good for her friends, the special sick children in the hospitals around the world.
A number of months ago I heard a powerful story from Rabbi Yissochor Frand:
In a boys school in Cleveland, a teacher gave his students an assignment to complete a portion of Torah and present a siyum to the class. For this special occasion each boy's father was invited to attend his son's presentation.
The day arrived for David's time in the spotlight. That morning, David's teacher reminded David to invite his father to come hear him. David made his beautiful presentation, but the rebbe noticed that David's father was missing. After the presentation, he approached David and said, " I told you to invite your father. You couldn't even allow your father to schep a little bit of nachas!?" Little David turned to his teacher and answered simply, " I knew that next week is Moishe's turn to present, and Moishe is an orphan, and he will be the only one without his father there. So, out of consideration for Moishe, I decided I wouldn't invite my father either, so Moishe wouldn't be the only one."
This boy David, in his little way, looked beyond his own Daled Amot, to recognize that another person is in need. In what should have rightly been his moment to shine, David modeled for us the importance of showing great sensitivity towards others. We each are naturally busy with our own everyday challenges of work, family, and well, just, life. The challenge we are each faced with is - how can I overcome all of this and look beyond my own craziness, beyond my own cholent of life, and see how we can make a difference in someone else's life.
A number of months ago we initiated an effort to try and find little 4-year old Bracha Naomi Mandelbaum a bone marrow match. Bracha Naomi and our Chani shared a hospital room in Hadassa hospital in Jerusalem. Many of you were instrumental in organizing drives, volunteering, raising funds, or just being tested. You looked out for someone else in need. Had you told me that in one crazy and urgent week, we would organize and run 9 bone marrow drives, raise over $140,000, and test close to 2000 people for bone marrow - I would have told you that there was no way - impossible. But together we put our minds to it, and each of us looked beyond our own craziness of life, to try and do some chesed and help someone else in need.
Unfortunately, both Bracha Naomi and our Chani succumbed to their respective illnesses and we tragically mourn their loss, while we cherish the memories of the beautiful children that they were.
The world is a wondrous place, and you never know the impact of your actions.
The day after we got up from Shiva I received a call of condolences from Eddie Feinberg (Jay's brother) of the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation. If I was not still in Aveilus (mourning), I would have shouted out a Shehecheyanu V'kiymanu V'higiyanu la'zman hazeh. Why? Eddie shared with me the most unbelievable and joyous news: of the close to 2000 people that we tested for bone marrow for Bracha Naomi, we have already found a match for 2 other people. There are 2 other people who have received bone marrow transplants from people we tested, and are walking the world today, enjoying life and their family. What a simcha! I immediately called Shmuli Mandelbaum (Bracha Naomi's father) and told him. I said that symbolically, 1 of the matches is for Bracha Naomi and 1 for Chani. To imagine that just months after the drives, we are already saving lives! And the people tested will stay in the registry until age 60, so there is great potential for saving many more lives for many years to come (though, G-d willing we shouldn't need it).
As I said, the world is a wondrous place, and you never know the impact of your actions.
With this inspiration, I present to you for the first time our newest project. As part of the Shloshim commemorations for Chani, we are initiating a special:
[b]WORLDWIDE: SHABBAT CHESED - Sabbath of Kindness[/b]
The weekend following Chani's Shloshim (Friday-Shabbat-Sunday July 2, 3, 4th, 14th of Tamuz, Shabbat Parashat Balak), kehillot, batei knesset, bungallow colonies, and camps worldwide will be dedicating the weekend to Chesed (Loving Kindness), in memory of Chani.
This is a chesed lishma project, for the sole purpose of bringing kindness into the world - lishma, also means in her name, in Chani's memory.
[b]What does this mean? And what does this mean for you individually?[/b]
The following is a short list of suggestions for you to initiate in your own community on that special weekend. Please feel free to initiate other Chessed ideas that are not listed here. As we are trying to make this as user friendly and tangible as possible, we have attached some links to educational material as well as chesed organizations that you can utilize:
* Ensure that your Rabbi will dedicate his drasha, sermon, and shiurim to Chesed, and to spreading awareness of the importance of helping others. Torah Sources are available in [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/MEKORO T_ENGLISH.HTM]English[/url] ( [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/MEKORO T2_ENGLISH.HTM]English 2[/url]) and [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/MEKORO T_HEBREW.HTM]Hebrew[/url] .
* Arrange for your camp or youth program to run informal educational programming and tochniyot on Chesed. Programming ideas are available in ([url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/TOCHNI YOT_ENGLISH.HTM]English[/url] [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/PEULOT _ENGLISH.DOC]English 2[/url], [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/PEULOT 2_ENGLISH.HTM]English 3[/url] ) and [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/TOCHNI YOT_HEBREW.HTM]Hebrew[/url] .
* Invite people who are new to the community over for meals
* Check that your community has g'machim set up to meet all needs. Check [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/GMACHI M_ENGLISH.HTM]Olam Hachesed's full list of ideas & gmachim[/url], and for help in setting one up in your community (also available in [url=HTTP://WWW.CHANALIORA.COM/SHABBAT_CHESED/GMACHI M_HEBREW.HTM]Hebrew[/url]).
* Arrange trips to visit the sick in hospitals, and home-bound elderly
* Donate Bone Marrow or Organize a bone marrow drive in your community. In America & Canada contact Eddie Feinberg at Gift of Life, 1-800-9MARROW, http://www.giftoflife.org .. In Israel contact Ezer Mitziyon at http://www.ezer-mizion.org.il... . For all other countries visit http://www.bmdw.org for the name and contact info of your local bone marrow registry.
* Donate Blood at your local hospital or blood bank, or organize a blood drive in your community
* Make Arts & Crafts Packages with children for chayalim (soldiers) or for children in hospitals.
* Organize a toy drive and donate to Zichron Menachem in Israel at tel: 02-643-3001, email: info@zichron.org , http://www.zichronmenachem.or..., and to Chai Lifeline in the US at bbaida@chailifeline.org , http://www.chailifeline.org . (Other ideas include: toys, books, cd's, dvd's, computer and video games, software, sweets, cakes for birthdays, hair donations, drivers to take children to and from hospital, etc.)
* Run a food can drive or help collect leftover food from simchas or events; or to volunteer on Friday June 2nd to pick-up and deliver food packages: In Israel contact Table to Table, Joseph Gitler at joseph@tabletotable.org.il, 052-876-3516, http://www.tabletotable.org.i... . In the US contact City Harvest at http://www.cityharvest.org to get involved.
* Arrange to repair or paint rundown areas of the elderly community, or offer to go shopping for home-bound elderly
* Help clean up and preserve the sanctity of a local cemetery
* To get involved in chessed projects in Toronto in hospitals or in long term care facilities, please contact Laila Friedman 416-638-7800 ext 287, lfriedman@jfandcs.com , or Rabbi Weiss at 416-638-7800 ext 217, rweiss@jfandcs.com
* Donate Tzedaka to worthy causes. Some organizations that have helped us personally can be found on Chani's website - http://www.chanaliora.com .
* Seek new ways to be involved in chesed - visit http://www.chesed.info
* For more ideas and ways to get involved in