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Showing posts from December, 2011

A Miracle Happened There

Let me tell you a story. One you may have heard before, but bears retelling none the less.. It is a story of Oppressing Armies, rebels, determination, the will to survive and perseverance. Once upon a time there were some people who lived in a tight little community; they lived together, they worked together, and they all shared a belief passed to them through blood and through teaching. They had a massive Temple , built for them with instructions of their God as passed through man. It was a hard time in the world, and though they tried to simply hold on to what they had, they were overrun. Their temple was seized, and it was converted to the worship of the conqueror's God. This upset the local people, and though they wanted to fight and regain it, many felt the chance for reprisals too strong; the penalty for insurrection to harsh; in time the army made it punishable by death to even cling to the old religion. Slowly, a small band of resistance fighters did emerge howe

Iraq : War is Over

In a moment of rare seriousness I want to say : I am overjoyed at the end of military action in Iraq. Too many dead among the military on both sides; way to many dead among the civilian population of Iraq , numbering so high as to equal the Rwandan genocidal killing fields ; we saw the worst of ourselves at Abu Ghraib; we went on lies; we shattered and forever mangled the minds and bodies of young men who were told they were "Doing the right thing" and quickly learned they were not but had no choice but to follow orders; billions and billions of wasted dollars on a war that served no purpose. But none of that is what brings me the most joy. What brings me joy is that this evening, for the first time in their memory, I can put my children to sleep knowing that one war has ended. Now, let's get the boys and girls out of Afghanistan, and let our small ones go to bed knowing that we have no war at all. Please remember today those who have lost their sons; their daught

Free Market vs. Free Speech

Stop. Before you even read this - you need to do your homework. Unless your live in a cave or under a bridge, You are probably aware of the Lowe's Home Improvement decision to pull it's advertising support from TLC's "All American Muslim" program. And unless you just woke up from a coma, or are one of the seven people in the world without Facebook or Twitter , you have probably seen either a whirl wind of indignation, or support, or both, depending on the leanings of the folks you socialize with. OK, now that you have done your homework, here is my thoughts. I have in the past , when made aware of the financial support by one Corporation to a cause or charity I did not agree with, decided to "fight back with my wallet" - by boycotting / avoiding them. A great example is of McDonald's. I learned in a Sociology class that McDonald's was a major supporter of a charity that , at the time, I did not approve of. And for 8 years I did not spe