Move Over Merriam-Webster!

For those of you who don't know what expressions like "bust a nut" mean, this website should be quite enlightening:
Urban Dictionary

Painful

The situation in the Middle East is hard to watch. Considering the wide range of opinions and sides that people take on this issue all around the world, it is also clear that coming to any resolutions is virtually impossible.
I have been reading as much as I can about the current imbroglio, while keeping in mind the human lives that are lost as a result of it. It is often easy to overlook that part, especially when it is painfully obvious that news organizations seem to glorify war (e.g., using "captivating" slogans like "INTENSE FIGHTING" and "CRISIS: MIDDLE EAST," etc.), instead of using their tremendous power to incite meaningful action. I would say that, like most Americans, I have no stock in this whole catastrophe, but the fact is that what goes on in the Middle East ultimately affects the United States in many ways. The methods we use to respond to such events can either unite the world or further advance the image that the United States acts in ways that are anything but fair and balanced. Taking the latter path makes us extremely vulnerable to future acts of terror. I do not favor appeasement (remember, the world dealt that way with Hitler and then we ended up with a world war...), but I simply suggest that we need to be very careful.
As much as I usually disagree with Israel's actions and with how the United States overly favors it, I believe that Israel has every right to defend itself this time. I do wish that my tax dollars were not indirectly behind the killing of innocent civilians, but Israel is dealing with groups that deny its very right to exist as well as with leaders who want to see it "wiped off the map." It is pretty simple, really. If your neighbor wants to annihilate you, would you stand by and wait for him to do it, or would you take some sort of action to defend yourself? The Arabs and Iranians I know do not support terrorist organizations, and they want to see a peaceful coexistence with Israel as soon as possible. I think that we get to the crux of the problem here: the voices of those Arabs need to be heard and their corrupt "governments" have got to go, but how do you do that without killing innocent civilians?

Forget What's Logical!

An old friend commented yesterday that we could not have an argument about the gay marriage issue because she claimed that her views were not based on "logical reasoning." Well, if we can't have discussions based on what makes sense, then there is no reason to have democratic rights in the first place. Let's just do things based soley on religious passages taken out of context. Who cares how absurd a given idea is in the 21st century, as long as it's in the Bible and interpreted "correctly" by those who consider themselves enlightened and in possession of "the truth!" Yuck.

Zizou, tu es fou!

By now the whole Zinedine Zidane headbutt fiasco has basically been forgotten, but I just thought that I would put in a word about it. I don't care if the Italian player called his mother a whore, a terrorist, or any other names. The fact is that there is no excuse for such a display of immaturity. Headbutting a player because he called you a name? Honestly, didn't we get over that in the third grade? I recognize that Zidane had a tough time growing up in France as the son of Algerian immigrants, but let's stop making excuses for him. He made a grave mistake, and I hope that he pays heavily for it. Having written that, I'm glad that the Italians won because it allows me to say that Germany was eliminated by the eventual world champions in the semi-finals. Watch out though, in 2010, the world will be singing "Deutschland siegt!" instead of "Viva Italia!" when the final game is played in Johannesburg!

Rockets?!

It's misleading of CNN and other news organizations to label Hezbollah's weapons "rockets." "Katyusha" are essentially artillery devices used predominately in guerrilla warfare (don't misinterpret what i'm writing, I'm not trying to justify Hezbollah's use of "Katyusha" or of any other weapons). To place these weapons in the same category as Israel's vastly superior arsenal makes it seem as if these two sides are fighting a battle on an equal playing field. I guess I should not refer to Israel's arsenal as superior, considering that their "precision" weapons do not seem to be working well...

From the State House

I had to reflect a few days before writing anything about my experiences demonstrating this past Wednesday at the State House in Boston. If I had sat down on Wednesday night to write about them, my ideas would have been obscurred by an emotional sea of rage, frustration, and anger. As many of you know, legislators met at a constitutional convention (Concon) to discuss a host of issues, including of course a proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Massachsetts. I have been fighting this draconian amendment for quite some time now, and I will continue to use every ounce of strength I have to spread equality to those who are willing to embrace it. This is not simply about gay rights, it is about protecting and improving democracy in the United States of America. Those opposing same-sex marriage are supporting homogeneity, something that I see as dangerous to and incongruent with a progressive democracy. I came to this country twenty years ago this August, and I can state unequivocally that one thing that distinguishes the United States from other nations around the world is how well it functions when it takes advantage of the many talents its diverse population has to offer.
When I arrived at the State House around 2:30pm, I came from the direction of the Park Street station. This meant that in order join our side, the side supporting same-sex marriage, I had to walk through several voteonmarriage.org supporters. I have a short temper, and I really had to restrain myself from using violence to plow through these ignorant fools. The first lady I encountered is in the picture above (courtesy of Bay Windows). When I made eye contact with her, I felt hate and fear looking directly at me (perhaps it was the Devil?).
To disregard these people, all I had to do was look across the street. A huge crowd of grass-roots volunteers, lead largely by MassEquality, warmly welcomed me. As soon as I proudly joined them, a middle-aged lady energetically commented, "It's much nicer over here. We're fighting the good fight." I hugged her and looked at her sign: "People of faith for equality." This exchange instilled a sense of camaraderie in me that only strengthens my commitment to this cause.
Our side chanted things like: "Gay, straight, black or white, marriage is a human right," "What do we want? Equality! When do we want it? Now!," and "Hey-ho, discrimination's got to go!" We held many creative signs, including: "What if we had voted on Brown vs. Board of Ed.?," "Focus on your own family," and, my personal favorite, "Tell me, exactly how does my marriage affect you??" The opposing side had one message, chanted largely in broken English: "Let the people vote!" I find that slogan to be ironic. It signals that the public should vote on this issue, yet the groups behind it obviously want the public to legislate hate! It is a completely misleading mantra that makes it seem as if people are being denied their democratic rights when the only group affected by the proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriage is the GLBT community who would be denied basic civil liberties! The most striking difference, however, between our group and the detractors of same-sex marriage crowd was that their side had a suspicious uniformity in their protest. Their signs were all manufactured, and the people were dressed in a cookie-cutter "white-American" fashion. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with white Americans! Interestingly enough though, a chunk of these people were ethnic minorities, primarily Latinos and Asian Americans. They were "cleaned up," of course, dressed to fit the part of the typical, "proper" Southern Baptist church-goer. This difference between our group and their group leads me to suspect more shady business just like voteonmarriage's prior signature-gathering campaign that orginally sparked this crap. I also believe that people with hate in their hearts will use any means necessary to secure their goals. My conclusion: our group consisted of volunteers who came to the State House from every part of the state, taking time off from work and from other commitments, while their side bused in lots of paid people to stage their dirty show. The bottomline is that their appearance makes it look as if there are far more supporters of the amendment than there really are. If the Boston Globe is right that the majority of Massachusetts residents support same-sex marriage, then that lends even more credence to my hypothesis.
After three years, the only lives that have changed as a result of same-sex marriage are those of the GLBT persons getting married!
To be continued...

Go Away!

It really pisses me off reading the latest news reports about how much Bush's visits to Germany cost. When he arrives in a city like Rostock, for example, people living in its environs are not allowed outside, shops depending heavily on tourists' expeditures have to close up, and even banners with local symbols are erected to block emblems with "Peace" written on them. I guess seeing rainbow "Peace" flags hung out of windows of ordinary German citizens' homes would just be too offensive to the President. I blogged last year about another Bush visit to Germany and how the only people who were really affected by it were ordinary folks. Since Bush decided to land in Frankfurt, Europe's second largest commercial and cargo airport, thousands of passengers were stranded for hours while the President took his merry time deplaning. Lufthansa, having its hub in Frankfurt, was forced to cancel thousands of flights that day. Losses exceeding several million Euros were reported by the airline. A single person's visit should never cost millions, but the fact that this is exactly the case with Bush's most recent visit and that it is happening in Germany's most economically depressed area is especially insulting. Will there be any kind of compensation? No, of course not. Germany "owes" the United States eternally for WWII. If I were President, I would not want to be received this way, and I would at least apologize for the inconvenience of my visit. Who am I kidding? Bush only cares about power. The concerns of the masses are irrelevant. I can only imagine the ego trip he gets out of knowing that his presence can shut down an entire city. Mr. President, please get out of Germany!

Don't Diss!

I find it strange that Howard Dean's campaign for the Democratic nomination was halted because the press decided to buy into ring-wing plans to make him look "unpresidential." Apparently, you cannot give your supporters any enthusiasm, but you can say things like, "It was quite humorous, not to DISS my friend the vice president." Quite presidential, I must admit.

GERMANY DEFEATS ARGENTINA

DEUTSCHLAND SIEGT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UND JETZT AB ZUM ENDSPIEL!
GOOO TEAM KLINSMANN!!!

As if she had...

...a chance anyway:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/21/ny.pirro/index.html